How I Print Photos at Home for Memory Keeping

I haven't been doing too great a job at memory keeping this past year.  Honestly it all went down hill after the election, and I'm not even afraid to say that.  I just could not get back into my memory planner at the end of last year & I even have a whole new Erin Condren planner that went unused this year!  But memory keeping is important to me, no matter how long I put it off, so I've started to document our 2 trips this year in traveler's notebook inserts and have even started another mini memory keeping notebook/gratitude journal in my traveler's notebook.

this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.

Printing pictures for these guys is the hard part for me.  I'm 100% a picture hoarder.  The fact that I can take 300 pictures of one thing on my smart phone means I'm left with 300 images with unnoticeable differences....but I'm afraid I'll choose the wrong one to use.  Size also really stresses me out.  When I was doing standard 6x6 Project Life albums I'd have to plan out all my photos for the month I was working on so that they would fit properly.  It became way too much for me! I also want to give another go at documenting on the road...that was a big failure for our Japan trip so I'm hoping I can salvage the notebook I was using and actually finish the project!

Anyway, printing pictures is the biggest point of memory keeping right?  And dealing with what pictures to print & the sizes...it's just much easier to print at home.  So here are my 3 ways I easily print my photos at home for my scrapbooking projects :

Polaroid Zip

This guy was an unexpected gift from Zach way back a year or so ago.  He was looking for something in the mail when he was out of town one week and I found a package, assumed that's what he was looking for, then bam Polaroid Zip!  Unfortunately I ruined the surprise but I was able to jump into the Polaroid Zip train.

This guy prints out about business card size pictures on glossy, sticky back paper.  It uses no ink so you don't have to worry about refills and it is super portable.  The paper packs are sold in individual packs of abut 10 sheets though you can purchase multiple packs of this paper in a bundle.  It connects to bluetooth and comes with a charging cable so that you can use it wirelessly once it is charged.  I keep my printer, the cord and a few extra packs of paper in a pencil pouch.  This printer is so small and portable you can carry it with you everyday if you want!  A lot of shops also sell custom decals for the front of these guys to make them extra spiffy!

The downside is that the print quality is not that great.  In order to get a decent print, you'll need to lighten or brighten your photo as the printer often prints darker.  For me, that results in printing multiple copies of the same image to make sure it looks alright.  Images that are already light work great but even white backgrounds turn a bit yellow when printed through this app.

All in all this guy is great for on the go memory keeping - I brought him to Japan and it was amazing to be able to print and stick my pictures down in the hotel room (and that hotel room was small!)  If I needed to charge it I could plug it into my laptop with the USB cable charger so no wall mounted charger was needed.

Canon Selphy

The Cannon Selphy is another rather small, portable printer made to make printing photos at home a breeze.  I purchased mine from Joanne's because they had the gold Teresa Collins edition (#aesthetic) but you can totally get this much, much cheaper from a place like Amazon. 

This guy is much, much larger than the Polaroid Zip.  It's a little brick!  It prints out 6x4 photos onto glossy paper.  It does have an ink pack that you install after so many odd prints.  Honestly, I just keep using mine until I notice the print quality diminishing!  The paper packs are sold with the ink cartridges and you can grab up quite a few packs at a time.  This printer connects to wifi instead of Bluetooth so you can't be on your device doing other things while you're printing pictures.  The image quality of this guy blows the Polaroid Zip out of the water, but it's still not true to color.  Instead of printing like an inkjet printer would, this guy lays down each color in layers.  Yellow, then blue, the pink, the green, then a top coat/sealant.  So you don't get as true to color photos as say with your home printer or from a professional printing place.

There are a few other downsides to this printer, in addition to having to connect to wifi.  One being the printer is not wireless.  You can purchase a battery pack for it, but it seems that it will make the printer a bit bigger and therefore less portable.  As it already is the size of a brick (kinda) & that means you'll have less space if you're going on a short trip or would like to take something like this to a planner meet up or crop.  I mean to each his own, I've seen others with this printer at planner meetups...it's not a big deal.  But traveling to some place on vacation (like Japan) makes this guy not the best option.  You have to bring the cable cord too, which has a large power converter type deal.  It just isn't as portable as it could be.

