I know, I know! It's the end of January and I'm just getting around to welcoming you into 2022! Actually, it's been quite some time since I wrote a blog post. 2021 was extremely busy here at Pixels to Pages with a new classroom and the Project 12/52 Collection kits Meagan Johnson (The Practical Scrapper) and I released throughout the year. Posting on the blog fell under the radar. I was posting more on my Facebook and Instagram platforms. I've had many followers asking if I was going to start blogging again. So you know how it goes, new year, new goals!

My documenting plans for 2022:

Even though my 2021 family yearbook has yet to be completed, I already know I will be documenting 2022 in a monthly format. I seemed to go back and forth every year. 2021 was weekly, 2022 is monthly. And to help me get those photos + stories documented, I have several new kits in the Pixels to Pages shop that I will be using this year! Let's take an in-depth look at them!

Chapters: A Month-by-Month Storytelling Card Collection:

A lot of thought has gone into this kit and each part of it deserves some explaining. So here goes:

Each month will feature a new color palette, texture, and realistic pattern!

I know how many of you mobile memory keepers and digital scrappers love to coordinate fonts to kits you purchase online, so here are the fonts I am using in the Chapters Collection. These fonts will remain the same each month for consistency!

Each month will include 6x12 and 3x4 Calendar Cards with both Sunday and Monday start dates. The design of the cards each month will remain the same, but the colors will change according the monthly color palette. Note that the journaling section on the 6x12 cards is titled "Chapter Highlights." You'll read why I am pointing this out further down the post!

Kits will include two 4x6 Chapter Title Card options. I couldn't decide which design I liked best, so I am including both. You'll see how I am using this card to divide my album up into sections later in the post! The design will remain the same each month, but the color will change.

If you have been following me for a while or purchased kits in my shop in the past, you may recall I had a collection of Journal Block kits. They were very popular (though no longer available) and I really wanted to include a few in the Chapters Collection. Each month there will be a 6x8 and 8x6 Journal Block card. The design and colors will change according to the color palette.

Back in December I was a guest on the Simple Scrapper (Jennifer Wilson) Podcast "Scrapbook Your Way." If you caught that episode, you may recall that one of my goals this year is to play around with video more and incorporate it into my albums. You can listen to that podcast here: https://www.simplescrapper.com/syw148 Throughout December I was using the One Second Everyday app and I absolutely loved it. I exported my little video to Vimeo, created a QR Code and dropped that into the last page of my December Daily Album. I am planning on doing the same every month in 2022. I created two 4x4 cards in this kit for you to do the same if you'd like.

When a book is turned into a film, it is called a "film adaptation." I thought it would be really fun to incorporate that term into the main card. "Episode One" represents January, the first chapter of my book. Cute, right? The other card is a little more generic. So if you have a video of a vacation, birthday parties, etc. You can use the "watch this" card and add a title to that rectangle at the top! By the way, you will need to use an app like Affinity Photo to add text and your QR Code to these cards. 

I wanted to include a more sophisticated birthday card in this collection. Each kit will feature a 3x4 zodiac card. This color and design will remain the same throughout the monthly kits. Only the symbol/name will change. I did this for two reasons. 1) I know zodiac signs overlap each month. So for instance, if you have family members whose birthdays fall toward the second half of December and the first half of January, you can use this card in both months without having to worry if it will clash with that month's color palette. 2) This card will coordinate with the 3 other kits that were released in the shop this month (you'll see those further down the post).

Each monthly there will be cards in the kit that represent various National Days, but not necessarily say "National Day." For instance, January 6 was "National Cuddle Up Day," and January 31 is "National Hot Chocolate Day." You can think of these more as photo prompts! I know I am a little late to the game in January, but beginning with February, I will be posting on my Facebook page and Instagram accounts as to which national days will be represented so you can plan a few photos! As far as a photo for National Cuddle Up Day which as already passed, take a photo anyways! No one is going to know that you took it at the end of the month!!!

The monthly kit will also contain a few other coordinating 3x4 and 4x6 filler and journal cards. Be watching the blog next week where I will be posting a video on how you can create more journal coordinating cards using this kit in the Project Life App!

And finally, each kit will come with a 5-page PDF explaining the various cards in the the collection, a list of the National Days, etc. I know it is important for many mobile memory keepers and digital scrappers to match the colors of the kits when working in apps/software like Affinity Photo or Photoshop, so I am including the color codes for each monthly color palette, too! I hope you find this helpful!

