Wednesday, February 05, 2014

A Disclaimer

I have thought of issuing this disclaimer for some time - that my real life is not equal to my blogged life! I am inspired by (but not limited to) blogs that are very honest and transparent, but that's not how I blog here. Although I post PL and P365 of our everyday lives there is much that is kept personal and increasingly I also have to guard and respect my teenage boys' privacy in what is posted. So lest any reader think the pretty layouts and happy photos are all there is to us, hence the disclaimer! :)

Obviously we have our fair share of struggles, failings, worries, are in need of and receive much Grace everyday. As I replied to Rhadonda in the last post's comments, there are lots of frantic paddling below the water, haha! But God is mighty and He covers our shortcomings and help us make beauty out of ashes, and on this scrapbooking blog I try to celebrate all the goodness.

On a different yet similar note ... 



My husband and I were discussing if we would have a goal or theme for our family this year, what would it be.. and he brought up the idea of WARMTH. Warmth in our everyday living, Warmth as you find in being human, as opposed to the computerised world, Warmth in patience, Warmth as in accepting imperfections, cutting each other some slack, expecting mistakes or that the best plans can go wrong, Warmth in giving grace and being kind and making time, Warmth as in "it's okay", "take your time", "that's alright". And so much more. I love this idea, especially for our fast paced, super packed, short-tempered, modern-day lives. Practice warmth.

So I hope if you come to this blog you will find that that there is warmth and goodness and so much to be thankful for, amidst the imperfections and mix-bags of our everyday lives. And that's okay. :)

Now on to Scrapbooking - Year in Review

I really think that memory keeping helps me live more thoughtfully. Looking backwards and reflecting always inspires me to to look forward thoughtfully and purposefully. As I uploaded all my 2013 Half-monthly layouts to Pernisckety for printing last week, I can't help marveling at how an entire year was spent, what we did, how much we were blessed, the new, the challenges, the mundane, the laughs, the memorable, the friendships, the fun, the important, the trivial, the growth. How will we remember all of it without memory keeping? 
This was my 2013:
Monthly templates P365 a photo a day

And I want to challenge you to do this - you can use my templates (available in the store or download the free sample further down this post) or any others, take photos everyday and save them on your phone, (I use Project 365 app, there are many others, where you can collect them by date and type a short note if you like) and at the end of the month take a couple of hours to lay them out. It is totally do-able and so very precious!

My Process - step by step guide
I had a morning free recently over the Chinese New Year holidays, so I thought I would time myself and save my progress at each step, to show you how I get my daily 365 photos scrapped:

10:40am - Open template and save as new file
I opened one of my template files and save it under a new file name : 2014_1 
(you can download this template at the end of this post)


 10:50am - selected 15 photos from the month
It took me 10 minutes to select 15 photos from the 264 photos I have uploaded from my phone to the January folder on my computer. This process is helped by referencing my Project 365 App where I had already selected a photo to save under each day.

 10:53am - moved photos over respective space in template
In the next 3 minutes I simply moved each photo layer over to the photo spots in the template that I think will work - visually this helps me decide which photo should go where.

11:07am - photos processed and 'clipped' into place
In the next 14 minutes I 'processed' (adjusted the lighting or brightness) of my photos and 'clipped' them to the respective photo mask layers in the template.

 11:28am - selected background papers, alpha and elements
Now this is where I can spend the most time if I get carried away. Selecting the papers, alpha and elements  - the fun part! It helped that I already knew I wanted to use Kaye Winiecki's Base jumpers markers papers for my P365 layouts when I bought them last week. For the elements and alpha, I looked through the last month's newly downloaded/purchased files, opening only those that have similar color schemes, picked out a few elements and word art and dropped them into the file. It took me 21 minutes apparently!

(credits: alpha by mommyish designs, brush word art from Studio Basic and Just Jaimee's Live for Today kit  , button and red heart from Pink Reptile & Studio Basic's Take Note kit, cut out heart from Amore by our misadventures, speech bubble heart and spring cleaning word art from The Daily Digi's My Life At Home kit, 'blast' and days to remember word art by Gina Cabrera, Joy wordart by One little bird designs)

 11:38am - All elements moved into place
Only 10 minutes to move all the elements into place and to color the alpha (I tried 3 colors I think)

11:52 - completion with journaling done!
And finally, it took me 14 minutes to type my journaling (it did not seem that long when I was typing it), add the date and the half month in review is complete!!


Here is the other half month in review

Since this will be the 3rd year I'm going to do this, I made 8 more templates to give myself more styles to choose from to switch it up a bit. You can find this set in the store

This is how the 2013 pages look in my Project Life album!




