Ole-Talk

Sisters Paper Scissors | Hand Lettered Quote

Happy July! We are in full summer mode here in the Northeast and even though it has been in the nineties for the last few days I am trying not to complain about the heat to much because as I keep saying at least it is not cold and snowing. With all the fun outdoor activities that summer brings this month we opted to do something quick and easy so that we did not have to miss too much of our fun summer plans. Hand lettering (and hand writing in general) is making a big come back and we both jumped on the bandwagon this year. I have been doing a bunch of writing and lettering challenges on instagram since the beginning of the year and this month I am showing off some of my skills (be they somewhat still amateurish) with this hand lettered quote from one of my pinterest boards (not quite sure who the original author is).

I still have a lot of practicing to do but I am pleased with the progress that I have made to date

The paper that I used is from this pad by Canson. It is perfect for lettering as it has a very smooth surface that markers just glide so easily along. The one thing to note is that it is a bit on the thin side so probably not great for using to wet of a medium on it.

I usually start my lettering by drawing very light lines on my page for spacing and then I do a mock layout (see envelope on the right) of the words so that I have a map to guide me. Some of the other supplies I used are also pictured here. Rulers, Tombow markers, pencil, and Faber Castell artist pen.

I finished it up by adding a border with my water brush and watercolor paint (just remember to not use it to wet on this paper), added some decorative flowers and there you have it. I have to admit that this month I had sorta fallen off my daily creative practice but working on this has sparked the motivation again. Now while I go find a new daily challenge for August to keep me going (and honest lol) off you go to see what Francine came up with for her quote. I am sure it is spectacular!

Sisters Paper Scissors | From Filofax to Bullet Journal

Happy June! This month is all about staying organized and planning. I recently got back into Bullet Journaling after coming to the realization that using a Filofax as my planner just was not my thing. Don't worry my Filofaxes have found a wonderful new home with Francine. I had tried the Bullet Journal (Bujo) a few years ago when it first became popular and really liked it. Then for reasons unknown to me I fell off the wagon and went back to tracking as much as I could digitally with random notes and lists in random note books. Then Francine got into planning with the Filofax and made it look so easy that I decided to try it. That lasted as long as a minute. Fast forward to this April/May when I discovered Kara's blog Boho Berry and her awesome posts and YouTube videos on Bullet Journaling and realized that this was what I wanted to use. I was also definitely drawn in by all the various hacks for the Bujo that have been developed since I last tried it.

So I spent some time devouring Bujo information on the internet and came up with a plan to start mine in June. I decided to mostly follow Kara's layouts and ideas to get me going but I know that I will be tweaking this as the months go by to customize my Bujo to be unique to me. That's the beauty of this system.  So let's take a look at how I set up my Bujo in general and also my June pages.

I decided to change from a Moleskine squared and go with the very popular Leuchtturm1917 A5 dotted. I liked the lighter look of the dots as opposed to the heavy lines of the squares. I also love that the Leuchtturm comes with a pre printed Index and as you can see this is the first thing that I set up.

I then added a page for the Bullet Journal Key as I knew I would need to refer to them often until I have a few months under my belt and know what the heck I am doing.

I had no clue what to put on the page opposite the Key and then I had an ah ha moment and used a printable from one of Francine's Printably Kits. I also added a printable to the page opposite my Yearly Calendar spread. Since I started in June I did a full year that takes me through till next May. I am not sure if I will add this in my next Bujo as I find that I hardly ever turn back to use it.

Future Planning

The next thing that I added was three months for Future Planning. I find this to be one of the most useful pages in my Bujo. Essentially it is a place to dump appointments and events that are coming up in future months or that I want to remember for a particular month but may not have an exact date for as yet. These get migrated to my Monthly Log eventually but more on that later. I had an idea for the blank page next to my future planning but of course I did not write it down and now I can't remember. Oh well there is always another printable that can go there.

Collections

After my future log I started to add my various Collections. Simply put, these are one or two page spreads for me to put lists of things that I want to keep track of such as books to read, movies to watch, random thoughts etc. What I like about collections is that you can add them anywhere throughout your Bujo and then add the page that they fall on into your index. Another reason why I love this system. It is so very flexible.

I have already added some tweaks that I want to make to my Bujo next month on this page.

I plan to change this up a bit next time I do it. I realized that I did not leave enough space for the titles. My plan is to eliminate the Format column and use a color key and to also remove the Read column and just do a check mark next to the title. That should free up so more space for my title and author sections.

I have changed the headings on the Fiber Projects page a few times. Initially I had it set up with a column for project name and one for supplies but then I realized that I wanted to add more details to each project (thank god for correction tape). So I turned it into just a place to list my fiber projects and I created another collection (see below) for details about each project. These I will add in as needed and then log the page numbers in my index but also on this page for quick reference. 