2022 Monthly Calendar Journal Blocks and Cards:

Also released in the shop are the 2022 Monthly Calendar Journal Blocks + Cards. These are available in either a Monday or Sunday start date, so be sure your are purchasing the correct one! These cards do coordinate with the Chapters Collection! The one thing that is different is the title for the journaling section on the 6x12 Calendar Cards is "Month in Review" instead of  "Chapter Highlights."

2022 Weekly Cards:

The cards in this kit also coordinate with the Chapters and the 2022 Monthly Calendar Journal Blocks + Cards kits. 3x4 + 4x6 cards in vertical and horizontal orientation and their overlays are included. Just so you know weekly dates are NOT on the cards. I know, I know. Many would love to have these dates on the cards. But there are way too many variables to consider when adding them: should the week start on a monday or a sunday? And looking at a December calendar, where does one end their week 52/53 and begin their week 1? There is too much to think about, so I just leave them off. This also gives you the freedom to use the cards in different years, not just in 2022. If you are going to add the dates and want to be all matchy-matchy, I would suggest the font Barlow Condensed if you have access to it!

Some page samples:

This is my title page for January. I used Design W in the Project Life App. I placed the January card in the center 6x4 pocket and filled the remaining pockets with the white card from the Neutral Card Kit in the app. Drop shadows are turned off.

Here is my first spread in January (other spreads are still in progress. I used cards from the January Chapters Kit and the 2022 Month Calendar Journal Block kits. Drop shadows are turned back on

This is what the last page of January and the first page of February will look like. They will appear side-by-side in my album like this. I still will play around with the left side a bit. Especially if I add more video. The QR Code there is my movie from December. It is there just for sample purposes and will be changed out when January is done! Right now I have the drop shadows turned off. Not sure if I will keep them that way on this page. 

So that is it! What do you think? If you are ready to document your January photos + stories, and looking to purchase any of the above kits, click this link or the shop link above in the menu!

Happy New Year, friends! I pray everyone has welcomed 2021 with open arms and slammed the door on 2020! To be honest, I really wasn't ready for the holidays to end. It was cooler than normal in December for us here in Florida. I couldn't get enough of cozy nights by the lighted tree, Christmas-scented candles, and wearing a puffy jacket in the mornings when walking Zoe. But it was time to turn the final page on 2020 and begin to move forward. I am taking a little break from removing holiday decorations to write my first post of 2021. Over the weekend, I did a Facebook and Instagram Live, where I spoke about variety of things–my background in documenting, my collaboration of a digital kit with The Practical Scrapper, my plans for documenting 2021, and a few exciting things I want to do with Pixels to Pages this year. I want to repeat some of that here in this post, and even mention a few other things that I forgot to in those social media videos.

If this is your first time visiting Pixels to Pages, welcome. I am so happy you are here. Really I am. I'm not going to go into a deep introduction of myself here, but to learn a little bit more about me just click on the "About" link in the navigation bar above and you can get to know me in a nutshell! Please be sure to follow me on Instagram accounts–@pixelstopages is where I share all things documenting! My @kmsill account is where I share more personal and family things! I'd love to connect with you there!

So now on to my 2021 Brain Dump. The past several days I have had so many ideas of what I want to do in 2021 that it is causing me to lose sleep. From documenting projects, to home improvement projects, and business plans. There is a lot swirling around in this girl's 52-year-old brain. And even though I discussed some of them in the Live social media videos, I just need to do a little more to get them out of my head. Writing them down helps, so that is what I am doing here.

My 2021 Word: Self

While I am not participating in the One Little Word project by Ali Edwards, I do have a word that will be my focus in 2021–it's "self." This particular word started to show itself to me in the last few months of 2020–self-taught, self-starter, self-employed, self-care, self-assured, be true to yourself, self-discovery. I could go on and on. I just feel like this word is talking to me and I look forward how it makes its appearance throughout 2021. What about you? Do you have a word for 2021?

