As you all know, this month is all about change – moving forward, trying something new. For most of us, change is a double edged sword – we like the idea but do we REALLY like it?!!!! It depends…you may say. And yes, you are right!!! We are sometimes so set in our little ways (without even realising it) that it is difficult to change.

And that extends to all forms of creativity.So, how do the creative people stay creative? – this is what I find myself asking all the time. When we face a block how do we get unstuck? In our scrapping community,a number of ideas and tips have been shared in the past: scrap-lifting, getting inspiration from Pintrest, building mood boards, looking to other forms of media etc.

I want to talk about something similar today- your style. Each one of us has a scrapping style we are comfortable with and turn to again and again. We may challenge ourselves to try something new from time to time but like a homing pigeon we return to that one style – our comfort zone! I am no different. I am a cautiously-messy scrapper!!!(yeah I just coined that!) but the one style I adore is double page spreads. If I have good pictures I love to put them big, really big!!! and spread them across the canvas.

So I challenged myself to try something new. Something that I wasn’t comfortable with and the answer came quickly – Art Journalling!!! Don’t get me wrong. I love the artful masterpieces I see in the gallery and constantly gasp at the deep thoughts behind them. But to actually try it?… welll…that takes a bit of courage. LOL! I had to push myself.

And taking small steps along the way helped. I want to share the results of my experiment with you here. Tell me what you think!!!

My first example is a split layout with the left part a bit AJ style but I stuck with the clean cut lines for the rest of the layout.What I like about this is that the first photo sets the scene for my layout and gives it that dreamy quality and the rest leaves it free for me to put my photos and do the embellishing (cautious – remember!!!). Best of both worlds, would you say?

Emboldened by this little detour of an adventure I tried Pocket Art Journalling. A term that I have been hearing quite often recently. So what is it really? As I understand it, it is confining the AJ to just a pocket or a few (depends on you entirely!) within a traditional pocket page. And I liked the idea enough to try it! So have a look. I have used a regular kit and regular papers and elements but for that one pocket of messy creativity!

 

So that’s it really. I am not sure, objectively, how these have turned out. You can tell me of course! But I feel a little happy and invigorated by having tried it – the process of it all. That is the most important thing about making effort – it always makes you feel good no matter what the results. Hopefully, this will inspire you to take that step outside your zone and scrap something in a new, different style. I can’t wait to see your daring adventures!!!

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About the author: Shivani Sohal is a donner of many alter-egos. A finance professional by day in busy London, she morphs into a seemingly normal mum of two in the evenings and weekends. She is constantly found with her fingers in too many pies and juggling the metaphorical balls. That is living on the edge for her; aided by the two ankle biters and a darling hubby who define the warm and mushy for her. She is ferociously dedicated to memory keeping – almost immune to any nay-sayers (or equally disruptive crying children or annoying house fires!!!);keeping her head down and forging ahead at all times.

Do you ever get into a scrapbooking rut when you feel like you can’t come up with a clever page design for your layout? I know I have been there! When it happens to me, I usually head over to the TDP gallery for some layout inspiration. But today, I’m going to encourage your to head to your OWN gallery! That’s right! You should scraplift yourself!

When I’m feeling bad about my scrapping skills (and don’t we all sometimes?) a quick stroll through my gallery to look at my favorite layouts can usually get my mojo flowing again. One of the easiest ways to get back to scrapping and get those layouts finished is by scraplifting your own layouts. A lot of people might say that they don’t want such similar pages in their albums, but I promise that nobody will notice when they admire your work! If you want to shake things up from your original layout, you can always rotate your original or change the number of photos for a quick fix.

I find that using this scraplift yourself strategy gets me in a positive mindset about scrapping and helps me get my layouts finished without too much stress. The greatest part is that the pages come together so quickly! I use the original layout as a template and then just clip the new papers to the originals and swap out the embellishments. It is so quick and easy!

Here is an example for you:
Here is the original layout-

 

And here is the new layout I created with my scraplift

As you can see, they are quite similar, but when separated in an album, it is no big deal at all! It got my layout done on a day when I might have otherwise given up on getting a page done.

