Hello Story! | 5 Years Ago...

Hello Story! by Ali Edwards continues to inspire me...

5 years ago... we became a family of 5.  Everything since has been an adventure in every way!  We moved to Hong Kong and had twins in the same year...  we've traveled around Asia/Pacific for our holidays and enjoyed learning more about the different cultures and people.  I cherish this time with our little ones - 

I have scrapbooked a lot of the trips individually, but I had never put it all together.  This turned out to be a fun experience to look at the last five years on a map.

To create this layout digitally in photoshop, I used:

• Dreamy5 paint backgrounds by Nancie Rowe Janitz  
• digital paint brush by NRJ
• cherish - Heidi Swapp
• Asia/Pacific map .gif
• where does the time go - Ali Edwards
• fonts:  Tiza, Traveling Typewriter, Georgia, and UCU Charles script
• this time last year journaling block by Ali Edwards
• Photoshop

Take a look at the completed double-page layout:

 

 

I used a 12x24 blank workspace to create my double-page layout.  In addition, I made a duplicate of the painted background, flipped it, and tweaked it to 'blend' the look across the two pages.  Next, I added my map.

 

I googled Asia/Pacific map images...  and then saved the one that I wanted to use onto my computer.  After pulling this image into my Photoshop file, I used a linear burn to have the colors from the map mix with the colors from my background - SUPER FUN!  Pulling my photos into the layout came next. 

 

Before I could add my photos, I used a brush to create a frame for my photo (click here for a super brush tutorial from YouTube!).  The brush I chose is one by NRJ and looks like a paint brush stroke.  I decided I wanted my photos to blend into the background a bit, so I used the brush as a frame and a second duplicate brush as a mask (basically, I copied the brush and made the second one a little smaller to use as a mask for my photo).  I selected a soft color from my background for the frame, then clipped my photo to the mask (Alt-left click in the layer menu when you get the double circles).  Each photo has a date and location above it and an arrow pointing to the country. 

 

Finally, I added the journaling block and the text to complete my layout.   Click on the photo to see a larger view!

 

Project Life | February

Let's talk about Project Life!  As some of you know I began Digital Project Life in January.  My first few weeks went well with Project Life...  it was new and exciting.  Then, I found that I kept forgetting to take photos & I was getting behind in my weekly creations.  One of the reasons I had not started Project Life sooner, was because I couldn't figure out how to work it into my life...  then digital project life came along!!!  I've found a few things (the hard way!) that might make it easier for you as you work on your own PL albums...

1. organize your photos:  there are many ways to organize by name, by theme, by activity, or by date.  We chose to organize by date, so all of my photos are labeled with the year-month and dumped into folders for each month...  even my scanned photos (from before digital) are labeled this way.  Once I catalogue my photos this way, when I am ready to create my PL weekly layout, I can easily pull the 5 - 10 photos for the week into my Photoshop double-page templates.   
2. plan your products: Do you have a particular theme or color scheme that you would like to stick to?  Are there certain designers that you prefer?  I find some really fun freebies on Pinterest, but often these are just a launching pad for my digital purchases.  I purchased two digital CORE kits from Becky Higgins, but I also have bits and pieces from other designers.
3. remember to take photos of the everyday things:  crying babies, school lunches, date night with your husband, favorite new shoes, a fun shopping day, a funny face full of ice cream, etc...  You can also have theme weeks or maybe you show all of the kids art that week.
4. find your rhythm...give yourself a few weeks to find what works best for you...  One of the things that helps me organize AND helped me find my 'rhythm' with Project Life was Instagram.  I love that you can share some of your photos with others from your phone!  Since my iPhone is usually with me however crazy my day, I find that ALOT (probably 85%) of my photos that I use for PL are from my iPhone.  These photos are date stamped and catalogued for me so I can load them on my computer and insert them into my templates when I get ready to create my week.
5. schedule time to create:  if I keep a regular time (this weekend I'll create for the previous week, etc...), I am much more likely to sit down and create.  Sometimes I miss the 'planned' time, but I don't stress about it - just pick it up when I can.  Maybe you only have one morning, once a month - then plan accordingly and get organized to maximize your time!!! 

Looking back on the photos, the journaling, and the memories captured in this everyday glimpse of life for 2013 will be so much fun!  I am so excited to continue and hope you'll join me - something I found in the blogosphere is:  Success Strategies for Project Life.  It is a fantastic post over at Simple Scrapper that gives a good idea of what to think about as you begin your own Project Life journey.

In the meantime, check out February captured for our family!

Week 6

 Week 7

Week 8 

Week 9

Hello Star | Digital

Hello!  Welcome to the next inspired story created for the Hello Story class by Ali Edwards... 

We are still on holiday travel, so I'm continuing to work only in the digital world for a few more weeks :)  It's neat to be able to change back & forth - and enjoy both digital and regular scrapbooking!!!  There are some things that are easier in digital (like fixing mistakes - hee!hee!) and other things that are not so easy...  blending paint and creating a canvas look.  (Thank you JessicaSprague.com for teaching classes on these and other digital scrapbooking things!)

