It's Almost Time for Holiday Themed Albums Again...

It's Almost Time for Holiday Themed Albums Again...

...are you excited abut this prospect?  Or overwhelmed by it?  I'm excited about it, and can't wait to jump in again.  I chose not to do Journal Your Christmas or any holiday themed album last year, simply because I was going through some stuff and was just emotionally exhausted.  So whether or not you are joining in with the crowds doing themed holiday albums this year, I feel you either way.  I hope however you choose to celebrate this season, you'll find a method that brings you a measure of peace and happiness.

Since I am doing an album this year, I decided to go hunting for a Christmas kit that would work well for Journal Your Christmas, which means I want more than just the standard papers and embellishments --- I also want to find a number set for each day of the holiday season, unique color combinations, some awesome templates to keep the process simple but still fun, and I want a decent mix of solid and patterned papers.  I made a video about the best kits I found that meet this criteria.  I hope you'll watch if you have the time:




Also, I decided that it would be easier to put the links for all the kits I featured (and some others that didn't make it into my video, but are still worth checking out) here on the blog.  I hope this helps you as you do your shopping for digital goodies.  I haven't started my foundation pages yet, which is unusual for me, but that's OK.  I will just jump in tonight or tomorrow with some new digital goodies. Here are the links to the stores/kits I think are best suited to this type of project.  Happy shopping!

From the LilyPad Digital Scrapbooking Store:

DYD 2015 6x8 Mega Template Album kit by Just Jaimee




Holly Days Kits by Amy Wolf

Holly Days Elements kit


Holly Days Advent Calendar


Holly Days Paper Pack




Merry & Bright Bundle by Lynne Marie


Other LilyPad kits to consider:

Krafty Christmas by Mommyish
Tinsel by Lynne Marie
Sewn Pockets by Valerie Wibbens
(has the look of stitched 6 x 8 sheet protectors --- so cool!)


Kits at the Digital Press:

12 Days: The Collection by Mari Koegelenberg



Once Upon a Christmas: Collection by Anita Designs & Wishing Well Designs



Honorable Mentions:
25 Days Templates by Wishing Well Creations (6 x 8 size)

25 Days of Memories 12 x 12 Template set by Anita Designs

31 Days in December 2011 by MEG Designs 
(8.5 x 11 templates; could be modified to fit the current year)


Kits at Sweet Shoppe Designs: 

Christmas Countdown Collection (Collab by three Sweet Shoppe Designers)


Days of December (Collab by Meghan Mullens & Becca Bonneville


Other great kits at Sweet Shoppe: 
Stories: Templates 6 
(while not technically a holiday themed template kit, it would lend itself easily to a December Album.  There are 15 - 6 x 8 templates for about $5 --- that's a great deal!)
From Digital Scrapbook Ingredients:
Xmas is Coming Labels
Xmas is Coming Word Strips
(Neither of these are full kits, but might work well with kits you already have)

Kits featuring other December Holidays: 
Eight Bright Nights Full Kit (Hanukkah)
Eight Bright Nights Journaling Cards
Festival of Lights (Hanukkah)
Kwanzaa Patterned Papers by Striped Elephant
Kwanzaa Digital Scrapbooking Elements by Poppydreamz


I'm so glad you stopped by today, and here's wishing that we all have an joyous holiday season! 



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Using the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil as a Pen Tablet for Digital Scrapbookers

Using the iPad Pro + Apple Pencil as a Pen Tablet for Digital Scrapbookers











My husband recently gifted me with a new 9.7 in. iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil to go with it.  At first, I wasn't sure what the heck I'd do with the pencil...I didn't know if I'd do more with it than use it to click around with as I navigated between apps on my iPad.

One night, he and I were talking about my old Wacom Bamboo Tablet, and I was wondering if I could still find drivers for it, since it's getting to be an older device now.  We started talking about the idea of me using my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil as a pen tablet...I just needed an app to enable that functionality.

He had used an app called Duet at work, and thought it would be a good one for me to try, so I gave it a go.  It worked pretty well, as you can see from the the video demo I linked for you above.  I'm also kind of intrigued by Astropad, which I'm trying to decide if I want to buy or not, so that may be an option for some of you if you choose not go with Duet.

It took me a little longer this time to get this video ready, because I had a bit of trouble with the Apple Pencil, as it was giving me serious writer's cramp.  I also wasn't sure which angle to set my iPad at to be used most comfortably.

In the end, I decided to lay the iPad down flat, and used a couple of accessories with the iPad to help make the experience more comfortable, and now using it is a snap.  Granted, this set up only works with Apple Devices as far as I know, but if you have these goodies on hand anyway, you are all set and have a pen tablet at the ready the next time you want to scrap with one!



Let me know what you think of the video, and if you think you'll try using your iPad Pro as a pen tablet...I'd love to get your input on how the experience went for you.

Aside from my MacBook, iPad and Apple Pencil, here is a list of the supplies I used in my video:

Mudder Tablet Drawing Artist Glove

Ztylus Apple Pencil Case

Summer Mini Template:  unfortunately, it's discontinued.  But, here is a link to Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's stencil page on Scrapbooking.com  There are a few face stencils on this page your could easily use instead: Julie's templates at Scrapbook.com

Procreate App

Beep Beep Digital kit by Jen Allyson: Discontinued.  Here is another very similar Digital kit on the same theme by Kim Jensen at the Lilypad: City Streets Elements kit  
and City Streets Papers

I think that is everything --- so if any of you have questions, comments or constructive feedback, feel free to holler!  I know I've probably forgotten some things I wanted to include in the video, so ask away if you have further questions.

Thanks for stopping by today!

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Who Should Do Scrapbooking?

Who Should Do Scrapbooking?




OK, so don't get me wrong...I'm not saying moms shouldn't scrapbook, because of course, I am one.  I love to scrapbook, and I always will.  However, I still think there's this misconception that only women with kids can scrapbook.   Why should that be?  Yes, I do think it's important for moms to document their children's lives, but what about their own lives?

And what about teens?  Wouldn't it be awesome if they found value in saving their memories?  The same thing can be said for singles, college students, grandparents, and so on, and so forth.  Don't misunderstand...I'm not trying to force it on anyone who would rather bullet journal, art journal, or whatever.

I just know that I love looking back through my albums to see my older pages, and to remember why I scrapped those pictures.  I am so glad I can look back and remember things I've almost forgotten about.

In the video above, I posted five reasons I think scrapbooking should hold more of an appeal for a wider audience:

1 - You Have Your Own Unique Story To Tell.
2 - You Don't Need To Be A Specific Age, Gender, Or In A Certain Life Situation to Benefit From Scrapbooking.
3 - Show Your Kids You Have Dreams, Aspirations, and Goals Outside of Your Role as a Parent.
4 - We May Not Always Remember Small (But Important) Details About Our Lives If We Don't Document Them.
5 - Include a Mix of Both Positive and Negative Experiences in Your Scrapbooks.

I hope you enjoy the video, and let me know your thoughts on this topic.  Do you scrapbook or do you choose not to?  Tell me what you think!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day, 



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