... just Laura

Kerri Bradford Studio: Wild and Leafy Trees

Hey there! It's been a while since I've shared a layout, hasn't it? I had a new layout go up at Kerri Bradford Studio late last week and am finally getting around to sharing it here with you all today.

While I love physical stamps, I find that I tend to use digital stamps way more often in my projects. At first glance, I wasn't sure how I would use Kerri's new Homegrown and Plant Life stamp sets, as we're not big gardening people and we don't have many flowers in our yard and not a single plant in our house. But what we do have is lots of leaves! 

I was reminded of several photos I had taken shortly after moving into our new house last fall, and I knew I could incorporate some of the new stamps into a layout documenting our wild and leafy tree (and leafy neighborhood!).

I started this project with the intention of doing a 6x12" pocket page spread, so I set out to create 3x4" and 4x6" cards to slip into the pockets along with my photos. I eventually decided to turn it into a layout instead, which was so easy to do using these same cards. 

I created a title card by pairing up "wild", from the Plant Life digital stamp set, with "leafy trees", taken from a phrase in the Hello Summer digital stamp set. I used several printable cards from Kerri's older Hello November kit, so I matched the colors for my digital stamps with the colors on those printable cards using the color sampler tool in Photoshop. I added the diagonal striped border along the bottom of the card, by copying it from one of the 3x4" printable cards, and added a few leaves along the left side of the card using the Gather Together digital stamp set. 

I thought the tree stamp in the Hello Summer digital stamp set would tie in nicely with the theme of my page, so I added it to one of the printable cards (after I removed the phrase that was on the center of that card), sizing it to fit between the middle three striped rows.

I also tweaked the polka dotted printable card, so that I could fit a digital stamped phrase along the top of the card. I used the "how does your garden grow?" digital stamp from the Plant Life set, but took out the word "garden", and replaced it with 'leaf pile". 

I realize that this layout is so, so, so much like the last layout that I created for Kerri (seen HERE). What can I say? If it works, it works. And this style works for me ;)

Project Life 2018: Week Fifty One

Hey everyone! I'm back to share week fifty one in my 2018 Project Life album. FIFTY ONE. That means I only have one more week to share. Well, actually, I have two more weeks, since there was one week way back in May that I had skipped for a few reasons. Anyways, I'll be tossing these up without many details added in. Like I've said in the last few posts, I've run out of things to add about most of these weeks. 

I did have more photos/stories for this week, so I added a 6x12" insert. Here's a look at the first half of the weekly spread, with the 6x12" insert on the right.

I added very few embellishments to my 2018 album. In fact, I can probably count the times I added something extra on one hand. Maybe two. But that purple filler card needed a little something, so I added a simple puffy star sticker.

Here's a look at the second half of the weekly spread, with the 6x12" insert on the left.

Yep, I kept that post super short and sweet. Lol. I'll be back to share the last two weeks later this week ;)

Project Life 2018: Week Fifty

Hey my friends. I'm back to share another week in my 2018 Project Life album. A quick and simple look, as I've been tossing these weekly spreads up left and right, and I'm sure they all look the same to you ;)

Here's a look at week 50. Can you believe it? Spoiler alert, if you're actually reading this - I finished my 2018 album in full last week!!!

Funny that the only thing I feel I should comment on is this bottom corner photo of the weekly spread. Lol. I ended up not having a spot to journal about that photo. I guess that's because I only had one Pocket Maps by Sara Gleason. And most weeks, I use three of them. Which gives me that extra journaling space. I'm kind of obsessive about trying to make sure there's a little story/journaling for every photo. Just my preference. I might need to go back and turn that photo into a Pocket Map card/photo ;) 

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Nine

Hey everyone. I'm getting this up a day later than planned, but here's a look at week forty nine in my 2018 Project Life album. I thought I would add in a few re-caps, with links, of the cards that I used throughout my 2018 album. Just in case anyone is wondering, or missed the info the other times that I've shared. 

