Quick Tip: Faux Washi Tape

Hi there TSR friends! Aphra here today to share a quick and easy tip with you. It's great for your Project Life cards as well as scrapbook pages and cards. Faux washi tape!

First, as for supplies, you need a pair of scissors and a small strip of patterned paper. I used the two narrow strips from the bottom edge of the Pink Paislee Market square paper that came in the November Project Life Kit.

Use your scissors to cut a wavy, beveled edge at both ends of a short strip of paper. The idea is to make it look like you tore off a piece of washi tape. Then adhere that strip onto your project as though it is holding down a photo or card. Here is my example.

Such a simple little trick, but I love how it really grounds the coordinating puffy stickers that came in this kit. So before you throw away the perforated strips of paper that come on the edges of your 12x12 paper sheets, see if you can use a bit for some faux washi tape.

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life Inspiration: Sketch Book

Hello TSR friends! Today for my Project Life post, I'd like to offer you another set of title card sketches. File these away under quick and easy.

I think I am going to print out all of the Project Life sketches that I have created (and saved on Pinterest).  A binder of sketches will help me "Get more pages done!"

Project Life Inspiration: Stickers

The ScrapRoom's Project Life kits often come with a variety of stickers. This month is no exception. There are FOUR sets of stickers. And that is in addition to some other great embellishments. For me, having so many stickers makes my Project Life pages come together super fast. Today I'd like to show you a few ways that I use stickers on my pages.

Weekend Camp Memories

First, I cut apart one sticker and added it to my title card. The small word stickers are great for titles and subtitles.

For my yellow filler card, I covered up what was actually printed on the card stickers. Super quick and easy.

You'll also notice that many of my pictures have stickers on them. I placed them directly onto the photos, but you can also place them on the sheet protectors. I especially like how the CAMP banner stickers in the second photo add some much needed color to the photo.

As you can see, small stickers really can add a lot of impact and color to your Project Life pages as well as unify your theme. Just another way that TSR kits help us "Get more pages done."

Project Life Inspiration: Canon Selphy Pics

For the past few months, I have been printing all of my Project Life pictures on my Canon Selphy CP910 printer.  So. Much. Easier.

No more editing and printing an entire month of pictures at Wal-Mart one hour photo and then throwing away half of them that I didn't use. Rather, I just pick the ones that I like and then edit. My favorite part, however, is that I can print from my phone. Convenient. I can also use my Pic Frame app to create photo collages. And I can print smaller sized photos, which is especially nice for Instagram pictures. Here are some examples from just this month.

If you have the Canon Selphy CP910 (or think you might want one), there are a ton of You Tube videos to help set it up and learn to print photo collages. If you love Project Life, then this printer is a life saver. And for about $100 that's a deal!

Project Life Inspiration: Filler Card Title

Hi everyone. Today, I wanted to share a super easy yet bold idea for your Project Life pages. When I was putting together this page of my sons in their matching Easter ties, I just kept coming back to the idea that I wanted to use a lot of pink to match the boys' ties. Lucky for me, one of the Basic Grey papers in the Flavors of the Month kit is all pink. And another sheet of paper was blue and green, which matches the shirts and bushes in my pictures. An idea was born.

I decided to create a title on the filler cards right in the middle of the page. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the white letters spelling Easter.  

This bowtie image allowed me to create striped tie like my youngest's. To really give the page some pop, I used black accents. A polka dot brad and black foam word from the Simple Stories I Am Flavor of the Month kit.

I really love how bold and graphic this page is. And yet, I think it still focuses on my sons' ties.  I hope you like this idea and give it a try sometime. Here is another layout using the same style.

Quick Tip: Straight Letters

Hi there friends.  I thought I would pop in for a second to share a quick tip that I use for adhering my alphabet stickers so that they will be straight.  All you need is a clear ruler.  First, I adhere the letters onto the ruler using the marks for spacing and to keep them straight.

Then I hold the ruler over the area where I want them to go.  Being able to see through the ruler helps me find just the right spot and helps me keep them straight.

I lay down the ruler and push the tops of the letters so that they are stuck down well.  Then while holding my hand over the tops of the letters, I carefully peel the ruler off the bottom of the letters.  

I hope you are able to use this quick and easy trick for adhering your letters nice and straight.  Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life Inspiration: InstaWeather and PicFrame

Hello Scrappy friends! It's a new year for Project Life, and I, for one, am so excited. This year I have challenged myself to try something new in my album each month. A new technique or product or style or whatever. For January, I decided to incorporate an InstaWeather collage into one of my Snow Day Fun layout. I love the extra detail that the app includes.

I thought I would share with you how I created the pictures and the collage. It was quite simple using two apps on my iPhone. The first one is called InstaWeather. There is a free version and a Pro version. You can create the pictures above with either one. Basically, you snap a picture and upload it into the app, which adds the current weather to your pic. Then, you can save it to your camera roll. You can also upload the photo to Facebook or Instagram.

The next app that I used is PicFrame. It is so super simple and versatile. Again, it has a free version as well as an upgraded one. The main difference is the number of collage templates. 

For a 4" x 6" photo, you have to be sure to set the ratio of the picture to 3:2. 

Then, you select your collage. For my photo, I chose the white one with three horizontal pictures. I was able to insert my three square photos, save, and then print. Super easy.

I hope you are inspired to give these apps a try. If you get stuck, do a quick search for YouTube videos. There are tons of tutorials out there to help you out.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions or requests for Project Life Inspiration, leave me a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Project Life: Mixed Up Title

Hi everyone.  Today, I wanted to share with you another title card tip.  You may have seen the full layout in the gallery.  If not, here it is again.

As you can see, the pictures are not exactly Christmas pictures.  Instead, they focus on how my two boys spent their time during their break from school.  The colors in the pictures were not quite Christmasy either, so I chose cards that had a white background to them.  This made the page seem a little less busy.

For my title card above, I grabbed all of the black Thickers in my stash.  Mostly because I wasn't sure if I had any s's or t's left in any of them.  While all the letters were sitting there, I had the idea to create the title out of a mixture of different fonts.  Since the papers are a bit whimsical, the letters fit right in.  I think the fact that all the letters were black helped, too.

I also wanted to point out a tip for using the Simple Stories 2x2, 3x3, and 4x4 cards from the kit.  I cut one down to use as the striped border pieces on my journal cards.  Another I trimmed down to create a banner to attach to a picture.  

Well, that's all I have for today.  I hope you are enjoying your kit and your holidays!

Project Life Inspiration: November Sketch and Flair Ideas

Hi friends.  I'm back today with another Project Life sketch.  This one was inspired by all the cute Simple Stories Sweater Weather Die Cuts that came in the November Flavors of the Month kit.  They allowed me to add some fun layers to my Thanksgiving layout title card.  I thought this same idea would work well in Spring with a little birdhouse.  Or for a camping layout.

This one card was my favorite for the whole month of November.  The houndstooth, the warm colors, the enamel dots, and the exclusive flair.  SO cute!  

Speaking of flair, I thought I would also share a few ways that you can add Tammy's awesome flair to your Project Life pages.  

This is the first time I used flair in my Project Life album.  I really didn't like how the height of the flair made my page pucker, so I smushed it.  Then, I didn't like how the flair looked. LOL One of our former TSR Designers shared her tip:  put the flair on the outside of the page protector.  Smart.  Now I can use all the flair I want.

So, what is your favorite way to use flair?  I'd love to hear.