With those points being made, this printer is my favorite printer for memory keeping.  It is portable enough to take places I need to take it (like from my desk to the coffee table lol), the print quality is the best of the portable printers I have seen, and in the long run the paper is more affordable!  If I were traveling far, I would not bring this guy.  But documenting at home or at a crop/planner meet up, this is by far the best.

Print to Size + My Printer

Now if you don't have either of those guys I want to share with you how I printed photos before I had them - using my home printer.  The best part about your home printer is that you get to choose the paper finish.  I can't find any matte finish paper refills for either printer mentioned above.  I also can't find any generic refills which would make printing so much more affordable.  You can also buy in kand paper locally (though I save a butt ton on ink by purchasing through Amazon!) so you're not limited to specialty shops or online orders.

Previously I would print my photos by making collages and printing through Picasa.  Google has since phased out this editing program (so sad!) so now I use the app Print To Size on my iPhone along with other collage apps like PicFrame.  Print to Size allows you to size photos exactly as you'd like them to be printed by displaying the ratio, inches & DPI right on the screen.  Be sure not to enlarge your photos too much, 300 DPI is the print quality you're looking for in order for the images not to appear grainy.  You can also fit multiple images on your 8.5 x 11 inch canvas.  You can also choose the size of your canvas in order to print on a different sized paper.

When you're ready to print, the app should connect to your printer as long as you are on the same wireless network.  Simply select the printer & print!  You can also export as a JPG or PDF or even save the canvas to work on later.  If you're traveling to a friend's or family member's house and are able to use their printer you have a good shot of being able to memory keep easily on the go.  They may have a problem with you using up their ink, but other than that you should be good to go.

In this final photo, you can see the quality differences between the three different printers.  With the Zip, you have to crop the photo super narrow, the images are dark & grainy, and the colors are slighly off.  With the Selphy, you'll need to make a collage to print smaller photos, the color can be washed out but it tends to perform well with landscapes, & the image is not too dark.  With the Print to Size app + your home printer, you'll need to collage in order not to waste paper, the color depends on the quality of your printer, and it's not as portable.

I find that the only way you're really going to do something is if you have the tools available to you to actually do it.  When I try to print pictures through print apps or even at Walgreens I feel I have less control over what pictures I'm printing.  I need them to fit in the proper spot and the best way to ensure that is to print at home!

I hope this post was helpful for you and that you're either inspire to grab up one of these portable printers or to just actually print your photos from your phone if you're a photo hoarder like me!

How do you print your photos?  How do you memory keep?

xoxo, Moe

Make it Monday // Digitize your Handwriting with your iPhone

Hand lettering has become all the rage recently.  I've seen it all over instagram, in my facebook groups, and it is huge in the planner community.  There are even fonts designed to mimic this gorgeous calligraphy.  If you've been practicing your handwriting I've got a great tutorial for you today.  How great would it be to have your own handwriting as beautiful digital image to work with? 

Today I'll show you how to digitize your handwriting to create a beautiful PNG overlay to work with when you're creating Instagram photos, photos for your memory keeping, or general inspiration for you.

supplies // iPhone, Superimpose app, iScanner app, Negative Me app, PicsArt app, brush marker, white paper, decent lighting.

First practice writing out the word or phrase you want to digitize.  I used my One Little Word for the year which is Mindful.  I did not have a black brush tip marker so I used dark purple.  It is best to use black or a color as dark as possible for this tutorial.  If not, you risk not creating a black and white image.  You can make a black and white copy of your phrase if needed, the follow the steps below.

Next, open the iScanner app.  Find a room in your home with bright light that will cast few shadows.  You may have to step outside for this, you may have to focus a lamp on your space, but be sure not to cast a shadow over the phrase to be digitized.

Use the iScanner app to photograph the word or phrase. Once the image is processed, align the blue rectangle around the phrase to digitize.  When prompted, choose chose the filter that creates the most solid fill to the letters.  I find the right most filter on the bottom row gives the most solid fill.  If needed, choose a shade from the menu at the top to achieve the darkest fill.  Click the check mark and you'll be prompted to save the image to the app.  From the next page select the arrow in the bottom left and save the image to the camera roll.

I find the best way to use this overlay is as a white overlay over a photo.  To create the text in white, open the Negative Me app (you may be prompted that the app will slow down your phone, it is a pretty old app that has not been updated!).  Choose the photo saved from the iScanner app.  This app will invert the colors - black to white, etc.  Tap the save button in the upper right hand corner - an ad will pop up but simply tap No to save the image to the camera roll.