Family Yearbook (Project Life)

2021 will mark the 6th year I am creating my yearbook in the Project Life App. That is not to say I am completely caught up on my 2020 album. Come to think of it, I still have a few more months to go in 2017 (I was working on both years at the same time. 2018 and 2019 are done though!).  In 2020 I documented in a monthly format. I am almost done with September and hope to share that soon. I seem to go back and forth–one year I document in a monthly format, and the following year I do a weekly format. For 2021, I am going back to a weekly format. 

I will be using the Project 12/52 Foundation Kit throughout the year. This is the kit The Practical Scrapper, Meagan Johnson, and I collaborated on. I'll talk a little bit more about that kit at the end of this post (and there is a freebie there for you!). Something new I want to incorporate into my album this year are the weekly story prompts that Becky Higgins publishes on her My Modern Story Instagram account, using the Editorial Templates in the Project Life App. I absolutely love the concept of these story prompts and look forward to including them in my album somehow. I enrolled in her My Modern Story class when she first released it several months ago and just went through the course this morning (January 3). Wow. So much inspiration! I don't care how seasoned of a scrapper you are, or how comfortable you are with the Project Life App, you will always find little nuggets of knowledge in Becky's classes that you can take away with you and work into your own documenting process. Seriously good stuff in there! And you guys, the class is free! Here is a link to the classroom for you to enroll. No affiliation whatsoever. I just like to share!

Live the Story You Want to Tell

"Live the Story You Want to Tell" is an audio course by Becky Higgins and her podcast partner, Becky Proudfit. This class was gifted to me a while back, but is no longer available to enroll in. I have been holding out for 2021 to begin the class and I'm super excited to dive in. The reason I am bringing this up now is that upon finishing the My Modern Story mini course, Becky really inspired me to dive even deeper in telling MY story. Sure in my family yearbooks I document about good times, bad times, etc. But I just want to write something a little more personal. Maybe I will share those pages here and on social media, maybe I won't. But I know I feel compelled to write more about myself (see, there is my 2021 word). I look forward to beginning this audio course and taking a journey into self-discovery and documenting it using the Editorial Templates. I've already decided that I will be doing 10x10 pages, printing them through the app and using the Greige binder she sells in her shop. Again, I am not sure how much of this will will share on social media, we'll see!

Pixels to Pages Classroom

If you are a memory keeper who used to scrapbook using physical product (papers, stickers, etc), you are very familiar with ever-changing product lines, trends, and techniques. You may find the same holds true when you are a mobile memory keeper–new apps are released, tried and true apps are updated, new digital techniques are discovered. Many of you may remember that I used to teach a series of online classes at Scrapaneers.com called Art of the Apps. They were a big success and I had so much fun teaching others how to use document their photos and stories using a variety of apps on their mobile devices. I haven't taught an online class in several years and man, do I miss it. I've been wanting to host my own classes in my own classroom for a while now, and I am determined that this will happen in the first half of 2021. I'm not going to give any other details other that what I am writing here or what I said in my Facebook/IG Lives a few days ago. But I will keep you posted as I get closer to opening the classroom for enrollment! Stay tuned!

Social Media

While I do publish posts and photos on Facebook and Instagram, one of the things I want to become more comfortable with in 2021 are Facebook and Instagram Lives. I want to connect more with all of my Pixels to Pages friends and have you get to better know the person behind the logo. I did my first Instagram Live this past weekend. I think it went pretty good–although I think I messed something up when I tried to end the Live. But it's a learning process, so bare with me as I move forward with this! For Christmas my oldest son and daughter-in-law gave me this really cool phone and tablet stand to record video and/or live stream. I plan on putting it to good use this year!!!

2021: The Year of DIY

Do-It-Yourself. Again my word for 2021. This will be the year of DIY for me. From simple home decor, to building a custom cabinet in our family room, I've got this need to create like you wouldn't believe. Ryley, our youngest son, gave me a sewing machine for Christmas. I am so excited! I haven't sewn in years and I can't wait to make all. the. things. And I am planning on sharing what I create here on the blog. So I hope you all don't mind a sprinkling of other creative endeavors here along side of my scrapbook pages! Joann's, Michael's, Home Depot, and Lowe's are going to be my new favorite places to shop!

