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My Mom Snaps Giveaway Winner + celebrate National Crafting Month with Kiwi Crate!

I’m popping in quickly to announce the winner of the My Mom Snaps giveaway…sorry to keep you waiting. In case you missed it you can catch my review of this darling children’s book here.
Congratulations to…
Elizabeth Smillie
Yay Elizabeth, I’m so excited for you to get this fun book! Shoot me an email at cooper.rr{at}gmail.com to claim your prize!
For all the latest from My Mom Snaps you can find them online here:
Here’s another fun giveaway going on right now that you might be interested in! 
Kiwi Crate is celebrating National Crafting Month with a chance to win your dream craft room!

Enter to win everything in the Kiwi Crate Arts & Crafts Shop plus a brand new craft table from Pottery Barn Kids. Total prize valued at $750!

Click the image below for details + to enter:


Project Simplify Week One: Drawers + Shelves

I’m excited to be joining the fun that is Project Simplify over at Simple Mom this month! I can’t wait to get a few areas in our temporary little rental house cleaned up + organized. There’s still snow on the ground here in southern Alberta but I’m holding out hope that Spring weather + warmer temperatures will arrive soon. When they do, we’ll be spending all the time we can outdoors, so I’m eager to get some Spring cleaning out of the way!

Week one was all about drawers + shelves. I decided to start with the expedit shelf in my craftroom/office. I completely dropped the ball on a before photo…ooops. But its looking SO much better!! Trust me! I purged my scrapbook paper by nearly half + am excited to have simplified this part of my life! No more digging through piles of paper to find just the right one for my current project. I now have one shelf of pattern paper and one shelf of colored card stock, each organized by color. My plan is to only have enough paper that will fit on these two shelves – no more! If it doesn’t fit I’m not going to buy it!

I’ve had the handy locker baskets {similar to these} for years now and I continue to get so much use out of them! I love that I can see everything that’s in them with a quick glance. I haven’t begun to organize each basket yet – they’re just a mess of miscellaneous craft stuff. That’s another project for another day – to sort + label the baskets.
Next week’s Project Simplify hotspot is “that pesky closet” and I’ll be tackling this one:

Yikes, is what I say too! It contains more of my craft supplies as well as some of the big kids clothes that need to be hung, since there are no closets in their bedrooms. I’m looking forward to getting this space more organized…will share the after photos next week! 🙂

Check out more Project Simplify inspiration here:

Project Simplify on Simple Mom

Project Life Midnight Edition: Wedding Pages

Have you seen all the fabulous new project life kits that are being released in May? There are so many gorgeous designs to choose from, but one of my favourites is the Midnight Edition by Liz Tamanaha! The bright yellow, the simple color palette + the beautiful design immediately caught my eye + I knew I just had to design something… anything…with this darling kit!

My little sister’s wedding colors included yellow so I thought the photos would go well. This two page spread came together in a snap using the Midnight Edition! I’ve seen it used for baby pages +  everyday page spreads…so why not a wedding page? The Midnight Edition is not only beautiful, it’s super versatile as well!
The Midnight Edition is not available on amazon yet, but the digital version is available now at AC Digitals. I chose to print my cards at home + they came out great!
Here’s a closer look at the two pages:

I used the 12×12 yellow polkadot paper from the digi kit + cut out that little heart from one of the filler I’d already printed to create a unique card that coordinates with the rest of the elements on the two pages. I love the ability you have to do a little customizing with the digi project life editions!

I had so much fun using the Midnight Edition + can’t wait to use it again and again on future projects!
More Project Life Inspiration:
In other news:
I’m really excited to be teaming up with Big Picture Classes + 5 other amazing photographers to bring you: Finding Your Photo Style, a 6-week online workshop packed with creative photo tips, tricks, and insider secrets that will help you find (or refine) your own signature photography style.

Sign up here or click for more info about the class, including a sampler video introducing you to each instructors unique photography style! 

Monthly Photo Collages + Project Life

Back in 2010 I started a tradition of putting together a photo collage at the end of each month to highlight a few of our favourite family memories. It was a quick + easy way to get those photos documented and at the end of the year it was such a satisfying feeling to look back at all the collages I’d created!

You can take a peek at all my photo collages from 2012 here. I plan to put them all together in a photo book but haven’t gotten around to that yet, though its a project I can’t wait to get done!

Even though I’ve joined the Project Life party this year, I still want to keep up with my monthly photo collages – I love them too much to quit now! I have a new template for 2013 available for free download here and I’ve been making my collages each month to add to my 2013 project life album. Along with this collage of photos typically taken with my big camera, I’m also including a 6×12 collage of instagram photos.

I seriously LOVE these monthly instagram overviews! Its such a great way to document a whole lot of photos all at once and the little hashtag photo descriptions serve as my journaling. Simple + quick, just the way I like it! I coordinated my collages each month so I could add them to my album as a two page spread and I’m really loving the way they look!