To use the overlay, open a photo in the PicsArt app.  This app requires a sign in and to create a profile but you can set your photos to private.  From the bottom menu choose Add Photo.  Chose the image of the phrase where the text is white from the camera roll.  Position the phrase over the photo, scaling and rotating to your preference.  From the menu at the bottom choose Blend.  Chose the Lighten blend mode to create the overlay.  Tap Apply, move the slider next to only me so that it is pink, tap Save and Share.  This will set your photo to private, share to your profile, and save to the camera roll.

I plan on making quite a few of these not only to use on Instagram but to use in my Vision Planner to focus on my word for the year.  You could also use the overlay created here along with this PicMonkey tutorial to add glitter to your handwriting!

Be sure to check out my YouTube channel to be notified when I upload the video about my Vision Planner!

How do you use your handwriting in your craft projects?  

xoxo, Moe

Free Printable Memory Planning Stickers & Journaling Cards

I've been using my Memory Planner for a few weeks now and have to say I really, really love it.  You may remember when I used to do Project Life albums...you also may remember how I have slacked off from them for a long, long time.  For me, this is a new way of memory keeping that I'm really digging.  It has inspired me to work through my photos to put into my Project Life albums, but right now I'm focusing on memory planning.

I'm going to be posting a walk through of how I set up my memory planner on my YouTube channel, but I want to give you a little visual of what I use when it comes to setting up my planner for the week.  If you're familiar with my Erin Condren plan with me videos, you'll know I do full no white space spreads.  This Memory Planner has more of a white space look to it - I don't fill up every inch with stickers, the white background of the planner pages still shows through.

I like using kits that have a little bit of everything - check lists, full boxes, half boxes, labels, deco, icons, etc.  But I don't need everything for a full no-white space because I pull in a lot of other stickers that represent things - date night, coffee, trash bags, make up brushes, youtube stickers, etc.   If you read this post you learned about the anatomy of my no white space spreads.  The spreads in my Memory planner are really decorative and less functional.  They aren't really plans but what actually happened in the day.  I mark things that happen birthdays, babies being born, current events, date nights, movies we watched.  I also mark the mundane everyday things, trash out, doctor appointments, etc, mainly because I have a sticker for it.

I also throw in some pocket scrapbooking.  When I have a purchased kit, or a kit I've found for free, I try to search through my journaling card stash & my Pinterest boards to find some cards that will match.  I use 6x8 pocket scrapbooking sleeves - the two holes already punched line up perfectly with the middle ring in the set of three so all I have to do is punch 4 more holes.  I don't have to washi the edges or anything.

To keep track of what happens I take a moment each day to jot down what happened that day on a note pad from the Target dollar spot.  I have this taped in on top of the pocket scrapbooking sleeve and I just take a second each day to list what happens.  I jot them down in revers chronological order because I find it easier to start with what is happening now, then move backwards through the day.  Then when I sit down to fill it out I don't have to think about what the heck happened that day!

So today I wanted to share with you a free printable package - stickers + journaling cards to match.  The patterns are from the Free Pretty Things for You blog (love this blog for cute stuff!).  In the package is a PDF file and a Silhouette Studio file.  Unfortunately I was unable to make this into a cute file for the Cricut Explore, but you may be able to manipulate either file into something usable for you.  It is very hard to offer files like this in all formats for all cutting machines.

DOWNLOAD THE FILES HERE

As always, please play nice.  This package is for personal use only.  Please do not disseminate this in mass quantities, sell any of the parts of this package, claim the designs as your own, or use in an commercial way.  If you would like to link this to your friends or pin this to a Pinterest board, please pin this blog post and not the files themselves.

I do hope you enjoy this little set and I hope to offer more of these soon!!

xoxo, Moe

Make it Monday // 3 Ways to Use Clip Art in PicMonkey

I was at a total loss for what to do for this week's Make it Monday post - I wanted to make a physical thing, but I wasn't sure what to make. I wanted to move away from planner stuff because I've got other ideas brewing.  But I just didn't know what to do.  So I thought I'd just turn to my old trusty PicMonkey for a little how-to inspiration for today.

this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.