Project 12/52

I mentioned earlier in this post the Project 12/52 Collection that Meagan Johnson and I collaborated on. Meagan is so talented! Make sure you are following her on her Instagram–@thepracticalscrapper. I am so, so, so very grateful for her helping me get this kit out of my head and into our shops! The idea for this kit has been in my head for 2 years and it is so freeing to have it out there! It really allows me to move forward with other things! But I want to explain in a little more detail about the Collection and what you can expect from it throughout the year:

Project 12/52 Foundation Kit: This is the main kit in the Collection. It is full of over 600 cards for you to use in the Project Life App. To use them within the Project Life App, simply save your cards to DropBox or other cloud storage (I keep mine in iCloud Drive) and then you place them on your Project Life App page just as you would a photo. Feel free to use the cards in other apps, too! Or, if you are a digital scrapper (creating pages on your desktop or laptop), these cards can be used in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements,  and Affinity Photo.

Project 12/52 Add-on Kits:

Meagan and I know that not every app-scrapper are die-hard users of the Project Life App. There are many apps mobile memory keepers use to document their stories and photos. This is the main reason why we decided to offer the Digital Papers and Overlays in separate kits. We didn't want the Foundation Kit to have products in it that those who use scrap strictly with the PL App wouldn't use. Make sense? Right now there are 3 add-on kits in the Collection:

Digital Papers: 25 patterns and 12 solids. Use them in your desktop software or in mobile apps such as Affinity Photo, Over, or Letterglow.

Monthly Overlays: This kit has 3x4 and 4x6 overlays in black and white. They come in both horizontal and vertical orientation.

Weekly Overlays: Same as the Monthly overlays! The kit contains the overlays in 3x4 and 4x6 sizes. They come in black and white, and in both horizontal and vertical orientation.

The Project 12/52 Collection is available in both of our shops (you can get to mine by clicking the link at the top of the page). It doesn't matter which shop you purchase from! And guys, Meagan's shop is great! She has a ton of  kits not related to the Project 12/52 Collection that you may be interested in! Click this link to go to her shop!

We know that sticking with one kit throughout the year can get a little boring. So Meagan and I will be releasing seasonal add-on kits throughout the year! Yay! There may be a few other surprise kits added as well!  And here is the first one–a mini Happy New Year Kit. Thank you to all those who have purchased the kit so far! We appreciate you! For those who haven't decided on a kit to use for their 2021 album, we hope you will consider Project 12/52 and use the cards below to help you get started!

Click the image below to download!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!

Hey guys–thanks do much for stopping by to take a peek at my August pages. These actually came together fairly quickly. So let's take a look:

I'm still continuing to use my Monthly Journal Block cards to tell the majority of my stories (you can find them in my shop here). I'm actually finding that I run out of room sometimes on these big blocks! But I love to "talk!" I don't want to decrease the font size any smaller than what I have now. I have to remember that these pages are going to be printed in 10x10 albums, and I want the text to be legible. But for any additional stories I need to tell, I can put it on a journal card like I did here on the left side where I shared a little story about these chocolate chip cookies. 

August is the beginning of birthday season in the Sill household and it continues through September. Our son Dustin, my dad, Chris's brother, and Elsie, my great niece. She just turned 5 and had a birthday party at Dinosaur World in Plant City, Florida. I shared the story in the big journal block on the first spread. If it wasn't for that Journal Block, I wouldn't have been able to use all of these photos on one side of the spread. One of those pictures would have been replaced by a journal card. This is why I love trying to keep all of the journaling condensed on one page–it leaves so much more room for photos! The filler card on the left side is from the Wish Big kit in the Project Life app. 

The "pieces of me" filler card is one I created in Affinity Photo on my iPad using digital products by Ali Edwards. The Corona/Hurricane filler card is one I created in the Adobe Spark Post app. The words are from a meme I saw on Facebook a few weeks ago when there were two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time. I thought it was hilarious and wanted to recreate something different for my page. Adobe Spark Post is an app I used on EVERY single page in my 2020 yearbook. I LOVE IT!!! It is the app I use to place all the white borders you see on my photos. I do have a blog post/tutorial about how I do this. You can read that here if you'd like. 

My favorite story from this month is the one about beginning the redecoration of my creative space! I have been wanting refresh my space for a few years now, and for some reason I thought the middle of August was the perfect time to do so. Why not? It's the middle of summer in Florida. The temps are in the mid-90s and there is 1000% humidity. I am not going to get into too much detail about the refresh, as that will be coming in a post on Friday!!! But just so you know, this project started in mid-August and, aside from a few minor things I still need to purchase, this room will be done tomorrow! Be sure to follow me on Instagram as I will be doing a live walk-through of my space sometime during the day on Friday! Anyways...back to the spread...