This week had a few extra photos/stories to share, so I added in a 6x12 insert. This shows the first half of the spread, with the insert on the right.

For my weekly title cards, I used the Pocket Guide No.4 kit from Paislee Press. I created each week's card in Photoshop, using the template from the kit - switching out the week number and adding the dates for each week. 

The "This Story" digital journaling cards are also by Cathy Zielske (offered as a part of her Scrapbook Your Year class) and I love to use one per week. They're set up with four on a page, so it's really easy to knock out 4 at a time, with very little effort. If I have a week with an insert, meaning more journaling cards are needed, I often use two for those weeks. 

This lined journaling card is the one card that I can have fun with each week, personalizing it to fit my photo. To add a little something to the top of the card, I usually use a digital stamp or two. Or I'll use the PNG files from cut files, which are easy to use digitally in Photoshop. 

I work one of the Recorded Journaling Cards from In A Creative Bubble into each weekly spread. If you click that link, it takes you to one of those sets - but she has 9 sets currently, and I use cards from all nine of those kits. If it's a week that has an insert, and then I may use two cards for that week. She's got a great selection of these simple black and white cards to choose from, so I can always find one that fits my photo/story. 

Here's a look at the second half of the weekly spread, with the 6x12" insert on the left.

I love using one of these J-Card Weekdays digital journaling cards from Cathy Zielske each week. I like these cards, because they format your text as you type and they're just so easy to use. Also, they have plenty of room for journaling. I love to pick a photo each week that I know has a bigger story to go along with this card. And often times, I can pull that story straight off my Instagram, and just copy and paste it in.  

One thing that I've been doing in my 2018 album is using the Pocket Maps by Sara Gleason. I almost always work three into each weekly spread, and they're just perfect for those photos that don't have big stories. A quick sentence or two is all I need.

A few weeks into my 2018 album, I had the idea to print out filler cards from my Project Life kits within the app. I used the app itself to add two filler cards to a 4x6 photo, and then saved them all to my phone. I then simply added them to my monthly photo order so they were printed on photo paper. It really simplified the process for me, as 95% of the filler cards that I used in my 2018 album came straight from the PL app. It narrowed down my choices, and I ended up having plenty of choices to work with.

That being said, I did occasionally use a filler card that wasn't from the PL app. I believe two of the filler cards for this week's spread came from my Ali Edwards digital kits, and I just printed them out myself. 

I'll be back tomorrow to share another week ;)

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Eight

Hey all. Just popping in to share another week in my 2018 Project Life album. Here's a look at week forty eight. I feel like the coloring in some of these photos is off a bit. I know I've mentioned before that I don't spend too much time on photographing these weekly pocket page spreads, so please excuse the glare that is bound to happen on some images.

This week was the last week of November, so it's when Christmas related photos/stories started popping up. 

Right along with fall looking photos, so it seems ;) 

I have added very, very little physical product to my 2018 album, as it's almost entirely photos and digital cards. But on occasion, I end up with a filler card that has room to add a little something. So I used a few alpha stickers to fill in the empty box on the card above. 

I'll be back tomorrow to share another weekly spread, and I think on that post, I'll re-cap what I used in this album, as far as journaling cards and such. Just in case anyone is wondering.

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Seven

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. I'm doing a little catch-up session today, before I head into work, and thought I would quickly toss another weekly spread from my 2018 Project Life album up for those that like them. I mentioned last week that I'll be keeping these posts quick and to the point. 

I feel like I don't have many details to add most weeks, since I followed the same basic design plan for my entire 2018 album. Most of what I do in my album is self-explanatory I think.

I use a few of the same digital journaling cards for each weekly spread, and then usually work in one journaling card that varies (but comes from the same designer) and one journaling card where I add a digital stamp at the top, which obviously varies each week. 

I'll add in a re-cap of my 2018 album's plan, linking the cards I used for my 2018 album, on another week's share. For anyone that is new or might have missed the 27 other times I've shared that info ;)

I'll be back tomorrow with another weekly spread.