I would love to see what you can come up with when you scraplift yourself! I’m hosting a challenge over on the TDP Challenge Forum and you should come play along!

About the Author: Katie is a member of the Creative Team here at The Digital Press. She lives in Central Florida with her husband and their four sweet, crazy boys. When she’s not dodging Nerf bullets or trying to dig out from under the never ending pile of laundry, she enjoys photography, cooking, going to Disney World with her family, and, of course, digital scrapbooking.

 

In the land of scrapbookers we make lofty goals and aim to create so many projects. Sometimes, we have so many projects ‘on the burners’ that is hard to figure out how to move forward with them. I am guilty of having too many projects going at the same time and not putting the full effort into just one. Yet, I do have a system when it comes to starting, getting through and completing projects. I take baby steps to move forward.

1- My first step is to gather the photos and then edit them down to the ones I will scrap. I use the amazing IPhone app PicTapGo that makes the photos look incredible or just fixes the lack of light. The image on the left is the before and the image on the right is the after using PicTapGo. It is a game changer.

2- Compile all the photos by clipping them into pocket pages. My current project is tackling Week in the Life and here is a screen shot of my pocket pages in progress. I clip every single page together before doing anything fancy.

 

3- Pick my supplies. For Week in the Life I am using Scotty Girl Design kits. And to keep it interesting I am using a different kit for each day. But, I will be using the awesome Pocket Essentials (especially the brushes). Here is a collage of several kits I will be and am using to complete this project.

 

 

4- Once my supplies are picked I dump the pieces I want to use on all the pages. I do a rough placement, like a rough draft, and add shadows if needed.

 

 

5- Refine the embellishments and put into correct spots.

6- Finally add journaling (and proofread).

7- Save the files as jpegs and web versions. Here are a few pages that are completed. I have a few days left in this project and I am excited to get it completed.

 

 

 

 

These little steps help me to complete projects and I think it is so helpful to complete big projects in batch processes. Doing a small piece each time you get some creative time helps to get to your goal of finishing the project.

Can’t wait to see your projects! And I will continue to post more Week in the Life pages as I complete them.

About the Author: Sabrina is a mom of two little monkeys and is a dreamer of many projects. If she isn’t chasing after her toddler or discussing Legos with her son, then she can be found scrapbooking or reading.

 

 

 

Hi! My name is Amie and I’m a font-aholic. That’ right folks- I’m admitting that I have a problem with downloading, sometimes even purchasing(!!!) and hoarding fonts. I just LOVE how fonts can totally change the feel of a layout! I like using fun fonts for my titles especially! And now folks- the newest version of Photoshop CC has the Glyphs Panel! TA-DA!!! Nothing like feeding my addiction huh!? SO- today I’m going to show you a few fun ways to JAZZ up your titles with fun fonts (even without the coolest new glyphs panel for PSE users & earlier versions of Photoshop.)

 

So in Photoshop CC- the Glyphs symbol is the little scripty A. I’ll walk you through how I chose my title on this particular layout.

The font for “the lake” is called Everglow Regular (link)– which I just realized I purchased at some point. It’s my new favorite & with all the extras included- it’s an awesome one to have in your stash. AND it’s on sale right now… #enabler    ANY HOW- The Lake is typed in the screenshot below ‘as is’ with no alternatives selected. It’s nice- but it can be SO much better!

 

When you open the glyphs panel- you can chose your font & then some other options- you can resize the font as well as the little view boxes of each character. You can also resize the panel- as I did for this screenshot to show you how AWESOME this font is! Just look at all that fontly goodness!

 

My favorite feature of the glyphs panel is the “alternates for selection” drop down menu. This basically shows you the options for the particular character selected. In the case of creating titles- it’s awesome & much faster than scrolling through the entire font plus all the alternatives. For the capital T in Everglow Regular- there are 5 alternatives. You just double click the one you want & voila! Super cool title coming right up!

 

I continued through my title & my final result is pictured in my layout below- I LOVE LOVE LOVE that ‘h’ in The and the extended part of the letter ‘k’ in Lake is super fun too! I also changed one of the e’s so they looked different. (all layouts linked to gallery for credits)

 

For this layout’s title- Grandma has an alternate ‘a’. Super fun & with the sticker style- it almost looks like a piece of word art! FONT is Florabella (link)  (not free- but on sale!!??)