You may have noticed that yellow seems to be a recurring color when it came to the filler cards in all three spreads this month. It just happened that way, it wasn't intentional, but I really like it! I love the "creating my space" filler card I made in Affinity. Ali's products are so versatile!!! The "these are my people" card is another one I created as well! Word art for the win!!!

Thanks for taking time out of your day to pay me a visit! Leave any comments or questions below!

Seven months down, five to go. Can 2021 get here any faster??? Right before I started to type out this post, I read on the interwebs that the Big 10 has cancelled the 2020 Football season. We just want to cry. 2020 gets a 0-star rating from us. Seriously 2021, where are you???

On to happier things, like scrapbook pages:

Even though I have 3 spreads for July, I had a really hard time with selecting decent photos. It turns out that the camera on my iPhone X is failing on me. I noticed that areas in photos have been blurry, almost like it is in permanent portrait mode, but not as nice looking because the blurred areas are sporadic. I'm struggling with whether or not to upgrade to an iPhone 11 right now, or wait for the 12 to come out. What would you do? New releases usually come out in September, but I've read recently the release is being delayed to the first week or two of October due to supply chain issues. Grrr...this @#$& Covid!!! So, I've been carrying my Nikon B700 around with me more and more. I've even been taking pics with my iPad as well.

If this is the first time you are visiting the blog. Welcome! I am so happy you are here and thrilled that you have decided to spend some time with me today! I published a lengthy blog post earlier this year outlining how I am documenting 2020. You can read that here when you have a moment. But just a quick recap: I am documenting in a monthly format, creating my pages in the Project Life App. 95% of the digital products I am using throughout my pages are by Ali Edwards and I use the apps Affinity Photo, Adobe Spark Post, and Supermatic (no longer available in the app store), to add these embellishments to my pages. I go into a little more detail about my process. I have embraced placing the majority of my stories this year on a 6x12 Monthly Journal Block Card. You can find them in my shop here or by clicking on the shop link at the top of the page.

My two main stories this month included a kayaking/paddle board weekend getaway with friends, and a week-long visit with my sister and her family. Yes, it was a lot of socializing in the middle of a pandemic, but we took all the necessary precautions to stay healthy. The cards on the layout above are from the Americana Kit in the Project Life app. I did alter the card on the left side by adding a white journal box to it in Affinity Photo. The firework card on the right has a star from one of Ali's digital kits.

Again, digital products are by Ali Edwards. However, that "love to explore" card in the spread above is one I created in Affinity Photo using several of Ali's word art digital files. Several of the photos on this spread were edited in Lightroom Mobile on my iPad using presets from Light and Airy Photography. I LOVE their presets!!! 

It seemed as though my social media feeds were loaded with Christmas in July posts throughout the month! I did my own little release this year with an updated version of my printable Christmas Planner. It is seriously one of my favorite things I've created! You can check it out in my shop! I will be doing a separate post on this planner very soon!!! /// I had a blast when my sister was visiting! The masks she makes are awesome! She has a huge selection of fabric. The elastic bands are adjustable and there is a bendable, metal strip across the nose for a secure fit. If you are interested, you can check out her Facebook Page, Night Owl Createry.

So happy July is over. It was a busy month! Here is what I have going on in August:

1) I am in the middle of redecorating my studio. I am going to post some pics/video on my IG Stories about this soon, so be sure to follow me there @pixelstopages.

2) I am already starting to fill in my printable Christmas Planner. It's never too early to start, right? I thought I would be able to share some of those pages with you last week, but I it took me a whole week to recover from my sis being here! I hope to get that post out soon!

3) The other thing I am working on are new Journal Block Kits for fall. I will have 6 new kits that will be released very soon!!! Stay tuned!

Thank you so much for reading! Leave any comments or questions below!!!

What’s this? My June pages are done on the 2nd of July??? Even though I have two double-page spreads for June, it turns out I didn’t have a whole lot of photos for the month. Compared to the three or four spread I’ve been doing each month this year, it’s no wonder I got these done in record speed-not that this is a race or anything (because it’s totally not!). I know July is going to be a busy month, so I didn’t want to waste any time in documenting June! 

