Currently || April Edition

I AM CURRENTLY...

Journaling and loving it. I bought a notebook from Nuuna while I was in Salzburg. I got it at this home concept store and I am such a sucker for shops with unneeded but incredibly adorable things.


Relaxing after traveling. Have you ever been to Salzburg? It's magical.


Enjoying the flower obsession on Instagram. Spring is wonderful.


And doing random Project Life spreads from past photos, but sadly NOT working on my 2016 album.

Day in the Life™ || 29 March 2016

 

This was my first year joining Ali Edwards in documenting a day in my life. I decided on a whim the night before and gave myself a couple "rules" to follow so that it wouldn't be too much work.

ONE: I took all the photos with my phone. My phone doesn't take that great of photos, but I cared more about convenience.

TWO: No retakes. No matter how crappy the photo. See above that I have a terrible phone and just know that I got a lot of bad shots. And I'm ok with it because it's all a part of my new mantra that perfection is overrated.

THREE: All the photos had the same Vscocam filter (A5). Of course, if the filter didn't fit the photo I just made it black and white and called it good.

I got my pictures printed through Rossman here in Germany. They have the option to print 4"x4" photos and the quality isn't bad.

I just started on the album today and decided on a 4x4 gold WRMK album and kraft paper. I'll also be stamping numbers using PAPIERPROJEKT stamps because I absolutely love how the chronological day layout I did in my Budapest album.

Here are a few photos from my day using my "rules":

I will post the rest of the album here on the blog as soon as it is finished.

Hope you enjoyed the first pages xo,

Kais

52 Project: April Update

Yes, I'm still doing the 52 Project I mentioned back in January. You would think that taking pictures once a week would be easy, but LIFE HAPPENS. No problem, though. (Remember I said before that perfection was overrated). Well, I just rearranged a few photos so that I have a picture a week.

And I decided to add weekly photos of me and Zo. Don't worry, she's smiling on the inside in these pictures.




I'm going to try and post these photos every week on Mondays to hold myself accountable. We'll see how it goes.
                    

xo,

Kais

Spring Appreciation

Spring has sprung. We have been to the park more times already this spring than all of last year. Take that 2015.

Budapest Travel Album

I went to Budapest in October of 2013 with two friends that have traveled the world with me. The photos from the trip were spread across Instagram, Facebook, and an old SIM card. I'm so glad I brought the photos together in this album so that I can actually enjoy them. Budapest is such an incredible city and the photos were vibrant. It really made the album one of my favorites to make.

I thought it would be difficult to make an album from photos that weren't recent. I also had absolutely no additional bits and pieces (this album was pure photos). I decided on a 6x8 handbook by Studio Calico. And by "decided"... I mean "had to because I didn't want to buy anything else". It turned out perfectly.

THE SUPPLIES: This album uses 3 new stamps sets by PAPIER PROJEKT and an older patterned set: the Brentano alpha , the Kopernikus numbers,  the Details set, and Mustermix . They are all 4x4" high quality, clear Photopolymer stamps and are now available in the shop. I chose two colors of Versa Color ink throughout the album. These were Sage and Bronze. I wanted to try to keep it color coordinated. Of course, I also used my black Stazon (the best ever). For the patterened journal cards, I used leftover paper from my December Daily 2015 kits, plus a few other pieces by Life Love Paper and Ashley Goldberg.

Here is my title page. I love to repeat words when stamping (as you will definitely see throughout the album).

My first spread is my favorite. I love the stamping and that painted Budapest window in the picture.

The next spread is from our first adventure when we walked from our hostel in Pest over to the Buda side of the city. This seriously took us all day because we all had our cameras and were pure photo snobs. It was wonderful.

The third spread was from the same day, but I put them in chronological order and stamped the time using the Kopernikus numbers. Of course, the times are purely guesstimates because I didn't keep a journal of everything we did during the trip and this was from 3 years ago. That colorful card was a Thank You card by Life Love Paper when I ordered a stamp set from her site. Note: I am not a perfectionist when stamping as you can see from the "Morgens, Mittags, Abends" card. Stazon ink dries REALLY fast. I was way too slow stamping the card so it dried before I could get a clear image. I decided I didn't care to do it over again. Then I wrote my statements and "fueling for the evening" was a bit offset. Again, I decided it was too much effort to redo so I just added a star on the left. Perfection is overrated.

And the next spread is more stamping and a sequined 6x8 page.

Here is a close up of that page. I have a Fuse tool, but it is the US version and I am in Germany. So instead I used my tiny attacher and called it fabulous. The card is from an Ali Makes Mail from 2015

Here's my next spread. I might change the 2x2 pockets on the right side. Everyone loves that page protector size, but I have such a hard time using the tiny pockets. 