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Six

Hey all. Just popping in with another quick look at another weekly spread in my 2018 Project Life album. Here's week forty six. 

I think I've mentioned that I have a hard time using the striped filler cards, and this one was pretty bold with the colors. But I feel like it worked out with the photos for this week's spread.

Funny side note. Alyssa will occasionally sit down with my album, and will go thru each week and make notes for all of her photos. That way, when I'm ready to do journaling cards, I have the info I need. The photo above was the only photo I had for her that week. Which was weird. But she made a note for week 46 that said "I guess the only thing I had going on that week was a strong eyeliner game". Lol. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll be back next week to share a few more weekly spreads, and maybe even the last weeks in my 2018 album, if all goes as planned. Crossing my fingers I can get it all finished up :)

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Five

Hey everyone! I know that I've been sharing a lot of Project Life spreads lately, and while I know they may not be for everyone, it's what I've been working on. So it's what I have to share ;) 

I have three more weeks of my 2018 album to share that are finished up, and I'm working on finishing up the last five weeks. So I hope to have those to share as well later next week. I'm not one to just toss images into a post, without having things to say about each image. But I think that's what I'm going to do for these. I think you all pretty much know the drill on how I do these weekly spreads, and I'm sort of running out of ideas on details to add. Lol. If I think anything needs mentioning, I'll toss that in for good measure.

"It's a dog's life" is from one of Kerri Bradford's kits - I used the PNG file digitally.

Just so it's not mistaken for one of my digital cards, the "real life stories" is a filler card printed from the Project Life app.

I'll be back tomorrow with another quick look at a new weekly spread.

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Four/Part Two

Hey everyone! So, about two weeks ago, I shared the spread you see above. Week forty four in my 2018 Project Life album. Which was the last weekly spread from my last batch of catching up that I did several weeks ago.

I spent some time one day last week working on a few more weekly spreads, and I realized that week forty four had an entire extra spread. I guess I'm so used to having 6x12 inserts for those weeks when I have more photos/stories, that it didn't dawn on me to check for a second full 9x12 spread. 

While I don't believe that I need to include every photo we have for each week, I also love to include as many photos as I can, especially when they have a story behind them. 

Project Life is a great way to do an overview of each week (or month, if you like to do monthly spreads). 

I know the idea is that when you have a lot of photos, from something that happened that week, or bigger stories to tell - that's when you can turn to layouts. Or whatever type of documenting you do. 

Between Project Life, layouts, and other projects, you'll eventually get all of those important stories - big and small - documented and in the books. 

At least, that's my thinking ;) 

So there's a look at the second half of week forty four. Lol. I'll be back tomorrow to share another weekly PL spread.

Jillibean Soup: Hello Card

Hello! I apparently took a two week break from blogging without really realizing it. That happens sometimes I suppose. Lol. I was on such a good roll with my Project Life album, and so close to finishing up 2018 - and then I got totally side tracked with a new album project, and threw myself into that for a good week. 

I did jump back into my PL album late last week and finished up another four weekly spreads, so I'm going to share those this week. And I know I've said this before, but my goal is to finish up the last five weeks by the end of this week. I'm so ready to have 2018 done, and start on my 2019 album. Ya know, before June starts ;) 

As for the card. I've shared this on Instagram, but I realized I never shared it here on the blog. It was one of the last cards that I created for Jillibean Soup and I love the simplicity of it. I'm a sucker for easy peasy cards :)

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Four

Hey everyone! I'm back to share another week in my 2018 Project Life album, so here's a quick look at week forty four.

I have a definite system for where I put my photos, filler cards, and journaling cards. I always start by adding in my photos, and I honestly never really move them once they're in the pockets.  

So sometimes, like with this particular week, I realize that maybe I should have moved a few things around for better color balance. I obviously don't stress over these spreads all that much ;)

Note to self - I need to find more purple filler cards. I already added in all of my filler cards for the rest of my 2018 album, and I'm pretty sure I used the last of the purple cards.

