be AUDacious

Tuesday's Dollar Deal

A 16-page 8x8 album template -- how can you turn a deal like that down? (Regularly priced at $7.99)

Here's a look at a few pages created with the album, featuring some photos from a trip to Washington DC with the family a few years ago.

2012: product line and take twelve layout

I've got a simple new product line coming to Design House Digital over the next couple of weeks. The first release are these easy-to-use photo templates, perfect for scrapping your Take Twelve Photo Challenge pictures. These templates can be used to easily create a digital layout of your Take Twelve photos; you can also use the templates as a way to share your photos on your blog each month. In addition, these templates are flexible enough to use for printing and scrapping the traditional way, too. There are four photo templates: 2x6, 3x4, 4x3, 6x2 (that's width by height) and they come in two styles: square corners and rounded corners. 

Each template comes as a layered .psd file, meaning that each square is on a separate layer. Using these in Photoshop or PSE is really simple. Just open the template, and then open your photos. Place one photo above the layer where you'd like to have it located in your photo grid. Resize your photo as necessary, and then click Ctrl G to "clip" your photo to the template square. Make any adjustments to the location and then click Ctrl E to merge the two layers together. Repeat these steps with the rest of your photos, and then merge all the layers together. Here's a tutorial from the DHD blog to help you out.

Here's what the templates look like in action. I used the 4x3 template with rounded corners; I chose the 4x3 orientation because my photos were divided into morning, afternoon, and evening and this arrangement let me keep them grouped in that way. The other products I used are a brief glimpse at some of the products you'll see in next week's release in my digital shop. My plan is to use these items throughout the year on my Take Twelve Challenge. 

Speaking of the Take Twelve Challenge, have you signed up for Ella Publishing's reminder email yet? It only takes a few minutes; fill out the required fields and make sure to check the box that says "Take Twelve Project." You'll be sent monthly email reminders about the Take Twelve Photo Challenge, and you'll get some great opportunities to share your photos and win prizes! Also, don't forget to check out the Ella Blog today to see how other team members are scrapping their Take Twelve photos.

project: December Daily

I've long been enamored with the idea of completing a December Daily, but I've never actually had things together enough to participate in the project. The closest I came was when I did Capture the Season at Simple Scrapper; here's an overview of my layouts.

After looking back through those layouts, I was inspired to give it another shot this year. Rather than completing a layout a day, I wanted something that would be more of a general overview of our annual holiday traditions. This way, I would be able to look back over the past 15 years with the girls and talk about how our traditions have evolved as our family has changed and grown, as well as reflect back on my own childhood holiday traditions.

DIGITAL SUPPLIES: I've selected Tiffany Tillman's Elegant Christmas templates for the foundation of my album. I love the ease of using templates, and this set gives me plenty of room to feature large photos, lengthy blocks of text, and simple accents -- all design details that I want to feature in my album. Using templates also allows me to vary the length of each entry; for days that require lots of photos (decorating our Christmas tree, opening gifts on Christmas morning) I can use additional pages with minimal fuss.

I've also selected Karla Dudley's Cheers digital scrapbook collection. I love the subtle color scheme and the variety of brushes and elements that come with this kit. Everything is designed for a more streamlined, graphic, modern take on the Christmas holidays.

PROJECT DESIGN: I decided early on that the easiest way for me to complete this album would be to make a list. Lists are my go-to method -- for brainstorming, for remembering, even for journaling. So I created a list (see below) of the traditions and concepts that I wanted to make sure to include in my album. Some of these things are connected to specific items in my calendar/planner. Others will just be general topics that, simply through the act of writing them down, will be in the back of my mind as I have my camera out through the month, so I'll remember to get shots of them then.

• Dickens Alley (a recreation of an authentic English alley at Christmas, held in downtown Murray)
• the Murray Christmas parade
• the Parade of Lights in Central Park and Mike Miller Park
• the lights at Opryland Hotel
• decorating the Christmas tree
• holiday baking
• winter weather
• Christmas Eve at my sister's house
• Christmas morning at our house
• preparing Christmas dinner
• Christmas celebration at Chris's parents house
• Christmas movies/television/music
• Christmas Eve girls' pajamas
• spending time with Christmas cousins

The plan is to have these pages all bound into a Shutterfly book, unless I find a great Christmas themed binder that I really like. I'm probably going to condense the templates down to 8.5x11 pages, but I won't make that decision until I actually start playing around with the design. 