For the next spread, I had that Ashley Goldberg paper from a calendar set she did for Studio Calico. It was cut down for a different project that I didn't use it for. So I cut down the 6x8 page protector, hole punched along the bottom, and hand stitched it with twine.

I put our night pictures on the next spread. 

And the next one has the pictures from our walk to the Széchenyi thermal baths.

And finally.... the end of the album includes the only photo from the bathhouse. We didn't take our cameras in since we were enjoying the water. I stamped WE WERE HERE and created the patterned background on the lower card using Mustermix.

I hope you enjoyed the album as much as I did making it. And go check out the new PAPIERPROJEKT shop!

xo,

Kaisa

PAPIERPROJEKT Creative Team 2016

This year is going to be great.

I am a part of the PAPIERPROJEKT blog and media team for 2016. 

If you are a lover of high quality photopolymer stamps, I dare you to check out their stamps and not be hooked. Just click HERE. It's that easy. If that isn't enough. Just go take a look at their Instagram feed.

You can also check out the blogs and Instagrams for the rest of the team. Get ready to be swooned. 

Andrea (Team Koordination) – Blog | Instagram

Anna – Blog | Instagram

Daphne 
– Blog | Instagram

Janine
 – Blog | Instagram

Jennifer
 – Blog | Instagram

Lisa
 – YouTube | Instagram

Renate – Blog | Instagram

Sandra
 – Blog | Instagram

PAPIERPROJEKT Links

website: www.papierprojekt.de

instagram: www.instagram.com/papierprojekt

52 Project: The Year of 30

I am not the best journaler.

But this is a grand year. It is the year I turn 30.

My inspiration comes from the Life: Captured blog. Please go through their journaling and memory keeping archives. They are drool worthy and will make you wish you started documenting your life earlier (or maybe that was just me).

What I'm doing is called the 52 Project. I plan to take a portrait of myself each week in 2016. I will also try to do at least 1 journaling entry per week. At the end of the year, I will have it professionally printed in a Moleskine notebook. After starting this project, I have come to realize that MANY people have done it before so I have loved looking at all of the inspiration, mainly on Instagram. If you want to follow along with my story, I will be using the hashtag #kaisasyearof30

We are 3 weeks into the year and I can honestly say that the picture taking isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I am not a selfie taker so I assumed it would be awkward for me. Side note: there are PLENTY of awkward photos,

Here is Week 1: I wanted the first picture in the book to have no gimmicks. I wanted to see ME. That is why I took this straight on. I edited the photo with VSCO cam on my phone. I have Radlab on my computer, but I couldn't get a good enough edit so I transferred the file to my phone. I do this often because those VSCO filters are just so good.

Here is Week 2: I wanted to show the wrinkles when I smile. I want smile wrinkles. When people look at me when I'm older, I want them to be able to see the happy life I've led. This photo was edited with Radlab.

So far, this project has been really incredible and it inspired me to also do weekly pictures with my daughter. I don't quite know what I will do with those pictures yet. A Moleskine notebook is pushing $100 so I'm contemplating using a different medium.

Again, if you'd like to follow along, I will be posting on Instagram @kaisacreates

Until next time.

xoxo,

Kaisa

Currently || January Edition

I am currently..

reading Everything I Never Told You

watching Making a Murderer

eating Baked Oatmeal

drinking Black Coffee. I miss lattes, but I'm trying to cut back on dairy.

listening to the Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify.. which has suddenly started to only play covers much to my disliking.

enjoying free time while Zo sleeps

finishing the rest of my 2015 Project Life album

loving that Zo is becoming more confident. She took 3 steps yesterday.

feeling actually really good. My mind is clear and we are going to start next month looking for places to rent in France.

wearing a structured cotton sweater from Mango. I love it so much that I bought it in 2 colors.

hearing Zo's chatter. She talks so much. Her current word is "cat".

baking Lemon Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. I got a bunch of bananas for 50% off at the store. (edit: this was phenomenal)

using our new Fitbits. It has motivated me to also start doing home exercise videos like a boss mom.

My Life Documenting Plan for 2016 - Part 2 - Project Life 6x8

2016 is here and I am proud to say I have started my album already.

This is the plan:

ONE ALBUM
Yup, just one measly album and I'm going to do it. I have already prepped the album with 2 page protectors per month: 1 full page and 1 separated page. I know it can all fit in 1 album because I intend to document ME in a separate way. This 6x8 album will be just the family.

