I love when we can all discuss topics and share ideas, both old and new. That exact thing happened this past week in the forums.I had posted about my blog post 5 Ways to Get More Out of Your Kits, and everyone was chiming in on tips they use for working with their kits. Then, Kristina mentioned Power Scrapping. I knew of the term but wasn't sure we were talking about the same thing. Much to my surprise, when I asked her, she shared a blog post I had written here two years ago about Power Scrapping. You can check out that post here:Catching Up on PL 2015 in One Hour a DayBasically, Power Scrapping is batching tasks that you do when you complete a page. It often works for larger album projects like Project Life. So first you may choose and place all the photos, then you might put all the cards or paper on each page, etc. I had originally learned the technique from Katie the … [Read more...]
Choosing Pictures for PL in Lightroom
Over the last two years, I have come up with many ways that I make my life easier when I am trying to put together my Project Life layouts. Last year, I posted about how I use Dropbox and Lightroom together to organize my photos by week. That work has made a world of difference in my life. Today, I want to share with you how I go about choosing the pictures I want to use for each Project Life layout, using Lightroom to make the process easier.Step 1: I navigate to the folder for the week I am working on. Under "Collections" in Lightroom, I go the the PL 2015 stack and select the week folder. Because of the set up work I've done, all of the photos that I have from that week show up on my screen.Step 2: Instead of looking at the thumbnails of all of the photos for the week, I double click on the first photo and that brings it up as a single photo that I am looking at. You … [Read more...]
Using SVGs to Print and Cut
Recently I have been using the MPM(Memory Pockets Monthly) to work on my backlog of pocket pages that need finished. I was excited to see that the MPM’s came with SVG cut files. The cut files have been designed to work as a print and cut! I knew that my Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software was meant to handle this. However when I tried to use the SVGs I couldn’t figure out how to use them. I took my problem to the designers of the MPM. They quickly taught me how to use them and it was so easy! Today I want to share how to use SVGs to print and cuts in Silhouette Studio software.1. Open up the SVG file in Silhouette Studio. Typically you will know you have the right file because all the shapes are black. (Please note: This will only work if you have the DESIGNER EDITION!)2. Open the Cut Settings window and change the setting to Cut. Now you will see the red cut lines … [Read more...]
Catching Up on PL 2015 in One Hour a Day
Like everyone else, I get behind on my Project Life. Sometimes there's too much going on, or I don't have time to sit and put the pages together, or I'm finishing a good book and want to focus on that - whatever the case may be, I end up with weeks and weeks of Project Life to put together. Once I'm pretty far behind like that, it starts to bother me and I want to pick up the slack fast. Over the last two years, I've come up with a plan that helps me catch up on my Project Life by just dedicating an hour a day for five days. Here's the breakdown of what I do.Day 1: Get the photos readyOn day 1, I sit and go through the photos I have for each week. You may remember, I have it set up so that Lightroom sorts them by week for me. So when I sit down I pick the photos for each week. It's at this point that I also do any editing I need to do. I try to keep my photo editing for PL pretty … [Read more...]
Pocket Scrapping Out of Order: Tip #1
Last month we discussed the idea of pocket scrapping out of order and the freedom it can bring to the scrapping. The next question many people ask is, "How do you go about scrapping out of order?" Today I have a tip for you to get started pocket scrapping out of order. Although I primarily do hybrid pocket scrapping I believe this tip can work with digital pocket scrapping as well. Lets get started!Tip#1 : Edit and print your photos.I know this is a super simple tip, but let me explain how this can streamline your pocket scrapping process. I really like to edit my photos. I don't do a lot of editing to them but I still enjoy watching my pictures become the best they can be. However, when I have to edit my pictures then scrap those pictures, I've run out of time. Not only am I out of time but I find myself out of inspiration as well. I took this into consideration and … [Read more...]
Pocket Pages: Newbie Perspective
Everybody knows that Pocket Pages, inspired by Becky Higgins' Project Life, are all the rage right now. And they are not going anywhere! The concept has been around for a while but it took me, personally, a couple of years to jump on board the bandwagon. My personal story involves completing P365 (a photo a day) in 2010 and it was a fantastically documented year for us! Then I sort of wimped out after that with regards to organized projects and continued scrapping whatever struck my fancy (which, by the way, is totally cool). Last year, I dabbled in the Pocket Pages, doing a 2 page spread a month, but I still havn't completed the year because it is very difficult for me to summarize most of our months in 2 pages and still manage to get any "story" documented. Not to mention, streamlining the photos. I took forever just figuring out what to include! So this year, I decided it was … [Read more...]