I'm excited to see how this turns out, and I'm really enjoying all the glimpses of December Daily that I've seen on blogs, galleries, and Pinterest. Here's to documenting your holiday season, in any format!

BLOG FREEBIE

A friend requested a copy of the files I used to create my Portrait of a Reader album, so I thought, Why not? I've zipped up the files for you, which includes all 6 patterned papers (8.5x11 .jpg files), 6 index cards (as individual .jpg files and as two 8.5x11 .jpg files with three cards each), plus a set of labeled banners and a set of blank banners. These are saved to an 8.5x11 .jpg for direct printing. I've also included a .psd template of the banner outline so you can customize your own, as well as a .psd template for the index cards. Click here to download the file to your computer; unzip and then enjoy!

update: Portrait of a Reader

Thanks to the first nothing-going-on weekend we've had in over a month, I was able to sit down and do some work on my Portrait of a Reader album. So far I've only completed one section, but I plan on continuing to work on it as I have the time. This is definitely a work in progress -- and most likely will always be, to an extent, since I'm always reading new books.

One of the main reasons I wanted to complete this book was to have a hard-copy record of the books that I've read and my thoughts on them, to file alongside my books here at home. Goodreads allows me to do this digitally, but I wanted something that wasn't web-dependent too.

Supplies: white cardstock, mini stapler, hole punch, ink pen, paper trimmer

Although I linked up a number of really cute book-themed kits, I ended up just creating a set of simple templates to use for this project. I found a color palette that I thought would work well:

In addition to this, I created a simple chevron pattern in each of those 6 colors and saved it as a letter-sized page. This allowed me to print out full sheets of the chevron paper for accents and for the center filler on the album pages.

I created a simple index card and backed it with a solid color -- again in all six colors. These cards were created to fit the measurements of my specific album sleeves; they ended up being 4x6 5/8". I left a larger left-side margin so that I could hole-punch the cards without overlapping any of the writing on the cards.

For a final touch, I made little page banners with the year and the star rating for each list of books. I simply printed these on white cardstock and cut them out, then stapled them with a mini-stapler to the index card before slipping them into the sleeve protector. 

Putting this all together has been really simple. The best part is that I can print everything out ahead of time and then work on adding the content to the pages as I have time. I chose to handwrite my lists; this might sound boastful but I really love my own handwriting and how it looks so I try to use it whenever possible. It also adds a great personal touch to my projects.

If you've put together a reading album, I'd love to see your progress. You can share, if you'd like, by leaving a link in the comments section. Feel free to share links to other great reading-based albums you've come across. 

project: Portrait of a Reader

I've never made a secret of the fact that I love making lists. Just about everything I do involves making a list at some point. Part of it has to do with the fact that my memory, thanks to a non-functioning thyroid gland, is pretty pitiful so lists help me to function on a daily basis. The other part of it, though, is that I just love the tactile aspect of making a list -- the feel of the ink and paper, the sense of accomplishment that comes with marking something complete. (I also love the crinkle of notebook pages full of notes -- that is one of my favorite sounds. I'm aware that probably puts me fully in the nerd category, but I'm totally okay with that). 

I've attempted a couple of times to keep a reading journal, but I've never found one that I really liked. (I quit long ago buying fancy notebooks to use for journals, because they just ended up blank and gathering dust on my bookshelves. Thank goodness for the Moleskine datebook I finally found -- it's worked as a better journal/diary than anything I've ever come across.) Then Goodreads came along, and essentially this problem became non-existent. 

Except that there was still a little part of me that kept thinking, "Don't you want something a little more permanent, a little more physical? Something that you could pass on, along with your books, to your family members?" Reading is such a huge, integral part of who I am that I can't imagine not documenting it in a more tangible fashion. And that's how this project was born.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: "Portrait of a Reader" will be a simple mini-album project designed to do just what it says: create a portrait of you as a reader. It will be divided into sections with easily insertable pages so that you can add content year after year.

It is my plan to share the creation of this album with you over the course of several posts. Once a month, I'll share with you my progress on creating, maintaining, and updating each of the sections in my album. 

MY ALBUM PLAN: I've selected a simple 2-up photo album from Target. It's a 3-ring binder style and it's similar in size to a hardcover novel, which is nice because I plan on storing it on my bookshelves alongside my favorite novels -- makes sense, right? Here's a look at the pattern (this sample is 12x12):

 
I plan to include the following sections in my album: 

• list of books I read each year. This will be generated from Goodreads, so that means I'll have complete lists for 2008 and on, plus a partial list for 2007, which is when I joined GR. These books will be in order by star rating.
• characteristics of myself as a reader -- what I love to read, where I love to read, particular reading habits, etc.
• featured reviews for my most favorite books
• lists of books by favorite genres

I'm still trying to figure out if there are other sections that I want to include.