If you are a first-time reader, all digital embellishments are by Ali Edwards. However the 6x12 Monthly Journal Card is one I created and is available in my shop! The apps used to create these pages are the Project Life App, Affinity Photo, and Adobe Spark Post.

My favorite story this month is of the kissing manatees! These gentle giants pay visits to our canals often (as do dolphins) and I never get tired of seeing them.

Just a little non-scrapbook related product plug...Replica Surfaces. Have you ever heard of them? I’ve become obsessed with these photo-realistic surfaces and have quite the collection growing. If you are a crafter who likes to share photos of your works on social media, or you have an on-line shop, or enjoy food photography, check these things out! Each surface is 23”x23” and you can combine them together to create an amazing, portable photo studio, or use them individually for flat lay photography. Here is a link if you are interested (no affiliation at all!).

The Project Life 3.0 Update is so great! One of my favorite new features are the Editorial Pages. These pages feature place holders for 0-3 photos and large text boxes to tell your story. There seems to be a trend lately in really getting into the nitty-gritty details of the story behind your photos and these minimalistic Editorial Pages are a great way to do just that. I will be sharing a blog post in the near future of how you can incorporate these pages into your albums!

Garden tower update! Things are growing! I love going out there to pick fresh herbs and what few veggies I planted! The tomatoes and mesclun have been yummy and I’ve enjoyed the process of letting herbs dry on my countertops and crunching them for later use. The parsley has been really good and very fragrant when cut!

So that’s about it for June pages! Thanks for taking a peek! But before I close this post, I have two little Pixels to Pages announcements.

1. Beginning tomorrow morning at 10am EST and lasting through Monday morning 8am EST, I will have a Journal Block Party Summer Collection Super Bundle available for $40! This bundle contains all 8 Journal Block Party Kits released over the past few weeks. Not sure what these are? Read this post, and be sure to check out the shop tomorrow at 10!
   
   
   
   
2. Mark your calendars for July 25th! It’s Christmas in July and I am planning to release something super special in the shop! There will be a Facebook Live as well (time has yet to be determined). Keep following my Pixels to Pages Instagram feed and Facebook Page where I will share some clues throughout the month as to what it might be!
   

2020 is moving right along, although probably in not a way that we planned. Am I right? I mention in my journaling on the Monthly Journal Block for this month that as the days go by, they feel like Groundhog's Day. Not much changes from one day to the next during the week. Sometimes I find it a little difficult to take photos of the same old, same old. Especially since I don't have littles in the house. But this month I used several pics that my sister in Ohio had texted to me and some from my niece. I even got in some of the photos that my husband and son took of me while I wasn't looking! I love that they know I would appreciate them taking a few of me helping build the garden tower and filling it with herbs. 

There are four double-page spreads documenting May's photos and stories. The Monthly Journal Block is one I created and is available in my shop. Digital elements are from Ali Edwards. Apps used to create these pages include:

Project Life (the 3.0 update is AMAZING)

Adobe Spark Post

Affinity Photo App

Let's take a look:

One of the things I LOVE about these pages this month are the filler cards I created using digital word art and stickers from my growing stash of Ali's products. The "These are my people" filler card was created in Affinity. How simple is that? And do any of you use a foam roller? It's my hip's best friend! Oh, and check out that red hair on my nephew Jonas!!! It's. so. red. My sister kept saying he's been wanting red hair for a while. Well he got it! I remember Ryley going through a colored hair phase at the same age. Except he had a bunch of colored gels I got from my hair stylist in Virginia. It would wash out daily. My boys hair wasn't something I got hung up on a lot when they were younger. I'd let them express their individuality. There were other battles to be won at that age. Hair wasn't one of them. BUT NOW? As seen in the photo right next to Jonas, that long hair drives me crazy!!!! Hahaha!!!

Just look at that tower of happiness!!! This is my favorite story of the month. I've wanted a garden tower for several years. We first saw one while visiting The Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. I took photos of it and would mention to Chris how much I wanted one. It took awhile (like I said, several years) for him to make it, but it was so worth it! We found some plans online. The instructions weren't the best, but he got it done (I helped a little bit otherwise to help keep his sanity). Filler card was done in Affinity!

