Today I am excited to share the January pages from my 2022 family yearbook. Chapter 1 consists of a title page, three double-page spreads, and an end page with a QR code for the January video I created in the One Second Everyday App

Pages we’re created using the following products/apps:

• The Project Life App
• Affinity Photo for iPad
• The Creative Cloud Express App (formerly called Adobe Spark Post)
• My Chapters January Kit
• 2022 Monthly Calendar Journal Blocks + Cards Kit
• Fonts: The Brande & Lotaline, Barlow Condensed, Pirates, Archer Pro (journaling)

Title page was Created by using the Design W template in the Project Life app. One of the title cards from the Chapters of January kit was placed in the center placeholder. Other placeholders were filled with the white card found in the Neutral Kit in the app. Shadows were turned off on this page.

The first spread of each chapter will always have the Calendar card from the January Chapters Kit on the left-hand side just as you see in this photo. I listed a few of the chapter highlights in the journal space below the calendar. The 3x4 filler card on the left-hand side is actually 4x6 in size but it fit very nicely in this place holder. On the right-hand side of the spread the 3 x 4 journal card you see with the January title is from my 2022 Monthly Calendar Journal Blocks and Cards Kit. 

The second double-page spread uses the 4x3 journal card from the Chapters January Kit. I placed it in 3x4 placeholders, then using the photo editing tool, I rotated it to a vertical orientation. The two journal cards you see with the purple border are ones I created directly in the Project Life app! At the end of this post you’ll find a link to a 20-minute video tutorial demonstrating how you can set up your own journal card templates in the app using digital papers you have purchased from outside sources! The 4x6 photo with the two dogs was created in Creative Cloud Express (formerly Adobe Spark Post). It’s a template I created in the app a long time ago. I use it over and over again and just switch out the photos. Once it was exported, I dropped it into the 4x6 placeholder on my PL template, then I used several text boxes to add the journaling and the word art title on the photo!

I couldn’t be happier with the way the third spread turned out. On the left I used Editorial Template Set 1A No. 1. On the left I used the Big Shot 20 template. I’m not one to use a lot of purple in my albums, but man! I seemed to have been drawn to that color from the kit this month!  All of the filler cards were created directly within the placeholders on the page using several text boxes. I just love this spread!

And finally the last page simply has the 4x4 card meant for a QR Code. Scan the code with the phone on your mobile device and you can view the short movie created with the One Second Everyday App! I used the Affinity Photo app to place the QR Code on the card, exported it to my camera roll, then added the card to the center placeholder in the Design Q template, with the shadows turned off. I originally had thought I was going use the bokeh pattern paper in the placeholders on either side of the card, but I changed my mind. I love all the white space. In my album, this will be placed opposite of my February Title page.

January is done! Looking forward to February keep these dates in mind when taking pictures throughout the month. The graphic below shows the National Days that will be represented in the Chapters February kit! You can expect that kit to be released sometime during the week of February 14.

Below is the video tutorial I mentioned earlier in the post. If you are wanting to learn even more advanced techniques when using the Project Life App, the Memories Matter classes can help! Click the links below for more information!

Memories Matter

Memories Matter Project Life Design Series

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!

You guys!!! I am SO EXCITED to announce that Pixels to Pages is going to have its own classroom!!! I've been away from teaching for a while, but I am back! And I'm looking forward to teaching others how to use mobile technology to document their photos and stories. 

There will be several courses coming to the classroom in the future, but the first one to go live is called S.W.A.P.–Scrapbooking with Affinity Photo!!!

Check out this quick video below:

Early registration for class begins Monday, April 19 and class begins on Monday, May 10. Please click this link for more information or go to the "classes" tab in the menu bar at the top of the page. I will have a more detailed post on Monday about the classroom and what to expect in the coming months! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, or shoot me an email–kelly@pixelstopages.com

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!

If you recall, last month I mentioned that I was going to be playing catch up on my 2017 Project Life Album and shared pages from September 2017. My goal is to have both 2017 and 2020 by the end of the year and today I am sharing my October pages. Two more months to go after this! Yay!

The pages this month are super simple. All completely done in the app. Since the photos from this month were really fall-inspired, I used filler and journal cards  Project 12 October Edition.

The above spread acts as the divider between my September and October spreads.

I rarely use the color purple on my pages. But I thought that journal card with the purple diagonals complimented the journal card with the leaves very well! Because the layout on the left-hand side was such a miss-mash of photos, I used numbered bullet journaling to document them! 

