Book Club - That's Life by Nic Howard

Tonight was the big night for sharing our projects inspired by the "That's Life" book by Nic Howard. Here are the projects (I think most if not all of them) that were presented tonight, along with a brief description of what in the book was the inspiration for the project. This time all of the projects are scrapbook pages.

Let's start with Barb's pages. She brought three to share that were inspired by this book. First is this one with the heart sewn over the photo. The idea of sewing over photos and using sewing to frame elements in scrapbook pages is prevalent in the book, and really a great idea.

This next one by Barb is inspired by the subject of one of Nic's layouts - Caffeine O'Clock on page 103 of the book - it seems that Nic is not the only one who must get a caffeine fix during the day. Barb and her daughter turn it into both an infusion and a chance to catch up with each other.

Barb's got some great details going there with the numbers, the clock face, and a tag for journaling.

This next one is of Barb's son as he left for a long (I think a year or so) trip to Japan. It is inspired by Nic's account of world travel these days on page 59 of the book. Barb included that brilliant red sun because it is what she saw through tears as she drove home from the airport that day! So appropriate for sending off her son to Japan!

Now, switching gears to Jan's projects. Jan always impresses, and no disappointment here! She felt inspired by the layout on page 101 about a woman's husband's mental health issues. Here Jan bares her soul about her own wrestling with OCD after her son was born - and in class she warned us that it is not an uncommon postpartum issue ( I assume somehow related to the postpartum depression we hear so much about. Anyway, here is the two page layout:

And here are a couple of chances to see some of the details:

And this is another project from Jan, inspired by Nic's call to scrapbook about everyday things that will help those who see the pages to get to know the people highlighted a little better. This one is about the sleeping habits of her family - really, quite humorous when you get a chance to read all of the journaling!Take a look at this pull-out hidden behind one of the main photos! This is something Jan is known for, and it is well executed here!
Jan said these papers and embellishments were RAKed to her, and not what she would have selected left to her own devises, but look what a great job she did with them! Way to expand your horizons Jan!
For the first time tonight we were joined by Kristii, and is she ever a great scrapbooker. She was inspired by Nic's "Five" layout on page 57 of the book - especially by the circles! Great use of circles (and really, a stunningly beautiful daughter as well!)

But look at the detail in these three dimensional butterflies! They are gorgeous!

So beautiful, we have to get another look at them!

Wow! What a beautiful page!

Last, but hopefully not least are my three lay outs. Now, before showing them, I have to say that for me Nic and her book have been a huge inspiration since the day I got the book four or more months ago! I just love the distressing and sewing techniques she uses, as well as the paper layering. And I'm am really excited about the expanded horizons when I get away from event scrapbooking and begin to do something more about life in general. So, here are my pages:

This first one is inspired by the "Neighbour" layout on page 69 - using the idea of a block of multiple photos. Also, I love incorporating stitching into the mix of a page!

Next I've got a layout inspired by two different pages from the book. I, like Kristii was very impressed with the Five layout on page 57 - I got my circle on the side of this layout from that.

And I also love the cluster of elements and decor down in the corner, which was inspired by the "So Cool" layout on page 39 of the book.

These photos are of Jansse several years ago, before Halloween. We went on a hike, and he was so in love with his costume that he insisted on wearing it and bringing along the wooden axe accessory for the entire hike. So typical of Jansse, even to this day! He was just three, and seeing him dressed as some sort of knight/viking out in the woods was so magical!

Next is a layout that really is so inspired by Nic's style in general - distressed edges, sewing on each of the many layers of paper, and lots of layers! And, its just about Jansse carrying his package from the gate to the house! Not that he gets packages every day, but the idea of photographing this part of the surprise was so fun!

The detail shots show some of the distressing and sewing I'm so enamored with. Also, I got the idea of using layers of paper within the journaling from the "Beautiful" layout on page 96 of the book.

So, that's it for this month - several people were not able to attend tonight, so we don't have as many projects as we'd hoped. But, if they get me photos of what they've done, I'll be sure to post them so you can all get a good look at them.

Next month we meet on the 18th, and we are doing projects inspired by the book "Designing with Details" from the wonderful team at Autumn Leaves.

By the way, it is still freezing here - well below -20*F by the time I pulled into the driveway after the meeting. So these women are wonderfully dedicated to have ventured out on a night like this. Talk about loving to scrapbook!

And, wouldn't you know it, I pull in to find that Andy had the truck stuck in the snow where he was attempting to plow a track around the front field so he can go for a run tomorrow. It took a good half an hour for me to pull him out - and it certainly wasn't getting any warmer as we worked at that! Excitement never ends around here!