Are you digging the filler cards? I really like how they turned out. Again they are so simple. By layering various digital word art and digital stamps, and playing around with the opacity, you can create something really fun! The food photos are ones I took for a friend who is in the process of opening a permanent pizza food truck. It's going to be amazing!!!! They hope to open by July 1st. Check out those sprouts in my garden!!! Those are Mesclun (mixed greens) and they popped up in a matter of days of me planting the seeds!

I think this is my favorite spread this month. The "yes to" word art was actually part of word art that read "yes to this." In Affinity, I used the eraser tool and got rid of "this" so I can add my own text. 

Any questions or comments? Leave them down below! 

Wait...one more thing...I wanted to share a few pages from my customers who purchased a few of the Journal Block Party Kits!!! These kits include large, decorated journal cards that are meant to fit in the oversized placeholders in the Big Shot templates. I have 8 kits in the shop that are geared toward summertime holidays and activities! Check them out by clicking the link to the shop in the link at the top of the page!

This first one is from Jen Morrison. She used cards from the Lake Life kit. She actually gave me the idea for this themed kit! Thank you Jen!

This second one is from Meagan Johnson (The Practical Scrapper). She used the Amusement Park kit. Notice how she used the journal block for both a photo and journaling. She said she did this in the Over app!

Thank you both so much for sharing your pages! 

As a reminder, whenever you use my kits on your pages, be sure to tag me on my Instagram account @pixelstopages or @ mention me on Facebook!!!! I want to see your creations!!!

It's about time these pages are done, right? I think I mentioned in a social media post recently that I got my documenting mojo back. It disappeared back in April and I just didn't feel like doing anything but record tutorials for my tribe! I worked on these March pages for about 10 days. Creating pages usually doesn't take me that long, but I think it's because I loathe the month of March in the first place. It's my least favorite month of the year. It just drags on and on and on. So why shouldn't documenting it be the same? Ha!

I was surprised to see how many photos I took in March. I didn't think I was that much of a shutterbug. But when I sat down to select those I wanted to place in the album, I realized there were a ton. Of course there was a long weekend getaway to Everglades National Park, so I had to include those pics! By the time I was done, I had 4 spreads for March. Let's take a look (be sure to click on each spread for a larger view):

I am still enjoying do a large block of journaling at the beginning of each month. I use Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo to create it. All of the digital products are by Ali Edwards. The "embrace change" filler card was created in Affinity Photo using Ali's digital stamps and manipulating some of her word art. It was super fun to do. I will have a tutorial on it soon! If you haven't checked out Ali's Hybrid Product Play No. 1 class, do it! Although it is taught using Photoshop. You can adapt many of the techniques she demonstrates in Affinity! 

Even though I have a lot of journaling in the block on the first spread, I still had some stories to tell! One of my favorite things I am doing in the book this year is using Adobe Spark Post to create those collage-like 4x6 photos. I have templates set up in post and all I have to do is swap out the photos. I love these because there is white space along the bottom to add journaling or embellishments if I want. Any of you have adult children that don't live near by? Our oldest son and daughter-in-law live in Virginia. At the end of each month I go through our text messages and save any photos she may have sent me and try to include them in my album. How sweet is that photo of Dustin and their pug, Deno? Again, all filler cards, and word stamps are by Ali Edwards.

You may (or may not) have noticed that I am really not focusing on the pandemic. I decided I didn't want to do pages and pages of Corona-related material. That subject matter will be trickled throughout my pages. I will, however, do a "story of the year" spread(s) at the end of my album using the Persnickety Prints timelines!

I love this spread. The focus is totally on the photos and journaling of our weekend getaway to Everglades National Park. The journal cards and embellishments are by Ali (of course) The journal card with the photo on it was created in Affinity Photo. When I brought it into my Project Life template, I used Free Form Text (FFT) to add the journaling and would hit the return key after each line so the text would wrap around the photo. The "Spend Time In Nature" journal card was just plain. It only had the text on it. I added that piece of washi tape and the tab in Affinity Photo. Side note: I am actually creating a physical/hybrid album specifically about the National Parks we visit. I'll be sharing those pages in the upcoming weeks!

Just a little recap of apps and supplies used:

Apps: Project Life, Affinity Photo, Adobe Spark Post

Photo Edits: Photos native editing tools, PicTapGo, or A Color Story

Digital Products: Ali Edwards

Thanks for taking the time to read this post! Please don't hesitate to ask any questions in the comments below!