Friday, December 25, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Introducing Garrett James!
As of May 23, 2015, I am a mom of THREE BOYS! That is still (almost a month later) hard to believe sometimes. :)
I thought about designing my own announcement, but I wanted to get them done quickly, so I used one of the Shutterfly templates (and a few coupons!). The front has photos I took at home when Garrett was one week old. I loved that the design colors matched his little sleeper perfectly!
The four smaller pictures on the back were taken in the hospital by a professional photographer. There is a team of local photographers who go around to the hospital rooms and do newborn photo shoots. It was amazing! I hadn't planned for it, so I did not look like Kate Middleton post-baby, but that's OK because I didn't look like Kate Middleton pre-baby either. Reality. ;)
If I had it to do over again (the announcements, that is), I would have designed them myself and had them printed at OvernightPrints.com. I was really impressed with the Christmas cards I did there last year, and the price can't be beat.
I hope you're having a magnificent Monday! My big boys are at Vacation Bible School all week, so it's just me and G-man, or "Suit" for short. Just kidding... we don't actually call him that. Have a great week (or month, depending on how soon I blog again!). ;)
I thought about designing my own announcement, but I wanted to get them done quickly, so I used one of the Shutterfly templates (and a few coupons!). The front has photos I took at home when Garrett was one week old. I loved that the design colors matched his little sleeper perfectly!
The four smaller pictures on the back were taken in the hospital by a professional photographer. There is a team of local photographers who go around to the hospital rooms and do newborn photo shoots. It was amazing! I hadn't planned for it, so I did not look like Kate Middleton post-baby, but that's OK because I didn't look like Kate Middleton pre-baby either. Reality. ;)
If I had it to do over again (the announcements, that is), I would have designed them myself and had them printed at OvernightPrints.com. I was really impressed with the Christmas cards I did there last year, and the price can't be beat.
I hope you're having a magnificent Monday! My big boys are at Vacation Bible School all week, so it's just me and G-man, or "Suit" for short. Just kidding... we don't actually call him that. Have a great week (or month, depending on how soon I blog again!). ;)
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Disney Characters
Hi there! So... We have a new little guy in our house! I am planning a post about him very soon, but not today! ;)
Today, I'm sharing some scrapbook pages that will go in our 2014 Disney album. I've decided to order a lay flat photo book from Shutterfly... or maybe AdoramaPix... or maybe both. It will have a few different sections, and one will have pages about all the characters we met!
If you'd like to see all my posts and pages about our Disney trip, click here: Disney
Here are the character pages (as always, click on an image to view it larger on Flickr):
These pages were quick and easy to create. By "quick and easy," I mean that I worked on them sporadically for about a month. The hardest part of scrapbooking for me is choosing and editing the photos. I always fall asleep while editing photos. Seriously.
Anyway... the page templates are from Liz's Daily Life sets. All the papers and embellishments are from the Project Mouse kits. Some of the embellishments are actually template layers that I just clipped papers to and added layer styles. I used an epoxy style by Mommyish a lot (it's on ALL of the titles). I also used Liz's shadow layer styles, which she has on her blog for free.
Liz's templates have white borders around all the photos (which I love), but I made slight alterations to them to match some different templates I'm using for another section of the album (which I hope to share in the future... when I finish them).
OK, that's all for today! :)
Today, I'm sharing some scrapbook pages that will go in our 2014 Disney album. I've decided to order a lay flat photo book from Shutterfly... or maybe AdoramaPix... or maybe both. It will have a few different sections, and one will have pages about all the characters we met!
If you'd like to see all my posts and pages about our Disney trip, click here: Disney
Here are the character pages (as always, click on an image to view it larger on Flickr):
These pages were quick and easy to create. By "quick and easy," I mean that I worked on them sporadically for about a month. The hardest part of scrapbooking for me is choosing and editing the photos. I always fall asleep while editing photos. Seriously.
Anyway... the page templates are from Liz's Daily Life sets. All the papers and embellishments are from the Project Mouse kits. Some of the embellishments are actually template layers that I just clipped papers to and added layer styles. I used an epoxy style by Mommyish a lot (it's on ALL of the titles). I also used Liz's shadow layer styles, which she has on her blog for free.
Liz's templates have white borders around all the photos (which I love), but I made slight alterations to them to match some different templates I'm using for another section of the album (which I hope to share in the future... when I finish them).
OK, that's all for today! :)
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Birthday Mini Albums
Hi there! Today, I'm sharing these mini albums I just completed. I'm really excited about them! :) I've noticed that my boys' favorite pages in my big Project Life albums are the ones about their birthdays, so I decided to make each of them a Birthday Book.
I debated (and asked for their input) about what kind of album to use, and we decided on the Becky Higgins Project Life Mini Album in Kiwi green. I kept the design simple. I did Braden's album first, and used almost all the same cards for Cameron's album. That made it super easy and quick. All the cards and graphics are from the Simple Stories Digital Birthday SN@P! Set.
