Remembering all the little things.

Having a toddler and a newborn to keep up with and remember all the dates and milestones is not an easy task, so I wanted an easy way to keep track of it all.
One day I will sit down and have time to write it all nicely in their baby books, but until then this is my easy way out. And now I want to share it with you.

I have two identical notebooks, one for each child. In these I write down everything that happens big or small, as you would in a journal/diary. I write them for my children so they can read them when they grow up and I always sign with "mommy loves you" and a heart.

Next I have two Filofax Domino personal size that contain month on two pages for every year, my homemade pages to keep track of vaccinations and weight/height measurements. Plus several sheets of lined notepaper to jot down anything else that I might need to remember. I got some very handy stickers from organized-mum with pregnancy/baby actions (these you can see in my monthly pages).

These are still a project I will work to make them more like a baby book and less like a filofax. I plan on adding my own homemade dividers with pictures of my kids and other bits and bobs to decorate a little.
They do make it easier to keep track and on super busy weeks I still have time to just pop a sticker in the correct box.

Thanks for popping by, please enjoy the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

My new and improved colletion.

My collection now includes an Aqua Saffiano (personal size), Teal Calipso (Compact size), Bright Blue Calipso (Compact size), Bright Blue Calipso (A5 size), Malden Zip Navy (Compact size) , Electric Blue Domino (Personal size), Violet Domino (personal size) and Patent Purple Original (personal size). 

Now I just need an Original in Navy, perhaps in Dark Aqua too, a pink Calipso and then I'll start on the Van Der Spek custom dream planners I've been thinking of. 

Hmm, a lottery win wouldn't be a bad thing right about now.

 

 

All decorated for spring!

I finally had time to sit down and decorate my planner. It's been a while since I've had time for anything creative, but as spring is inching along here I figured it was high time I put some pretty color and decor on my pages. 

Digital dividers tutorial

I thought I would try to show you how I make my dividers.

What you'll need for this to work:

• a digital scrapbook program (Photoshop, My Memories Suite or something similar).
• a few sets of digital papers and some clip art (I get mine from Sweet Shoppe Designs).
• a computer or Mac with a big screen which will allow you to work without scrolling to much up and down.
• time
• inspiration
• your own pictures if you wish to use them

First you'll have to start up your program.

Then you'll choose either a new album in My Memories Suite (or a new file if you use Photoshop).

 

  When you've done this you'll get the option of making a standard size album or custom size one. Choose custom size as this will allow you to decide the measurements you'll need for your dividers.

Picture 1: For dividers with size tabs cut from the actual divider I use these measurements.

Picture 2: For dividers with top tabs cut from the actual divider I use these measurements.

 

Now comes the fun part, creating your design.

So you've chosen your divider size (personal with top tabs for this tutorial) and can start adding patterns/papers/colors. 

First step - choose "Background Papers" from the drop down menu on your right.

If you do like me and buy your papers/scrapbook sets from someone else then My Memories, choose the custom folder and select your background.

Congratulations you now have a background and a great base to start playing with.

Now lets add some objects to your divider. These will be found on the drop down menu on the right side under "Embellishments".

Press the flower button "Add" to add your embellishment of choice. 

 

 If you, like me have your own folder with kits/sets you'll need to choose the "Browse other" button on the left of the pop-up window. When you've done this you'll have to sort through your folders and find the object you want to add.

 

 

Once you've added your embellishment(s) you get to play around with them to make sure they're all in the right place. You can place them in layers and add shadow to make the objects pop.

 

 

 

When you've found the right placement you can start adding more stuff, like pictures.  

Select the "Pictures" tab from the drop down menu and choose if you want to add a shaped box or just the picture (in this case I've added a picture box in the same shape as the inside of the frame).

Make sure the picture box is the right size so it won't show through outside the frame and you're good. 

Notice in the first picture here that the picture box is on top of all the other layers. You'll want to add your picture into this box before you move the box to the back of the layers, as moving it back too soon will make you have to rearrange the entire bulk of layers to get it to the front again to add later.

We have now added a picture (at least we're pretending we have) and you'll want to send the picture box to the back. 

And this is your finished divider, ready to print.

If you'd like a matching backside to this one, right click the divider page on the menu below and press "Insert Duplicate Page Mirrored", this will give you the exact back of your divider when you remove the embellishments.

Embellishments have been removed and you can now adjust the opacity of your divider if you wish (I do this because I want the focus on the front and not the back). 

To adjust the opacity choose "Background Papers" from the drop down menu and you'll see the little blue arrow under opacity, move this to the point you want it to get the desired effect.

Now all you have to do is save the project/album. Press File and choose Save or Save as.

When your album is saved. Go to "Share Album" and choose "Export Pages". This will let you save your dividers as JPEG files and easily print them.

 

When printing I recommend cutting your papers to the size you'll need (+ remember the extra space for your tabs) and set your printer to print on custom sized paper. The printing process can be a bit hard to get right the first few times, but if you stick with it you'll get them perfect in the end.

After you've printed the front, turn the paper around and print the back. 

Punch holes, cut out the tabs and voila! You have a new set of dividers.

Good luck!