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Take 12: July 2012

It's that time of the month again (NO, not THAT time of the month!) Okay, okay, tacky jokes aside, what I mean is that it's the time of the month when I share my Take 12 layout with you. I think I've mentioned in previous Take 12 posts that this is the first time that I've followed through on a project like this. I know we haven't completed a full year yet, but we're past the halfway mark; normally, I would've fallen off the wagon by this point.

There are a number of key things that keep this project running smoothly for me that I want to share with you. I hope you'll share your own thoughts and observations about Take 12 in the comments below.

• Journaling is a key part of each layout. Sometimes, all those little life bits and pieces start to look the same. The 12th of one month looks an awful lot like the 12th of another month. Where I distinguish these months from one another is through the perspective on my journaling. If you look at my July layout, the photos look like they could've been taken in May or February or October, for the most part. But my journaling makes it clear that this little snapshots are all part of our summer routine. Which leads me to my next point...

• This project is as flexible as I want (or NEED) it to be. One month, I was so sick on the 12th, I never made it out of bed. So instead, I made a note about that in my journaling and proceeded to take 12 photos on the 14th of the month instead. My friend Celeste has modified Take12 to fit her needs; she documents the second Saturday of every month. This helps ensure that there's variety from month to month. 

• I'm not doing Project Life.While it seems like everyone else is doing PL, I opted not to, so Take 12 is how I'm capturing a slice of daily life each month. I do know that if I were participating in Project Life, Take 12 as I'm currently doing it might feel like overkill -- after all, those "slice of life" photos are a large part of what PL is all about. My solution? Instead of documenting bits and pieces of my day, I'd choose to use the Bonus Projects in the Take 12 Guided Inspiration Kit from Ella Publishing. (For example, in January, the theme was "collections," which resulted in this layout, one of my absolute favorites). 

• I'm using the same products for all of my layouts. That's such a key part of the project for me. Otherwise, I know what would happen. The photos would stay on my camera or my phone because I'd spend too much time trying to figure out what papers and embellishments to use each month. And this way, if I choose to print them all together in one album, the pages will coordinate. Sticking with the same products helps create a sense of cohesion to the entire project that I really like. Here's a look at the products I use from my shop. (Links are after the image.)

(from l-r: Photo Templates, Photo Templates Vol. 2, 2012: The Kit, Life Blocks, 2012: The Templates, 12 of 12 Template)

 Are you playing along with Take 12 each month? There's a Flickr group where you can upload your photos and share your layouts. You can also follow along on the Ella Publishing blog; link your layouts to the Take 12 posts and you could win some great scrapbooking products from the sponsors each month.

June: what's going on

June has found us in the middle of so many different things. My June Take Twelve layout captures just how busy we've been at times. Cami and I traveled to Lexington to transport Cass back and forth between two summer activities -- the State FFA Convention and a Governor's Cup academic team camp. Here's a look at my  layout. Have you been participating in Take Twelve? You can share your layouts and photos in the Flickr pool, and this article by Jennifer Wilson of Simple Scrapper is definitely a must-read.

layout credits: 2012 Photo Templates Vol. 1, 2012 Digital Kit

I'm working on a few layouts of our Lexington trip -- Cami and I LOVED Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. We spent time with all the farm animals and toured the Kentucky River on the Dixie Bell paddleboat before exploring the 1800's settlement at Fort Harrod. 

Cass had a really successful week, too. At the Governor's Cup camp -- also referred to as "nerd camp" around here -- she was recognized as the FPS Quick Recall champion, the FPS Team competition runner-up, and the Best Overall FPS Student runner-up. (Here's a link to info about FPS if you are curious.)

She also placed 3rd in the state in the FFA Sheep Impromptu speaking contest, which is a great accomplishment for such a young student (she's just finished her freshman year) and particularly one with no real-life sheep experience. For those of you not familiar with the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and the speaking contests, the Impromptu contests work like this: You have up to twelve topics in your subject area to study and gather resources on. The subject areas cover all the livestock classes, plus small animal, nursery, floriculture, turf & lawn, and others. The topics are things like preventing diseases, managing your flock, controlling internal and external parasites -- things that someone raising sheep would need to know about in order to have a successful herd. So once you have your resources gathered, which is done in the weeks leading up to the contest, you head into the competition room and draw two topics. You choose one of the two topics and then are given twenty minutes in which to prepare a 4-6 minute speech. At the end of that twenty minutes, you present your speech in front of a panel of three judges.