Here’s a peek at the months I have in my album so far, along with a few journaling tidbits for my own records:

celebrating alivia’s birthday | starting project life | a delicious dinner out for our 14th anniversary snowshoeing in waterton lakes national park | potty training | addie’s first talk in primary | chores

ice fishing with my family | playing hookie from school to go snowboarding + skiing as a family | building a cub car | racing a cub car | valentine’s day | hiking bears hump in waterton

rainbow crafts with the little girls | wearing green to church for st. patrick’s day | celebrating cousin cait’s first birthday | easter egg hunts | emily’s first year playing basketball | fun at grandma + grandpa’s farm | easter sunday

Not only do I love creating these collages, but looking for photos for my collage at the end of each month is a great opportunity to sort, delete + backup my photos on a regular basis. I typically take an afternoon to go through each of my photo folders from the past month while looking for photos for my collage. I delete any unwanted photos, download + delete images from my iPhone + then do a backup.

For more information about my monthly photos project and to download any of the collage templates I’ve offered in the past, visit this post.

To purchase a copy of my 6×12 and 12×12 instagram templates, visit the Simple as That digital shop or check out this post for more info.

If you’re using any of my collage templates in your own memory keeping I’d LOVE to see what you’re up to! Share a link in the comments or shoot me an email at cooper{dot}rr@gmail{dot}com!

Favorite Quotes Mini Album + Printables

I’m an avid quote collector and a few years ago I had high hopes of finally getting my ever-growing collection organized into one place. I literally had quotes everywhere – jotted down on scrap pieces of paper, recorded in my day planner and pinned on pinterest! Can anyone relate?

Now, thanks to the brand new, super cute Project Life mini albums, I’m happy to say all my quotes will finally have a home!!
I began creating some simple printables of my favorite quotes back in 2011, imagining that I’d print them out and include them all into a photo album someday. I never did find the perfect album and the project got put on the back burner, until  I saw the new Project Life mini albums and I just  knew they’d be perfect for my little album of quotes!

Here’s a peek at the page spreads I have in my favorite quotes album so far. There’s no theme to the quotes on each page, it’s an eclectic mix of topics and colors. I plan to use a mixture of my printable quotes and leftover project life cards that don’t find a home in my other albums. I tend to like my Project Life pages more photo heavy than anything, so I know I’ll be left with some extra journaling cards along the way. I am excited to put them to good use in this little album of quotes!

Creating printables of my favorite quotes is something I love to do, but would be far too time consuming to do with all of them. Writing down quotes or printing them directly onto project life cards will make filling this album quick, easy and fun! The project life cards that I’ve used so far in the album are from the neutral Baby Edition.

For now I’ll be playing catchup and adding quotes I already have collected, but I’m really excited that I’ll have a place to put a new quote as soon as I find it! Jotting down quotes on project life cards and adding them directly to my album – skipping the middle step of recording it on a scrap piece of paper and promptly losing it – is going to be so great! I will be keeping things as quick + simple as possible when updating this album. I’m not worrying about a color scheme, I’m not worrying about design – its all about recording my favorite quotes and getting them all in one spot where I can easily find them and where others can read and be inspired!

I’m loving this project so much and I can’t wait to see my favorite quotes album fill up! 

I still plan to create a few fun printables of my quotes, I love the way they look mixed in with all the handwritten quotes.  You can find a handful of the quote printables that I included in my mini album in 4X6 sizes here or you can purchase a PDF version of all the printables pictured above, there are 20 altogether!

More info about the PDF file:

The PDF file contains all the quotes pictured in the pages above in a variety of 4X6 and 3X4 formats to fit perfectly in any project life album. They can be purchased from my shop for only $2.50 and would give you a great jump start on your very own album of quotes or can be used in any project life album you’re currently working on. The PDF file includes 3X4 versions of my popular Forever Family and photography themed wall prints! 
Purchase a PDF file of all the printable quotes pictured
in my favorite quotes album here.
I’ll be continually updating my blog with more quote printables to add  to my album so stay tuned for those! I just love creating them, I can’t help myself! 🙂 If you have any requests of quotes you’d like me to use, please leave them in the comments or email me at [email protected]…I’d love to hear from you!

Did you also know that all project life mini albums are on sale for 20% off now through April 5th! Grab them now at this great price!!

I’m linking up with these fabulous blogs!

Check out the brand new Simple as That Digital Shop for more fun + affordable products perfect for use with Project life! My most popular item in the shop right now are my 6X12 and 12X12 instagram collage templates! 
In other news:
I’m really excited to be teaming up with Big Picture Classes + 5 other amazing photographers to bring you: Finding Your Photo Style, a 6-week online workshop packed with creative photo tips, tricks, and insider secrets that will help you find (or refine) your own signature photography style.

