Since I didn’t post a Project Life Tuesday spread last week, I am doubling up this week. Here is my spread for week 7. It is another big one, but I think it might be my favorite.

In addition to my Design A page protectors, I used a 6×12 and a Design E cut in half.

As always, you can click on my images to make them big.

The little Valentine was made by Adeline’s teachers at school – love it!

On the left page, I added journaling to the date card, which I haven’t done before. I just had so much to write this week. I really liked using the space in that way. I also attached two instagrams to my journaling cards. The first one was from The Civil Wars’  Twitter feed from their big Grammy win. On the bottom right photo, I used a staple to attach the square journaling card. I need to use staples more!

The 6×6 pockets were perfect for a Valentine’s photo of each of my kids + their Valentines. I used some heart shaped paper clips on the top of the protector to keep it closed. I also used the same journaling stickers on both sides as a unifying element.

Then I used a 6×12 page. On the first side, I included a picture of the kids holding their Valentines (I do this every year) + their actual Valentines.

The back of the 6×12 was a large photo of the two of them together. I typed the “Brother & Sister” on the photo before printing it. The photo was actually 6×9. I added sticker to the bottom 3 inches to embellish it.

You can also see the 7×5 Hambly insert I made. I used my Xyron 5″ creative station to attach the photo collage to the Hambly transparency, then punched it and added it to the album. It is such a nice addition. I definitely want to do more of these in the future. In retrospect, I should have used the Xyron to laminate the photo before attaching it to the transparency – next time!

On the last page, I included a note about Adeline clapping at school and a picture of her clapping at home, as well as just some regular photos + journaling.

Whew! Let me know if you have any questions!

I started Project Life Tuesday in 2010 because:

• I needed to keep myself accountable and on top of my photos each week.
• My family loved being able to count on a weekly post with pics of the kids.
• I thought others might want to keep themselves accountable too.

It was a huge blessing and so I am excited to be kicking off my third year of this series.

Each Tuesday, I will share my spread from the previous week, as well as host a linky for readers to link up their pictures/layouts. This year, Epson is sponsoring Project Life Tuesday, and they provided me with their Epson Stylus R2880 Large Format Photo Printer (C11CA16201) for many of my album’s photos. Printing photos at home is hopefully going to help keep me on track!

If you link up, please be sure to include the Project Life Tuesday button or a link to The Mom Creative in your post.

Notes about my album: Before showing my layouts, I want to share a few details about my album:

• I am using the colbalt kit this year.
• I stamped all my weekly 6×4 cards and have placed them in my album. It just seemed easiest to get this done all at once. I used a date stamp from a past Project Life kit. If you don’t have on, Amazon has date stamps
  for less than $5. You can also find them at office supply stores.
• I printed my photos at home using my new Epson printer. I loved how convenient it was. I plan to print most of my pictures at home this year, especially large format images, using the Epson Stylus R2880 Large Format Photo Printer (C11CA16201)
• For a complete list of the products I am using, and more about my approach this year, click here.

For this week, in addition to the regular inserts, I added a coin collector insert for the Instagrams and a standard 8.5×11 insert. Remember, click on any photo to see them big.

The left page is all photos that Matthew took while I was out of town. I had him write on the journaling card. I love his handwriting being a part of the week.

The instagram insert is my favorite from the week. For more on this page, as well as tips on how to incorporate this type of page in your album, read yesterday’s post.

I created two collages of Adeline’s cupid pictures and put them front and back in an 8.5×11 protector. I used some simple glittery stickers to keep the focus on the photos. Honestly, I wish I would have put the cupid girl across the bottom of the top photo, but they wouldn’t come off, so I just left it. Some pages aren’t perfect – ha!

I love this right page. I kept it very simple – just photos and words, along with a few stickers.

And, if you are a fan of The Mom Creative on Facebook, you might remember mentioning that there will be a bonus Project Life post tomorrow. (Click here to like The Mom Creative if you don’t already!). So be sure to stop back tomorrow. I have several really cool elements incorporated into my Week 7 spread.

