I'm always on the hunt for the next great app and love sneaking a peek at other people's phone to see what they're as well. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorite apps. (In no particular order.)

Ibotta - Although I haven't found many rebates that I'd use on this lately, I've still manages to get over $50 back from shopping as I normally do. While I'm making out my grocery list, I'll check the app to see if there's any coupons and save them. When I get home, I scan my receipt and BAM! instant money.

Zen Koi 2 - Not even sure how I stumbled across this one but it's great for killing time while you're on the subway or waiting at the doctors office. You start off with a beautiful koi and have to search around your pond for food. You gradually grow to an adult, are able to breed your koi and raise the offspring.

Zombies, Run - I'll be the first to say it. I hate walking. I don't run. But this app has definitely got me moving. 

Happy Color - Another great little app to use to kill time. Coloring sheets are broken down into categories and there's also a new daily one available each day.

Life Cycle - Wonder where all your time is going? Download this app. I plan on doing an in depth post about it and how I've really changed up my time management.

Clue - This app is great for tracking your period. It can also track your flow, mood, sleep, sex, energy, weight, digestion, temp, and tracks your fertile window as well. Every month I receive an alert that I'll be starting my period soon.

Calm - If you have trouble falling asleep like I do, this app is for you. It has guided meditation, music and sleep stories read by Stephen Fry, Matthew McConaughey and more. My favorite part is the 'scenes' option. There's 23 different background environments like Summer Meadow (my favorite), Woodland Lake, Plains of Wheat and more.

Informed by the USPS - Did you know you can sign up with the postal service and they'll email a photo of the mail you're getting that day? Yes, seriously. It's not always accurate (sometimes I'll get a photo for a piece of mail and I'll get it the next day) but this is awesome.

Uber - Uber can be a LIFESAVER when you have to get to work in a half hour and the Red Line is down. 

Waze - Usually I use my navigation app that came on my phone but lately I've been using Waze. It alerts me to road hazards, accidents, and police.

Taskade - I've yet to find the perfect To Do app but this one comes pretty close. Again, another in depth post coming soon on all of the To Do runner ups.

mTicket - It's so much easier to pull out your phone and show it to the conductor than worry about keeping track of another piece of paper. It also has all of the train schedules as well.

Loomly - Loomly has been a blessing from the sweet social media gods. I pay $15 a month and am able to schedule all of my social media posts for ALL THREE of my calendars. And it lets me post to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in one click.

Airbnb - I pop this app open and search for European (or New Zealand) houses and day dream of a nice long vacation.

Amazon Prime Video - Watch Downton on the go with this. :)

Canva - Another great little social media tool, this app lets you create IG, Facebook and other media graphics. I've used it multiple times for our weekly IG posts over on Team RJ's account.

So what apps can you not live without? Post them below!

Ali just released her Day In The Life kit and it looks awesome! As much as I want it, I'm sticking with my #nonewcraftstuff rule so I'll be adding another 9-pocket 9x12 sheet protector to my album (and maybe designing some DITL digital cards too)

Day In The Life will be on Tuesday, February 26th. Will you be playing along?

You can find the kit here and more about Day In The Life here.

Looking for a little DITL inspiration? Check out the #aedayinthelife hashtag on Instagram.

(all photos by Ali Edwards)

I've updated the shop with a TON of new products, including past components from Studio Calico kits, all new washi packs, handmade greeting cards and more!

There will also be bunch of new digital items arriving in the next few months as well!

Paper Plus on Etsy

This is one of my favorite layouts! I love all of the colors and how everything just blends. And hey, week 3 in the books. Go me.

I downloaded another of Geralyn's Journaling Card packs and I LOVE it! It's linked below :)

If you follow me on IG, you've seen the post about the Harry Potter Christmas tree this year. I've been wanting to make one for a while and am finally biting the bullet and doing it. I figured maybe 10 ornaments a month should give me enough to decorate a 4' tree. #hpforthewin

Starbucks pit stop. Duh. (Also, apparently this card is biodegradable!)

Oh man, can Mer and Deluca just hurry up and get together already? I'm sorry, but I just don't like Link. Also, Patriots are going to the Super Bowl!!!

In A Creative Bubble Journaling Cards

Gypsy Moon Documenter Kit

Letters Home Documenter Kit

Great Escape Documenter Kit

Summit Documenter Kit

Starlight Documenter Kit

 City Sidewalks Documenter Kit 

I finished Maid this week (super quick read - it was good) and finally got around to watching Shape of Water. (Awesome cast!)

The I Like Pretty Things card was a rounded corner card that got chopped down and glued to some paper I picked up at Michaels. I wish I would've gotten more. You can see my post about chopping those old rounded corned SC cards here.

See that card? LOVE. Solid love. I started a Pinterest board called New Spaces for pretty much everything I want for our new apartment/house. Think IKEA, Create + Barrel, World Market, Home Goods, Pier One. 