Sign up here or click for more info about the class, including a sampler video introducing you to each instructors unique photography style! 

I look forward to seeing you in class!

Finding Your Photo Style Photography Workshop

I’ve been keeping this quiet for some time now + I’m excited to finally be able to share the news! Coming this May I’ll be joining 5 amazing photographers to teach a photography workshop with Big Picture Classes! 

The class is called Finding your Photo Style + here’s just a little bit more about it:

Looking for some incredible photo ideas? Look no further than Finding Your Photo Style, a 6-week online workshop packed with creative photo tips, tricks, and insider secrets that will help you find (or refine) your own signature photography style.

In Finding Your Photo Style, you’ll get to know six premier photographers who take stylish, stunning, and unique pictures of their families and their everyday lives—while also working as professional photographers in their own corners of the world.

These photography pros are ready to spill some of their best secrets and challenge you to try their favorite photo ideas for yourself! Through inspirational videos, downloadable challenges, and hands-on exercises that cover photography tips and post-processing tricks alike, you’ll discover the looks that suit you best.


I’m joining Tracey Clark, Elizabeth Dillow, Maggie Homes, Andrea Jenkins and Kate Parker in teaching this fun filled, informative class and I can’t wait! 
Registration for Finding Your Photo Style is now open! Take advantage of the introductory price of $60.00 {reg. $68.00} before this offer ends!
Sign up here or click for more info about the class, including a sampler video introducing you to each instructors unique photography style! 
I’m excited to see you in class! 

My Mom Snaps Book Review + Giveaway

The kids and I recently enjoyed a new book called My Mom Snaps by Kari McGrath and Darcy Jerome. I had a feeling we’d like it…
…but I didn’t anticipate just how quickly we’d fall in love with this charming little story! My goodness, this book is darling! From the colorful illustrations to it’s playful rhyming verse, this book is sure to be a hit for kids and snap-happy mom’s alike! It had us giggling more than once over the similarities between the story and our real life! 😉
Take a closer peek inside at some of the darling illustrations by Melissa Egan….

My kids and I loved this book and I’m so excited for the chance to share My Mom Snaps with YOU! Today Kari + Darcy are giving away a My Mom Snaps prize package that includes the following:

A copy of the My Mom Snaps Book
My Mom Snaps Notepad
A set of My Mom Snaps Notecards

To enter, follow the prompts in the rafflecopter widget below.
Giveaway closes 4/4/13 at 12am MST.

8 Simple Kids Craft ideas for Easter + Spring

Looking for some last minute Spring/Easter fun to have this weekend? Here are a few simple ideas of crafts + activities you can enjoy with the kiddos. 

Easter Book Page Banner

We couldn’t possibly let Easter pass us by without creating one of our fun little book page buntings! I think we officially have one for every holiday now! Follow along as we create this simple bunting for Spring/Easter!

What you’ll need to make your Easter bunting

some string or twine
a stapler
buttons
coordinating pattern paper
gluestick or other type of adhesive
some pages from an old book

 

Here’s how you’ll put it together

 
1. Using your book pages cut out however many rectangles you’d like approximately 3.5″ x 6″ in size.
 
2. Snip out a triangle shape from the bottom of your rectangles. Hint: From left to right, find the center of your rectangle then measure about 1 3/4 ” from the bottom to find where the top point of your triangle will be.
 
3. Cut out the number of bunnies you’ll need for each piece of your bunting. Download your free bunny template here. I’ve included a variety of sizes on the 8.5X11 sheet so choose the one that works best for you!

4. Attach bunnies to your bunting pieces being sure to allow enough room to fold over the top edges. Place a button in the center of each stocking.
 
5. Now you’re ready to put your bunting together. Simply cut a length of string and attach banner pieces to string by folding top edge of banner pieces over the string + staple. Space banner pieces evenly along the string by sliding them back and forth as needed.
 
6. Now hang that cutie up somewhere and enjoy your new Spring decor!

 

Follow Rebecca – Simple as That Blog’s board spring on Pinterest.

For more fun ideas for Spring check out these posts:

28 Kids books for Spring + Easter

















Spring Lei












Rainbow Color Mixing








Egg carton Bunny + Chick




Art Prints + Digital Goodies for Project Life

I love this quote so much and I’m working on a DIY canvas using this print that I can’t wait to share! In the meantime, I just added this chalkboard version to the shop. Go here for sizing and color options. For custom sizes and colors contact me at cooper{dot}rr{at}gmail.com for details! 🙂
Also available in the shop for those of you working on Project Life:
Watch for more items being added to the shop in the coming weeks!
Thank you so much for your support! If you have a second I would love your help in spreading the word about my latest venture. Head over to my shop + pin or share on Facebook or Twtter.

I appreciate it SO much! 🙂

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