Daily life scrapping weekend day 2

Hello! Today I´ll talk a little about templates.

There are three kinds of useful templates for those who are working on daily life albuns: The WordArt templates, and Layout Templates. Word art templates come in black .pngs and can be recolored to match the colors of your page. I´m planning to do a tutorial on how to work with them in some days. Journal card templates may, or may not, be layered, but are also made in a way you can make your custom stuff with the colors you´re working.

Layout templates are the main theme of today´s post. They usually come in different layered file formats, in a way you can clip your papers and photos. They are intended to save time and help you preview how your layout will come out even before you get started on them. For me, the most difficult pages to create are the "blocked" style ones. I think it´s difficult to imagine where to put each photo without one of them. And, when I try, I make a mess on the layers when I deceide to move something for other part of the page. Fortunatelly, there are many designers that offer templates specially designed for people doing daily life albuns, either on blocked/p365 style, or on project life/pocket style.

To give an example, I´ll show you the newest release from Joyful Expressions: This kit is called Project Life: February templates (clicking on the preview you´ll go straight to the store where you can buy it):

Project life template series from Joyful Expressions are made for up to seven photos in the same page. If you don´t want to put that many pictures in a single page, you can make paper blocks, clipping different papers to them and either leaving them blank, using them to journal, or using embelishments on them. Jennnifer´s goal is to make one template pack for each month, releasing when the month is turning. Those templates are very intuitive to use, and also to made small changes if you need. This was January´s pack:

And this is the layout I made with bottom right template:

You can notice that I changed some things on the template: I switched places between the long journal block and the three bottom picture places, and I reduced the space for the second background paper, in a way that the bottom paper shows a bit more, and also added two elies on the big journal block. I am very satisfied with this layout, and I think I´d never do it without this template. I mixed kits again this time: some things come from Snow Capades (can you see that I´m in love with this kit, right? I´m using it a lot) and others are from Rainy Days by my friend Melo Vrijhof. The wordart on the bottom right is also from Joyful Expressions.

Extra hint: Do you wanna try Joyful Expressions Word Art Templates? There is a great word art pack waiting for you at Joyful Expressions blog. 

Welcome to the (first?) Daily Life Scrap Week(end)

I thought it could be a nice idea to share some insights about daily life scrapping with you, as I´m very excited with the progress of my 2014 album and I see this excitement about Project Life in different communities I´m at. So, as I have plenty of things to write about, I deceided to dedicate a week  some weekende to post about it. The posts will be different from each other - some will contain texts, maybe tutorials, products I tried and liked, and whatnot... Maybe there´s a freebie or two waiting for you all someday too! Before I start writing my heart out - yes, I´m in a wordy phasis - I´d like to invite you to interact here at the  blog: Do you have any doubt about daily life scrapping? Do you have something you´re desperately seeking and can´t find? Do you have advice for me (I´d like to here!) or maybe want to invite me for a CT guest spot? Don´t feel ashamed of comenting, or even sending me e-mails (to loriensworkshop at gmail dot com).

Daily Life Scrap Week: Day 1 - My Experiences and what I´m doing

If you are following my blog, you probably know that I am trying to put a daily life album together this year. You may even remember that in the beginning of last December I was scrapping photos from January at my daily life album for that year (if you don´t remember that post, check it - theres something you may there). I stopped the 2013 album at Chinese New Year (Last weekend of January).

It wasn´t my first time trying to put a daily life album. In 2012 I tried a hybrid A4 shaped. Take a look on a pages I´ve done for that album - oh my, I like the digital better, lol:

But, guess when this album stopped being done to never get touched again? Yes, at same time as the 2012 one, at Chinese New Year.

Another thing I tried to do last year to document my life was to write, at the end of each month, seven random words things about the month, to put as the month introduction at the album in a page with a photo of myself that month (so I try not to forget to have pics of myself). This one was made with Hey!Robot kit by Scrappiness Designs:

At the first months, it worked like a charm. But then, I was feeling that only words weren´t enough. And I lost one of the months words (I thought I´ve wrote them on my personal blog, but I didn´t), I had a month that couldn´t simply be described in few words, and, in October I´ve given up doing this. But the idea still sounds good to me, just needed some tweaks to keep working... Now that you know what I´ve done before, time to know what I´m doing this year.

How I plan to manage my 2014 life album:

1) Like on the other years, I´ll avoid putting pictures of my cats on life photobook. I take lots of pictures of them, and if I put them on the album I could easily have more cats than people and places on the pics. They will appear only if it´s somehow important, or as placeholders.

