Starting the holiday album.

In my last post I showed you my Counterfeit Kit I'm using for  our recent holiday to Tasmania.

 Today I thought I'd share with you some of my process of planning the album.


With so many photos, the first step was choosing which photos to print.  I took out my pocketed page protectors (I have 4 different styles and ended up using 3 of them) and then went through my holiday photos on my computer one event at a time. (Our new computer is too new for my old edition of Photoshop Elements, so I'm using Picassa at the moment)

I chose which orientation of page protector worked best for each event, and then chose my photos.  I  cut up a whole bunch of scrap paper and wrote the file number of the photos on them, placing them in the page protectors. I also "starred" those photos in Picassa, ready to have printed.  I used those same slips of paper to hold the spots for title and journaling spots as well.  Here's a typical page at this point:

During the process, I chose which photos I wanted to have enlargements of, and placed a traditional page protector, complete with photo number, in the appropriate spot in my pile of page protectors.
Then I waited with baited breath for my photos to arrive!
I decided that it made the most sense to make the "traditional" pages first, then use the leftover bits of paper to decorate the journaling cards. So my next step was to break my big kit of papers up into a series of smaller "page kits".  Sounds like a job that needs the dining room table! 

 With each of my 16 enlargements sitting against the neutral background cardstock, I started moving the patterned papers and cardstock around, trying to get an even spread of colours that worked with each other and the photos.

Here's my thinking face:

In the end, I added one more sheet of cardstock and managed to get at least 2 full 12" pieces for most photos, or one full sheet and at least one significant sized offcut for the others.  In the kit was also one striped sheet of paper.  I've kept that aside for cutting into strips, which can be scattered throughout the album.
 

Of course I knew at this point that once I started making the pages, I would have more offcuts to play around with.

Here we've got a beautiful waterfall, and a shot of the kids at Salamanca Markets in Hobart, enjoying their Dutch pancakes.

This photo is at the blow-hole at Bicheno, on the east coast of  Tasmania.

As well as my tickets, cameras, and perfected "sequins", I've also added some washi tape and some white Silhouette "fronds" to my kit.  For continuity, I'm inking all my edges in "bark" ink.  I'm also trying to make the most of my stamps and inks by stamping on the coloured cardstock. I'm considering adding some splatter, but I can always do that later, and then I'll do it to all of them.

You'll notice there's no titles or journaling yet, I'll do that in conjunction with the pocketed pages, and work out what needs to go where.  My plan is for all the titles to be in the same font (Franklin Gothic Demi Condensed, 65 pt if you're interested) and cut on my Silhouette - probably using the positive for the traditional pages, and the negative on the title cards in the pocketed pages.

Well I hope all that makes sense, feel free to ask me questions if it doesn't, and I hope you're finding time to get a bit crafty this weekend, too!

February Counterfit Kit, "Down Under from Down Under"

Hello, friends, it's so good to be back!!
 . . . back in not-studying land . . . back in kids-at-school land . . . back in time-to-spend-in-the-craft-room land . . . back in blogging land . . . back playing at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge!
We're also back from a fabulous road trip to Tasmania, and while it's sad that the holiday is over, one of the good things about being a scrapbooker is you get to relive the holiday all over again as you put your album together.  Am I right?

My philosophy for a holiday album hasn't really changed since I completed this one back in 2011.  I'm not interested in creating a masterpiece from every photo (I'm having over 300 printed from the 1800+ taken).  What I am interested in is having an album that tells my story in a cohesive way, where my pictures are the star of the show.  I also want to be able to put it together reasonably quickly, not having it hanging over my head as an unfinished project when the next big family holiday comes along!

Early on in our holiday, Angus commented that Tasmania was "down under from Down Under", (it's the island at the bottom of Australia, get it?).  The name kind of stuck, so in honour of that, I'm naming this month's Counterfeit Kit "Down Under from Down Under":

If the photos are the star of the show, then who will the supporting actor be?

This great big pile of oatmeal cardstock, and some pocketed page protectors, that's who!  Way back here in one of my favourite "ten things" posts of all times, I wrote that I was preparing to start a pocketed "Project Life" style album, as a way of using up supplies.  I quote: "I figure my off-cut stash plus my Silhouette plus my stamps is really all the supplies I need. I already have a bunch of landscape-oriented photo protectors, so at the most I'll be buying some in other orientations, maybe some neutral cardstock and I'm good to go!"
I never did start that pocketed album, but my attitude on how to use them hasn't changed.  My photos can slot in super-quickly, I'll keep the title and journaling blocks pretty simple and uniform, and I'll break it all up with some "traditional" pages with some enlargements of my favourite photos.

Here's all the super pretty papers I've chosen.  While I've tried not to spend too much money over the last few months when I've been out of the craft room, I may have been swayed by a few (or 6!!!) paper pads that were on super-special.  So you might recognise some papers in there that are not-so-new to you, but brand new to me.
I think they include Studio Calico "Wanderlust", Basic Grey "Fact", Kaisercraft "Tropical Punch" and "Beautiful", Crate Paper "Flea Market" and Amy Tangerine "Yes Please".  I've also included a few sheets of coloured cardstock as much to challenge myself to use it as to extend the kit somewhat.
There's also some offcuts in coordinating colours.
I plan to divide them all up into page kits for the "traditional" pages as soon as my photos arrive (just a minute ago someone came to the door, and I was so sure it was going to be the mail man!!! But no, just some door-to-door guy).  That way I can spread the papers around, and the smaller left-over bits can go on the pocketed pages.

 I figured cameras and tickets make sense as embellishments, so I've cut out a bunch of them.  And those negative (or I guess they're the positive) shaped hearts and stars are pretty cute, too!
I'll probably add some washi tape and stamps as well.  I thought I'd finished my kit, but I had a bit of a "stop press!" moment when I noticed the wood veneer "sequins" in the inspiration kit, and decided to have a bit of a go on the Silhouette:

That's my first attempt, with my smallest camera and a ruler to show you the scale. I'll play around with the sizes a bit but I suspect some kraft-coloured "sequins" will be making their way into the kit sometime soon!

Well, thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you're finding some crafty time too, and I hope to see you again soon,  after the mail man has arrived!