Just a couple of shop reminders too: my CT CALL is still going on, so go ahead and get an application sent in by the 24th. My Whiteout paper pack is still FREE in the shop until midnight tonight, and there's still a coupon code availabe on the Scrapbooks Etc. blog that can be used in my shop until the end of the month.

 

Take 12: June 2012

Don't forget about my CT call -- you can find out all the details in this post. Can't wait to hear from you!

Have I mentioned how much I love this Take Twelve project? It really is so easy to complete -- here we are in June, almost halfway through, and I haven't fallen behind or quit yet. The key for me is how flexible this project is -- it's easy to substitute a different day or to add in pictures later. Here's a look at June 2012.

1. Loading up the Durango for our trip to Lexington/Springfield/Harrodsburg.

2. Breakfast on the road from Hardee's.

3. Road construction on the West Kentucky Parkway -- a really typical sight during the summer months.

4. Rupp Arena to pick up Cass.

5. After months of studying, Cass competed in the State FFA Sheep Impromptu contest.

6. St. Catharine College for Academic team camp -- or "nerd camp," as Cass calls it. (That's her walking along the sidewalk on the left side.)

7. Where Cami and I stayed for the night -- Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill.

8. Our room.

9. Cami checking out the view from the window.

10. Historica downtown Harrodsburg.

11. 20 questions with Cami while eating supper at Pizza Hut.

12. Shooing the ducks and geese out of the way so we could take a quick sunset drive along the grounds before heading to our room for the night.

 

Did you participate in Take 12 this month? Link me up to your photos or layouts -- I'd love to see them!

Take Twelve with Ella Publishing!

It's time once again to Take Twelve with Ella Publishing Co. If you've been playing along from the beginning, this makes month #6, which means that this project is at the midway mark. If you're using Twitter, make sure to include the hashtag #Take12 so we can follow along with your daily photos. Also, don't forget to share your photos and your layouts with us on the Ella Publishing Co. blog and the Take Twelve Flickr Pool. 

Speaking of the Ella Publishing Co. blog, if you've stopped by lately you'll see that there are two great new products availabe in their store: Real.Life.Photography by Rebecca Cooper, which is an excellent resource for those of us who might've stalled when it comes to capturing everyday moments for our Take Twelve or Project Life albums. There's also the Simple Fixes Action Set, which makes it easy to rescue photos with typical problems (like under- or overexposure). 

Purchase Real.Life.Photography and the Simple Fixes Action Set in the same purchase and save 20% with code PHOTOFIX. And since both are currently only $9.99 each (introductory price! regularly $12.99 each), that means you'll save a total of $9 by purchasing them together now!

$ Deals and Take12

I've got a brand new kit on sale for just $1.00 today through Thursday in my shop at DHD; I LOVE this color scheme, and once I had a few items in place, the rest just came together easily. Love when that happens!

I finished my layout for my Take12 May photos. I'm really loving how this project is coming together -- I love that I can count on the girls and Chris to grab photos for me, particularly if the 12th is on a weekend, like it was this time around. Normally, our weekends mean that we are moving in opposite directions, one for each kid, so having four smartphones in the house means there's no shortage of pictures from multiple perspectives.

I'm sticking with my plan to use the templates and papers/embellishments from my 2012 line at DHD; I love the cohesiveness that it brings to the entire project. Here's a look at the first four months of the project, all together. Awesome, right?

Are you participating in Take Twelve? I'd love to see your layouts and pictures. You can load them up in our Flickr pool, and we've even got our own hashtag on Instagram and Twitter: it's #Take12, so join the conversation!

take 12: april

One of the things that I have learned about myself over the years is that I am very good about getting really excited about a project. I make lots of grand plans and get everything pulled together and jot down lists and buy supplies. I work feverishly on it for a month, two months, maybe even three.

And then real life starts creeping in. Travel for work. Conferences. Classes and grading papers and writing final exams. All-weekend soccer tournaments, multiple track meets. Laundry, dishes, yardwork. The girls get sick. I get sick. I get tired. I lose my motivation. 