2)Also like other years, I assume that my everyday life is made of routine, but not only about it. I´ll try to keep a balance between routine and occasions, alowing myself to scrap about what I please. Although I admire lots of people who take photos everyday and do p356-style albuns, it doesn´t suit my style, at least for now. And, if I have lots of pretty photos of a specific day, I may chose to put more photos on that day (and none of other day).

3) I won´t divide my album in weeks, as I don´t feel my life is divided like that, and I´ll give me the freedom to make whole pages for days I really enjoy - even if they don´t fall on the same double page on the photobook, and, at same time, I´ll give myself the freedom to scrap about totally different things on the same page. I also allow myself to work with two or more kits at the same double spread and to change kits for the next double spread as I please (I can keep the kit from the last one or not).

I deceided this based on what made me procrastinate with 2013 book - sometimes, I was overworried about form, or how to make all the photos of the same thing fall on the same page, that I ended up on a creative block. 

I guess pictures will help you understand better on what kind of freedom I´m allowing myself. Do you remember this spread? It´s for January first (on the left) and second (on the right), made with Snow Capades by Joyful Expressions and I shown it some posts ago:

It´s a super traditional P366 spread, right? Looks what comes next:

Left page is still from Jan 2nd, right side is from Jan 3rd (yes, it´s same event on that hybrid page I shown you above, I attend to it at same place every year, this year was the thenth) and a journal description about the next few days. What is more, this page is made of a blend of different kits from different designers I found on Pixel Scrapper. As I have the option of downloading single elements there, I almost never download the full kits, getting only what I´ll use (and often I get the assets while I´m making the layout...). If you are interested, the full list of credits is here.

4) I will use lots of templates, to help keep pages good looking and in hope that this will save me some time - what isn´t still happening, lol. I take more time on this kind of page than on a 1photo+cluster traditional ones. I´ll talk a little bit more about templates tomorrow.

5) To the opening page of each month, I´ll keep the 1 photo+journalling model, but, for the journaling, I´m planning a flexible list of topics that may be covered, that includes the month´s weather, my mood, what I´m doing that month, the most meborable days and so on. I made the January page this night, based on the instructions of a Scraps´N´Pieces Speed Scrap, hosted by Amy´s Designs:

This page was made with The Best is Yet to Come blogtrain portions by Jessica Art-Design, Scrumptiously; Digi Dewi designs and Catherine Oslon. If you want to check this blogtrain, the list is here and some portions will only be available till tomorrow.

Thanks for reading this long post, I´d really like to hear for you about (daily) life scrapping or anything else you want to comment!

Announcement: Scrappy Bee site Calls

A new digital Scrapbook community and store is beginnig. It´s called ScrappyBee. Take a look on their open calls:

If you are interested in any of this positions, apply now. Who knows when the positions will be filled? Also, don´t be afraid of apply, people there are very friendly.

SNP Blog Train - Chasing Dreams of a New Year

Yes, I know. It´s been a long time since I posted the last freebie here. I have lots of excuses, lol. First, as I changed my "designer name" from Lorien´s Workshop (which is the name of my craft business) to LW designs (a shorter form), I wanted to have my new logo/blog layout/preview package done before posting anything here, but I was busy with my craft business. Then, between the time I have them done and today, I guess I´ve started at least 4 kits, counting blog train portions and medium-sized kits, but I haven´t finished any of them, because I wasn´t really sure if my kits had enough quality to be published, specially in relation to jagged edges on elements - when I have a doubt I put the element out - but them, I keep on putting things out and lost the deadlines for the blogtrains and challenges I made those kits for. But now, I finally finished this mini and think it´s good to go - I hope it helps me to be inspired to design lots of kits that, for now, exist only in my mind.

As I´m seriously in the mood for Pocket Style layouts, I created this kit imagining mostly this kind of use: So it has two small Journal Cards, a frame that fits on a big pocket, some papers, a stamp and some other bits and pieces that could go in Pocket/blocked style layouts. The Fleur-de-Lis was my hubby´s idea - and I think it was a fantastic one.

To get this kit, click on the preview above, that will provide you with  a direct link:

I probably won´t expand this kit, unless I make another kit with a similar palette in a way I can combine both. But, for now, you don´t need to hurry for download, as I don´t have any intention of put the link down.I hope you have fun and, if you happen to use it somewhere, I´d love to see your page!

