Loni Leah

April Project Life + Giveaway!

ETA: Drawing is now closed. I will be drawing the winner at random and then sharing the name of the lucky winner Wednesday morning.

I have been conflicted.  Now I'm not... and it feels great.

So, as I just stated, I have been conflicted. I have always loved scrapbooking in the traditional sense of paper + embellishements + trimming + kitchen sink,  but honestly, I've got to keep it real right now... my life is busy! I really need everything to be right in front of me on my computer sometimes and mess free. I've been conflicted to embrace the digital route more completely because somewhere along the line I picked up this stupid notion that digital scrapbooking just wasn't as creative, didnt' look as good, or was a cop-out... but that is SO not true! I've always been on the hybrid side of scrapbooking, but I'm glad that in the last week I had an 'ah-ha!' moment that makes me feel liberated: DOES IT HONESTLY MATTER HOW I CREATE & DOCUMENT, AS LONG AS I DO?  Uh, no! If this works better for me right now, or here & there, or whenever, I am going to embrace it and not feel guilty about it. Am I saying that I am abandoing traditional all together? Nope. Especially when it comes to Project Life, but if digital makes life easier and the process quicker now and then, count me in! There's room for both.

So, with that out of the way, here is my first 100% digital Project Life layout:  

I will be sharing more of my Project Life pages this week, so check back! (Supply list at the bottom of this post.) You can purchase Becky Higgins digital kits HERE at JessicaSprague.com. 

NOW, A GIVEAWAY!!!

This is the perfect opportunity for you to get started on Project Life too! If you're not already, or want another kit for yourself or to give to a loved on, enter to win a free kit here!! You'll receive the Cobalt Binder, Cobalt Cardstock, and a Big Variety Pack of Photo Pocket Pages. WOO HOO!! 

The products are shipping right from Amazon, so you must be a U.S. resident. Tell your friends, and enter yourself, by leaving your name, email, city and state in the comments on this post.

There are lots of chances to win since there are so many girls on the creative team participating too! If you link back to Becky's blog she will have the links to each giveaway post. GOOD LUCK!

LAYOUT SUPPLIES:

Project Life Digital Supplies: 'Live out loud' postage circle (bh_clementineedition_stamp_1_red); Notebook paper (bh_turquoise_lastpage_2) Black ABC paper (Turqoise kit, I believe? ); Teal circle embellishment (bh_turquoiseedition_remember); 'Right Here' circle embellishment (bh_turquoiseedition_righthere) 'Enjoy' words (bh_turuoiseedition_enjoy) 

OTHER: Font 'Modern No. 20'; Camera, clip art; Date tab (my own design). Created in Adobe Illustrator CS5

Project Life

Why, hello there! It's been a little while.

So, as I have been working on documenting my life this year with Project Life, and am now part of Becky's 2012 Creative Team, you will start to see me post more of my pages here on a regular basis. If you have any questions (or just want to become the greatest of friends and say hello!), leave me a comment and I'll respond back to you. :)

To start my sharing, here are pages from the month of December... 

Photography

I've been editing sessions like crazy lately, which is great, it just seems I lack the time lately to keep it all updated on my blog so last night I decided to start a special Facebook Page for Loni Leah Photography; just for quick updates. There is now a link on the sidebar to the right if you want to become my FB friend! I hope you'll follow it and "like me". I really am a somewhat like-able gal! ;)

 
  

    



 

Cute little family of 4.

So, I promised to start sharing more photo shoots in my last post, and this one being the most recent with my new camera (which i am very much in love with, by the way!), I'm sharing it before others. Not that any of my other sessions were less loved! This camera just makes me happy, so I'm posting my first session using it.  

Now let me introduce the cutest little family...

 
  
 
 

The most beautiful girls...

My two fun nieces, who are also sisters, spent a good chunk of Tuesday evening hanging out with me. They came along as I was scouting new locations for a photo shoot the following day and ended up as my subjects. The little one just got back from dance class and the older just wanted to come over to my house and play in my make-up for a couple hours so they weren't quite prepared for a photo shoot, but hello! They're naturals! They ended up front & center without any resistance. We had fun. They really are strikingly beautiful girls. 

  

I've missed my Maggie...

Do you have one of those friends that just makes you so dang happy to be around? Me too! One I haven't seen in way too long is my absolutely gorgeous, fashionista friend, Maggie. If you're a scrapbooker, you'll recognize her as one of the super-stars of the industry. That's actually how we first met, over seven years ago. We were both contributing artists at  Making Memories at the time; working on special publications and their design team. We hit it off immediately and have been friends ever since! 

