Project Life Tutorial | QR Codes..

Hello Friends!  Today I want to share with you a little detail that I added onto last week's spread. The QR Code. I have touched on this method of adding videos to your PL before but I figure, since we are starting a new year, a refresher course is always helpful!     When I want to add something more than just journaling and still photographs, it can often mean thinking outside the box. It is always fabulous to add extra detail with memorabilia but what if you could actually bring your PL2015 spreads to life!  

  Surprisingly, it is really very simple.  The invention of QR Codes has brought our scrapbooking world to new heights. Not only can we document our lives through words + pictures but bringing videos to our pages allows us to document in infinite detail.  

 

My family and friends LOVE this simple detail. I love it too because I can permanently record the sound of my children's voices. Last year I recorded my youngest son reciting the alphabet.  Last week I recorded him reading his very first home reader! The milestones are brought to life! Imagine the possibilities.. each birthday song sung, a baby's first words, a family member saying they love you...

 

  So how do you create a QR Code? Just like this.   To start this process, I began with creating my own channel on Vimeo, which is also accessible via my iPhone.  Alternatively you can create your own YouTube channel.  It will do the same thing - store your videos and create URL links.   I have also downloaded a QR Code Maker.  Qrafter Pro is the one that works best for me.  It is a downloadable app for your phone, but it does cost money.   Once you have downloaded both your Vimeo/YouTube channel (with the video you want to create a code for) and QR code maker, the process is rather simple.    step 1. When you play your Vimeo clip, in the top corner of you will see a paper aeroplane image. (If the image is being played in full screen, tap on the movie to see the behind the scenes details). Tap the paper aeroplane.   step 2. Share Video: The top right corner will display 3 dots. (...) Tap the image. Tap "Copy URL".   step 3. Open the Qrafter Pro app on your smart phone. Tap  "URL" and paste the link from your Vimeo account. Tap "Preview content".   step 4. Create. Once you tap on "create", the image will fill your smart phone screen. To adjust colours to suit your PL spreads, tap on the artist palette board. I always leave my "background" white and alter the "foreground" colour. Tap "done".   step 5. Saving image to print. Tap the "send" icon (box with an arrow). I always save to my camera roll and then print out with the rest of my iPhone photos.    And that's about it. Once the  QR code has been sized to your liking (in Photoshop) and printed out you can go to town adding life to your PL spreads.   I really hope you have fun with this method.  Thanks for visiting today...x  

Project Life | Week Five...

Hi there Sassy Friends! Welcome to another week of Project Life 2015.  Today I am sharing with you my Week 5 | February 2 - 8.     This week I am still playing with the very versatile Dear Lizzy Serendipity collections with a few touches of Amy Tangerine Stitched collection.  And by versatile, I mean life saver..! I have a photo this week that is glaringly out of place in all of its plum coloured glory. How many other collections could I use to meld such randomness together!  See. Versatile. *wink*  

 

The plum colour, wasn't so hard to work with after I teamed it with some gorgeous turquoise and golden hues.  And why did I have such a difficult photo to start with? Well, my High School kids don't have sports shirts at their school. On their sporting carnival days, they are encouraged to dress up as crazy as possible.  My two wanted to support their house and their team colour just happens to be this garish purple... It make for a good story and so the photo was used to help document this memory.   

 

 

Week Five was also the second week back at school. It was a hard week of adjustment and illness. It was also a timely reminder to document the bad along with the good.  A hard week is usually rare for us and it also needed to be documented for the sake of truthfulness and accountability.

 

 

But by the end of the week, we had new adventures to share.  The fabulous Prima Alpha Stickers are brilliant for adding an extra dimension to photos.  I love their size and the texture.  I've teamed this phrase with a small word sticker from the Amy Tangerine Stitched Accent & Phrase Stickers.

 

 

Unlike last week, Week Five contains a lot of photos.

 

 

By now I'm sure, it's no surprise to learn how much I appreciate photo collages! LOL!

 

 

And when I can, I love adding QR Codes to the pages of my Project Life.

 

To finish off my spread this week I needed to add a touch more of that troublesome colour I mentioned earlier! Thankfully with the help of watercolour paper and paints the solution came easily.

  With a few layers and journaling hopefully I've managed to draw the eye across the page for all the right reasons. *grin* Did I mention I'm not a huge fan of the plum colour?? *wink*   Thanks for joining me here today. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section of this blog post. Or maybe if you're feeling my frustration with purple, you could share what colours you find it difficult to work with too!   Sassy Supplies:                          

Project Life | Week 50...

Hi Everyone!  Welcome to Project Life, Documenting December!  This week I am playing with the fabulous Sassy Scrapper December PL kit which is on sale right now! Today I am sharing my Project Life | Week 50, December 8 - 14.    

