Project Life 2013: Where's April?

I have to begin with a disclaimer. I have not yet made my April Project Life Spreads. I made March, then forgot to share them on the blog. Then I got my June JBS Mercantile Historian kit and I thought it was so perfect for my May Spreads that I just skipped April entirely. No worries though. I will get to April. I promise!

First off, the month of March. I am running low on the divided page protectors so I decided on a little experiment. I decided I would machine stitch borders on a 12x12 sheet of cardstock, use PL cards and items, then place it in a sheet protector. In theory, it's a great idea. I struggle creating straight even lines, so this wasn't the perfect thing for me to try. I need to find another way to help me sew straight. I also found that meeting at the edges of the boxes proved to be a bit difficult.

On the positive side, this method allowed me to incorporate mini album pages onto my PL spreads. I used a blend of the JBS Mercantile Hodge Podge mini albums, printed digital journal cards, and added in items from my JBS kit. I was able to add layers and slightly bulkier embellishments then normal. Sometimes I find that bulky PL cards won't fit well in the little pockets. I also found that I could break borders. If photos were a little large, I could let them hang a bit outside of the sewn squares.

During March, I had participated in 30 Days of Lists. I had pre-made list cards from the prompts which I added in with the March Spread. I had made the cards and used some of the PL products I had purchased prior to knowing about the JBS Historian kits. No worries though. JBS products coordinate well with other manufacturers.

I am planning to mix in full 12x12 layouts with my PL page spreads. So the idea of sewing on a 12x12 sheet of cardstock is still a good one. I think I can perfect it with a little practice.






Now, on to the May Project Life Spreads. Initially, I had thought to use the June Historian kit for my April PL photos. However, when I received it, I knew that the travel theme was perfect for my May photos. We made a short weekend family trip. Short as in 1 1/2 days, international flight included. May also ended up being a lot more eventful than March. I ended up using some of the papers from my JBS Mercantile Main kit as a supplement to the Historian.

I have a lot of these pocket pages left from my kits. I decided to treat the larger section as a mini layout. My favorite part of this page is the card about driving in Nassau. I cut a section from the card to use on another part of the spread and covered the hole with a photo. I then sewed the card to create a pocket for some memorabilia. Since I was short of car themed paper, I printed off a quick 4x6 size patterned paper block on cardstock. Many of the JBS digital papers coordinate well with the kit products. I also printed matching patterned paper cards for other sections of my PL spreads, as well as using some of the more neutral papers from the Modern Mercantile collection.

When I was able to, I used the back of the double sided patterned paper. I did that here with the blue sections which documented the weather for the month. I am still loving the instaweather app. I use the free version to capture our weather at least once a week.

Many of the cards in the Historian kit were designed for the smaller pockets. The smallest pocket I had was 4x6. To compensate, I cut 4x6 cards from the patterned paper. I mounted the small card on one side and made a small section for another story on the other side. You can see that with the currently card on the upper right side of this spread. The middle card is a 4x6 sheet of patterned paper. I cut a small card into 2 sections and adhered the sections to bracket the photo. Don't be afraid to cut your cards apart to help them suit your needs.

Postcards are often a nice 4x6 size. My initial thought was to slip it right into the pocket. Buy postcards while on a trip, and you can journal on the back side while you are away. In this case, I ended up using the postcard on a larger layout. I did add a small geotag marker to the map to show where we traveled to.

I wanted to document our hotel room and room service food. I used pattern paper to create three distinct bands on the page. The top is our room key and about the room.The middle documents late night snacks and the bottom row documents our breakfast.

Many of the cards have banners or cute decorations on them. Don't cover them up! Use your craft knife to cut a little slit so that you can slide photos or memorabilia under the banners. It will add some dimension to your cards without adding a lot of bulk.












I am planning to add some full size layouts to the May Project Life spreads. I'm still not as confident about my card making skills as I would like to be. I also feel like I am struggling with photographing my PL pages. I did learn to take the cards out of the pockets and to lay them on top of the page protectors. This took the glare away and made for better photos. It's definitely a learning process but I am enjoying the journey.

Stay tuned for the April PL spreads. Meanwhile, if you want one of those Historian kits to document summer travel, you are in luck. There are still a few in the JBS Mercantile store. Hurry though. They tend to sell out pretty quickly!

Related articles

• Mini-Album Tutorial: Summer Favorites
• JBS Mercantile Kits and iNSD
• Using JBS for Project Life
• jbs mercantile: may historian