Hello
again! I'm back with Part 2 of how I make my weekly (or sometimes
monthly when life becomes routine) layouts. Really, this is a collection
of cool apps and tricks to make life a little more simple, and ways in
which you can speed up the whole process. Especially when using your
stash.
Apps:
I am in love with my iPhone. Seriously though, this little bugger is amazing. And all of the apps available?? LOVE!
Photo Taking Apps:
Hipstamatic
While I have Instagram... I really love my Hipstamatic app. No, it's not free, and yes, I've spent more than I'd like to admit on lenses, film upgrades, etc. But it's super fun. And you don't "have" to share your pics if you don't want. Often... I don't want to.
Photo Altering Apps:
A Beautiful Mess
This is really just an app to alter pics, use some filters, add some wording and images and have fun. Then you can Instagram or Facebook away and be done. I do however like this to alter some images, or add phrasing right when it happens. Sometimes the wording gets wonky, and its hard to straighten. I end up redoing it then, which is kind of frustrating.
Over
This app was free for iPhone users during the App Store's birthday week. So I didn't actually pay the $1.99 for the app. Totally worth it though. It's like A Beautiful Mess, but a little more user friendly. It has multiple artists' creating images and phrases for it, so you get more of a collection of varied items, rather than one point of view. They are pretty similar though. No filters on this app, and you don't have to make square photos, which I like.
The Essential Project Life App!:
PhotoDate
If you haven't heard of PhotoDate... You really need to look it up. If you are doing weekly, or scrapbooking in general, and use your phone... This is HUGE! It actually tells you when you took all of your pics on your phone. So simple, yet soooo important. I can hardly remember what day it is, and this little app does it for me. Want to be accurate with the date stamper? Now you can!
Apps to Make Life Easier:
PicFrame
Part of the frustration of scrapbooking weekly is the whole finding a photograph thing. It's kind of annoying how those little 3x4" pockets make printing a picture kind of impossible. This app is genius, as you can just combine photos together to either create a collage, stitch two pics together for a 4x6, or just print them on the cheap. The 99 cents for this app is amazingly inexpensive for the ease of use. There are some really great tutorials on how to use this app (my favorite at
MySistersSuitcase), but it's pretty easy to use.
Costco is one of my favorite places to go. We seriously spend too much money there. But it's worth it when we normally buy the same things each month. And kids eat a lot. I don't know where they put it, but they eat. Anyway... I love Costco's print quality. I know it's not always the same quality as a "professional print lab"... But for the cost, they are really good. And the app is super easy to use. Plus, after using PicFrame, it's even cheaper!!
Walgreens
Personally, I am not a huge fan of Walgreen's photography labs. Mainly because they only print in glossy paper. And that bugs me. A lot. Probably because it's hard to photograph when the pics are on a layout. Totally a personal thing, everyone has their "thing"... Glossy paper is mine. The app is great though, and the service is really quick. When I really need a pic fast, I will send them here. Plus they have super late (some 24 hour) hours... Which is helpful. They are more costly than Costco's photo lab. Something to think about, but they do have coupons often. I always Google to see if there is an available coupon code to use before I finalize my order.
How It All Works Together:
Lastly, this is how I put it all together. I have scraps of paper about the size of business cards that I plan out my week. Arrows usually mean that I've moved something, or mixed up dates. Sometimes I draw silly things, scratch them out, add more. Often I totally change it all up. Any which way though, the sketches have helped me to stop printing 18 million photographs that I don't use. They aren't hugely expensive, but waste is waste. This has made me much more streamlined in my process.
Whew! Lot's of information overload. This week, I'll be posting the four weeks of layouts that I completed in about 24 hours using this process.
***Project Life is a system of memory keeping created by Becky Higgins. You can learn more
here***
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