Can’t wait to see your layouts. Link up below.

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I saw an idea on Pinterest to use coin collecting pages for Instagram photos. I ordered a package and decided to try them out this week (you will see my full week on Project Life Tuesday tomorrow). Here are my tips for using these pages and instagrams in  your Project Life album.

Tip #1: Set-up all your instagrams on one 8.5×11 sheet,which makes it easy to keep everything the same size. It also is a very cost effective method to print the instagrams. Instagrams are 2×2, and I found it easiest to drag them right from the Instagram website. It was easier to do this than pulling from your phone because the phone photos are larger and need to be resized to put into the coin slots. This only took a few minutes in Photoshop Elements.

My 8.5x11 page of Instagrams

(Side note – if you don’t have Photoshop Elements 10 for editing your photos for Project Life, I can’t recommend it enough. Plus, right now it is on sale for only $59.99 on Amazon, which is a steal. I just paid almost $100 on Amazon last month!)

Tip #2: Don’t be afraid to cut your page protector: The pages have 20 slots, which really is 40 slots if you include the backside. That is A LOT of instagrams.  Since I didn’t have even close to that many photos, I trimmed the last row off the page, which eliminated 10 slots.

My trimmed page had 15 slots per side instead of 20

Tip #3: You have a lot of slots – be creative! I cut a bunch of 2×2 journaling blocks and accent pieces of paper to integrate with my instagrams. This helps to break up the images and ultimately create a better looking page. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to paper – brads, ribbons, stickers, etc. would all look great in the small slots.

Tip #4: Use similar styles of paper as a unifying device on your page. Since so many slots are a part of these pages, having a unified look is very important. For my Instagram page, I used all Love, Elsie paper from a few years ago. By sticking with the same brand and style, the completed page has a lot of design synergy. Tip #5: Add a tab to the side of your page. No particular reason for this tip except it looks so cute. I love that mine is labeled “instagrams”. I envision that future generations will be like “what the heck is instagram?” Have you used coin collector pages in your Project Life album? If so, what tips would you add? Be sure to stop back for Project Life Tuesday tomorrow to see how this page is incorporated into my weekly spread! Pin It

As a blogger, I receive emails from readers asking things like:

How do you do it all?
I don’t. Seriously. I wish you could see my to list. Or even just my laundry baskets.

How do you keep your house clean?
That’s funny. It’s a mess most days. Cheerios can almost always be found on the floor. And dusting? That never happens.

How do you find time to cook?
I use the crock-pot more than the oven.

In short, I do NOT have it all together.

I struggle with the same things you do.

For the rest of this post + a free printable you will definitely want, click here

Mamapedia is offering a great deal today – a year-long subscription to Rachel Ray for only $8! I get Rachel Ray and definitely used this deal to renew my subscription. You can’t beat less than $1 an issue. It is full of great and easy recipes, shopping tips and more. LOVE IT.

Details

• Includes 10 issues
• Magazine will be mailed to the address provided at checkout on Mamasource
• Subscription will be sent to you within 6-8 weeks
• Valid for new, renewal or gift subscriptions; US only
• Limit (1) voucher per household
• Offer valid February 16-21, 2012 only
• Address changes may be submitted to Mamasource by Midnight, February 22, no further changes may be made after that

Go snatch this up before it sells out!

Today I am grabbing the progressive blog baton from Kristen to talk about (in)RL.

It’s wild when something that starts as a small idea explodes into real community isn’t it?

That’s how (in)courage was started and now, it is the story of (in)RL.

If you haven’t heard of (in)RL (in REAL LIFE), please check out this video before I go any further.

and this one for more of the why…

Doesn’t it just sound wonderful!?

