Project Life 2015 – Week 16

Subtitle: Using a template YOUR way

Here is my two-page spread for Week 16 of my 2015 Project Life/pocket page album:

main kit used: Raine, the monthly Storyteller for April by Just Jaimee (If you buy a monthly subscription to these kits, you’ll save about 50% and get a bunch of free goodies.)

  

Here is a closer look at the left side of Week 15:

And here is a closer look at the right side of Week 15:

Note the upper left spot where I included four photos related to the wedding mentioned on the left page.

Here is a closer look at those photos:

In my earlier days of digital scrapbooking I cropped photos before I added them to a page. So, I would have cropped these four photos before adding them to upper left spot. And if they had ended up being the wrong shape/size to fit, I would have recropped them (while thanking God for prompting me to go digital, which makes cropping and recropping a lot easier).

Then I discovered templates. Oh happy day! No more painstakingly cropping and resizing photos repeatedly. It’s all done on the masks on the templates.

My templates files are organized first by the size of the templates, such as 3"x4", 4"x6", 5"x7", 6"x8", etc. Here's how those files look in my ACDSee program:

Then within each of these folders the templates are divided by the number of photos they hold, such as one-photo templates (1p), two-photo templates (2p), etc. For example, this shows the subfolders inside the 4x6 folder above:

For the upper left spot on the right page I needed a template for the four vertical photos shown above. But if I'd used a 4x6 template for four vertical photos, the photos would have ended up very small. So I chose this four-photo template with two vertical and two horizontal spots, hoping I could crop two of the photos horizontally:

I tried cropping two of the photos horizontally and moving the smaller, horizontal rectangles to the middle of the template. See:

That didn’t work. The proportions of the photos were way off. (Compare the little people in the top center photo with the giant baby in the photo on the right.) Also, the photos were out of order. The bottom center photo was the last of the four chronologically.

So, I fiddled [Southern expression] with the template. You can do that! You can drag the sides in and out as you wish to fit your photos. Here’s the final result:

The size of the people is better, and the photos are in order. There is even room for journaling.

You might notice the template is no longer symmetrical. My OCDness sometimes has to bow to reality. All is not perfectly symmetrical in the real world. Sigh. But I’ve been reworking templates  and making them asymmetrical for a while now with no bad side effects, like high blood pressure or something.

In case you're looking for templates, my favorite template designer is Tracy Larsen. The templates in her Simply White Collection leave a lot of white space for journaling and/or embellishments. If you're a physical scrapper, you can make collages and print them as one photo. (In other words, that four-photo collage above could be printed as a 4"x6" photo.)

Thanks for visiting my blog, and thanks in advance for any comments you leave. Enjoy your life and record it!

(Some photos are blurred for privacy.)

Project Life 2015 – Week 13

Subtitle: When real life gets in the way of Project Life . . . you get really behind.

Here is my two-page spread for Week 13 of my 2015 Project Life/pocket page album:

main kit used: 2015 Storyteller – Bryce, a digital kit by Just Jaimee at The Lilypad (Subscribe to Just Jaimee's newsletter to receive her monthly Storyteller kits at a greatly reduced price.)

I had to open these pages in Photoshop to see what kit I used for them. Although I have little-to-no short-term memory left, I usually can remember which kit I used to make my weekly pages, that is, from the time I close the Photoshop documents to the time I open a Word document to write a blog post about the pages – which is less than five minutes

I made these pages over a month ago. Actually almost two months ago. Before I could post them on my blog, a few things happened, like our son in New York City came "home" for a wedding. Then our kids in Jacksonville also came “home” to attend a wedding here. We got to see them and two of our grandkids for a week!

Then our kids in San Diego and our son in New York City came here to attend our daughter’s graduation WITH HONORS from NURSING SCHOOL. She celebrated her completion of college with ACL surgery, enabling me to have the opportunity to wait on her hand and foot. Still.

And then one of our sons graduated from MEDICAL SCHOOL. He’ll soon start his residency as a SURGEON.

Does using all caps still mean you’re shouting? If so, good! I’m a proud mama.

Anyway, the busyness wasn't over. I went to Jacksonville to . . . spend time with the family who lives there. I’m all about family!

Now I’m back at my new computer, using my updated Photoshop program (from PS 5 to PS CC) and my updated ACDSee program (from ACDSee Pro 6 to ACDSee Ultimate 8). I have a new computer, too – I’ve moved from an old desktop to a new Dell laptop. When hubby upgrades my stuff, he does not mess around, which which I'm thankful.