SIMPLIFICATION THROUGH REPETITION
Every month has only 2 page protectors. Each month will get a full page photo with this Paislee Press monthly template. Then on the back side of that full page will be this Snapshots template with the photos that didn't get enough love to go solo. I absolutely adore Paislee Press. The second page protector will have more freedom so my creative self won't be too restricted :)



MONTHLY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH
Each month, I want a photo with all three of us in it. I have an incredible amount of photos from 2015, but not many where we are ALL in the photo.


And that's that. I hope that this will help me take BETTER photos.

December Daily - Free December Calendar Printable

Yay!

It is December and the start of my first ever December Daily.

Today I took down the suitcases from upstairs to start packing for our trip to Oregon. Of course, Zo thought they were her designated play toys for the day. She hasn't been feeling well this past week so anything that makes her happy is fine by me.

I created this calendar to go on the second page. I love the look of the calendars and really wanted my own handwriting to be in my album. If you like, feel free to use it in your project as well. Here is the Dropbox link: Free December 2015 Calendar Printable

I am really excited about this project and hope it goes well as it is my first time. I have gotten so much inspiration from everyone else and wish to do the same to others.

xoxo, Kaisa

Whole30 Update: Day 10

I successfully completed 10 days of my first Whole30. So far, I have had only positive experiences physically and mentally. Here are some things that have improved just in these 10 days:

1. More energy in the mornings. I have really noticed that I am more productive right after I wake up. I used to get my energy kick in the early afternoon, and it was almost impossible for me to "get moving" before then unless I had something important to do. Now, I see myself playing with Zoe more and we like to go to the grocery store before lunch.

2. Weight.. I know the program officially says to stay away from the scale, but I totally ditched this mantra. After 10 days, I have lost 2.5 pounds. I was already happy with my weight so this is just an added bonus to me. I really started this to help with my lack of energy. 

On Day 9 I wanted sugar badly. I was thinking of cookies and chocolate and it was a bit difficult. But every other day has been easy. I would really love to have my oatmeal back in the morning, though. I am TIRED of eggs.

Side note: I am really excited for Thanksgiving dinner. Making a Whole30 compliant festive meal is going to be really easy. We can still have turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie (minus the crust) :)

xoxo, Kaisa 

My Life Documenting Plan for 2016 - Part 1 - Hobonichi Weeks

2016 is bound to be a big year for me. It is the year I will turn 30. And I want it to be properly documented. I have thought a lot about my life documenting plan and will be sharing it with you on this blog in 3 parts: planning, journaling, and Project Life. I hope that you are inspired to document your 2016 and that maybe some of my ideas could be useful in your life.

So here are my plans for PLANNING:

I have kept a planner for all of 2015 and am so proud of myself for keeping up with it. I like that I can look back and see exactly what I did on each day. It also really helped me with Project Life if I was a bit behind.  I currently use a Hobonichi Cousin (A5 size) with daily, weekly, and monthly calendars. I journal with the daily. I plan in the weekly. And the monthly I don't really use.. Some months I took a picture a day of Zoe and pasted them into the day boxes. I actually really liked this, but it took a lot of work. And extra work with a baby is definitely a thumbs down. 

For 2016, I'd like to change it up a bit. I want to split up my journaling and planning into separate books. Let's face it, sometimes I don't have time to plan and sometimes I don't have time to journal. I don't like that my empty journaling pages and empty planning pages are combined in one book. Also, I want my planner to be portable. (The A5 size was a bit bulky to go in my purse). Below are some old pictures of my weekly, monthly, and daily pages:

Weekly

Monthly

Daily

I love my Hobonichi. Which is why I have decided to keep the same brand for my planner. If you haven't heard of Hobonichi, you should really check them out. Here is a link to the English website. 

For 2016, I will be using a Hobonichi Weeks with the Liberty Art Fabric cover in Peacocks of Grantham Hall. The Hobonichi Weeks is tall and thin, much like a Midori Traveler's Notebook. It has the full week on the left side and grid blank space on the right. I chose this because I love to make lists for the week, which will be perfect for the right side. And that cover is so gorgeous. Below are some pictures from the Hobonichi website as my planner won't ship until early December. 

Photo from the Hobonichi website

Photo from the Hobonichi website

I am so excited to hold this planner in my hands and will give an update to you with more pictures once it arrives at the end of the year. 

xoxo, Kaisa

Currently || November Edition

I am currently:

Reading: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. It is SO GOOD. It is also so difficult to read with a 10 month old. The only time I have is about 30 minutes before bed. I think I will follow along with Kellie Winnell and do 30 minutes for 30 days for myself. 

