I mentioned in my last blog post I had only 2 or 3 more layouts to do in order to get my June photos + stories documented. That was a total miscalculation! Turns out I needed 8 more spreads to get those stories told! And you know what? I thought it would totally stress me out. But looking at the photos and writing about them brought me so much joy. I was just so happy going through the process of laying out these spreads. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed creating them.
The pages were created on my iPad Pro using the following products and mobile apps:
The Project Life App
Affinity Photo for iPad
QR Code & Barcode Reader App
Check out the pages below!
Spread Seven
I love the colorful weathered wood board included in the June Edition of Chapters. You will see a lot of it on the following spreads. I used it to create the 6x8 and 3x4 journal cards you see above. The title on the large card was done in Affinity Photo for iPad. Isn't that beach house gorgeous?
Spread Eight
There are lots of random photos on this layout. By using the same pattern journal card on both pages, it helps to make the spread cohesive. Repetition is a good thing. Adding titles and journaling directly on my photos is a technique I use all the time. The Free Form Text option in the Project Life App is so worth purchasing! I use it all the time and it is a great way to add two text boxes on one journal card–a text box for a title and one for the journaling!
Spread Nine
I wish you could see me right now as I type out this blog post. I have the biggest smile on my face just looking at this page! If you haven't played Tidal Ball on the beach yet, what are you waiting for? Grab the game on Amazon and take it with you on your next trip to the beach! The title on the 6x12 photo was done in Affinity Photo for iPad, exported, and then placed in the layout. I used two text boxes on the journal card. It's a little hard to see, but the first text box (the first 6 lines) is right aligned The second text box (the remaining lines) is left aligned. I did this so the ends of the lines will go on a diagonal to following the angle of the waves in each of the corners. And can you tell I am having a ball with these QR codes??? The videos they go to aren't very long, just little snippets here and there, but so fun to look back on!
The Sun, Sand, Surf, and Tidal Ball filler card is one that I modified from the June Edition of Chapters.
I brought the original card into Affinity Photo, covered the original text with two rectangles in the sandy color of the background and then added new text!
Spread Ten
Oh for the love of puzzles. This is another spread that just fills me up with all kinds of happy! I used a template from the Circle Pocket Frames No. 2 Kit to highlight a few speciality shapes in the puzzle. The journal card is one I created in the Small Print section of the Project Life App using the light blue textured digital paper from the June Edition of Chapters. And can we talk about the right side of the spread? I LOVE THIS!!!! When we completed the puzzle I took a photo of it, knowing I would be using it in an Editorial Templates with a large placeholder in the Project Life App. I exported the page without the text. I brought the page into Affinity Photo for iPad to add the text (I wanted to access the glyphs of one of the fonts) and exported that to my camera roll. Finally I dropped the completed layout into the full page 12x12 Editorial Template.
Spread Eleven
A golf outing and a few more random pics! I'll be honest and say that there are a limited number of journal and filler cards included in the Chapters Monthly Storytelling Collection Kits. And this is on purpose. The kits are meant to limit your choices when it comes to decorative elements. It is the photos and the stories that matter. But these kits have plenty of papers to create your own filler and journal cards, allowing you to expand your creativity and your designs skills whenever you want. You saw in Spread Nine how I altered one of the filler cards. Now here on this spread you can see how I filled a 3x4 placeholder with the green textured paper from the June Edition of Chapters and added a quote to it! Easy peasy! I really like the type treatment of the "cousins," and "brothers" on the right side of the spread. This was just done using the Free Form Text option in the Project Life App and dragging the text box so the letters flowed off the side and bottom of the placeholders.
Spread Twelve
Another spread where I used an Editorial Template (it's the page on the left). I may go back and add a bit more journaling to it. I wanted to mention how much I love the North Carolina coastline, its dunes, and all the plants that grow there. I can photograph them all day long! I used a template from the 6x8 Circle Pocket Frame No. 3 Kit for the photos of the flowers.
Spread Thirteen
My heart is going to BURST!!!! Like the filler card says–"I love these humans." The page on the left was, again, done in an Editorial Template. The text was added in Affinity Photo for iPad. God, these pictures make me so happy!
Spread Fourteen (last one!!!)
Super fun spread on the left! Love all these women!!! Kristen, Becca, and I always have to get a photo of us on a Carolina beach in the same pose. So fun! And our hats! The girls loved them! Check out that filler card on the right side of the spread. Its original size is 6x12. This was actually an assignment from my Type Talk class that ran earlier in the summer. Students were to select a 3 to 5-letter "summer" word and go on a "found type scavenger hunt," searching for letterforms in food, architecture, foliage, etc., snap a photo of it and place it into exclusive Pocket Frame Templates that were part of the class downloads. "Ocean" was my word and I used it here on this page. The students in the class had AMAZING photos and I will be sharing them on my social media platforms in the coming weeks. The fall session of Type Talk will run in October!
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Still LOVING the idea of adding video to my albums.
Whew! June is done! How is your summer documenting going? Don't worry if you are behind. Summer is busy, you'll get to it when you can! If you have any thoughts or questions, leave them in the comments below! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read!