As I discussed in previous posts, I am challenging myself to create daily PL layouts for as many days as possible in 2014. I finished my last February page last Friday and I wanted to take a moment to reflect back on these first two months before I spring ahead into creating layouts for the month of March. Looking back on my first few pages in January and comparing them to my last few in February, it’s amazing to me how far I’ve personally developed already! Obviously, I still have a ways to go: things to learn, techniques to try, and design principles to follow more closely, but STILL! Baby steps are ::still:: progress!
I decided before I started creating pages that I really wanted to unify the look and feel of each month's PL layouts with a common color scheme and use the same main kit for all the layouts I created for that month.
JANUARY PAGES
PRODUCTS I USED:
In January, I used the “Life, in Real Color : Value Bundle” by Sugarplum Paperie. I loved the bright colors and the reusability of this kit. I particularly love the labels, word art and stamps in this collection and I know that I will be using many of these basic elements in my layouts for a long time. The patterned papers in this kit mix two tones of the same color for the most part -- which is awesome since this means they aren’t “stealing the show” when you use these patterns in your layouts. I find they add just enough texture and interest to the page without being too visually heavy.WHAT I CREATED:
Here’s a single image showing all the layouts I created for January:
You can view each of these pages individually on my gallery on scrapbook.com.
WHAT I LEARNED:
In January, I was creating my VERY FIRST Project Life Layouts EVER, AND trying to learn how to do them digitally. I was learning quite a variety of things like how to use the typical 3/4 cards and 4/6 cards as “mini canvases”, how to put text over my images, how to create my own filler and title cards, how to re-color some of my scrapbooking supplies, and how to fit journaling on a page. I was also busy learning what things others take pictures of in their PL spreads so that I could learn to photograph things more creatively: how to take pictures from different angles and perspectives, what things to take pictures of in the first place (to best capture my stories from the day), etc. I pretty much stuck to the basics with grid layouts so that I could focus my energy on learning all these other things.TUTORIALS I FOLLOWED:
I don’t really have specific tutorials that I followed in January since I was really trying to just search for inspiration and figure out what PL was all about this month. I also scoured Pinterest quite a bit in January to look for PL card freebies that I could use and/or modify to fit my designs, color schemes, or layouts. I am sad to admit that I downloaded everything that I could find at first because it was FREE.FEBRUARY PAGES
PRODUCTS I USED:
In February, I used the “[every day] february is” full kit by Lauren Grier. I loved the bright patterns and the nod towards Valentine’s day within the color scheme that could work throughout the month of February (or any month really). I really liked that she had not just one but 3 patterned papers that combined her color scheme. This allowed me to create 30+ layouts with this kit and not feel like I was bored and using the same piece of patterned paper over and over again to pull together the color scheme. I loved the pops of yellow in her kit and the teal. I added a bunch of tags, stamps, sayings etc. from my scrap stash and re-colored everything to match with the look and feel and color scheme of this kit.WHAT I CREATED:
Here’s a single image showing all the layouts I created for February:
You can view each of these pages individually on my gallery on scrapbook.com.
WHAT I LEARNED
In February, I began to branch out in my layouts, creating my own grids from scratch to best fit the photos and stories I had captured. I continued to create some of my own PL filler, date, and journal cards digitally, forcing myself to learn how to make baker’s twine in illustrator for example and started to leverage a bunch of Project Life card templates from Cindy Schneider so that I could create cards that matched my month’s color scheme, so I could scrap more efficiently, and so that I could pull in the cool layered feel from Cindy’s work. I even started to pull elements out of her cards or modify the filler card templates she created to match my layout and/or elements more specifically, and stretch my scrap-dollar so to speak.I spent quite a bit of time with each layout looking for inspiration to create my own photo collage card layouts - figuring out that the pages by other digital scrappers that I’m most drawn to layer elements above and below their photos just like paper scrappers, and trying to incorporate this layering into my own work.
During February, I started to realize that I really didn’t need to download all the freebies that I found on Pinterest. I not only started to elevate my quality standards, I also realized that there are some things I just don’t use typically. I decided to just pin the stuff that I really like or think that I could leverage and go back and download the individual items as a layout comes up that I’d like to use them in.
TUTORIALS I FOLLOWED:
I started to focus on how to improve my photo editing skills, following tutorials such as:- Black and White Photo Editing/Conversion
- Tutorial: Better Black and Whites
- My Results:
- Color Photo Editing
- Tutorials:
- Phlearn's How to Make Colors Come to Life in Photoshop video
- Vanilla Tree Photography's Photo Rescue Tutorial
- My Results:
I began to branch out from my clean and simple / traditional scrappy style to try more artsy/grunge techniques such as the watercolor backgrounds and watercolor painting techniques
- Watercolor Backgrounds
- Resources Used: "Lost and Taken's" Watercolor Textures
- My Results:
- Watercolor Painting Techniques
- Tutorial: Katie Pertiet's In the Studio: Painting a Picture No.3
- My Results: (bottom right corner)
Finally, among other layout experiments, I tried making card layouts that looked like the style of prints you can order from Persnickety Prints using the Collect Photo App. My Results:
LOOKING AHEAD: MARCH PAGES
For all my daily March PL pages, I will be using the “Pocket Life: March Collection” by Traci Reed and I’m SO EXCITED to get started! I LOVE the color scheme for the month with the greens, blues, and pinks.Here’s a peek at my first layout using the kit (I was so inspired by using the new kit I had to make it a two-pager for ONE DAY!) - see the details of the left and right pages in my scrapbook.com gallery:
See you all next Thursday night!
~ Amy
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