Great Escape Documenter Kit

City Sidewalks Documenter Kit

In A Creative Bubble Journaling Card here and here

Stay Tuned Documenter Kit

Carolina Moon Documenter Kit

Happy Scrapping!

Week 2 is in the books! I changed this spread up quite a few times before I was happy with it.

I also ended up switching from cardstock to photo paper (half way through printing) and it made a HUGE difference. The colors are way more vibrant. 

Cranking out books (and cookies) left and right. It's nice to have some time to read again.

Monday I had an interview up in Boston so I included my parking reminder and a photo of Beth Israel. (I didn't get the position but I do have another interview with them on Wednesday for a different position - fingers crossed!)

Here's the layout breakdown of the left side:

Hey Girl Kit

Stay Tuned Kit

Yellow Alpha Stickers from Sn@p Stories

In A Creative Bubble Journaling Cards (here, here & here)

Galileo Kit

I'm so glad to be using up all of my old kits! Less is totally more, folks. 

I love the look of layering but need to be mindful of how high I stack. You can only fit so much into those pockets!

Another off subject thing I learned is that everybody has different Snapchat filters. (I'd just assumed we all had the same ones.) I snapped this one and sent to a friend, we ended up comparing filters and turns out, we both had completely different ones.

We've been doing well at the shop so I added a photo of some tees heading out the door this week. (Shamless self-promotion: if any of you need custom shirts, let me know!)

And here's the final breakdown for the right side.

In A Creative Bubble Journaling cards (here, here, here and here)

City Sidewalks Kit

9x12 Studio Calico Paper

Yellow Alpha Stickers from Sn@p Studios

Summit Kit

Candyland Kit

It's pretty crappy out today which gives me a perfect chance to get started on this week's layout! 

Happy Sunday!

I took a trip to IKEA a few weeks ago and scooped up a jade plant, a new pot and grabbed a small pack of "sea glass" from Christmas Tree Shop. (Surprisingly IKEA didn't have any.)

I knew I wanted to spruce the pot up a little bit and lately I've been keen on gold accent everything. Since we'll be moving soon, I've been wanting to use up (mostly throw out) craft supplies that have been laying around. Enter the metallic gold paint leftover from some craft last year. You could easily use gold spray paint as well.

These glass nuggets are pretty good sized. If you don't live near a Christmas Tree Shop, you can find similar ones on Amazon.

A little goes a long way with this pot. I started off with a very thin layer and worked my way around, alternating brush strokes. (First layer - up and down, second layer - horizontal strokes, and so on) I feel like it covered better that way and was less streaky. 

There was way too many of the glass nuggets so I used some for on top of the jade plant as well.

This is one layer of the gold paint. Just the right amount of shimmer.

And since we're getting fancy, I decided to paint the top rim as well. This took a little bit of patience as the paint seemed like it didn't want to stick for some reason.

Unfortunately this pot didn't come with a drainage hole so I made sure to add two layers of the glass so the plant won't be sitting in water. I'll take the inner pot out and place the jade plant in the sink to water, then place back into the outer pot once the majority of the water has drained out.

And tah dah! The finished product. Super happy with how it turned out. Now I'm traipsing around the house to see what else I can paint gold.

Supplies:

NYPON Pot from IKEA $1.99

CRASSULA plant from IKEA $7.99

DecoArt DA554-30 Americana Multi-Surface Metallic Paint, 2-Ounce, Champagne $7.07

Sea Glass from Christmas Tree Shop $1.69

or similar

Royal Acrylic Ice Rock Crystals Treasure Gems for Table Scatters, Vase Fillers, Wedding, Banquet, Party, Event, Birthday Decoration (Royal 150)

After not scrapbooking (at all) last year, it's nice to get back into the swing of things. And I love how the first week's layout turned out.

Last year I stuck with a 6 x 8 album and decided to switch things up and went with a 9 x 12 album from Studio Calico that is apparently no longer available.

Since I have all of last year's kits that I never used, I canceled my Documenter Kit subscription this year. One of my goals is to use up all of my supplies before I buy any more. It's getting out of hand. Seriously.

I think I need to either check my printer heads or switch over to photo paper. My prints don't look that great and the color is somewhat faded. Boo.

I've done a LOT of Downton binging and a LOT of reading lately. It's been fabulous.

Here is a breakdown of the kits I've used (see below for the right side of the spread.)

Summit Kit

Bookmarked Kit

Starlight Kit

In A Creative Bubble Journaling Cards

Can we just get a collective 'Hell Yeah' for Snapchat filters? Oh, and chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven. 

Have I mentioned how in love with these journaling cards I am? You can find more here, here, here, and here.

A little about my Get To Work Book that I'll be using this year. I took the whole thing apart, punched it and now it lives in my Malden. Love that I made that decision! That bad Larry comes with me everywhere.

I also added a little snippet of new items I've added to the shop. (Which includes a large selection of Studio Calico Documenter Kit components!)

In A Creative Bubble Journaling Card 1 & 2

Stay Tuned Kit

Hey Girl Kit

Lisse Street Kit