You'll notice I did the same type of journaling for the entire second spread! This way of journaling is quick, to the point, and best of all it gets things done! Looking at this spread now, I am going to go back and change the numbers on the right hand side to being with "4." For some reason it is bothering me!

And that's it for October! Super simple pages, right? 

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!!!

This year I participated in Ali Edwards' 7-day documentary project, Week in the Life. While I try to capture details of everyday life in my Project Life family yearbooks, this Week in the Life project is more of a deeper dive. More photos, deeper, meaningful stories. Although Ali and many of her followers have been taking on this project each year since 2005, this is the first year I decided to participate. Today I am sharing the photos and stories of this year's Week In The Life project which took place May 11-17, 2020.

I created a 6x8 album using Affinity Photo on my iPad Pro. All digital products shown are by Ali Edwards.

I went with a super simple cover–a piece of digital graph paper and label. I believe the paper is from one of Ali's December Daily Collection from a few years ago. The label is from the Week In The Life 2020 Digital Collection.

Throughout the album you will notice that the day of the week will fall on the right hand side of the spread and will basically have the same layout. I wish I could say this layout was my idea, but I actually scrap lifted it from Instagrammer LindaLovesCreating. She had a photo of what she was doing but using physical product. I wanted to see how duplicating it in digital form would look and I am super happy with the results!

Since this was my very first time participating in this project, I wanted to simplify things as much as I could. I used many of the WITL 2020 Digital templates, and added a few of my own personal touches. For instance, with the exception of Friday, you will see a collage page on the left and a page of text on the right for the first double-page spread for each day. I also used Ali's "lenses" (story prompts) for each day as well. This was super helpful in trying to tell my stories throughout the week. It's amazing how easily stories can unfold by simply using a word or a phrase. The journal page on the right is one that I created myself. I took color cues from the day of the week sticker on the graph paper "number" page and paired it with the color of the circle day of the week sticker you see below. I did this for each day. I thought it was a great way to organize each day. When flipping through the book, and you see a new color, you know you are on a new day!

Again–the same color treatment for the journal card.

The last page for each day is opposite the intro page to the next. I really wanted to use this circle template for each of day of the week, but I found I didn't have enough left over photos to do so. So, I was only able to use this template on Days 1 and 2. But no worries. Read on and you'll see what I used instead.

New day, new color scheme. The 4x6 journal card was one I created myself. I used it a few times in the album and just changed out the colors and story lens. word art.

Even though the Tuesday circle sticker isn't that peachy color I used in on the journal card, there was a little heart sticker in the WITL Digital sticker book that paired the yellow with the peach, so that is how I came up with the color scheme for Tuesday.

I am LOVING my new range and microwave!!!

Currently my tower herb garden is sooo out of control! 

You can see here how there are less photos on the "pieces of life" below than there were in the Monday section. 

Now even though I used a red and pink color scheme for Monday, I am using the same here (again following the cues of the "day of the the week" sticker in the spread above, and the "Wednesday" circle sticker on the second spread below). However, this time the colors are reversed on the journal cards. Subtle difference, I know, but I'm not going to overthink it (Yeah-famous last words. You'll see why come the Thursday section).

I think some of my favorite spreads are those where one side has the photos bleed off the page and the other side has a white border around them, like you see below.

I LOVE the photo below of Zoe blurred out in the background and the focus is on her squeaky toy.

Lots of pics in on the left in the spread below. I like placing the word phrases to describe the photos a bit.

So here is where I had to change things up a bit from the "pieces of life" template. I ended up using Ali's Transparency Phrases from the WITL 2020 Digital Collection as an end page to each day.

Now I started to overthink my color-schemes in the album (hahaha)! Because there was so much blue and green in the various day of the week stickers towards the end of the week, I didn't want the end of my album totally bombarded with blue. So on Thursday I went with green (like the day of the week sticker in the photo above) and used a lighter shade of green as a compliment to it. 

The "facts & feeling" story lens, I felt, was the most difficult to work with. It really challenged me to take a deeper look at the story behind my photos. 

While I do like the 6x8 collage layouts, I think when I do this project again (and even December Daily), I will be adjusting the templates so there is a gutter between the photos. I feel like they need some air. 

The photos in this spread aren't that great, but it is what it is. I do like to change pictures to black and white when the lighting was low or it's just a bad pic in general. The black and white seems to hide the flaws!