So essentially, (in) RL kicks off with a webcast for everyone to watch in their living rooms Friday, April 27 and then  a dedicated day of (in)courage meetups on Saturday, April 28- think mini beach house parties – all around the country and globe and a webcast for everyone to tune into. A local meetup on a global scale; friends will gather to watch live webcasts of (in)courage contributors and community, connect with one another, and discover new friendships they didn’t know were right around the corner!

I know that  for me, as a busy working mom, I sometimes find it challenging to make time to cultivate new friendships. I believe that (in)RL will be the perfect opportunity to get to know women right in Nashville. (in)courage gets the importance of REAL community, which is why they created such a beautiful “unconference” like (in)RL.

How to sign up? It’s easy – first, register here (it’s $10 and you get a t-shirt and card pack – what an awesome deal!) and then sign up here to host or attend an (in)RL beach house party.

I really hope you will plan to attend a gathering in your local community – or even host one if there isn’t one in your area. Hosts also have the opportunity to purchase specially discounted beach houses in a box, which are chock full of amazing DaySpring products.

I’m super excited about the Nashville meet-up that Angie, Annie and I are hosting at Cross Point Community Church – and I hope you will come if you are local!

It has been a privilege to be a part of some of the brainstorming and video development.

The (in)RL content will be rich, but the community experience will be even richer. So don’t hesitate.

This is something you don’t want to miss.

BONUS: (in)courage is giving away 100 mug and platter sets to the first 100 people who blog about (in)RL! Click here for details and to link your post.

Will you be joining in the fun of (in)RL? Please share in the comments!

——————

Hello! A quick introduction: I’m Emily Carter from The Pilot’s Wife. My husband has been a pilot since he was 17, but this year I decided to learn to fly, too. We have an adorable three year old, Miles who keeps us laughing. Sadly our second son, Whitman, was stillborn in October so from time to time I write about miscarriage. We travel a lot. We fly a lot. Want to know more? I can be found elsewhere on facebook, twitter, and instagram (emilypilotswife). And I also am a regular contributor for Simple Kids and A Deeper Story.

(Side note: Jessica and I have been friends for a few years and she’s the reason I got started with Project Life. This self-proclaimed non-scrapbooker even found herself in the scrapbooking aisle at Hobby Lobby last week. What in the world is happening to me?)

Now, on to this week’s pages.

Here’s a shot of everything together. I had several inserts this week.

A closer look at the first page:

I added the “this week” sticker to the date card (Glitz & Glitter brand, found at Hobby Lobby). A couple of instagram photos, and a Valentine from Miles’ school party.

Inserts:

I cut down a 6×12 page protector to hold some Valentine cards for Miles. One from his grandparents and on the other side a bunch of little ones from his school party.

I also recorded A Day in the Life this week on Wednesday. I still need to add the journaling to the backside of this picture collage. I used a Cathy Zielske digital layout and some Clementine card stock.

And the last page:

I kept it simple with four 4x6s and four journaling cards. Possibly my favorite photo this week, though, is the cockpit shot where I’m making the face. That was after a particularly rough landing!

Thanks, Jess, for letting me share here today!

Nursing sweet Adeline

Because I am still nursing full-time, Adeline went with me to Atlanta this past weekend. (Our freezer stockpile is in the single digits!)

I am one of those moms who does not have a problem nursing in public places, though I try to always do it as discretely as possible – sitting in the back of a room, always using my hooter hider, etc. Adeline is a quiet nurser and I have never encountered an issue.

That is, until yesterday.

I decided to go to a large, popular, well-known Atlanta church on my way out of town yesterday. I was really looking forward to hearing the pastor, whom I respect, and the worship team. When I got to church, I knew I was pushing Adeline. She was tired and hadn’t nursed well earlier. So I planned to take things in stride, prepared to not stay the whole service if she wasn’t up for it. I sat on the aisle in the second to last row.

After about 30 minutes, Adeline was fussing a bit, and I decided to take her into the lobby (which was the biggest church lobby I have ever seen), nurse her and be on my way. A kind church member who was sitting behind me mentioned earlier in the service that there was a “mother’s room” and offered to take me there, but I declined, knowing that I would likely be leaving early and didn’t want to disturb folks more than necessary.