I used the blending tool to multiply a paper from Liv Esteban called Sing for Spring with a dark worn paper...  then I used the hue selection on the blending tool to have the paper design show on a scanned piece of canvas - very fun technique!  Next I added a few different labels and my photo of my daughter, at 7-years-old, playing her guitar at a church festival, along with a swirl brushed on it's bottom right corner.

 

Ali shared some great ideas with us on telling a story.  The one I choose to use was this one pictured above.  I love that it made me think about my feelings & Annabelle's feelings, instead of just telling a generic who, what, when story.  I placed this journaling on a torn piece of notebook paper.  I found some free digital washi tapes on Pinterest.  Then, added some red sequins to go with my red, white, and blue color scheme! 

After adding some paint splotches, I selected a Crystal Wilkerson alpha to use for my title. Finally, I took a scan of the sheet music that Annabelle played that evening, I deleted the white background so I could use only the black notes - I love how it turned out!

Take a moment to journal your thoughts and feelings - capture your own unique experiences today!

Project Life: end of January - The Adventure Continues

We are continuing the Digital Project Life adventure.  As we dive into the last two weeks of January, take a look at some of the elements I have used from the Clementine digital project life cards by Becky Higgins.  I love the bold colors that work so well for my children at their young age!  There are so many pieces in the complete collection that I am spoiled for choice!

 Week 4

 

Here I've captured pictures that I probably wouldn't scrapbook about typically, however, they are important milestones in our everyday life...  A scripture artwork that Annabelle created at church, a picture of the twins first school bus ride, and the bible study that I began that week.  All important things, but not something I would typically scrapbook.  Other bits & pieces:  Hong Kong city streets at dusk and the taxi line...  items that 20 years from now it will be so interesting to see and remember!

 

Week 4 left side

 

 



Week 4 right side

 

 

I love the saying on the orange card above:  Part of cultivating a good life, is celebrating the little things. - Becky Higgins.  SO TRUE!  One of those "little things" is this beautiful doodle drawing by my daughter - age 7.  I took a photo with my iPhone of her drawing and uploaded it to my computer so that I could include it in this week's memories - I love the doodled curls in the girl's hair and all of the flowers and stars - so sweet!

 

Next, for January, Week 5 - I tried to capture something about each person (including our Golden Retriever!)  I realized that I had mostly focused on the children's activities in the first three weeks and I wanted to be sure to include the adults also! 



Week 5

 

There may only be a few more years of 'snuggle' pictures - so I try to capture them every chance I get!  She is a Daddy's girl through and through.  In addition, I captured one page of the iPad apps that the kids are loving this week (yes, I do mean this week - since they will want to download something else new next week!!!) and Annabelle's song that she wrote.  We have to record those things for when she is a superstar :)



Week 5 left side

Finally, as the gorgeous green card below says:  Love these everyday moments!  That's what I've gathered together for the second half of Week 5...  swim lesson, monkey bars at school, Rosie and her best puppy friend, J&J on safari day at school, and John with his friend at football...  all-in-all a wonderful week.  Also, a few digital stamps were used to personalize these cards and two flags were created for a small journaling note.

Week 5 right side

 

I hope you take some time this week to capture the everyday things!

Hello Story! Life in the Fast Lane

I was inspired by Ali Edwards in her new Hello Story! online class to create a "timeline".  Since I'm traveling, I decided to do a digital page for this challenge...  I used some fabulous Project Life freebies that I found on Pinterest (search for: project life freebies) from MissTiina.com - Everyday Journal Cards, plus the digital pie chart that I created in Photoshop.  My background paper is a gorgeous painted piece by Nancy Rowe-Janitz and the arrow by Liv Esteban that I purchased at www.jessicasprague.com.

Life in the Fast Lane captures the different cars that I've had the privilege to drive so far in my life...  When I look back over this time it is so interesting to see how I have changed (since several of the photos have me in them!) and how my lifestyle has changed.  Also, gathering the information about the cost, etc... was a bit harder than I thought it would be!!!  So glad I have this put together for my kiddos to see when they are old enough to buy their first cars...  awesome idea Ali, thank you for the challenge!

 

Supplies: 

Photoshop

Miss Tiina's Everyday Journal Cards

Nancy Rowe-Janitz Dreamy Photos 5

Liv Esteban PointsofView01 - Thin Arrow 07

Fonts:  Miserably Lose, Georgia, Poplar Std, and Myriad Pro

 

NOTE: the digital pie chart is a .png file...  to create a layered file in Photoshop, select the magic wand.  With the magic wand, select your first pie piece - once it has the 'marching ants' around your chosen piece, click Ctrl-J to create a layer.  Do this for each pie piece to create masks to 'clip' your photos to. 

 

I'd love to see your creations and hear the story behind your timeline!  Enjoy mixing it up!!!