That's it for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Three

Hey everyone. I'm back to share another weekly spread in my 2018 Project Life album. Week forty three, which had a few more photos than usual that I wanted to include. I added a 6x12" insert, which is my go-to choice for those photo heavy weeks. 

Here's a look at the first half of my spread, with the 6x12" filler page on the right.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet, as I don't have much to say. Basically, my spreads all look the same.

Same basic layout, as far as where the photos go, where the filler cards go, and where the journaling cards go. 

Just different photos, and different stories each week. 

Which I'm totally fine with, as it is one of the biggest reasons I've been so successful keeping up. 

Even though by "keeping up", I mean I'm getting it done. 

Because yes, it's May of 2019. And 2018 ended 5 months ago. 

Here's a look at the second half of my spread, with the 6x12" filler page on the left.

And I actually still have 8 weeks to finish up in my 2018 album. And if I had been "keeping up", I should have been done 5 months ago. Or at least 4 months. 

But I still think I've done fairly well with last year's album, and I know that I'll have it officially done really, really soon. 

And then I'll get started on my 2019 album. Ya know, hopefully before the year is half over ;)

In fact, I feel behind in my photo ordering routine. Just last night, I placed an order for my March and April photos. So those will be here the beginning of next week. 

I got this. Yes, I think I do ;)

I have one more week that's finished up and ready to share. Look for it on Monday. Have a great weekend!

Project Life 2018: Week Forty Two

Hey everyone. I'm back to share a quick peek at week forty two in my 2018 Project Life album. 

If I were to pick colors for my filler cards based off of the photos, I don't think I would have come up with bright pink and blue. Lol. But I will usually look for a busier card to start out with, if I can find one that works with my photos for the week. And for this weekly spread, I picked the brightly colored chevron patterned card (on the second page), and that card just led to these bright and fun pink and blue cards. 

I really don't use any embellishments at all in my 2018 album. But as I was going to photograph this spread, I realized that the blue filler card had an empty box under the "today is", which meant that I needed to add something there. I still don't have a real grasp on where things are in my room, so I went with one of the first things I could find - the little "perfection" sticker. 

Crazy to see photos from when we moved into the new house. And crazy to realize we've been here a little over six months now.

I got tired of searching for the perfect word/phrase digital stamp (or PNG from a cut file) to add to the top of this filler card, so I finally just added the camera, which is a digital stamp.

I'll be back tomorrow to share another week in my album :)

Project Life 2018: Week Forty One

Hey all. I know, I know - more PL layouts. Lol. It's the only thing new I have to share, so I'm just going with it. I finished up another 4 weeks in my 2018 Project Life album last week, so I'll be sharing those this week. That means I only have 8 more weeks to complete, and I really do think I can finish those by the end of this week, since I have a lighter work schedule this week. Soooo. Here's week forty one. 

I'm constantly forgetting when I've added in recaps of the products I've been using in my 2018 album (I try to add that info in here and there for any new-comers), so I'll add those into this post in case anyone is wondering. 

I like to add the info for my weekly title cards every now and then, since I get asked about them a lot. I used the Pocket Guide No.4 kit from Paislee Press. I created each week's card in Photoshop, using the template from the kit - switching out the week number and adding the dates for each week. 

I love using one of these J-Card Weekdays digital journaling cards from Cathy Zielske each week. I like these cards, because they format your text as you type and they're just so easy to use. Also, they have plenty of room for journaling. I love to pick a photo each week that I know has a bigger story to go along with this card. And often times, I can pull that story straight off my Instagram, and just copy and paste it in.  

I work one of the Recorded Journaling Cards from In A Creative Bubble into each weekly spread. If you click that link, it takes you to one of those sets - but she has 9 sets currently, and I use cards from all nine of those kits. If it's a week that has an insert, and then I may use two cards for that week. She's got a great selection of these simple black and white cards to choose from, so I can always find one that fits my photo/story. 

The "This Story" digital journaling cards are also by Cathy Zielske (offered as a part of her Scrapbook Your Year class) and I love to use one per week. They're set up with four on a page, so it's really easy to knock out 4 at a time, with very little effort.  