When I got into the lobby, I sat down on one of the giant square ottoman/couch type things. It had four distinct sides and there was no one on three of the sides. I sat just as I am sitting in the above picture and started nursing Adeline. (I had Matthew take the picture when I got home from Atlanta.) After just a couple minutes, a woman came up to me and said, “we have a mother’s room, if you would like to go there.” I said that we were just fine, but let her tell me where it was in case I changed my mind about leaving.

I continued to nurse Adeline and two minutes later ANOTHER woman came up to me and said “There are going to be about 70 people coming through here for communion, so it would probably be better if you went to our nursing mothers’ room. I can help you carry your things.”

My mind exploded with retorts.

I am FINE here.

Do you not see me nursing? Why would I want to move?

The 70 people won’t bother me or my daughter.

Do you have a problem with a mother nursing?

What is it with you people and the mothers’ room?

Instead, as calmly as I could I said, “you know, I was planning to leave town after feeding her, so I guess I will just leave now instead.”

She didn’t reply.

I pulled Adeline off and she WAILED.

I put Adeline in her carseat and left the church as quickly as possible. I nursed her in the car, called Matthew crying about the incident and headed home.

It is ridiculous in this day and age that people have such issues with public nursing. The CDC has a fascinating “breastfeeding report card” which illustrates facts about breastfeeding in America.

Interestingly, in Georgia only 10% of mothers are still exclusively nursing their babies at six months. So I am an anomaly (I only supplement a few ounces a couple times a week, so I think I can say that I am almost exclusively nursing:) ). I can’t help but think that the culture of the state impacted the way I was treated.

Have you ever encountered being treated poorly because you were nursing your child? How did you handle it?

Update: To those who have mentioned writing a letter, I sent several tweets yesterday to the church, who is VERY active in social media. They have not responded.

The point of this post is to discuss how women are sometimes treated for nursing in public. My situation happened to occur in a very popular, “hip” church. 

Also, to clarify, this was not my church. I was visiting this church while in Atlanta. I had never been there before.

Update 2 (Feb 15): I received a kind apology from the church yesterday afternoon. Again I want to emphasize that this post was about breastfeeding in public and how women are sometimes made to feel – not the church itself.

Update 3: I have disabled comments because they have turned from a dialogue to mostly being hateful, which is not helpful to anyone.

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As I shared on Facebook last week, we jumped on the sucker Valentine bandwagon this year.

The idea was inspired by this Valentine I saw on Pinterest.

I love this idea because the picture captures Elias in 2012 – so much better than a generic Valentine.

Here are my tips for making these sweet and easy Valentines.

• Have your child hold their arm out a bit to the side, not directly in front of their face (it was a bit difficult to get Elias to understand this concept!)
• Dress your child in Valentine’s colors (red, white and/or pink)
• Solid colors or small prints will keep the focus on your child’s face
• Simple clip art or photoshop brushes are a fun way to add some hearts/Valentines art
• Leave plenty of “white space” so you have room for text
• Buy small suckers so they don’t overwhelm the picture
• Use a razor blade (or if you are a scrapbooker, use an eyelet setter like I did) to create slits/holes for the suckers

For more Valentine’s inspiration, check out my Valentines Pinterest board.

This weekend, Adeline and I are in Atlanta at NAMS7, a blogging/internet marketing conference (If you are a blogger, you really should check out this conference. REALLY amazing learning experience.)

Last night I was at dinner with some blogging friends attending the conference (including Sami, Erin and Andrea)  when I heard the news that Whitney Houston had died.

Her music is definitely part of my childhood soundtrack.

The Greatest Love of all was probably my favorite Whitney song. Here is a clip of her singing it at the Grammys in 1986.

As a mother, the lyrics have taken on new meaning:

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be

What is your favorite Whitney song or memory?