Gift Album #1 - Xavier's First Year of School

I made this cute album for friend's son, who also happened to be in my Pre-K class. The album is pretty simple and includes 98% photos and the rest some cards from the Stampin' Up Project life Seasonal Kit 2 and thickers. I used a 6x8 photo album by Stampin' Up and used a wood school bus to decorate the cover. 

I love how this little Album turned out.. Don't know if I should give it to my friend now, or wait till Christmas. We'll see 

Thanks,

Michelle

Recollections Planner and Accessories

Why do I need another planner? This is actually my 3rd planner and I almost picked up another one at Target this past weekend. But I couldn't resist. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on this planner and I loved it! We went to Micheal's a few weeks ago and I picked it up.

I picked up the planner in a cute mint color, its around the size of an A5, I'm told.. lol!

I also got some inserts. I got MENU PLANNING, INSPIRATION, and TO-DO.

The inside of the planner is also really cute. I love the gold lettering.

I'm still trying to figure out how to use my cute new planner. I'll be sure to update you on my progress

Love, 

Michelle

AND.... Its Been Another Year!!

2015-2016 have been pretty hard years. I have been blessed beyond belief. But there were days that it was hard to even face people. I'm slowly getting back to my old self. To catch you up, I suffered 2 more miscarriages. It's been a heartbreaking experience for both me and my husband. We have started seeing a specialist. But I will talk more about that in another post.  I have been keeping busy this summer organizing, decluttering my house, cooking up a storm and scrapbooking. I have also gotten more into planners.. yet another obsession. lol! I have plans to help keep me out of my funk. One is this blog, which I put off along with my other passions because I just wanted to hide under a blanket. :( I have plans for the blog, ones I really want to tackle this time. I want to do planner posts, hauls... I also have a list a gift albums I want to complete, and I feel the blog will hold me accountable. I have my nephew's baby album to finish- he's 4 years old, and also a senior album for niece who already graduated from college. Im bad!!! I have a list of mini & vacation albums I want to do. And there's PROJECT LIFE! I have finally found my groove with project life and I love it more and more! I am actually caught up to June in my album. Im so happy about that! But I need to finish my previous albums, the one that overwhelmed me and just made me 2nd guess my decision to even scrapbook. I want to do a Throw-back Thursday: Project Life Style. Im starting with 2015 and working my way through the years. I even made a video.. (YIKES!!OMG!!)of what I have so far. I'm excited! I know that my posting will be interfered with school starting soon and all the stuff I have to do to get ready for that. But Im willing to make it happen and did I mention I'm excited!!! I will talk more about our baby journey in another post.. when the time comes and really when I'm ready to talk more about it


Love, 
Michelle

Well.....Its been almost a year...

Hi, friends!
Yes, it's been almost a year since my last blog post.....
This year has been one for the books....
August was a busy month for me with school starting and everything, I swore I would keep up with it, but things just didn't pan out the way I'd  hoped. Yes, I've been organizing, making stuff, project lifing.. is that even a word?? But I have yet to share it here in my blog, like i've been wanting to.
It's been a pretty rough year for me, one I learned so much from and one I never want to experience again.
Long Story short... After trying for almost 14 years to get pregnant we finally did.. only to end 3 months later in miscarriage, this happened in November, by March,  I was pregnant again.. 2 months later, again... miscarriage... It's been hard.. I think the hardest is to write this. I've been keeping these feelings locked inside me for a very long time.. I've been able to cope, but I am traumatized and I'm scared that a baby might never happen for us.. yeah it's been a rough year.. But through this journey I have learned one very important thing... Although things don't turn out the way you planned and days will not always be happy ones.. I know one thing for sure, I am blessed... very, very blessed! I am blessed with family, who took care of me and loved me, even though sometimes, it felt like too much and all I wanted to do was hide under my blankets and never come out.. I wasn't easy to love at these times of my life, I was angry, sad, disappointed, and broken.  I'm blessed with friends... long time friends, co-workers.. who hugged me, listened to my ugly cry sobbing when I needed to let it out, who understood, when I just didn't wanna talk about it. And lastly, I am blessed with a wonderful husband.. I know he was hurting just as much as I was, but he was always, always there for me.. even the the times, when again... I was not easy to love. We've grown stronger together and I think I love him more than I did the day I married him. He is my rock, my very best friend. I don't know what the future will hold for us, but one things for sure.. I am tired of waiting..tired of waiting for my "life to start"... for having that mentality, that my life will be just a bit more happier if I had a bigger house, if I was thinner, when we have a baby.. Like I said I am blessed, beyond belief.. and I am ready to live the life I have now.


With LOVE AND BLESSINGS, 
Michelle

Erin Condren Life Planner 2014-15

After weeks of waiting, I finally got my Erin Condren Life planner. I had been wanting one for some time and finally decided to get it. I am so excited!!!

 It came beautifully packaged in mint green tissue paper, I also got some free stickers, and tags.
AND a $10 gift card and and... $15 card on my next purchase. Downfall is I can't use them both at the same time. The $15 one expires next month, and I'm eyeing the teacher planner. The $10 card doesn't have an expiration date, so I might use it or next year's planner.

The planner I got was Candy Lace Mocha Multi and it retails for $50.00, but with the a $10 coupon, I was able to get for $40 plus shipping and tax. It took about 3 weeks for delivery.. longest 3 weeks ever.. but soo worth it!

The planner has a laminated cover that can be removed and is interchangeable. Here's the inside cover and first page, some inspiration in the following pages, and a calendar of the year in a glance.