So here's the thing. I only took one photo on Friday. Just one. I just didn't feel like snapping pictures. And that is okay. I thought my lack of photos was a perfect {short} story to tell with the story prompt for today–some days + most days. Oh, and just like I did on Thursday, I used two shade of blue this time for the color scheme for Friday.

One photo. One journal page. One double-page spread for Friday. 

Ahhhhh...the weekend! Loved the prompt for today! We were super busy so I made sure to take lots of photos to make up for not taking any on Friday!

Changed up the color scheme to blue and peachy-pink for Saturday. Didn't like it at first, still not my fave, but it's growing on me.

And how about that baby tomato! That pic was taken almost a month ago. I have many more tomatoes on the vine!

Last day of this project! Finally getting away from the blue and green. Three cheers for pink and yellow!

I really like the prompt for today–"I want to remember." I feel like it made me just want to write and write! And I did. I think this whole project made me want to reflect more on the stories that are hiding behind the photos.

Who's husbands ended up with a "Covid Coif" during this pandemic! This is the longest Chris's hair has been in 30+years!!!

It's seashell season!!!

Nothing like curling up on the couch, after a day at the beach, and watching a Disney movie!

The last page of the album is below. It's just a plain white page with a piece of word art and a cute little heart sticker placed below it. 

This project was so much fun to do. It is one I will definitely do year after year. Like I just mentioned above, all of these story lenses (story prompts) really made me take a deeper look at the details hiding behind each photo. I am so grateful for this project Ali had created and how she encourages those participating to take a more detailed look at our photos and stories!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post! Let me know if you have any questions!!!

Earlier in the spring Chris and I watched The National Parks: America's Best Idea by Ken Burns on PBS. This was around the time he planned a weekend road trip to Everglades National Park. As we were watching this documentary, I realized that this will be the second National Park located in Florida we would have visited in five months (the first being Dry Tortugas National Park back in November 2019). Being a mobile memory keeper, I don't purchase a whole lot of physical scrapbook products anymore. Honestly the only physical products I do purchase nowadays are the December Daily and Travel Collections by Ali Edwards. I have a pretty big stash of Ali's Travel products that I've never used. Creating a small, 3x8 National Parks Album would be the perfect opportunity to use some of it up (and to make room for the 2020 Travel Collection)!

This is actually a "hybrid album," meaning I used my computer (and mobile device)–in conjunction with physical products–to create this album. Here is a breakdown of how I went about making it:

Mobile Device/Apps: Any 3x8 templates you see in the album were created in Affinity Photo on my iPad Pro. I created a whole series of templates specifically for this project and just reused them throughout the album. Even the 3x4 photos with the white border is a template. All of the photos were edited in either using the editing tools in the native Photos (camera roll) or in Adobe's Mobile Lightroom using presets from Light and Airy Photography. Once I placed photos into the templates, I would export them to my camera roll. Just so you know, I use iCloud Photos to sync my photos to all of my devices. I have it set to "download and keep originals" so I have access to my high-resolution pictures at all times. This makes it easy for me to access these pictures from my desktop (iMac). 

iMac Desktop: I used Adobe Photoshop and my Epson Stylus Photo R2000 printer to print my photos. The photo paper I used is Espon's Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy. I would place two 3x8 photos or six 3x4 photos on an 8.5x11 document in Photoshop and then print. For those 3x4 photos with the white borders, I would add a very light stroke around the photo that would act as my cut lines (I'm old school and use an x-acto knife and metal ruler to trim!). The pages that are fold-outs, were also printed on the same 8.5x11 paper, trimmed to the correct size and then scored to make the folds (again, I created templates for those fold-outs in Affinity). 

Enough writing. There are photos to look at!

I wanted to follow some sort of pattern with each park. So you will see this layout as an introduction to each National Park.

This fold-out is something else that you will see as part of the intro to each park.

Another thing I did was include a "fun facts" page at the end of each National Park section. I just Googled "interesting facts" for each park and it was easy to copy and paste them into a template. The template is one I created in Adobe Illustrator. 

I'm so happy this fold out!

Below is the backside of the fold-out.

Another fun fold-out!

I am so happy with the way this album turned out! I wanted to get it done before Ali's 2020 Travel Collection is released (May 26) and I did it! I hope you enjoyed looking through the photos. Let me know if you have any questions about techniques or how I did things! I'd be happy to help!