So, I’ve been away from scrapbooking for nearly two months. Now I’m back at my computer, and I don’t know how to use a thing I have. Hello, learning curve. Who knows when I’ll finish Week 14?

My life got in the way of scrapping about my life. And all the new stuff is temporarily hurting more than helping. BUT it’s all okay. Anything I record via a scrapbook page is better than nothing. I won’t throw up my hands and run screaming from all my new stuff. I will learn it, and I’ll continue to record our family’s stories.

Here is a closer look at the left side of Week 13:

I’ll pause a moment so you can look at all the photos of my cute granddaughters!

Good things from this week: celebrating another birthday for hubby, celebrating another birthday for Mister Bucky (the stray that hubby tried unsuccessfully to get to leave our deck 11 years ago), eating lots of food, and enjoying some city views, both of the Pyramid in Memphis, which is now the home of the largest retail store in the world, and of One World Trade Center in NYC (photo from my son), which honors those who lost their lives on 9-11.

Here is a closer look at the right side of Week 13:

On this page I show all four of my grandkids. Joy!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you again soon! Also, when I signed in to my blog, I was surprised to see I've had visitors every day, in spite of not posting a thing since March. What a nice surprise! I sincerely appreciate your loyalty. 

(Some photos are blurred for privacy.)

Project Life 2015 – Week Nine

Subtitle: Mourning the loss of my beloved short-term memory

Here is my two-page spread for Week Nine of my 2015 Project Life/pocket page album:

As I’m looking at these two pages, I just realized I left off info about the Academy Awards on the first of March.

In 2013 and in 2014 (where I was way behind; still am) I included a lot of current events. This year when my pages are running only about a week behind, you’d think I’d remember what happened a week earlier. I can look at photos and remember lots of details. But since I don’t have photos of current events on the local, national, and international level, I don’t remember them when I need to remember them.

Can we talk about one of the ugly side effects of the aging process? I knew you’d want to. Okay, here it is anyway: short-term memory loss.

Now what were we talking about? Oh, yes! Short-term memory loss. Here’s how it looks. After my shower, I’m getting dressed and I wonder, did I just put on lotion? I know I took a shower because a damp towel is next to me. But there is no tangible hint for the lotion. This doesn’t happen every day, but it happens often enough to be really annoying.

And that’s just one example. Forget remembering numbers from five minutes ago. Also, I can be introduced to someone, but I’m not going to remember the name a few minutes later. The good news is that I never could remember names, so this one is not too scary. (I know a lot of name-remembering tricks. None have ever worked for me.)

Peter found some supplement on the internet that is supposed to help with short-term memory loss. He ordered it for us. It didn't seem to work, but then again we couldn't remember to take it. Haha! 

Occasionally my long-term memory leaves the building, too. I’ll be in the middle of telling about something, when suddenly I can’t remember the name of the city or the person or the movie or whatever I’m talking about. Not to worry. I WILL remember that one, but I will remember it at an inappropriate time, like during the middle of the night. People don’t seem to appreciate me texting them at that moment with the missing noun.

From what I've read, B vitamins seem to boost memory. Here is the summary of a study, which shows that older adults who took vitamin B12 and folic acid supplements for two years had greater improvements on short- and long-term memory tests than those not taking the supplements. This is not the most recent study, but it's the only one I could easily find that is not linked to specific products. (I don't want you to click on a link in my blog and get ads for the rest of your life.)

Before I forget it, here is a closer look at the whole left side of Week Nine:

Here is a closer look at the right side of Week Nine:

credits:

• Just Jaimee: 2015 Storyteller – Quinn (available by subscription for a reduced price) and random elements from other Just Jaimee kits
• Amie Lamm-Griffin: weekly 2015 Brush Script Titles Cards
• Word Art World: “Dance” word art on left page
• Words from Shakespeare – something I found on the internet

This is the first week I can remember where I did NOT use any Ali Edwards word art. I can’t imagine how that happened.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Remember to record the little things; one day they might be the big things. One day you might need your scrapbooks to refresh your memory.

(Some photos are blurred for privacy.) 

Project Life 2015 – Week Three

Subtitle: Local news

Here is my two-page spread for Week Three of my 2015 Project Life/pocket page album:

I included local news on each of these pages. On the left page I showed the current (and perpetual) state of the main street near the University of Memphis. On the right page I have a clipping from our local newspaper highlighting the mess that is our interstate.