And this one that I used in the process example above can be downloaded here. I hope you catch on! (wink) Love to hear what you think!

And you can sign up for my Yin Designs Newsletter Here - where you'll be updated on freebies, sales, new templates and so on about once a month. Thanks for your interest!
I will post the link to this in the next newsletter (couple days' time) and also in the next few months' newsletters. Look out for it!

                                            (click to sign up and stay updated)

23 comments:

  1. Thanks for the fantastic templates! (plural, since I came here from Digi Scrap.) And thank you for your "disclaimer." Sometimes other peoples' lives look so good, and then I have to ask God's forgiveness for coveting. God is good, and His plan is for His glory and our good. I look forward to learning a lot and being inspired by your blog.

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    1. so glad you appreciate why I'm making the 'disclaimer' :)

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  2. Thank you so much for the template. I love your templates. Thanks for sharing your process. I struggle so much with picking out the papers, etc. That takes me the longest. Your templates make it so easy to get started and it looks so great. I like the half pages as I print through Persnickety and put in 3-ring notebook. I wish my process went that quick, I need to work on that. Thanks for the inspiration and as always the honest sharing of the heart!

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    1. always appreciate your lovely feedback! it helps me, in picking out the paper, elements etc, to focus on the main color scheme I have in mind for that layout.Then I don't get too distracted :)

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  3. Thank you so much for your wonderful designs. Love your templates. This year "God's Mercy and Grace" keep running through my head when things get out of control or a bit tough...

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    1. His Grace and Mercy carries us through so much as well... thank God for His Grace and Mercy!

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  4. Thank you for both templates! Love them.

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  5. Thank you for sharing your process & the template. It's always good to see how others approach the creation of a page.

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  6. Really lovely and I am a Daily Digi subscriber and was THRILLED to nab that template as well. Thanks!!!

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  7. Thank you once again for sharing your templates. I had to stop my blog because of my son's need for privacy. I think, quite often, that the young are more careful of what they/we put out online than we are.

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    1. Hi Yan, I remember visiting your blog in the past, wow you stopped blogging completely? Yes, we may think we are just sharing fun bits of our lives, but they may feel that those are moments they rather not share on the web. But they will share all kinds of other thoughts on FB too, we just have to be very sensitive to their sense of privacy.

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  8. Thank you so much for the templates! I enjoyed seeing your process for creating your monthly page. I get so bogged down in embellishments & papers that I allow myself to get overwhelmed at times. I appreciate the simplicity of your process.

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    1. I tend to get carried away at choosing papers and elements too! Have to limit myself and tell myself that it is 'good enough' :)

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  9. Thank you for sharing your wonderful talents. I enjoy your posts so much.

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    1. Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed them!

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  10. Just discovered your blog today via a freebie on the Daily Digi. I have been following Cathy Zielske and Becky Higgins and a few others for years, but I think I may have just found a new all-time favorite! Your work is amazing and inspiring! What a treasure you are creating for your family. I was wondering how you created that double-page look in a photo book and it didn't take me long to find some of your posts dedicated to that topic. Again, a treasure trove of information and lessons-learned for your readers.
    THANK-YOU!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. I'm extremely honored to make it to your favorites list! :)
      Thanks for your wonderful encouraging comment!

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  11. Thank you for sharing your process. It takes me at least that long to complete a LO. I always think I am so slow.! Thank you for sharing your life and template expertise with us.

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  12. In case I haven't said it before . . . thanks for sharing your templates with us! It has made my scrapbooking so much easier and faster.

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  13. I just came across your blog and I am in heaven!! I love that you use lots of photos that aren't all super tiny and hard to see. I also love that you use little embellishments and that you do double page layouts. I can't wait to do some new layouts! I was wondering if you could tell me where I might be able to purchase some of the cute lined papers and fun alphas that you used in your 2013 Half-monthly layouts? Thanks!!!

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    1. Thanks Rebecca for leaving such wonderful feedback! My favorite alphas are by Karah Fredricks and Kaye Winiecki, you can also see this post http://simplyyin.blogspot.sg/2012/10/capturing-emerging-style.html (see link on My Favorite Alphas on the right side bar). Lots of designers include a graph/lined paper in their kits, so mine are from various kits, I also love these ones from Allison Pennington's 'Patterns & Backs' and 'Ledgered' packs, and Digital Design Essentials' 'Noteables' and 'Notebook Essentials' packs. These will get you off to a great start! :)

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    2. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have already finished some layouts using your wonderful templates!

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  14. AnonymousJuly 08, 2015

    Merci beaucoup

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