The plan is to create 4x6" cards in PSE with digital scrapbooking kits and then simply print them out and insert them into my album. Simple. As I develop each section, I'll share any templates or other guidelines that I create with any of you who plan to create an album along with me.

My intention is to use the Book of Firsts kit, a collaboration between Paislee Press and Three Paper Peonies at Oscraps. I love the stacked books doodle, and the patterns and colors work nicely with the album I've selected.

Here are some other great digital kits that you could use in your own album:

PageTurner by One Little Bird Designs

Bookmarked by The Tattered Pear

Between the Pages by Kaye Winiecki

Woodland Book Lovers by Danielle Thompson/Kitschy Digitals

Read It Again by Lauren Reid

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN CREATING AN ALBUM WITH ME? I'd love to hear from you, if so. Right now, the goal is just to work on a basic album outline and to gather your materials. We'll check back in on November 14, with a look at my first section.

In the meantime, please share with me any additional ideas you have for sections in your album or for scrapbooking products (digital AND paper) that will be a great fit for a project like this.

more pages for the Going West photobook

The credits are the same as the ones posted here. Thanks for all the nice comments about the first four pages. I'm loving how quickly this is coming together, and how it's really fitting with the image in my mind. I've been trying to record some information about each place on the pages too -- mostly just some summary info. Luckily, David brought back all the maps and guide papers for me to use. :)

 

the beginning of a big project

The girls took a trip out west with David and Marilee (Chris's parents) a couple of weeks ago, and I've been itching to get the photos (from 4 different cameras, no less) into a photobook. Of course, I've had grand plans to do this with all our trip photos -- the ones from our two trips to DC, our two (soon to be three) trips to San Francisco, our camping photos, my Shaker Hill pictures -- but I've never made the time to do it. I decided that it was finally time to get started, and I'll be honest, it was a set of templates that helped me pull this project together and get it out of my head and onto the screen. Tiffany Tillman's Modern Masters template collection, to be exact. The brushwork works beautifully for large background photos that fade into the paper, and then I can add all kinds of frame clusters and office-type elements on top, while keeping the look very photo- and story-centered.

Here's a look at the first four pages, with a credit list at the end.

credits:
from Design House Digital:

Tiffany Tillman: Modern Master template collection (I am modifying these, but the base begins here) 

Tiffany Tillman: Summer Templates 14, 15, 16

Sarah Schmutz: Travel Log Phrase Stamps

Jen Allyson: Real Simple Clean Frames

Karen Funk: Photo Clusters 1 and 2

Karla Dudley: Digi Essentials 11 (grungy edges)

Celeste Knight: Happy Tape

Robin Mierotto: Tag You're It

 

from Oscraps:

One Little Bird: Vagabond (white paper, compass, car tag, You are Here tag)

Paislee Press: On the Road (word art)

 

expectantly yours, collaboration: new release, giveaway, & freebie

I am so excited about my product release today -- for a very special reason. A couple of months ago, my sweet friend Emily Powers contacted me about doing a collab with her. Of course, I jumped at the chance, and we bounced a few ideas back and forth. Once we settled on a theme and some colors, we both got to work but it was evident at some point that things just weren't working. We put things on hold while I went on vacation, and then Em took a vacation too. After talking a few times, we settled on a different theme, a different set of colors, and even a different way of putting our collab together.

Basically, we've each created a variety of products for you that feature the same theme and color palette, but are sold separately. So there's a little something for everyone, created in our signature styles, but easily mixed-and-matched.

Before I share my pieces, I want to let you take a peek at what Em's created:

 

The kit is posted in her shop, and it's 30% off on Thursday and Friday. There's a gorgeous album as well, priced at 50% through May 31, if you purchase the kit. Plus, if you stop by her blog, you'll be able to pick up a great freebie too!

But there's another reason to check out her blog. Em and I are both offering you a chance to win the ENTIRE collaboration -- EVERYTHING we've created under the title "Expectantly Yours" -- just by leaving a comment. There will be two winners: one on her blog and one on my blog, so make sure you leave a comment in both places. To increase your chances of winning, you can tweet about the contest or post to your Facebook status line about it; just make sure you stop back by and let us know you've done those things. You've got until midnight on Friday night to leave your comments on our blogs; we'll use a Random Number Generator to choose our winners and announce them on Saturday!

