Addicted to Templates

I've gotten a lot of scrapping done lately! WOOHOO! I was starting to feel like I was only accomplishing layouts for my creative teams - which is great - but I had really been wanting to use some of the other fun kits I've collected and get more of our stories told. By using templates, it really helped me speed up the process. Plus, I really like trying on different scrapping styles.

These first three layouts were created using templates by Scrapping with Liz. I love her stuff because it usually features medium/big spots for photos, and usually room for more than one photo, while still offering lots of room to embellish. She's definitely one of my favorite template designers.


{papers & elements from "Silly Silly Bo Billy" kit by Jady Day Studio; Myriad Pro font}


{paper and elements from Hugging and Loving kit by Laura Banasiak; alpha from Sweet Caroline kit by Meredith Cardall}


{paper and elements from Apple Jacks kit by Lyndsay Riches; Myriad Pro font}

This one was created with a template by Dunia Designs. (Yes, I am on her creative team, but the kit I used is from a different designer.) I loved the option for so many photos. In the center of the original template was a cutout of the year 2010, but I just deleted that layer and put my title there instead.


{paper and elements from A Monster of a Day kit by Band Geek Designs; Rough Typewriter font}

This last one is by Zinnias and Swallowtails (aka Sara Gleason). I really like her layering style with lots of space. It makes for a very clean look, which I'm always drawn to, but it's a style that I'm not that good at recreating myself. So a template is perfect for me.


{paper and elements from Techno Girl kit by Pixel Gypsy; Century Gothic and Luna fonts}

Do you use templates? What's your favorite source for templates? Not sure what a template is? Here's a good video tutorial. Here's to creating more layouts!

xoxo,

Project: Love, Me - August Layouts

Still keeping up with my Project: Love, Me layouts. I love the colors of the kit this month! You can buy the whole bundle, or you can get the kit, templates, wordart and clusters separately. All of my layouts were made using the bundle. The theme this month is iRenew, and you can find all of the prompts here. Here are my layouts:

Week 1:



Week 2:



Week 3:



Week 4:



Bonus Prompt- since August is a long month, there's an extra prompt. I think it will be posted later this week on the Project: Love, Me blog.



xoxo,

A Week in the Life : THE ALBUM

Well hello there...

I haven't updated in a while or blogged about this project yet, but I'm pleased to say I did it! And even more pleased to say that I finally compiled the photos and words into a completed album. Just last night I uploaded the pages and ordered my photobook from Shutterfly.

Here's a look at a couple of the pages:






This is pretty much what the spread for each day of the week looks like, just with different photos, and more or less words.

A few thoughts about this project:

1. I really like how the focus is entirely on the photos and words. As I was trying to decide how to put the album together, I ultimately decided I liked the clean look of a white background with no digital papers or embellishments. I really like how the photos take center stage. Also, the simplicity of the design meant it came together more quickly that it otherwise might have.

2. Taking photos and recording all the details of a day can be quite exhausting. The first couple of days I started off strong, but by the last few it started to feel more like work. It definitely shows... I had less photos to choose from and much fewer words to work with for the latter days of the week. I'm totally ok with it though... something is better than nothing. And I really like having the full week to capture as much of our routine as possible.

3. The idea of this project is to capture the mundane, daily routines that make up our lives, but in fact the last three days of this week were anything but. We were traveling those days and spent time in a new city. This may also be why I didn't get as many photos or words for those days... but I'm ok with this as well. I chose to go ahead with the project because I knew if I didn't just do it like I had planned, I might not ever get around to it. I actually like the mix of the first half of the week being very ordinary, and the last half being a fairly good documentation of our trip.

4. I LOVE this project. I can safely say this is probably my most favorite album I've ever done, this and the Week in the Life album I put together back in 2008. There is something so satisfying to me about capturing all the little details and having them all in one place. In looking back at my 2008 album, I'm always struck by how much life changes, even just a few months from now our routine will look very different. There are so many little things I would never remember if it weren't for this project.

You can find out more about A Week in the Life at Ali Edward's site.

xoxo,