This lined journaling card is the one card that I can have fun with each week, personalizing it to fit my photo. To add a little something to the top of the card, I usually use a digital stamp or two. 

I'm still using strictly filler cards that I printed using the Project Life app. I love how it's simplified the process, and I've been able to make it work using only the cards that I've had printed and on hand. 

Kerri Bradford Studio: Annual Family BBQ

 

Hey everyone! There's been a whole lot going on at Kerri Bradford Studio this past week, as we celebrated (inter) National Scrapbook Day! I had a layout go up yesterday, which was the last day of the celebration. Hopefully, you caught the sale she had going on and her new stamp release.

 

When I saw Kerri's new Hello Summer stamp set, I was immediately reminded of the photos from an annual family BBQ we had last summer that I've been meaning to create a layout with. While I love physical stamps, I find that I tend to use digital stamps way more often in my projects. So I started with the digital version of her Hello Summer stamp set, and pulled in bits and pieces from a few other digital stamp sets, a printable kit, and even some PNG files from her cut files to create a two page hybrid layout. 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of pocket pages. I'm also a huge fan of photo collages. Since I didn't want to create this as a pocket page layout (as it will go in my family album, which is all traditional layouts), but I had all of my photos printed as 3x4's and 4x6's, I decided to work them into a "collage" of sorts, using a grid design. I started by arranging all of the photos that I wanted to use, leaving a spot for a title card and two journaling cards. Once that was set up, I knew that I needed to create five 3x4" filler cards to complete the spread.

 

 

For my title card, I used the "BBQ heat up the grill" from the Hello Summer digital stamp set, and added "family" above it (from the Giving Thanks kit). I added the striped piece along the left side of the title card by copying and pasting a piece from one of the printable cards.

 

I also like to match the colors for my digital stamps with the colors on the printable cards, by using the color sampler tool in Photoshop. I just click on the color that I want on a printable image, and then grab the color code to use on whatever digital piece that I want to make that color. If that makes any sense. Lol. 

 

 

While I could have pulled out some patterned papers to help fill those empty spots, I knew that I could find just what I needed in Kerri's vast collection of kits! Her Simply Summer kit is filled with 3x4" printable cards that were the perfect match for my photos and the theme of the page.

 

I picked out five cards, printing two of them as-is, and tweaking the other three to add in some additional elements - adding digital stamps and a few words taken from Kerri's cut file kits (the PNG files are great for using digitally). The card above originally had "loving life" in the center of the circle, but I replaced it with "sunny days" from the Hello Summer digital kit. 

 

 

I created two journaling cards, as I wanted to add one to the first page of the spread and one to the second page of the spread. I added "july" using the About Time digital stamp set.

 

 

The printable card above originally had polka dots covering the entire card. I knew that I wanted to add a little something to it, so I deleted a few rows of dots in Photoshop, and added a few digital stamps. The label is from the Label Maker digital stamp set, and the "sunshine on my mind" is from the Hello Summer digital stamp set.

 

 

Total side note. I will never, never understand why I can print a bunch of 3x4's and 4x6's - and they do NOT fit perfectly on a 12x12 page. I end up with gaps, and often have to trim parts off that hang over the edge of the page. I really feel like they should magically fit together perfectly. Lol.

 

 

I left this printable card as-is, since it was perfect for my page. 

 

 

Another printable card that fit my page perfectly - nothing extra needed on this one.

 

 

This card actually had stripes from top to bottom, but I wanted to add some text to it. So I deleted several rows of stripes in Photoshop, which left me room at the top to play with. Both of these words were done using the PNG files from Kerri's cut files - "pool" is from the Summer Lovin' kit and "splash" is from the Summer Vibes kit. 

 

 

On my second journaling card, I added the "sun and fun" using the Away digital stamp set, and the year was just typed with a fun font. I love creating hybrid layouts like this - where I get to play digitally, printing my journaling cards and filler cards, and adding them right in with my photos on a traditional layout.