Scrapenny Designs

Digital Scrapbooking ~ Photo and Digi File Organization

I have been busy over the last week preparing my digi files for LOAD - Layout a Day by Lain Ehmann. LOAD is where we complete a layout a day for a whole month. This LOAD will take place for the month of February 2012.

* Please note this is NOT a sponsored post. This is just the process I use that works for me.

Organizing Photos

I am a Mac girl so I have all my photos stored in iPhoto. I used to have all my photos sorted by Events, but I am in the process of re-organizing all my photos chronologically by quarter. This is a tip I gained from Stacey Julian's Library of Memories class.

The easiest way to do this is to set up "smart albums". Go to File, then select New Smart Album.

Enter the album name you desire (I've used Q1-4 and the year). In the drop downs select "Date" then "is in the range" and key in the dates you require for your album. Then click on OK.

Your smart albums will now appear in the album list to the left as above. You can reorder them by clicking and dragging into the desired order in the list. I've ordered mine from newest to oldest.

All your photos will now automatically appear in each album according to the date they were taken or scanned (eg for your historical photos).

The next step is rating each photo by selecting 1 to 5 stars. This way I know which ones I want to scrapbook. This is a very time consuming process but makes choosing the photos so much easier. It's also a perfect time to delete duplicates or the blurry ones that you don't want to keep.

Organizing Digital Scrapbooking Files

There are many ways you can organize your digi files. Some people just keep them in folders. Some use Adobe Organizer. I use an application called Media Pro which is available for both Mac and Windows. It is a little pricey at EUR 139.00 (approx USD 180.00) however I think the long term ease and time save is worth it.

(I was using this for my photos too but decided it was easier to just use iPhoto as they were already in there when I upload them.)

First thing I do when I purchase digi files is save them in folders on my mac by designer.

The Phase One/Media Pro website has great tutorials to show you how to get started. Once I've loaded the files into Media Pro - which is really just telling Media Pro where the files are located rather than duplicating the files, then I put them into categories so I can easily search for whatever paper or embellishment etc that I'm looking for.

Here I have "paper" selected. The thumbnail preview is great for searching colors.

Or looking for a flower?

Once I've decided on which I want to use I just select them all by holding down the Command key while clicking on them. Then right click, select "Open With" and the program you want to use.. eg Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Now I can go ahead with my digi scrapbooking. Easy!

All of this does take a lot of time initially to organize but I think the end benefit is so worth it.

How do you organize your files?

Scrapenny Designs x

* Please note this is NOT a sponsored post. This is just the process I use that works for me.

 

The Universal Craft Blog Directory

Want to find a huge collection of crafty blogs all in one spot?

Rie from CraftyRie has created the Universal Craft Blog Directory. There are LOADS of links to all sorts of crafty people.

Anyone who blogs about all things craft can join. Just click on the link, add the button and a post, and spread the crafty love.

 

Scrapenny Designs x

The To Do List ~ Scapbook My Grandmother

When my Grandmother passed away a couple of years ago, we went through all her photos to put together a DVD to play at her funeral. There were so many wonderful photos in her collection but very few with any story attached for us to record.

One of my favorite photos is this one of her walking down the streets of Sydney. We assume she was on her way to work. Unfortunately there is no one left in our family from her era that would be able to confirm.

One of my goals is to try and track back her history, and the rest of the family tree so that it is not lost forever. I plan on putting together a heritage scrapbook as I now have copies of all these photos and other memorabilia that I have scanned, such as leases, tax returns, birthday cards, and certificates.

I have also asked my mother to start recording her own life and gave her a book at Christmas to help her to do so.

You don't realise how important memory keeping is until those memories are lost.

Scrapenny Designs x

 

Papercraft ~ 40th Birthday Card

A very dear friend from my school days is having a 40th Birthday party soon. I can't wait to go as it is an '80's fancy dress... and I just loved the '80's. I'm still putting my costume together but I'll tell you a little secret.... I'm going as Boy George ;)

One thing I have decided to do this year is to make all birthday, anniversary, Christmas etc cards. Today I started with my friends card. There aren't too many more cards required until July so I'll do the others when the time gets closer, otherwise I'll probably forget that I did them!

I hope she likes it.

Supplies:

• Bazzill cardstock
• Flower Fancy stamps by Stampin Up
• Jet Black Stazon Ink
• Chewing Gum Paint Dabber by Jenni Bowlin
• Rubons by Art Warehouse
• Alpha stickers by Bella Blvd
• Masking tape
• Foam dots

*Some supplies may no longer be available

Do you make your own cards?

Scrapenny Designs x

Busy Day

A quick one...

Today was quite a busy day, organising all my emails, planning and printing photos for project life, making banana & Nutella ice cream that I found on Pinterest, as well as shopping and the usual domestic chores.

I had planned on making some birthday cards and sharing them with you. I have a few birthdays coming up, and it's always a good idea to get some made in advance.

I'll make these tomorrow instead and post them for you see.

Scrapenny Designs x

7 Ways to Spoil Yourself at Home

Everyone deserves a little spoiling ... a treat ... something that is different from your normal routine. Here are seven inexpensive ways you can treat yourself and relax at home.