Today she was in town visiting from Phoenix so we met up and hung out for a couple hours. I've missed my Maggie! We shouldn't be apart this long. It ain't cool. I think the last time we got to hang out and play was when I spent a week staying with her in Arizona two years ago. Now I want to pick up and move back to Arizona so I can be her next door neighbor and play everyday! Is that too much to ask?

She brought her Instax camera today (which is the size of an adult head!) so we had a little fun... 

I think I need one of these now!

Wow... I am a really good blogger.

Right? 

I have good intentions, I really do. Some weeks are just better than others. 

Not much on the brain today that is blog worthy so I thought I'd just share a photo shoot I did last month instead. I haven't shared many of those in recent months.

I wanted this shoot to be traditional & timeless so we keep it pretty simple. I shot indoor with natural lighting and a reflector.

This baby girl weighed only 4.7lbs. when she was born. A real life baby doll! So sweet.

 

 The foot idea with the text was something I first saw on Becky Higgins blog, so that's not my original idea. I ended up using that photo as the focal point on the announcement I made and added 'introducing our new' text in Photoshop above the word 'Love'.  Very simple.

Another tip... pull out your border punches! I love using them to add a custom touch to announcements or invitations I make for others. My favorite is the one I've used below by Martha Stewart. (Just make sure to leave space on the sides you want to punch when designing it. I generally make 5x7 prints.)  

  

Snapped these quickly in photo booth. The photo quality isn't the best, but it gives you an idea.

Holy cow!

I actually returned my Redbox (rent-to-own) movies on time! This is quite the feat for me. Last time I rented from that pretty-red-box, my balance was $13, for one movie, when I finally returned the stupid thing. Don't ask me why this is so difficult for me. I'm feeling rather impressed with myself this morning though. It's the simple things. 

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I'm sharing a sneak peak for Amber this morning of her fun family photo shoot last week in the snow. So beautiful shooting in the snow. but dang, it was cold.

 

PS. I've got new designs that were just added to the Silhouette Store.  Check em' out when you've got a second!

so cute & cuddly.

My nephew and 3 nieces on Sunday...

 
  

They're laughing at ME. You catch that, right? I believe they think I'm crazy... WHICH I AM OBVIOUSLY NOT. ;)

Some sneak peeks for Rachel...

You can check out more on my photo blog here.

 

mom + dad + 4 cute boys

I have known these two forever and could not love them any more than I do. They are pure awesome-ness; with a capital A!

Kim is one of my very best friends from my early teenage/young adult years (who I cannot believe has a son who is only a year or two away from being my heighth!) and someone who has lovingly (or, maybe naively?) trusted me to take photos of her family a couple times around this time of year. I hope they are getting better than that first time I made you pull out the bean bag from your basement, lol. ;) 

You are beautiful, friend. And surrounded by some pretty handsome boys.

SOME INDIVIDUAL SHOTS...

GOTTA END ON A SWEET NOTE. LOVE IT.

 

Yep, another one.

Ahhh, Monday's. Another night of Dancing with the Stars (go Donny... it's your birthday...) and other equally exciting television shows in the days that follow. So much to look forward to, friends. So much.

I have this drop dead gorgeous cousin, Emily, who I photographed her and her cute little family the other day. I just had to post a couple sneaks from this session. I love that Emily wasn't afraid to wear color. Note to the people! Do not be afraid of color, especially unique color combos & different textures, when you are photographed next. Trust me. They photography really well and are a lot fun against different backdrops.

Anyway, there will be more to come soon from this session, plus, I've got other family shoots to post too! 

   

tres chic

Don't you hate when you wake up unnaturally early and can't get your brain to shut off and fall back asleep? Argh. Happens to me too much. Guess I'll take advantage of it this morning and blog. And daydream about the sleep I wish I were having right now. Sigh. 

I did this shoot with my friend Erin a couple weeks ago that I've been meaning to post. We were trying out a new location in SLC, using her beautiful friend as our model. Wish we had more time to shoot because this was a great area. We were in a race against the sun though with only about 45 minutes of shooting time. Darn it.

Okay... is this not the coolest double-decker bus? I love the reflections in the windows.

beautiful sister + kids

Holy snap, it's been cold lately! Oy. Not loving it. Not one bit.

Last night I did a session with my oldest sister and her kids at rapid speed as we raced against the cold air & diminishing light. Poor kids. They did so great though. No major complaints from any of them. I haven't gone through them all, but these are a couple that stuck out to me. 

 

    

Interested in a photo shoot? Drop me a line at [email protected] for more information. I'll be offering some Christmas card designs, so it's a great time to get it all done before the holiday season begins, so you can sit back & relax. Ahh... wouldn't that be great? 

More photos to come...

Just not right this second, but, soon. :) 

Isn't she pretty? I think she has a little bit of a Keira Knightly thing going on.