Watching: I just finished watching Season 3 of Rita on Netflix. It is a Danish TV series about a woman/mother/teacher who is opinionated and sex driven. And I highly recommend it. The only problem I've had is that I can't do anything else while watching it because of the subtitles. So nursing was the perfect time to relax and catch up on episodes. 

Eating: I am doing a Whole30 in November so I made homemade Lara bars. I urge you to make some. I put 30 g of nuts with 80 g of soft dried fruit in my Nutribullet and then molded them into bars. Fabulous. My favorite so far has been almond, coconut flakes, dates, and figs. I think I may up the nut to fruit ratio in the next batch, though. 

Thinking: That I am finally starting to feel like myself again. Becoming a mom is a strange thing. It's like losing your sense of self for awhile. Everything you have is given to your baby (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing). Basically, I'm wearing jeans and make-up again. You're welcome husband. 

Loving: My baby is now climbing on EVERYTHING. It is the greatest experience watching a baby learn new things.

Doing: Working on my Project Life backlog. I printed off all of my photos from Rossman. I really liked the quality and will be using them from now on. I was about 9 weeks behind before my pictures arrived. Now, they are all in the album. I just need to get a bit creative (i.e. find time to be creative).

Whole 30 November

Yesterday marked the start of my first Whole30. Actually, it is my first ever structured diet. I eat pretty healthy right now so I don't expect it to be too difficult. But here are some things I will miss this month:

1. Bye bye frothed milk. So sad about this. I already put my frother out of sight. 

2. Dark chocolate. I usually have a small piece after lunch. I crave chocolate and this may be difficult for me.

3. Oatmeal... yes, I am an oatmeal girl and eat it every morning. Now, I actually have to TRY in the morning. 

4. Cheese. I actually don't know how much I will miss cheese. I do love it, but I may be okay on this one. (fine print: only for a month)

So here is to a VERY healthy November. 

xoxo Kaisa

European Adventures

There is a really good reason for the long separation since my last post: VACATION. It was exactly what I needed to stir up my life and make me feel good again. Here are some pictures from the past month. We went to Augsburg, Munster, Cologne, Berlin, and Amsterdam.

Augsburg Airbnb, Neuschwanstein Castle, Füssen

Münster, Cologne, Berlin, Amsterdam

I am now back home resting from such wonderful adventures. I absolutely love this season and (of course) all things pumpkin. I hadn't had Starbucks in so long and that Pumpkin Spice Latte is much sweeter than I remembered :( But I love how Germans think I'm saying Kaiser when I say my name. It makes me feel so royal. 

xoxo, Kaisa

What I'm Reading // Summer 2015

When people ask me what I'm interested in, I always answer with reading. I have been an avid reader my whole life and love snuggling up with a blanket and hot beverage to a good book. It is probably why I love Fall so much. Actually, books are for every season. What I wouldn't give to be lounging on a beach somewhere with a book in my hands.

This was an incredibly hot summer in Germany. There were a couple days in July that were even record-breaking. Of course, I had a sun hater (aka baby) for the glorious weather so I couldn't leave the apartment too often. My baby is a vampire. She shields her eyes any time she gets close to a sun- filled window.

I still managed to read two books and would like to share a small review with you.

1 // Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Rating: 4/5

If you've ever read Murakami, you will know that he can make real life seem almost like fantasy. It's like you don't know whether to believe the event actually happened. That is how I felt for most of this novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, though, and would recommend it to anyone. It is a short book and it captivated me into reading it fairly quickly.



2 // Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Rating: 5/5

I absolutely LOVED this book. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It is a post apocalyptic novel, but it focuses on the characters more than the catastrophe. I seriously don't want to say any more, because you should definitely read it as soon as possible.


If you've read these books, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Next up on my read list is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Memory Keeping and Project Life

Memory keeping.

                       

I have only recently begun to get my photos off of digital land and into albums. It all started when I decided to document my daughter's first year. I was taking an incredible amount of pictures and, after snapping the picture, would rarely go back to look at them. I just didn't know where to begin. Scrapbooking wasn't for me. I had tried it back in High School and didn't exactly like the look. And making an entire album seems like it would take forever.

And then I stumbled upon a couple of Instagram accounts that really stood out to me. It's this thing called Project Life and it really spoke to me. Here was my inspiration, if you'd like to check them out:

• @giveagirlablog (Instagram, blog)

• @sunlightandair (Instagram, blog)

• @kellypurkey (Instagram, blog)

• @julieloveg (Instagram, blog)

And there you have it. I am now addicted to memory keeping. I am still trying to figure out "my style", and I can't wait to share the pages I have done so far for 2015.