Braden's Birthday Book
(click to view larger)
Cameron's Birthday Book
Supplies
Album: Becky Higgins Project Life Mini Album
Cards: Simple Stories Digital Birthday SN@P! Set
Software: Photoshop CC
4x6 Prints: mpix
I ordered another Kiwi mini album for when our newest boy arrives. :) He should be here in the next 6-7 weeks! Also, I should note that Cameron has already turned six years old, but I haven't finished my Project Life pages for that week yet, so I'm waiting to do his Birthday Book spread until then. Hope you had a BLESSED EASTER! :)
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
My Birthday: 30 + 9
Hey there! We've had a little February vacation this week (a.k.a Snow Days). February is also birthday-palooza at our house. My birthday was last week, Cameron's birthday is this week, and David's birthday is next week! We had strawberry birthday cake for breakfast this morning (YUM!), and then I got inspired to create a digital scrapbook page! YAY! :)
Liz of Scrapping with Liz posted some shadowing tutorials on her blog today and included a free set of layer styles. I wanted to give them a try, so... here's what I did:
I think Liz did a great job on her shadow styles! I especially like the washi tape one. I have several sets of shadow styles from different designers, and this is the first set that includes one for tape! Thanks, Liz! :) Visit her blog here: Scrapping with Liz
Have a great day! :)
Liz of Scrapping with Liz posted some shadowing tutorials on her blog today and included a free set of layer styles. I wanted to give them a try, so... here's what I did:
I think Liz did a great job on her shadow styles! I especially like the washi tape one. I have several sets of shadow styles from different designers, and this is the first set that includes one for tape! Thanks, Liz! :) Visit her blog here: Scrapping with Liz
Have a great day! :)
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Project Life | Finishing 2014 and Plans for 2015
Hey there!
Well, you wouldn't know it because I haven't posted any Project Life pages in forever, but I FINISHED my 2014 album! I am amazed that I actually got it done! This is a first for me! Woo-Hoo! :)
The key for me was to just keep going and to just stop blogging about it. I know... womp womp (sad trombone). I love sharing my pages and interacting with other scrapbookers, but I figured out that blogging every layout was seriously slowing me down. I had to sort out my priorities (spoken in my head by Ron Weasley). Finishing the album was more important even if it meant my immediate family would be the only ones to see it.
Here's the closing page for 2014:
And... here's the opening page for 2015:
I have been thinking about my plan for 2015 a lot. 2014 was the first year I actually finished my Project Life album (my 3rd year doing the weekly format). I finally feel like I’ve got a groove going, so I am keeping it much the same for 2015 with a few improvements.
I spent the last few weeks of 2014 catching up (I had stalled out at week 26), which taught me that I really can get it done quickly. So, I’m planning to apply that to 2015. I will still do weekly layouts, but I may only work on the project once a month.
I switched from a digital photo book to a physical album for 2014. It was a tough decision for me, but I think gradually filling up the physical album really helped motivate me to get it done. My boys loved having it out on the table all the time and flipping through pictures of things that happened fairly recently. That brought me a lot of joy, so I plan to use a physical album again in 2015.
I decided to have my cake and eat it too, though! It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that since I design all of my Project Life layouts in Photoshop before sending the individual 4×6′s to be printed, that I could just upload those pages to Shutterfly and have a digital book of the year ALSO. Why would I do both? The big 12×12 album is heavy, and once I get the new one for 2015, the 2014 album won’t be sitting out on display anymore. I don’t think my boys will look at it much if they have to drag the huge thing off the shelf, but I think they WILL look at the photo book version. I think they’ll be even more interested in looking at it than my previous Project Life photo books because they’re already familiar with the pages.
These are 8x8 photo books from Shutterfly. I considered getting the 10x10 size because I thought the text might be too small to read, but it turned out OK (at least for now... in a few years, I'll probably need a magnifying glass). I know that my boys prefer looking at the smaller books, though, and these are for them, so I went with 8x8. Also, you may notice I combined two weeks on the spread showing. I only did that a couple of times when I had very few photos, but it worked fine. I still love to include the inserts (link on how to do that below). :)
So… My plan for 2015 is weekly layouts in a physical 12×12 album AND a digital photo book from Shutterfly (well, technically two books since with all the inserts and extra layouts, I exceeded the 110-page limit). Here's a bulleted list of my plan with a few more details:
Project Life Plans for 2015:
What will stay the same:
-12x12 We R Memory Keepers Leather Album (probably the same as 2014 - the aqua Albums Made Easy version from Target)
-Weekly spreads using Design A page protectors plus various inserts
-3x4 calendar cards (I'm making my own this year using the fully editable calendar from Designs by Lili)
-Week label on top of the first photo (still working out exactly how this will look)
-Print a photo book version at the end of the year
What will change:
-No blogging or sharing online. I *might* try to do a monthly share, but I doubt it. Maybe. ;)
-Set up dated weekly Shutterfly-ready templates in advance (working on this now).