While I'm really good in the initial idea and development stages, I'm not so good with the follow-through. I know this about myself, though, and I keep it in mind whenever I begin a project like Take 12. 

April ended up being one of those months. The 12th happened on a day when I was sick, followed by three days where I continued to be sick and both Chris (stomach bug) and Cami (strep) also got sick. (Cass took her turn earlier in the week). As a result, there wasn't a lot of documenting happening on the 12th. That's where the most important aspect of any project like this comes into play: FLEXIBILITY.

You have to be flexible. Because life happens, right? So you have to be willing to let go of some of the expectations and let go of perfection. You have to be willing to fudge it a bit. My 12 photos were actually taken over the course of four days, and I'M OKAY WITH THAT. I enjoy this project too much to let a minor bobble like this throw things off-track. After all, this (for me) is about documenting REAL LIFE. Here's a summary of my April Take 12:

Watering plants is something new for me. Before my grandparents passed away, I didn't own any houseplants. But now we have five (yes, FIVE! and they are all still ALIVE!). I've read that it's better to water in the mornings, so that's what I do.

This was Spring Break, which meant Cami got to watch a lot more TV than normal. (Plus, we were all sick, so there was a lot of lying-around-on-couches and watching crap TV with that as well). She loves our Roku because she can stream episode after episode after episode of cartoons like My Little Pony. I hate our Roku for the same reason.

Easy lunch -- frozen pizza. Make sure to cut out the BoxTops to send to Cami's school.

Planking: an internet sensation that's just now caught on in the Neal household.

I'm traveling to Mayfield every day right now, teaching a hybrid Blackboard course and doing some COMPASS/ACT prep with seniors. It's easiest just to pick up my car from Transportation at the beginning of the week and return it on Friday, rather than doing it daily.

Rat-snuggling. This happens frequently in our house. It is a strange thing, but Peanut Butter really does love to cuddle. He is most content sitting on the girls' chests or shoulders and grooming himself. 

The sun is up, which means I've got the blinds open, letting the daylight stream in and trying to banish some of the fug that a houseful of sickies creates.

Every day, I spend a couple of hours here -- reading and writing emails, blog posts, forum posts. Designing layouts, kits, advertisements. Grading papers, posting lessons, updating assignments. It's such a big part of everything that I do.

Working our way through a couple of Easter baskets. The chocolate bunnies have been de-eared. The Cadbury eggs are all gone. The Peeps are dwindling quickly.

Amoxycillan -- I am so proud of Cami for taking this nasty mess without fuss. She doesn't like it at all, but she doesn't fight us over it either. She knows that it is necessary. 

Strep throat looks like this. Grandmother quilt, couch pillows, and quiet time. She even took a couple of naps over the past few days -- she's feeling much better but even daily activities wear her out quicker.

Trying to keep up with the amount of bedding needing to be washed this weekend has almost worn our poor washer out. Trying to contain the germs from three different illnesses at the same time has worn me out as well. 

what's going on: the weekend

If you haven't picked up the Softly Collaboration that I put together with the fabulously talented Robyn Meierotto, today is your last day to get it for 25% off. 

Robyn and I will be chatting at 2 pm CST in the DHD chat room, so make sure you stop by to visit. I'll be offering up a new set of paper-piecing templates for free to anyone who attends the chat; if you can't make it, you'll be able to purchase the templates in my shop on Thursday.

As this weekend's Featured Designer, I've got a number of great deals in my shop: 18 to be exact! That's right -- I've marked down 18 kits to just $1.00, plus I'm offering this template for free. All of my $1.00 kits are perfect for both your Project Life and your Take 12 projects. Here's a glimpse at the 2012 Digital Kit and Templates in use for my March 2012 layout:

Speaking of the Take12 project, Ella Publishing Co. has some GREAT deals going on right now, including a Lucky 3-Day Sale on selected items. But you've got to act fast if you want to take advantage of them.

 Also, if you haven't picked up your copy of the Stamping Secrets e-book, I've got a special code you can use to save 15% through March 31. Enter the code SECRETSTAMPER at checkout.

And lastly, you can save $5.00 on the cost of registration for Spring Training 2012 -- this is one event you won't want to miss!

 

new releases

I've got three new products available in the shop today; make sure you check them out, as they're discounted 30% today only!