There are a bunch of PicMonkey tutorials on the blog (find them here) and I want to share with you today three ways to use clip art in PicMonkey to create something unique.  I also want show you some more inspiration and new takes on some old DIY's.

First - where do you find clip art to use?

The PicMonkey blog shared this post on 4 places to find free for personal and commercial use clip art - and it is super helpful in understanding licensing and file types that PicMonkey can open.  While we're on that topic, PicMonkey can only open JPG and PNG files so you'll need to search for file types that end in .jpg or .png.  A lot of creative bloggers offer free clip art on their blogs for various projects.  I like to search Pinterest for free clip art to find some really creative and pretty images to use.

Now on to the important part:

Use Clip Art Over a Photo

In this DIY post, I showed you how to create your own watermark in PicMonkey to then use in PicMonkey over your photos.  Adding clip art to an existing photo is as simple as this previous tutorial - just skip the step of creating the over lay.  Here's how.

Open the photo you'd like to add the clip art to in PicMonkey.  You can click one of the links on the top (choose edit in this case) or drag and drop the image on to the PicMonkey screen.  Three squares should show up, drop your image into the edit square.

Under the Overlays tab (the butterfly in the left hand column) select the arrow next to Your Own and select my computer.  Locate the clip art image on your hard drive and select open.

You can the repeat the process adding the clip art around your image.  Be sure to create a visual balance across your image.  Add text and save.

This is a great way to add interest to a scrapbook photo or photo to use in your pocket scrapbooking albums.  It is also a creative way to create images for your blog or even your Instagram profile.

The feathers for this example were created by Angie Makes, and you can find them here.

Create a Layered Design

In this tutorial I showed you how to fake a repeating pattern in PicMonkey.  In another tutorial, I went over how to use PicMonkey's own graphics to create a patterned notes page for your personal sized planner.  You can also use clip art to create a patterned background for various projects.

From the main PicMonkey page, hover over the Design tab and choose a canvas to design from. The 4x6 canvas works great for pocket scrapbooking cards.  Once you have the canvas open, set the background, and rotate if need be.  Navigate to the Overlays tab and begin to open the clip art in the same manner as the previous tip - selecting Your Own and then My Computer.  Once the clip art is on the screen, size it to your liking and begin to duplicate it by right clicking on a PC or two finger click on a Mac and selecting Duplicate Overlay.  Continue to place your duplicated clip art around the canvas.  Like in this tutorial, you'll want to try to fake a repeating pattern.

Open a second clip art image you have saved that compliments the first.  Duplicate it across the canvas as well to create a layered look.  This adds depth to the pattern you're creating and creates a more interesting design.  I suggest only working with 3 clip art images at max to avoid a cluttered design.

Once the second image has filled the canvas the way you like, you can right click and send it to the back if that image seems well suited to the bottom layer of the design.  Save the design you've created.

This is a great way to create digital papers for personal use (if the clip art you chose is for personal use only) to use in any digital scrapbooking or other paper crafts you are looking to make.  This is also a great way to make backgrounds for your various devices.

The floral clip art is from We Lived Happily Ever After, and you can find them here.

Change the Color of an Existing Design

If you've found a clip art image that you love but it happens to be a color your don't quite care for, there is an easy way to change the color within PicMonkey.

Begin by either opening the image you will overlay the clip art on to or open a blank canvas.   If opening a blank canvas, and plan to use the clip art as an overlay in the future - set the canvas color to transparent.  Navigate to the Overlays tab, select Your Own and then My Computer.  Open the clip art image you'd like to change the color of.

You should see a little dialog box pop up any time the clip art image is selected.  Use the color scale on the dialog box to change the color by dragging the little circle around the color scale.

Duplicate the clip art and create the design on the canvas you've selected, or use the altered image as an overlay on another photo.  Save your design.

This is great if you want a few of one image but they were only created on one color scheme.  This can add some fun to a design project - like a pocket scrapbook card or print.  How cute would the design above be as an art print?

The mushroom is from Lisa Glanz and you can find the set here.

PicMonkey is a simple yet amazing tool if you're into being digitally creative but not down for spending a ton on higher end software.  PicMonkey can do a lot for you even though it is such a simple, online resource.  All of these tips can be done in the free version of PicMonkey but the Royale version offers a lot more - like the drop shadow on the text in the first tip!  You can sign up here for either the $33/year plan or $4.99/month plan.  Either one is totally worth it if you're down for some creativity and awesome fonts!