If I were you, I´d take a look on the other portions of this train (if you´ll miss some flowers to scrap, maybe you can combine this portion with some others? There are also some great templates and alphas). Below you can see the links for all the blogs:

Memories by Digital Design
Jiovanna's Creations
Nana's Digi-Blog
Creations By: Samantha
Cajun Diva Scraps
Growing Pains Scrapped
321 Scrap
Amy's Scrappin' Memories
Arizona Girl
GraceBlossoms4U
Shuckclod's Stuff
Mandy's Lovable Designs
Triple J Designs
Scrappin Is My Thing
annusplace
A Fish Design
Magical Scraps Galore
This & That by Catherine
Scrappin Serenity
A Venture into Digital Scrapbooking
Adriana's Cafe
LyllahRaven Designs
Honeybees Creative Hive
katkreations
Ann's Scrapbook Heaven
LW Designs <---- you´re here - thanks for stopping at my blog!
Janet's Digital Joys
Ladybug Pics n Scraps
BeezDesignz
Janece Suarez Designs

New kit and Sales by Joyful Expressions and my first 2014 Life pages

Hello digiscrapland! How have you done this week?

Here, we are having a pretty hot weather - and I love long, hot, sunny days. But I know most of this blog´s readers are facing really cold weather these days. The week´s release by Joyful Expressions is perfect for all those photos you´re taking in the snow. It´s a very wintery kit - but with warm colors, to contrast with all those white pictures. It´s called Snow Capades: The Winter kit, and due to it´s colors and to the amazing patterned papers, it is of my favorite kits:

Do you remember I told you I´d do project life this year? Well, I´m doing my personal twists to it (and I´ll talk about it later) and it´s already growing. The first double page was made with Snow Capades kit on pocket style - and I´m very satisfied with the result:

(other resources used: Journal card template by Amy´s designs (for the title card on the first page) and templates by Broke Gazarek at Pixelscrapper)

And don´t forget that every Saturday is a Super Saturday Sales day at Joyful Expressions. This week featured kits are:

For Digiscrap designers, Joyful Expressions has this new kit - It is on sale too:

Aren´t all those triangles super cool? My favorite patterns are the first and the last ;)

See you soon!

Warm wishes for my USA friends

I heard yesterday throug a friend´s Facebook that there´s an allert for snow storms in United States. I know that lots of this blog´s readers are in US now, so, with this layout comes a wish: staw warm and safe these days.

These photos were taken in different days, around 6 months ago, in our Winter. fortunatelly, the sun is shinning bright on my place this week. I love Summer.

To make this layout I used a new release by Crescent Moon Designs called Winterland. If you want to scrap your snowy days, you can find it at her stores at Scrapbird and GoDigitalScrapbooking:

News and Sales from Joyful Expressions

Have you all had a Happy New Year´s day? Mine was good, and today it was an even better day, since we (hubby and I) could do two things I wanted to do on the last months but were procrastinating istead: We managed to give a shower to a stray cat my mother is taking care of (and we haven´t got seriously injuried on the process, lol) and we found our first (and second and third) geocaches on a local park. I´ve knew about geocaching through digiscrappers from other countries and deceided to try. In my country the geocaching community is very small, but the veterans are really caring and helpful with the newbies =)

Well, back to topic: Do you remember I said I´ll try project life this year? Well, on my first page talking about those happy memories from the first days of the year, I´m planning to use one of the templates of this pack that was released today on Joyful Expressions store. As it´s new, the price is discounted: A great deal for anyone that, like me, is going to try Project Life for 2014:

Whether you are doing P52 weekly layouts or P365 photo-a-day layouts, you will find that the Joyful Expressions' Project Life templates will give your Project Life pages a crisp, clean eye-catching look. Designed for scrapping up to 7 photos a page, these templates can be used for any number of photos by simply swapping out the photos for paper and leaving them blank or as a place for more journaling. You can get this great template pack here. 

Jennifer also have a new Did you miss it? sale:

It's January and that means it's time for a new "Did You Miss It Sale?" from Joyful Expressions.  This month's featured previously released kit is Frosty Fun.  You can grab it in the Joyful Expressions' store for 50% off through January 31st.

Want more? Head over Joyful Expressions store next saturday (January 4th) and you can grab two awesome  kits on a super sale:  Happy Hipster and New Beginnings will be on sale for just $2.00 a piece. Remember: This offer is only good for one day! 

I hope you all make meaninful and pretty scrapbook pages in 2014!