1. Manicure and/or pedicure

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

2. A soak in the bath with candles, music, a good book

Image: anat_tikker / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3. Give yourself a facial

Image: akeeris / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4. Watching a movie - uninterrupted

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5. Have a sleep in

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

6. A glass (or more) of your favorite wine.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

7. Have that bowl of ice cream you've been denying yourself

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Just yesterday I treated myself with a face mask to strip away all that stress.

What do you do to treat yourself?

Scrapenny Designs x

Scrapbook ~ Project Life

Everywhere I look on twitter or blogs it seems almost everyone is doing Project Life by Becky Higgins this year. And I'm no exception.

I was so excited to recieve my Project Life Clementine kit just before Christmas - and so was DH as it meant he was able to "give me" a gift for Christmas. I've promised my family that I will not be posting any photos of them online this year so that I can get some real life shots of them, rather than hands covering faces.

So I'm sorry but this will be my one and only post on Project Life. I wanted to share my title pages, minus photos. I have done one title page (front and back) for my album, and then another divider title page for 2012. I don't plan on doing a photo a day, just one or two a week, so I expect my album to cover a couple of years.

Title 1 - To reduce time .... as this was one reason I decided to do Project Life... I followed the layout example in the kit and then added stamps, inked up butterflies and alphas.

Title 2 (back of the above) - I've added a tag and twine with an Ali Edwards stamp. Photos of family members will also be added.

2012 Title - To divide the years I've done a 6 x 12 title using the patterned paper in the kit, a journal tag and alphas. You can see some other papers already added for the first weeks of Jan awaiting photos.

Supplies:

• Project Life Clementine Kit by Becky Higgins
• Flower Fancy stamps by Stampin Up
• Various sized butterfly punches by Sullivans
• Powder Ink by American Crafts
• Alpha stickers by Bella Blvd
• Real Life stamp by Ali Edwards
• Jet Black Stazon Ink
• Twine from The Twinery
• Tag

*Some supplies may no longer be available

Are you doing Project Life this year?

Scrapenny Designs x

Organization ~ the Craft Room

Today was a very happy day. My new Expedit bookcase from Ikea arrived! This was a late gift from my DH as he was ill before Christmas and couldn't get to the store.

I was bulging out of my craft space. Everything was either on my desk or under my feet. It was handy having it all in easy reach but it was very difficult to have room to do anything and often felt very claustrophobic. I'm the kind of person that has to have a clear space before I can start to work.

Here is a shot of what it was like before...

I have spent all afternoon assembling it, (all on my own! ... except for when I needed DH's help to turn it upright), and reorganising all of my art and craft supplies. And it fits perfectly inside the wardrobe... love!

Now I can breathe easily, and start on my Project Life.

How do you organize your space?

Scrapenny Designs x

 

 

Pinterest Inspiration ~ Menu Planner

I love Pinterest! I pin every day... if not a few times a day. This year I plan to actually make asome of the things I pinned for inspiration.

One thing I made last year was a menu planner.

I found an old picture frame - with glass, then painted it white to match our fridge. Then I added a piece of scrapbook paper by Sassafras Lass, which happened to already have stitched lines in the print. Next was a title and the days of the week using letter stickers. And that's it!

All you need is a dry erase marker (whiteboard marker) and we have a place to write down the menu each week. We also use the notes section to write little messages to each other.

Sometimes my teen daughter attacks the menu planner with her own menu:

Supplies:

• Old Frame with Glass
• White Paint
• Patterned Paper – Sassafras Lass – Mix and Mend Collection – Delicate Olio
• Alpha Title – Websters Pages – Ladies and Gents Collection – Storytellers
• Other Alpha – Lily Bee Design – Happily Lost Collection

*Some supplies may no longer be available.

Thanks to the following for the inspiration :
makeandtakes.com
kikicreates.blogspot.com

Have you made anything you've seen on Pinterest?

Scrapenny Designs x

Scrapbook ~ Hidden Journaling

Sometimes I find it difficult to openly share the journaling on a layout. This is usually when the subject is a painful memory or it has sensitive information that I don't particularly want y family to read if they happen to flick through the albums. However it is a story I still want to get down.

Other times It may be that I don't want the journaling to detract from the layout itself. Below was a mix of the two as my 5th birthday was spent away from my family.

The journaling is actually on a piece of Prima packaging tucked in the side of the photo. The yellow of the tag creates a visual triangle with the paper strip at the top and the yellow flower.

Supplies:

• Papers~ Pastels Cardstock Stack by DCWV; Adhesive Paper Prints by DCWV;
• Journaling strip~ Prima Marketing Packaging
• Alpha~ Chipboard with Charcoal Pigment Ink by American Crafts and Pearl Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels
• Embellishments~ Paisley Road Essentials by Prima Marketing; Hopscotch Collection Glazed Brads by Basic Grey; Dimensional Stickers Butterfly by American Crafts; Lady Beetle
  Inks~ Denim Pigment Ink by American Crafts; Graphite Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels

*Some supplies may no longer be available.

Have you used hidden journaling in your layouts?

Scrapenny Designs x