Jennifer shared a layout with one of the Take 12 templates; these really are so simple to use for the project.

I scrapped our December trip to The Parthenon in Nashville with my 2012: The Monthly template. It's a great way to scrap a photo a day, but it also gives you the flexibility of scrapping large events, like trips or family gatherings.

(Note: Jen's layout uses my collab with Karla Dudley, A Life Recorded; my layout features items from my Currently kit.)

celebrating february

February is one of my favorite months at Design House Digital, because that's when we have our Daily Dollar Deals: every day, several brand new kits are released in the shop and for the entire month of February, they're only $1.00 each. Right now, I've got three Dollar Deal products available:

If you haven't grabbed any (or all) of these products yet, make sure you grab them before February is over, because once March blows in, they'll revert back to the original pricing! $1.00 is too good a deal to let pass you by!

Did you remember to take your 12 photos on February 12th for the Ella Publishing Co. Take 12 Scrapbook Challenge? I didn't focus on any particular theme this time around -- I just snapped what caught my eye. But when I sat down to upload the photos I'd taken to the Take 12 Flickr pool, I realized that almost every single one represented something that our family loves, in one way or another (heck, what woman doesn't love a photo of her husband vacuuming the floors, right?) How fitting for February!

If you're still looking for a way to scrap your Take 12 photos, I've got some products in my shop that make putting together coordinating pages really simple: the 2012 digital kit and the 2012 Photo Templates Vol.1 and Vol.2. Here's a look at the digital kit, as well as a peek at a new template (part of a set of 4) that will be releasing on Thursday.

I've been shooting all of my #Take12 photos with my iPhone 4s camera and then editing/sharing them in Instagram. I really LOVE the Lo-fi filter and use it on almost all of my photos.

DESIGN TIP: That sketchy/stampy black border is my favorite. It works great for scrapbooking these photos too, because you can easily erase the white edges, leaving you with just the stamped border, like I did in the layout above.

 

a new take on Take12

Are you gearing up for the February edition of Ella Publishing's Take 12 Scrapbooking Challenge? Your reminder email should arrive today (unless you haven't registered for it -- but it's not too late to do so!)

Challenge recap: It's simple. On the 12th of each month, take 12 photos during the course of your day. Use your fancy camera, your phone camera, whatever is handy. Hand your camera off to your husband, your daughter, your son, your best friend -- the more, the merrier! Of course, you aren't limited to just taking your photos on the 12th. If another day works for you, then go for it. Or use the concept as a way to summarize your entire month by pulling together 12 photos at the end of February. And don't worry if you are just getting started -- this is a project that is infinitely flexible! In fact, that flexibility is helped inspire my $Dollar Deal$ product at Design House Digital today.

These quickpages and templates use my Currently papers and elements and are perfect for layouts featuring 12 photos. The quickpages are simple to use -- just drop your photos in and print. Or you can add your own papers and elements to the template to truly personalize your layout just the way you want it. (Might I suggest using items from my 2012 product line: Lifeblocks, Photo Templates Vol 1, Photo Templates Vol 2, Digital Kit) Did I mention these templates/quickpages are just $1.00 through the whole month of February?

These quickpages and templates also offer you another way to make the Take 12 Scrapbooking Challenge work for you. I'm always looking for ways to get my family more involved in my memorykeeping process. My oldest daughter has discovered Instagram and has been participating in a PhotoADay Challenge through the site. (Can I just add that I LOVE seeing her pictures each time she uploads them?) Since she's always got her camera phone with her, I asked her to document a regular day for me; to help her out, I gave her a list of verbs to use to help provide her with some photo ideas -- things like "wearing," "eating," "craving," "listening to," etc. I combined her photos with one of my quickpages for a snapshot of Cass at 15 that I simply adore looking at. 

NOTE: This particular quickpage in the kit is an 8.5x11 page. I turned it into a 12x12 page by simply placing the quickpage on top of a 12x12 sheet of digital paper, which I personalized a bit more by digitally coloring the 1's and 5's to represent her age. 

Remember, if you're participating in the Take 12 scrapbooking challenge, we've got a Flickr group where you can upload your photos. We're also using the hashtag #Take12 on social media sites. Don't forget to stop by the blog and check in -- each month you'll have a chance to win some great prizes too!