Saturday, May 30, 2015

Digital Process - What Works for Me


For me to be able to complete my scrapping in an efficient manner I need to have 3 components - digital kits, photographs & memorabilia and then organizing the completed layouts for printing.

One of the biggest hurdles I had when I first started digital scrapbooking is learning how to organize my digital files.  Each digi store has different naming conventions plus there is are so many freebies available - how do you know where everything is and how to find them later.  One thing that was clear to me from the beginning - I am a "kit" scrapper - I was even this way as a paper scrapper.  I like things to match so a kit with elements, papers and alphas will be my first stop for every page.  The bigger monthly subscriptions, like Just Jaimee's Storyteller Storyteller Subscription and now The Lilypad's  Memory Pocket Monthly subscription  make my heart leap with joy!!  Everything in one place that matches.  It is my inner architect taking over - and genetic so I won't fight it!  Even the store collab kits or blog hops like the Digi Scrap Parade  are a great start for me - plus many are free or free with purchase. 

So I shared a little about how I link my kits for a theme in one folder (travel) in the blog before, but going back a few steps  -how do I organize my kits once I've seen the new one of my dreams…which may happen once or twice a week (or more if I'm being honest..)! I purchase the kit and download right away so that I am not distracted by my busy life and forget. I might be on either my laptop or desktop - so how do I keep track of them?  I have a "Digi Transfer" folder in Dropbox that I have set up so that I can move my files to my Desktop computer as that is where my backup is scheduled weekly for my digi supplies. 



My photos are similar - I have weekly folders set up in a 2015 folder in Dropbox.  As I take photos I download all photos, news articles, scanned or photographed memorabilia and movie posters (for ones that I have viewed) into that weekly folder.  I move photos from my iPhone through Dropbox's automatic camera download or from my "big camera" into the same folder.  Since it's on Dropbox it doesn't matter what computer I've used.  As my weekly spreads are completed I move the entire folder to my desktop in that 2015 folder in Pictures subfolder.  That is backed up via Carbonite (real time) and on an external hard drive (daily).



Finally and not insignificant is how I save my in progress and completed layouts.  I also have a specific folder in Dropbox where I save my in progress digi pages.  I call it "To Print" for in Progress and "Completed Layouts 2015".  Last year's layouts are in "Completed Layouts 2014".  I do save the fully layered PSD, a full size JPEG (flattened) and a reduced sized JPEG at 72 dpi and 600x600 pixels resolution.



I hope this helps explain my process  - I have completed over 300 pages since January of 2014 so there are lot of pages to keep track of! As soon as I'm done with a digi layout - I upload right away to Persnickety or Shutterfly depending on whether or not i am printing individual pages or a photo book.  I do this so that I know that they are safely stored in a remote location that i can access at anytime!!!

Drop me a line if there is something I can help you understand better!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Scrapbooking Two Years at Once

This is a repost of my Creative Team post over at The Pocket Source. If you don't know them yet, hop over and check it out. It's a fabulous community.

I got so far behind I decided to do 2014 and 2015 simultaneously. It was a goal I posted about back in February, here. I had visions of getting tons done and being caught up with both by the end of this year. Well, I'm not trending in that direction but I've revamped my plan to make it more doable. That said, I have been doing some simultaneous months. It is fun comparing pictures that are a year apart. Sheesh, kids grow too fast. They are not going in the same book, I'm just doing January layouts, for instance,  from 2014 at the same time as those January 2015 layouts. Here are two I just did.




I used cards from Project Life Jade and Plus One in this 2014 layout, studio calico wood veneers, Target washi and my good old embossing label maker.



These cards and embellishments were from the April Paper Issues Swag Bag. I tried it out when they had it on sale. Love!! Will definitely be shopping with them again.

So, my process has morphed since the idea of doing 2014/15 simultaneously. I'd love to do another post that gives more details on that, but I'll just give you the abbreviated version.  

  • I planned out all the layouts in the PL app for Jan-Apr 2015. It was getting a bit old by the end, but it makes printing and putting them together quicker. And now, I keep that up along with journaling in the PL app, just so I can get more of those cute little stories written down. It's is so good for me to do it this way! 
  • I already had Jan-Feb 2014 printed. For 2015, I did ALL the photo editing on my phone, using a combination of pic stitch, pic tap go and Dropbox. As I referred to my layouts, I saved my edited photos to a new "print" folder in Dropbox. 
  • Then, I uploaded that whole folder to Persnickety Prints. Wow, my first order from them. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go anywhere else. I was overwhelmingly happy with my prints. 
  • I could barely contain my excitement, as I filled my pocket pages, again referring to that PL app of planned layouts! So, then, I had this book full of just photos, and I've been happily skipping all over the place working on whichever layout suits me at the moment. (I just had a mental image of myself literally skipping on top of my scrapbook pages with a big grin on my face. Anyone else? The horror!). I'm loving this system, people. It is so freeing to just have the photos where they go and dig into all my supplies and get it done!

EEK, I need a mani.

Go get some scrapbooking time in this week.
Holly Genc
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Thursday, May 14, 2015

Week 12 pages

I love the options that many digi stores have for subscriptions.  I've already highlighted some of the pages I've done with Just Jaimee's Storyteller subscription, but I also love the other monthly kit at The Lilypad Memory Pocket Monthly!  This kit is designed each month by a kit of designers - which gives you lots of products, styles and then discounted add ons too!  One of my favorite "add ons" are the Sara Gleason Arboretum Templates. These pre-designed pocket templates look great and speed up the process of scrapping lots of pictures aka Project Life style!  I'll be posting some of the my other template goodies shortly as I'm excited to announce a new design team shortly....




Enjoy the weekend - time to start planting the garden!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Papa and Littlest Grandson Layout with Dear Lizzy

I'm back with another SheGlossy layout! Do you have all boys?Don't be afraid to use pinks and purples once in awhile. I went for it on this sweet Papa and Grandson layout I just did. The cards are from a cut apart sheet from the Dear Lizzy line. I really loved the donut 4x6 card (who doesn't like donuts?!?). I added the matching stickers with some pop dots to give it some dimension. In fact, all the stickers are from the same Dear Lizzy line. Those strawberries are awesome. Love, love, love it! It is so sweet and I think it works for boys or girls.



I've been dipping into all my fun SheGlossy supplies since they arrived. I love them all! Check them out here and don't forget to use my discount code paintedladiesfans for 10% off!





Material List

DEAR LIZZY SERENDIPITY 12X12 PAPER
ACCENT PHRASE SERENDIPITY STICKERS
FANCY THAT - MIX DIE CUTS

Go out and make some memories today!

Holly Genc

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Sister Weekend Layouts and SheGlossy product

I'm sharing some of my first layouts using the SheGlossy (affliate link) product I received as one of the Scrapbook Design Team Members. I had so much fun mixing and matching the different items they provided. I knew I wanted to do layouts from the weekend I had in March to visit my sister in Milwaukee. (Did I mention, it was just me, no kids??) It was just 2 days, but it was fabulous. Full of fun. We took lots of "usies" and I have lots of pictures of my sis.




I really liked the bits of gold throughout the Dear Lizzy stickers and the teals and peachy pinks in the American Craft items. I mainly went with those colors across product.


The puffy stickers....ugh, I currently have an addiction to them. I don't have many yet but I'm totally starting to collect them. Actually, it was my sister's stash that she let me raid that I first got a hold of some and fell in love. Thanks, Sis...


Love love love the last photo of the two of us at the local coffee shop. I think it's a great ending to the weekend layouts.









Materials from SheGlossy

-Holly Genc