This also shows how I added a collection in between my daily log pages as I had mentioned before.

Notice the color key at the bottom. Color keys are a great tool to use for lists.

Still working on filling these pages in. I really need to think of some goals for the rest of the year (humm).

Monthly and Daily Pages

I had mentioned my Monthly Log previously and here it is. Of all the monthly logs that I saw I really liked this idea from Kara and so decided to just go with it for now. I put all my appointments, birthdays, events, and objectives for the month here and notice again the color key!

See the dates on the July calendar circled in red. This is to remind me that these are appointments or events on my future log page so that I remember to add them to July's Monthly Log when I set it up.

I added a page for my drawing and handwriting challenges and I love that I don't have to go online to find out what I am supposed to be doing for a particular day. It is also a great way to keep a record of all my monthly challenges together in one place.

When I saw this idea for a Monthly Tracker I just knew it was going to be a part of my Bujo. I have been using an app on my phone called Streaks but it only lets me track six things at a time. This is much better and also the entire month is right in my face. Clearly as you can see I have some work to do in some areas (hee hee). I am also planning to tweak this a bit next month. I find it to be a bit too messy for my liking so will use either a single colored dot or X instead of coloring in the entire box.

I love the idea of a Gratitude Journal, however I need to think of a better or different way for me as this just isn't working and looks too messy. Still thinking about this one. Also, clearly I need to lighten up on pen pressure when doing my Daily Tracker. I guess the new method of X or dots will help to solve that problem.

And last but not least my Daily Log. When I first started my June dailies I was doing them one day at a time but then quickly realized that I needed to have at least two or three future days available to add tasks. So I decided to do a two page spread with six days at a time. What I like about this is that if I don't get to a particular task on a day I can still see it and will only migrate it if it is still undone when I turn the page to set up the next six days. I also loved the idea I saw of adding the weather and temperature for each day. This set up is working for me for now but I am sure that I will be tweaking it in future months.

So there you have it. It is still a work in progress but I am really loving my Bujo! I have some ideas for other collections that I want to eventually add and I am sure I will be constantly tweaking my monthly and daily logs. I also want to see if I can incorporate some elements from Francine's Printably Kits.

One important thing I would say is that you can make your Bujo as simple or as complicated as you want. Do what works for you and don't try to compete with other Bujo's that you see online. This is all about you and how you want to plan and organize your life. Also you will make mistakes either just deal with it, cover it up with something pretty, or invest in some correction tape (ha ha).

Now off you go to see how Francine is using her planners to stay organized. Word on the street is that she is revamping her system.

 

 

Sisters Paper Scissors | Fun Summer Crochet Tote Bag

And we are back! Summer is just around the corner and with that comes days at the beach and trips to the farmers market and this month's project is just perfect for that. We decided to show case our love for fiber by making this colorful crocheted tote bag from Amy at The Stitchin Mommy.

The pattern was very easy to follow and apart from changing the colors I pretty much stuck to how it was written. I did most of this in front of the television or chatting with friends, that's how easy it is.

I will say that it was a bit smaller than I thought it would be and if I were to make it again I would make the bottom wider by doing a few more rounds of increasing before starting the sides. There is also the chance that it will stretch as I use it. I also think that I would make the strap shorter or do two straps next to each other as I feel that will be more sturdy for putting heavy fruits and veggies.

I think it would also make a perfect project bag for other crochet or knit projects.

I wonder what colors Francine used for hers. Let's pop on over to her blog to see.

Sisters Paper Scissors | Scrapbooking with the Silhouette and Printably Kits

Happy Spring and welcome to another edition of Sisters, Paper Scissors. This month it is all about combining elements from the Printably Kit with technology to create paper and digital layouts.

I used elements from the PNG version of the October 2015 Printably Kit and used my Silhouette Design Studio software to convert them to cut files.

Here's how it all came together. 

Once you have opened the Silhouette Studio program on your computer, click on File-> Open and select the PNG file that you will be using for your project.

Go to the top right of your screen (see image)and click on the Open Trace Window button (circled in red).

Click on Select Trace Area. Then select and highlight the cutting file with your mouse. The red box is just there to show that you have to select the entire image.

Once highlighted your screen should look like the above image.

Select Low Pass Filter in the right pop up window. Adjust the Threshold slider until image is fully yellow but you can still see the original lines. For me the Threshold that seems to work is usually between 48 and 50 percent.

Next click on Trace Outer Edge. Notice the red outline lines that are now on the image. What is important to note is that if you click on only Trace anything that was highlighted in yellow in the step above will be traced and have red cut lines.

