So this it, January is over, did you keep up with your Project 365? I took over 2500 photos and I wasn't even trying too hard. Even after I took the scrap project photos to another folder and deleted the bad photos, I still had around 1500. Who can possibly print/scrap that many photos in a month? Plus, if you think about it, I would need a whole book for each month of the year. Very expensive to print and I would run out of space really quickly :)

So, it is official, I am NOT doing Project 365. I think it is wonderful for people who don't take many photos and have to improve on that, especially if they find themselves often without new photos to scrap (ok Luciana?). But I sure am on the opposite side of the spectrum, and have way more photos than anyone could ever scrap.

I will concentrate on the days I have "special events" going on. That is not saying I am not going to play with the whole concept, and that I am not going to butt in and give ideas of how I would do it :) So for those who kept up and are planning to go on, here is a little freebie and idea:

If you use this same template for every month, I bet you will have a lovely 25 page book by the end of it (12 double page spreads + cover page). Achievable and, very importantly, affordable. Changing the kit for each double page should be fun too.

Here is a page I did for last month:

 

Credits: Free Spirt Stamped Alpha by CD Muckosky (yep, I can't seem to stop using it). Starter kit from Little Dreamer Designs, Journaling tags were a blog freebie by Julia Makotisnky (retired), Doodly Font by Jackie Eckles.

If you are like me and will have a couple of days missing on each month, you can still do your year in review album and use the missing spots for embellishments and/or extra journaling.

Remember in Photoshop you can select all text layers and change the font in one go, you don't need to do one number at a time. January is created for you, for next month just move the numbers around to have the weekdays align.

If you have some time on your hands you can also substitute the text for alphas. Trust me though, the most time consuming thing in a LO like this is selecting your photos. So if you are planning on doing your album in review, why not keep a folder with your Monthly photos selected? Just an idea :)

Ok, enough butting in :) Hope you like the freebie.

xoxo

(warning - this post contains a lot of images - and you can click on them for larger view)

Now that I have showed the very basic of creating my page, let's do something a little more advanced. Let's create a funky stamped title. I loving them right now (a little addicted, really). Continuing from where we stopped:

STEP 5

Let's continue by adding some journaling (we are going to edit it a little)

I like to draw a square with the text tool instead of just clicking and typing, it makes it much easier to keep your text under control. I also like to type in Word and then paste into Photoshop. (Font is Mary Jane's Shoes by Lisa Sisneros)

STEP 6

Choose a stamped alpha, create a new layer and stamp your title (sorry mine is hard to see on this screenshot)

I have chosen the Free Spirit stamped alpha by CD Muckosky, it is my favorite right now, can't stop using it.

STEP 7

Now to the "funky" part :) Duplicate your stamped title by right-clicking on its layer and selecting "Duplicate Layer" (choose the same document you are working on)

Then "Link" both title layers by right-clicking and selecting "Link Layers"

Notice the "little chains" next to both layers. This will guarantee they are always aligned, whatever you do to one will happen to the other.

Move the top title layer just above the storyboard layer and the bottom title layer to under the Storyboard layer.

Change the color of the top title layer by right-clicking the layer and selecting "Blending Options" and then "Color Overlay".

Pick a contrasting color to your patterned paper (preferably another color already in your layout).

Now, "clip" (CTRL+ALT+G) your top title layer to the storyboard.

I hope you like the effect :) In a different setting you can also just delete parts of the top title that you don't want visible.

STEP 8

Edit your text to fit around the stamped title.

I just did this manually, next time I will show you how to create a text path so Photoshop place the text for you.

Here is the finished project with the addition of some numbers (you could embellish this more):

These storyboards are perfect for Project 365, I created them with the Project in mind, hope you like it. 

I also hope people find some use for this title trick, works great for paint splotches too :)

See you next time!