 Next come the bones of the planner. The month at a glance and a week in a glance. Along with clear ruler, that is detachable and can be moved around as needed. The month at a glance come with a notes section. The week in advance is divided by morning, day, and night. It also has a section for notes and goals.

The planner also comes with lined paper and also decorative white paper for notes or whatever you might want to use it for.

I also comes with stickers that you can use to label your planner. The labels have birthday, game, dr's appt., hair appt., vacation, and also some blank ones.

I seriously love this keep it together pocket and the planner comes with a forget me not perpetual calendar and contacts. You can write birthdays and anniversaries, also important numbers.

It also comes with a plastic zip-lock type pocket with these beautiful tags with my name and that match my planner.

Here's a look at the inside back cover.. and the tabs.

Seriously love my planner and can't wait to use it. I'll try to post a blog post on how I'm using the planner once I get situated with it. I got these pens that a lot of people have been raving about at Target

They are seriously beautiful.. Go on over to Erin Condren and take a look.
Here is a $10 off your first purchase Referral link https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/michellemartinez1030



Happy Planning,
Michelle

Project Life-February 2014

I am finally posting my February 2014 Project Life spreads. First off... I know, I know... February is spelled wrong, I left out the r and I didn't realize it till later.. eh.. what are u gonna do that's life and I left it like that. For this spread I used the Clementine edition, some of the Kraft edition, and some cards that came with the Studio Calico Kit. I used design A for this spread.

Here's the first side.. A screen shot of the T.V during Bruno Mars Super Bowl Half-time Performance. Also, some collages, I made on the Pic Frame App of the 100 days of school celebrations at our school. I also included a screen shot of the weather on my phone.

The next part of the spread featured a funny pic of my friend's little boy, who had gotten dirty playing outside and as my friend  was changing him, he covered his face and was embarrassed,  lol! My aunt sent me a text and pic of the screen while she watched the Beatles on T.V. I included a sticker with a quote of one of their songs. I have had that sticker in my stash forever.. glad I was finally able to use it and it fit perfectly with my color scheme on the page. I also included some pictures of my father-in-law's 68th birthday. His birthday is on February 10, so I got creative and used the 10 of hearts card and put the word FEB using silver glitter letters.

My 2nd spread is Valentine's Day week. I used a card from a MAMBI holiday edition, and also more of the  KRAFT and CLEMENTINE editions. I used Design A for these layouts.

 The first part of the spread, I put some Valentines Day cards from my students and family.. easy and simple, just cut what I needed to size.

The second part of the spread, I included a picture of my niece's first Valentines Day and also her 2-month old photo. I also included my cousin's daughter's first birthday party pic and a collage of our friends' visit. This was also a pretty simple layout and I love the way it turned out. 

I did Include one insert this week.. On February 16, we Baptised by niece's baby girl, Mallery. So I decided this special occasion needed its own layout. I used design C. and some Jolee's boutique stickers and some pretty floral paper I had in my stash.

The only thing is I need to add labels on this spread to document who's who..

My last spread in February has more pink, I used some cards from a previous Studio Calico kit, 5th & Frolic edition kit, and Azure edition for the design H page protector insert.

The first part of the spread is all about my aunt's birthday and her birthday flowers. That week was also my dad's birthday. I also included a favorite picture I took of my class that week. Also very simple layout,

I couldn't fix the orientation of this pic, but this id the design H insert I added of Dr. Seuss birthday celebrations at our school.. I liked that the colors in the Azure edition, match with the whole feel of Dr. Seuss theme. I included a regular 4x6 photo, a 4x6 photo collage, and an instagram-sized photo collage.

The other side of the design h documents a trip we took to Fredricksburg, Tx. I used mostly photos in this spread and the title is cut from a magazine.. very primitive, but it works for me. I used some Azure edition cards.

I'm still loving this project so much.. Are u still loving Project Life??


With Love,
Michelle

T.V Console Organization

When my hubby and I first started buying furniture for our house, we bought a huge entertainment center for our living room. After years of using it, we decided it didn't suit our room size or style. Recently, we bought a medium size console. It was big enough for our T.V, but small enough for our space.

It is Cherry wood and I love it's very simple and has plenty of storage room..

The large middle cabinet holds our board games on the first shelf. On the 2nd shelf.. 3 long, skinny, wicker baskets from Target fit perfectly. The baskets hold my husband's video games, my Zumba video and accessories, and the middle basket is empty.

The right side cabinet, holds 3 picture boxes. I am in the process of organizing my photos and most of my pictures were dumped in these 3 boxes, I bought them years ago at Wal-Mart. I had put them in a donation pile, but decided to keep them for this project. The red box holds card games, bingo cards, etc.. The turquoise box holds kid's movies. I'm a teacher and we watch movies sometimes for holidays, etc.. so I keep these movies in their package and separate from our other movies. The green box holds blank CD's and DVD's. The boxes are labeled, so ill remember what I have in them.

On the left side, I put 2 acrylic boxes with our CD's and DVD's. I  labeled them with pretty scrapbook paper. I got these boxes at the Container Store, they are pricey.. but so worth it!!
Here's the.link

Here's a closer look at the inside. Was it hard to throw all the DVD covers.. a little, but it creates so much space. I still need to put together one more box to store the rest of our music and I am also thinking of making CD's of our photos and  putting a box together of all our photos.. but we'll see.
Hope you enjoyed this small organization project.


Love,
Michelle