*as a side note, please be sure to read the terms of use for any and all clip art you download from any artist.  Please play nice, karma is a thing ya know.  I am also in no way affiliated with any of these artists - I found their work beautiful and wanted to share them with you.  I am in now way an expert on licensing terms, please read and understand any and all TOU that come with any downloads you find.

How do you get creative in PicMonkey?  Any tips to share?

xoxo, Moe

Celebrating 4 Years Together // I Only Have Heart Eyes for You

This year Zach & I celebrate our 4 year anniversary & 3 year anniversary of being in the house.  Last year, I shared in this post a huge pocket scrapbooking set.  This year I still wanted to share one with you...but it is a little bit smaller this year.  I used some of my own tutorials to make some journaling cards using overlay apps + PicMonkey.  I swear that my iPhone & my iPad are great creative resources.  There's soooo much you can do with these little machines in your pocket or in your bag and I love it!!

this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here

I love finding new apps to play around with.  There are so many creative ones out there.  My favorite are the apps created by creative bloggers because they create apps that they know other bloggers will love!

Here are some tutorials you may like:

Eight Overlay Apps for iPhone Users

How to Use Digital Cards in the Project Life App

Four Ways to Add Text to Your iPhone Photos

App Review // Phonto

Make and Use Your Own Overlays in PicMonkey

Design Journaling Cards using your iPad

You can download this set here.  But please these are only for personal use.  Don't sell or distribute these as your own.  If you'd like to download the app I used to make these, the A Beautiful Mess App, you can right here.

If you'd like to see all app reviews on the blog, click here.  You can also find all tutorials using Picmonkey, here.

How to Use DIY Digital Cards in the Project Life App

I haven't done a Project Life post in aaaggeeeess but I was thinking about how I could use the Project Life app...I thought it seemed fun but it didn't seem to suit me.  Then I realized I could use the digital cards I've made on my iPad in the Project Life app!  One of my favorite things to make are journaling cards because it's a small little design that I can whip up to just feel creative.  My favorite way to design on the computer is to use PicMonkey because of all cool overlays available.  You don't even need to upgrade to Royale to be able to make a great design.  I also have a few tutorials on the blog on how to make journal cards on your iPhone or iPad which make it very convenient to import right into the Project Life app.  I'll share those links below - but let's get to it.

Project Life App

The Project Life App is a fun and easy app to use.  You can import from your camera roll or dropbox, there are a variety of page layouts (both the 12x12 and 6x8), you can add journaling, you can add a colored background, you can add rounded corners or not, you can save, share, and send your pages to be printed right from the app.  Its like you don't even need to have your scrapbooking hoard anymore (yeah, said no one ever!)  The app is super convenient and offers quite a few of the Project Life digital kits both for free and for purchase.  They are always adding more kits, too.  I follow on Instagram to see when more are added.

Making Journaling Cards
I have a quite a few tutorials on the blog on making journaling cards - here & here using PicMonkey and here using some apps on the iPad.  There is also a whole list of my favorite overlay apps here.

The biggest tip I have for you making your cards is to play around with multiple apps.  You can make a single card between 2 or 3 (or more) apps to get the best design possible.  You can also find images on apps like Pinterest to use in your layouts.  (Remember though that these things should be for personal use and not for sale)

Using Cards in the App
As long as you have an image on your phone or you iPad you can import it into the Project Life app.  Since you can open from the multiple albums on your phone/pad you can create an album with all your digital cards you've made.

I like to just sit down sometimes and make random little cards with random little apps and add them to an album.  If you don't want to store all these cards on your phone, upload them to Dropbox to free up memory on your device.

Printing your Layout
The Project Life App allows you to export your layout to your camera roll at either the 12x12 inch or 8x8 inch (if you're doing the standard square layout) that way you can save your image for later printing or uploading.  The app also keeps the pages you've completed for later printing.  You can print to your own printer wirelessly or you can order prints through the app.  Of course, you can also share through Instagram as well!

I think that the Project Life app is another fun way to be creative on your iPad or phone especially if you like to play around with designs.  If you create your journaling cards and want to print them instead of use them digitally, email them to yourself or upload them to Dropbox or Google Drive and then print them from your computer.  Here is a post on how I use Picasa to print 3x4 journal cards and photos.