I would like to see these kinds of things from earlier in my life. Well, not necessary the road disasters, but you know what I mean. I think throwing in current events here and there will be more interesting than, say, more photos of my dog and cats. (However, there is no such thing as too many photos of the grandkids!)

Peter asked why I put the cost of the last vet visit on the left page. I told him that whereas now that fee seems ridiculous, in the future it will probably seem like nothing. He thinks even in the future it will be ridiculous. Either way, this is another example of the kind of everyday details I like.

Final thing about the two-page spread: See the splotches of color behind some of the photos? Hunter, the main kit I used this week, includes paint splotches. They were fun to add. =)

Here is a closer look at the left side of Week Three:

And here is a closer look at the right side of Week Three:

credits:

• Amie Lamm-Griffin: 2015 Brush Script Title Cards
• Word Art World: “Memories” word art
• Just Jaimee: Everything else on the page is from Jaimee’s Storyteller 2015: Hunter – The Collection

My goodness. I don’t think I’ve ever used products from just three sources to make a weekly spread. Oh my goodness again! I didn’t use anything from Ali Edwards. That’s just weird.

My plan for buying scrapping products for my 2015 pages is to go with subscription kits, instead of buying a new kit almost each week. In other words, I’m subscribing to receive the monthly kits from certain designers/shops. (Kits brought through subscriptions are cheaper than kits bought individually, and they often include freebies and discounts on other items.)

Specifically this year I’m using the Story Kits from Ali Edwards and the Memory Pockets Monthly kits from The Lilypad. (Read more about them here.)

Unfortunately, when I went to The Lilypad to get the February MPM kit, I saw that Just Jaimee also has a monthly subscription plan. So, I’m trying that one for a few months. Her January kit is called Hunter; that’s what I used for this week’s pages. Here is info about Jaimee’s Story Teller subscription plan.

On to Week Four! Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life 2014 – Week Seven

Here is my two-page spread for Week Seven of my Project Life/pocket page album:

For Week Seven I used February 2014 Storyteller Collection, a digital kit by Just Jaimee:

Here’s a closer look at the left side:

Here’s a closer look at the right side:

I’m looking at these two pages, and I’m thinking I LOVE the Project Life/pocket page style of scrapbooking. If I seem slow on doing these pages, I was even slower when I did traditional (paper) and digital scrapbooking.

My hang-up was designing each page; in other words, figuring out what to place where. There are lots of design rules to follow to give a layout a good “flow.” A properly designed page goes with the way our eyes naturally take in information when looking at a page.

That’s intimidating to me. All I want to do is put photos (lots of them!) and words (lots of them, too!) on pages to record my memories. Then I want to add some stuff so I’ll feel creative. But I don’t want anyone to throw up when they look at my pages because the design is discombobulating.

With Project Life, I don’t have to design. I just put photos, words, and stuff in pockets. Actually, since I’m digital, I put it all on pocket spaces.

Besides the kit shown above, I used this stuff I used to make these pages:

• digital template - left page: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here)
• digital template - right page: Project Life TemplateW
• “week” stamp and “six” stamp: Ali Edwards
• date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)
• photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen
• QR code maker
• word art on top of animal photos: Rhonna Design app
• “On VALENTINE’S day”: freebie from Smitha Katti (See my PL FREEBIES board on Pinterest here for more freebies.)

Fonts used:

Thanks for visiting!

PS. As I'm trying to get caught up on my pages, I am shortening my blog posts by not showing every pocket. Is this working? Can you still see the photos okay and read the words? If not, let me know. 

PPS. Isn't discombobulating a great word?? I can't think of the last time I used it. It just popped out of my brain as I was typing. 

Project Life is the super-simple method of memory keeping created by Becky Higgins. Put photos and cards into pockets on pocket pages. Add journaling and/or embellishments on the cards. Put the completed pages in an album, and you’re finished (unless you enjoy overkill as I do!). Project Life can be done digitally or physically.

Project Life 2014 – Week Three | page three

Here is the third (and FINAL!! Yes!) page of my three-page spread for Week Three:

digital kit: January Storyteller - Collection by Just Jaimee; digital template: Project Life Template A; get it FREE here

Top row – left spot:

“Together” word art: Gina Cabrera; date stamps: Gina Cabrera

This photo was taken right before I walked out the door of Elisabeth and Blake’s house to go to the airport. I looked dazed, Peter was hyper, and Evie was zonked. It’s exhausting to do this back-and-forth mess to spend time with our out-of-town family, but it’s worth it.

I think we should have had a family farm or something. Maybe way out from civilization?  Then all the kids would have stayed close to our home and family, because they would have been needed on the farm.