The next thing that I did was to click on Image -> Select All, then once selected click on Object -> Group. You have now grouped the main image with the outline trace of it. You need to do this if you want to resize the full image. If you do not group it then your outline and your printed image will be separate and when you go to resize they will not move together. Hope that makes sense.(see image below).

Of course if you are just interested in the outline shape of a PNG file then you don't have to do the group step. Select the original image and move it away from the red outline. You can then delete the orginal file. (not shown here)

So continuing from the group step above , since I am using the Print and Cut feature click on the Registration Marks button on the main menu and select the Style for your Silhouette. Then go to Cut Settings and select Cut Edge making sure that your red cutlines are not outside of the registration marks. Then from the main menu select the Print button and send to your printer. Once printed load into your Silhouette machine and cut.

Printed Image

Cut Image

Once I had all my elements cut I then assembled my layout. Here are a couple close up shots of the elements on my layout. The journal cards were also converted and cut using the same method. The only thing I did different was that I had to create a border around the journal cards and then grouped that with the original journal card image so that I had an outline for my cut lines.

The tags below were also cut using PNG files from the March kit and my Silhouette. I used them at the Tapas party to label dishes as gluten free. So as you can see there are lots of possibilities with the Printably Kits.

Now off you go to see what technology that  can fit in the palm of your hand that  Francine used with the PNG files to create her layout.

Sisters Paper Scissors | Pinterest Inspired T-Shirt Tote Bags

This month we go back to our Pinterest boards to make t-shirt tote bags as inspired by this pin from the mommypotamus blog. It is a great way to upcycle old t-shirts.

Here's my approach for making these.

I used pinking shears to cut off the sleeves and the neck. The shape for the neck was achieved with a plate and sewing chalk.

Cut the bottom of the t-shirt to the depth that you want your bag to be (not shown). On the inspiration tutorial she went the no sew method and made strips and tied the bottom of the bag together. However, I decided to pull out my sewing machine and stitch the bottom of mine. Remember to change the needle on your sewing machine to one that is suitable for stitching knit fabrics. I did a double stitch to ensure that it would be sturdy.

This was so quick and easy to make that I was able to make two of them in less than half an hour including setting up my machine. Notice how the second one is smaller and I knotted the handles for a different look.

I think the smaller ones is just the perfect size for a bulky knitting project and I plan to make a few more. Thinking also that next time if I use plain t-shirts that I will add an iron-on image to jazz it up a bit.

Now lets go see what Francine did.

Sisters, Paper, Scissors | Fun Projects Using Jan's Printably Kit

Hello, and welcome to Sisters, Paper, Scissors!

As you know my sister and I have been doing monthly blog projects in tandem for a few years now. We started out focusing on only scrapbooking with the Sister Sketch project. Last year we switched it up a bit with Sisters Take on Pinterest, where we each tackled a project we'd pinned.

This year we're combining it all into one whole shebang called Sisters, Paper, Scissors. We'll be mixing up paper crafts, scrapbooking and other crafts all year long, on the last Friday of every month. Make sure to bookmark our blogs, or add us to your blog reader so you don't miss out any of the fun!

Fun Projects Using January's Printably Kit

To start the year of we decided to go the printable route. Francine has been using printables for some time now and I always admired what she would do with them. Then she started her Printably monthly kits and took things to a whole other level. This year I was determined to put all the beautiful elements that I receive each month to use starting with January's kit.

I received this beautiful frame from my wonderful bestie Marny for my birthday this month and I when I saw this poster in the kit I knew the frame would just be perfect to display it.

Here it is displayed on my bookshelf

For the past few years I have been choosing a word to guide me through the year. I used Susannah Conway's workshop to help me find it and these printables from the kit are just the perfect way to keep my word constantly in my mind. 

I made a little mini book with some of the 3x5 cards so that I can keep my word with me and refer to it whenever I need to refocus.

This framed version made with one of the 4x6 cards will be displayed in my office. I decorated a frame from my stash with washi tape and colorful letters to match.

Each kit comes with a calendar for that month.  Some colorful paper, ribbon, and washi tape from my stash and I have this clipboard that I can use each month.

I have also finally joined the planner party and was inspired by this post by Francine to make pretty dividers for my planner. I used dividers from various past kits but this one from the January kit was perfect for the Daily Docket and Blog Planning sections of my planner.
I also used the tabs in the bonus kit content. Did I not mention that you also get bonus stuff later in the month! 

The kit also comes with greeting cards and I have decided that each month I will print them so that I have a readily available stash of "just because" cards to give to family and friends.

It was such fun coming up with different ways to use the elements from this kit. I can't wait to see what the next kit will inspire me to do.

Now off you go to see Francine's wonderful creations.