How do you get creative on your tablet or phone?  Are you a fan of different overlay apps?  Any collage apps to recommend for creating scrapbooking layouts too?

xoxo, Moe

April 2015 Journaling Cards

These by far have to be my favorite set of journaling cards.  They are travel themed & vintage inspired.  I was inspired a little bit by air mail and a little bit by vintage flower overlays.

(this post contains affiliate links, read my full disclosure here.)

With Zach gone for work I was really inspired by what travel can teach us.  We've done this long distance relationship thing before but I never thought we'd have to do it again, which hit me really hard.  I think, like we did before, we'll learn a lot more about each other.  It has been so crazy to look back on life and realize where we once were and where we've come.  I know with this little experience in our life together we'll discover the same thing in the years to come.  That is why I left a lot of room for journaling on these cards.

As always I created these journaling cards in PicMonkey.  This design tool never ceases to inspire me.  Each time I design something new I feel like I learn a new technique or a new style of doing something.  Their overlays are amazing and the fonts are pretty rad.  This month I used my own fonts which is a free option (here are my top fave dingbat fonts to use in PicMonkey) to create the compass design and the United States 4x6 card.  The fonts I used were Bergamot Ornaments and StateFace.  PicMonkey has tons of stuff for free but if you update to Royale $4.99/mo or $33/year you get sooooo much more!

***link is updated now!!***

If you'e like to download these to print, click here.  As always please play nice - don't disseminate these as your own, don't sell them, and please pin this post for others to see.

Anything new happening to you in April?

xoxo, Moe

ps. Here are more journaling cards for you!  I also just listed some pretty patchwork cards in my shop.  If you want some PicMonkey tutorials, click here.

Make it Monday // DIY Patterned Pocket Scrapbooking Cards

One of my favorite things to hoard are scrapbooking supplies - even before I started doing Project Life!  I've always been in love with scrapbooking supplies and one of my biggest problems was using them up.  I love the all the patterns and packs you can find, but I am always afraid that I will use the scrapbook paper in one layout and the immediately regret it.  I'm not good at committing I guess.  That's one thing I love about doing Project Life - you can change things easily as you make a layout.

This post contains affiliate links, please read my disclosure here.

But to solve the problem of my hoarding I've been making my own cards so I can print them again and again as I feel like I need them - that way I never run out!  In the sets I offer for free each month I like to include at least one or two fully patterned cards.  Today I wanted to share with you how to make different patterns using different online pattern generators a long with my all time favorite online mini design power house - PicMonkey!  (You can find some other DIY tutorials for making pocket cards on my blog here.)

Supplies - PicMonkey.com, printer, card stock, paper trimmer or craft knife and ruler, various pattern generators as mentioned below.

Create patterns with a pattern generator

First there are three pattern generators I want to mention - Tartan Maker, Stripe Generator, and BG Patterns.  Each of these creates a custom background based on the hex code corresponding to colors that you input.  I use ColourLovers to find palettes (or create palettes - tutorial here) and use those hex color codes in the patterns.  The hex code is the six digit combo of letters and numbers that correspond to colors.  ColourLovers gives you both the hex value and the RGB value of the colors in your palette.

Each website operates nearly the same, but for this demo I'm going to show you Tartan Maker.  There are many values you can play with - direction, yarn size, colors, etc.  Simply copy the hex code from ColourLovers and past it into the text field on Tartan Maker.  You can also use the color picker by clicking the solid color boxes next to the hex codes and picking a color you like.  Once you've input your values, click the make it over the preview.  You'll see a live preview of your pattern.

If you download this preview you're only getting a small tile, since we aren't in art school and no one will get mad at us, aaaannnnddd this method is totally acceptable for this project - we're going to take a screen shot.  Find the option to go full screen on the website and take a screen shot - If you're on a Mac Command+Shift+3 will take a screen shot and immediately save it to your computer.  If you're on a PC you'll use the Print Screen key and paste the image into a program like paint and save it.

Create and find patterns on ColourLovers

Another really cool place to find and create patterns is ColourLovers.  Using the search bar you can search for different patterns.  Use creative keywords - not just dots or stripes - because you never know what you might find.