-Work on weekly spreads once a month instead of all the time. I'm thinking I'll work on it during the first week of each month, and do the four weeks from the previous month at that time. I'll see how that goes in real life, but in my mind, it will help me avoid burnout from working on it constantly and should help with continuity. Plus, I'll need to reserve some time each month to work on the baby album - YAY!
Links to past posts that you may find helpful:
Using inserts in digital photo books:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2013/10/2013-project-life-book-one.html
Choosing to switch from digital photo book to physical album:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2014/01/project-life-albums.html
How to print individual photos from digital layouts:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2014/03/printing-photos-from-digital-project.html
So, are you doing Project Life in 2015? What are your plans?
Well, you wouldn't know it because I haven't posted any Project Life pages in forever, but I FINISHED my 2014 album! I am amazed that I actually got it done! This is a first for me! Woo-Hoo! :)
The key for me was to just keep going and to just stop blogging about it. I know... womp womp (sad trombone). I love sharing my pages and interacting with other scrapbookers, but I figured out that blogging every layout was seriously slowing me down. I had to sort out my priorities (spoken in my head by Ron Weasley). Finishing the album was more important even if it meant my immediate family would be the only ones to see it.
Here's the closing page for 2014:
And... here's the opening page for 2015:
I have been thinking about my plan for 2015 a lot. 2014 was the first year I actually finished my Project Life album (my 3rd year doing the weekly format). I finally feel like I’ve got a groove going, so I am keeping it much the same for 2015 with a few improvements.
I spent the last few weeks of 2014 catching up (I had stalled out at week 26), which taught me that I really can get it done quickly. So, I’m planning to apply that to 2015. I will still do weekly layouts, but I may only work on the project once a month.
I switched from a digital photo book to a physical album for 2014. It was a tough decision for me, but I think gradually filling up the physical album really helped motivate me to get it done. My boys loved having it out on the table all the time and flipping through pictures of things that happened fairly recently. That brought me a lot of joy, so I plan to use a physical album again in 2015.
I decided to have my cake and eat it too, though! It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago that since I design all of my Project Life layouts in Photoshop before sending the individual 4×6′s to be printed, that I could just upload those pages to Shutterfly and have a digital book of the year ALSO. Why would I do both? The big 12×12 album is heavy, and once I get the new one for 2015, the 2014 album won’t be sitting out on display anymore. I don’t think my boys will look at it much if they have to drag the huge thing off the shelf, but I think they WILL look at the photo book version. I think they’ll be even more interested in looking at it than my previous Project Life photo books because they’re already familiar with the pages.
These are 8x8 photo books from Shutterfly. I considered getting the 10x10 size because I thought the text might be too small to read, but it turned out OK (at least for now... in a few years, I'll probably need a magnifying glass). I know that my boys prefer looking at the smaller books, though, and these are for them, so I went with 8x8. Also, you may notice I combined two weeks on the spread showing. I only did that a couple of times when I had very few photos, but it worked fine. I still love to include the inserts (link on how to do that below). :)
So… My plan for 2015 is weekly layouts in a physical 12×12 album AND a digital photo book from Shutterfly (well, technically two books since with all the inserts and extra layouts, I exceeded the 110-page limit). Here's a bulleted list of my plan with a few more details:
Project Life Plans for 2015:
What will stay the same:
-12x12 We R Memory Keepers Leather Album (probably the same as 2014 - the aqua Albums Made Easy version from Target)
-Weekly spreads using Design A page protectors plus various inserts
-3x4 calendar cards (I'm making my own this year using the fully editable calendar from Designs by Lili)
-Week label on top of the first photo (still working out exactly how this will look)
-Print a photo book version at the end of the year
What will change:
-No blogging or sharing online. I *might* try to do a monthly share, but I doubt it. Maybe. ;)
-Set up dated weekly Shutterfly-ready templates in advance (working on this now).
-Work on weekly spreads once a month instead of all the time. I'm thinking I'll work on it during the first week of each month, and do the four weeks from the previous month at that time. I'll see how that goes in real life, but in my mind, it will help me avoid burnout from working on it constantly and should help with continuity. Plus, I'll need to reserve some time each month to work on the baby album - YAY!
Links to past posts that you may find helpful:
Using inserts in digital photo books:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2013/10/2013-project-life-book-one.html
Choosing to switch from digital photo book to physical album:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2014/01/project-life-albums.html
How to print individual photos from digital layouts:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2014/03/printing-photos-from-digital-project.html
So, are you doing Project Life in 2015? What are your plans?