For the title on this layout- I used a lot of alternatives so that all the s’s were different. Font is Amelian Script  (link) again- I have a serious addiction.  I’ll get to some free ones- you’re almost there!

Last but not least- this font is Hilda Regular (link) (sorry again- but it’s not too expensive!!??) After I was happy with my alternatives (the h & the y) I applied a few styles to make the title pop even more!

 

Okay- now for the really good stuff! There are gobzillions of awesome free fonts out there so please don’t think I work on the side for the site I kept linking you to… I just happened to use those on these layouts, but honestly, I use plenty of free ones too!  This list is just a few that I KNOW have some Glyphs, but are equally awesome as they are or in combination:

(linked)

Krinkes (PSE or earlier versions of photoshop: use the numbers to add the swashes)

Sverige Script (PSE or earlier versions of Photoshop: use the two fonts in combinations to add stylistic alternatives)

Chopin Script

Great Vibes    (Another favorite of mine!)

Blenda Script (I use this one A LOT!)

Reisling

 

For the CC users- BUST out that glyphs panel & do some magic! For the PSE & earlier version of photoshop- I hope you were inspired at least to try some new fonts out & make some super fun titles! Please visit my challenge over in the forums HERE & show me all those lovely layouts!

About the Author: Amie is a craft loving, dental hygienist in WA state who loves her husband, two kids (ages 7 & 4), English Bulldog, coffee, baking cupcakes, daffodils, glitter & sprinkles, reading a good book and lip gloss- not necessarily in that order.

 

I never liked routines while growing up. Each day I needed to do things differently, be it what I did at home or what I did in school, who would drop me to the bus stop or what I had in my lunch box at school – these could never be the same everyday. Even my best friends changed based on who was in my class and sitting next to me! And that meant I have lots of friends from various different circles.

Not just that, there are certain things that define your personality. For me. that’s openness to trying new things. That’s a streak in me that’s helped me deal with so much, specially the moves my family has made. We’ve lived in 4 different cities in 3 different countries in our 8 years of marriage. Its not been easy pulling up the roots and just moving bag and baggage to a new place. If not my love for doing things differently, I don’t know where I would be.

However, now that I am a stay at home mom, its been increasingly challenging to mix things up 🙂 One reason could be that I didn’t like routines for myself but keep my kiddo on a schedule – but we will not talk about that! 🙂 Honestly speaking, there was a boredom that crept in the day to day routine that I just couldn’t explain. I felt I was waiting from one holiday to the next to do the crazy things I wanted to do as there was never time in my everyday. On reflection, that’s exactly what I changed. I realized that I can move forward from this cycle that I had fallen into, by doing something new in my everyday. It could be in the smallest of things.

Like this time when I made my little one try out a rickshaw when we could have easily taken a car. A rickshaw is a signature Calcutta transport. I loved that Veer could experience it and it definitely made for a more fun memory! 🙂

 

Then there was this time when I went to visit my Dad. He is a very traditional and proud Indian. So on a whim, I decided to give him a surprise where I wore the traditional attire from Bengal in India. I convinced my sister to do the same and it made for an evening that we talk about even now! 🙂

I also loved CT Jen F’s idea of turning off electronics. I would love to do that – I just don’t think I am brave enough! LOL 🙂

 

And then finally, nothing beats a good vacation to help us do new things and move forward by breaking shackles that might be holding us back. Sharing here a layout by CT LindyShay. What an exhilarating experience she captured!

 

I hope these ideas inspire you to think about something new that you can do in your everyday that will excite you and move you forward positively.

I am hosting a challenge over at the forum. I’d love for you to visit me there and share your ideas and pages on trying something new.

 

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About the author: Pallavi is a wife and newly designated stay at home mom to 3 years old Rajveer. She currently lives in Mexico City and her family moves around a lot. She has previously lived in Calcutta, Pune, San Francisco, Chicago and London. She reflects all these places in her pages as she captures her everyday stories.