Once you find a pattern you like, you can either download the 1600x1200 images under the share this pattern menu on the right hand side or you can color it yourself (by clicking color this pattern under the pattern image) with the hex codes of your color palette.

You can also use the create button to make your own pattern with different shapes.  These can get super complex or be super simple.  Make sure you change each shape to a different shade of gray so you can color each shape a different color when you save your pattern.  You can do this by clicking the square box of color under the layers menu on the left hand side.  The pattern maker is a fun tool to play around with.

Once you save your pattern design, color it with your hex codes, save it, and download the 1600x1200 image.  To create patterns and palettes you'll need to create an account.

Creating the patterned cards

Since PicMonkey is my favorite site for easy designing, I'm using it again today!  To create the cards open your patterned images or screen shots in PicMonkey.  

Using the crop tool, crop to the size you'd like.  Personally, I think that the 4x6 cards are great as plain patterns but creating 3x4 cards with patterns and text is pretty cute too!  Once it is cropped, use the rotate tool if you need to.

I used some fonts and overlays from the Royale feature of PicMonkey but the free version has some amazing fonts as well.  This powerful mini design machine is only $4.99/mo or $33/year.  Love it!

For the blue Spring card I used a pattern from ColourLovers, same as the Remember This card. 

The plaid card was made with the Tartan Maker.

Repeat this step with all the patterns you could ever think to make!  Save your images as a .jpg and print them how you wish (I use Picasa).  Trim them and slip them in your scrapbook or even use them in the Project Life app!

How do you get creative with your favorite supplies?  Any other tips you have for Pocket Scrapbooking?

xoxo, Moe

find more PicMonkey tutorials here!

oh, ps - if you want the set of three I designed for this post, click here!

Free Journal Cards March 2015

2015 sure is flying by because March is already here.  There is still snow on the ground and who really knows if we'll get more!?!?! Where is Spring?  Isn't the first day of Spring like March 20th?  I'm going to need that to hurry up and get here.  A lot went down the last few weeks in February so hopefully I'm back to catching up on the blog here, on the YouTube channel, and on my newly opened Etsy shop!  Any way, here are the cards for March.

I was really torn between doing the traditional St Patrick's Day theme or something more my style and I chose to go with the latter.  I wanted spring inspired cards!  Maybe it's my way of praying to the god of Spring that it comes swiftly!

If you want to download the PDF, click here.  Remember that these are free for personal use only.  Do not redistribute them, claim them as your own, or sell them.  Please only pin this post and not the PDF itself.  Thanks for playing nice!

xoxo, Moe

Free Journaling Cards February 2015

Remember last weekend when I'd realized I'd forgotten the free journal cards for January?  Yeah, it was a creative goal of mine to keep doing them...then I totally spaced!  Here's the second installment of 2015's free journal cards!

Of course they are for Valentines day and as always they are designed in PicMonkey (learn how to design your own here!)  I love the ombre look of the Ombre Amour option to add some fun pink touches to the cards.  This would look great on photos as well to create a cohesive look.  It is a part of PicMonkey's Royale feature - so sign up here ($4.99/mo or $33/year).

As always the PDF of 8 journal cards are free so go ahead and click here to download!  Please play nice though, as I work hard to make these free cards for everyone each month and really, truly enjoy it!  Remember to either pin, link, or share the post and not the link to the cards.  These are for personal use only - do not sell them or claim them as your own.

Check all the free cards here!

xoxo, Moe

Free Journaling Cards January 2015

I am oh so very late with the journaling cards this month.  I'd actually forgotten that I didn't do some for January when I sat down to do the cards for February!  These cards are all black and white because I can't wait to color my year with so many things.  I feel like we can start off fresh anytime but the new year always speaks to me.  

They were also sort of inspired by Saved by the Bell!  I loved the TrashHand font for free on PicMonkey and decided to pair the hand written font with the tall and skinny Tall Dark And Handsome font also available for free on PicMonkey.  I love the simplicity of these cards - all they include are two fonts and a geometric shape.  All part of the free options from PicMonkey.  If you want to learn how to design your own cards with PicMonkey, check out this post.

Download the free .PDF here.  Remember to play nice - these are for personal use so don't resell or claim them as your own.  Additionally, pin this post and not the direct link to the printable.  Thanks!

View all free journaling cards here.

xoxo, Moe