But each had talents and interests in other areas, and each had to pursue his/her dreams. Peter and I gave them roots, but then they took wings. That was unexpected. I suppose it’s okay; none of us know a thing about farming.

Top row – right spot:

font: Colaborate-Regular; 4x6 base card: Mommyish (There was a reason I used this card from another kit and by another person, but I can’t remember what it is. The kit is called Candid, and it’s by Just Jaimee and Mommyish.)

In the olden days if you wanted to fly to some place, you could often fly directly there. Not so much these days. But there is a good thing about layovers. They provide an opportunity to get food, because you sure aren’t going to get it on a plane, unless you want to pay.

Middle row – first spot:

Middle row – second spot:

font: Geared Slab

Not only did I get Peter’s “ice juice” for his naps and bedtime, I also made sure he had all his bed buddies. I let him put them in their proper places beside him, because you can’t have too much training in being OCD.

OCD can be a good thing. For example, most kids probably waste a lot of sleeping time getting everything in their beds in order. Not Peter.

 

Middle row – third spot:

“Love you to the moon… card”: Love You to the Moon… kit by Just Jaimee; hearts: Yep, That’s Life Stamp Set #2 by Darcy Baldwin.

[Don't read this part, Peter.] I might have bought the Love You to the Moon kit just to get this card. I LOVE this card!! I knew I was going to use it with my grandkids. The photo in the fourth spot was the perfect photo to accompany this card.

Middle row – fourth spot:

red heart: Penny Springmann

For obvious reasons, the above photo is my favorite photo on this page.

Bottom row – left spot:

3-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

Air travel always amazes me. How can I be sitting in one house in the morning and in another house 100s of miles away in the evening? It’s hard to fathom.

I knew I was back home in Memphis because I was at my computer with a cat attached to my lap and it was cold outside.

Bottom row – right spot:

fonts: FunkyUncial, Simplicity

Another sign I was back home was that I found myself sitting in a theatre, watching a play. So ended another great week.

Thanks for visiting and sharing my pages with me!

Project Life 2014 – Week Three | page two

Here is the second page of my three-page spread for Week Three:

digital kit: January Storyteller - Collection by Just Jaimee; digital template: Project Life Template A; get it FREE here

Top row – left spot:

font: Colagorate-Regular

On Monday evening Blake, Elisabeth, and I each separately realized Evie looks a lot like her brother did at this age. I found a photo of him, and we compared them.Yep. They look alike.

Top row – right spot:

font: Geared Slab; 6-photo collage template: Designs by Lili

Peter is a busy boy.

Middle row – first spot:

Text and embellishments on photo: Rhonna Designs

I took this photo and the one two over with my iPhone. I embellished them on my iPhone and saved them to my Camera Roll before I posted them on Instagram.

Middle row – second spot:

Middle row – third spot:

Text and embellishments on photo: Rhonna Designs

Middle row – fourth spot:

font: Geared Slab; “LOVE this” word art Digital Stamps from February Storyteller Collection by Just Jaimee

This is my ~favorite~ photo on this page, because my child is holding his child. When I was holding Blake when he was a baby, I never thought about him holding his baby one day. The circle of life goes on, and it warms my heart.

This photo is also my favorite on this page, because this is real life. The addition of a baby to a family is a gift from God. But life must go on. In this case, it meant Blake had to continue studying for the Florida Bar Exam he’ll take later this month. He only needs one hand to type and scroll anyway.

A good thing (I hope) about me going to stay with Blake and Elisabeth right after Evie’s birth is that I could join them in playing Pass the Baby. Many hands make light work [Southern expression adopted from the 1300s in England], unless you’re talking about broth making, in which too many cooks spoil the broth. I just mixed metaphors. Don't tell my former high school English students.

Bottom row – left spot:

font: Arial; “the LITTLE moments” word art: Penny Springmann; 2-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

This week, like last week, I spent a good amount of time staring at Evie. I put her on my lap and my feet on Peter's Brio train track (sorry, Peter), and I just stared. Is it normal to sit and stare at one’s grandkids? I hope they don’t think I’m weird, but I am observing miracles. Amazing! Do you think they’ll think I’m weird?

Bottom row – right spot:

fonts: Geared Slab, Arial

My kids' Instagram streams provide lots of good material for my Project Life pages. The sign Conrad photographed on a pole in his neighborhood . . . hahaha!

Next post: Details about and close-ups from page three of Week Three. Thanks for stopping by! Happy weekend, everyone!