Now let's take a peek at what I've got releasing today, shall we? I really loved this color scheme, and once I started putting together pieces, I just couldn't stop. That's why I've got EIGHT items going up today; you can choose to purchase them individually, you can choose to purchase the kit (patterned papers, elements, and word art), or you can buy the entire collection (shown below). The choice is yours. Even better, all items are 35% off today only! (Do the math: purchase the full collection at 35% off today and that's a $22.00 savings for you -- what a deal!!!)

But that's not all -- I've created a little freebie for you as well. You can click here to download it. As always, thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your ongoing support of my work. It means a lot to me.

blueprints: tools for managing a long-term album project

In my last blueprints post, I set a number of "next steps" for myself towards the completion of the girls' school albums. For quick reference, here they are again:

1. Sort through my "finished digital pages" folder and upload layouts that need to be printed and added to this album.
2. Create a set of "grade level intro pages" that collects basic information about each school year.
3. Sort through my photo folders and determine which photos need to be scrapped (some will be stories that stand alone about the school year, others will support the memorabilia in the album). Use sticky notes on the memorabilia pages to note accompanying stories. Create a master list to help keep this organized.

Today, I want to share with you the tools and processes I've created to handle those three steps. While I'm nowhere close to being finished with this album, that's okay, because by necessity this album has to be an ongoing project -- both girls are still in school. And even though I'm not "caught up," I do have a process in place, which means that I am working on this project as I go, instead of allowing these things to just pile up.

Let's just tackle these in order, shall we?

1. Sort through my "finished digital pages" folder and upload layouts that need to be printed and added to this album.

This is in process. Uploading takes a little bit of time, but it's one of those tasks that I can start and then walk away from my laptop to do other things while it's going on. I have a couple of different folders that hold my finished layouts, and once I upload them to my printer of choice (I use Scrapping Simply), then I make a backup to my EHD and remove them from my laptop. Once those layouts get printed, the backup files are deleted; there's no need to keep the digital file once I have a hard copy. For more information on printing, I recommend this post at The Daily Digi, as well as this one.

2. Create a set of "grade level intro pages" that collects basic information about each school year.

After sorting through all of my memorabilia for each grade level, I realized that there were some basic things that I needed to capture about each year. The easiest way to do this, I thought, was to make a simple 2-page template that allowed me to include the following information: a school photo, the grade/school/year, and general information about the school year.

The template is designed so that the main photo and school information goes on the left page. On the right side, there's room for three more photos (I always seem to have some random extra photos that don't really fit with anything else floating around), and plenty of journaling room. In terms of journaling, I plan to use the following categories: teachers, schedule, friends, sports, clubs, awards, trends, field trips, and favorites. I fully intend to have the girls fill out this information in their own handwriting (which means I'll probably build my pages as hybrid pages, since I'll need to add the school pictures each year, too). If you'd like to download this template, it's available here.

3. Sort through my photo folders and determine which photos need to be scrapped (some will be stories that stand alone about the school year, others will support the memorabilia in the album). Use sticky notes on the memorabilia pages to note accompanying stories. Create a master list to help keep this organized.

I've created one more simple download for you to use to help keep your stories-in-process organized and ready to scrap.It will easily coordinate with the other graphic organizers I've designed for album planning, as well as the basic layout planner I created for this class.

The download allows you to keep track of the basic idea of the story that needs to be told, as well as the photo file names (and folder locations) and the related memorabilia. This way, you can jot down these stories as you work through your folders/content, and then scrap them as the time becomes available. Keeping a list of topics to scrap on hand has always been a real life-saver for me, because it means that when I sit down to scrap, I don't waste any time trying to decide what I want to scrap about.

Download School stories graphic organizer

Here's a sample of what this page would look like filled out -- I've printed several of these pages and tucked them into a 3-ring kraft binder where I keep a number of scrapbooking tools and notes.

With these tools and processes in hand, I'm finally on my way to getting caught up on the girls' schools albums. You know, out of all the boxes of photos and papers and items that my mom has stored away in her ceder chest, the thing I love to look at the most is my School Days book (one of those fill-in-the-blank kind from Lillian Vernon or something like that -- does anybody else have one of those?) I think that's why getting this album planned and underway is so important to me.

As always, Liz and I welcome your questions and comments about this album series. You can leave them here on the blog, or you can stop by our Formspring sites as well:

ask Audrey  |  ask Liz