 

Once again we found ourselves juggling another busy week... does it ever slow down at this time of year?  *grin* Not only did I have to balance documenting the end of school year, my son's Year 6 school captain duties and Christmas activities but also a birthday celebration and a sad farewell.

 

 

So many varied events in the span of one week.  I am so glad that the colours and tones in the December Project Life kit are versatile and can accommodate another photo heavy spread.  However, because it is December and preparing for Christmas is on my mind at the moment, I have been able to subtly communicate this with embellishment touches.

 

 

Journaling was added directly to 3"x4" patterned paper cards, which were slightly altered to suit the pocket they slipped into.

 

 

The journaling card has also been embellished with layers of gorgeous ephemera, glitter stars and enamel dots.

 

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On page two, I had to include a QR Code of my son giving his speech to his fellow classmates.  I love this feature as a PL element.  These codes can literally bring your pages to life!  If you are not familiar with these codes, check out the blog post here.

 

 

I opened and resized two photos and the QR Code in Photoshop to create a simple 4"x6" photo. No extra embellishments needed with this custom made photo collage.

 

 

The filler cards this week are also from the Teresa Collins 3"x4" cards patterned paper.  The tree card was simply layered with a banner from the Pretty Little Studio collection.  Not only is the red colour the perfect pop on the page, but the title leads the eye to the series of journaling on either side.

 

 

To ground my spread and to have a cohesive flow across the two pages, the black glitter "holiday" sentiment is layered directly on top of photo details.  Another little reminder th my children starting their Summer school holidays.

 

    Don't forget to visit the Sassy Store to grab your December Project Life kit today.  Documenting December just got a whole lot easier..x    

Project Life | Week 36...

Hi Sassy Friends!  It's Leanne here today with another instalment of Project Life.  This week I am sharing Week 36 | September 1 - 7.     Hello Spring.  Finally the weather is warming up, we are shedding our Winter woollies and enjoying more outdoor activities.  I have to admit however, things are becoming a blur and this week I've made a silly mistake. I haven't been as organised as I'd like with my photos.. (and who wants to be on the computer when there's glorious sunshine outside!! LOL).    I've missed including some photos and events that should have been recorded in last week's spread.  And in the process I've muddled up Week 36.  I was initially distressed.  How could I forget Father's Day was on the 7th and not the upcoming 14th.  The dates and photos just weren't adding up! I wasn't sure how to fix this mistake without having to re-do two entire spreads (and possibly mess with Week 37).  But in truth, I took a deep breath and figured re-writing our family history on a week by week basis, was a bit drastic to just realign some photos. So I decided to forgive myself and move on!   

 

Instead of continuing along the road to try and achieve PL perfection, I've noted in my journaling, two lots of weekend activities. An extension of notes from Week 35  as well as the current happenings of Week 36.  In years to come, looking back through these pages, it won't matter if my boys won their grand final hockey game in Week 35 or Week 36.  It will matter that I've documented it.  It won't matter if we celebrated Spring with fresh watermelon on a Thursday or a Friday.  It's in my PL to document our daily happenings.

Mistakes are clearly going to happen and I did promise myself to become a more active participant for my PL rather than an observer.  So here I am smoothing things over with myself, and moving on.  *grin*

 

This week I have once again used the gorgeous Crate Paper: Notes & Things and Teresa Collins Designs: Nine & Co.  I love to mix collections and add layers to my PL cards.  Week 36 has highlighted touches of gold and mint to interact with the colours in my photos.

 

 

I also had a few video files I wanted to include this week.  My daughter was involved in the Ice Bucket challenge, which ultimately led back to me being involved!  These moments were captured on video and I have created QR Codes to keep them with my memory keeping notes of PL.  To create your own QR Codes, revisit my step by step here.

 

 

When it came down to defining and fixing my mistakes, I Photoshopped  the words 'Saturday' and 'Sunday' to the images below.  It's a small step to help remind me in the future, of the correct events for the correct days.

 

 

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This spread has used a number of the Crate Paper: Notes & Things journaling cards.  They come already beautifully embellished with stitching and layers. 

 

The filler card below (included in the collection), is a vellum envelope that fits perfectly into a 3x4 pocket space.  The mint sentiment was added to the outside of the vellum and I left the glitter circles to fall freely within the folded down envelope.  I've layered with a yellow label sticker attached to a toothpick to create a flag.  The touch of yellow is needed to create a visual triangle when the two PL pages are side by side.

 

  The gold glitter alphas are the perfect finishing touch and fill a blank space without overwhelming the details in the pocket above.  The photo, QR Codes and title don't relate directly to each other but at this point for me, it's about fitting it all in without creating clutter.   Mistakes are bound to happen.  A spelling mistake will appear, text misalignment will happen or a crazy mix up like mine might occur every now and then!  The trick is to remember to keep moving forward.  The end result is to document our lives.  And if mistakes enter into the mix, it reminds us that we are all human!  LOL!  Thanks for visiting..x