kapachino

Category: crafty

  • printing photos for project life

    printing photos for project life / kapachino

    Today I want to talk about the options of printing photos for Project Life. When you commit to doing this you really need to figure out what works best for you, because you are going to be printing a lot of photos and if you figure out how to stay on top of it you’ll be well on your way to keeping up. In my opinion it’s OVER half the battle. I’ve tried a bunch of different routes and they all have benefits and drawbacks, so let’s discuss.

    Mail delivery

    One option is to use an online service to have your photos shipped to you. Many companies offer this; I have done it before using Snapfish and I’ve heard that the quality of Persnickety Prints is awesome. I’ve also used the PostalPix app on my phone for Instagram prints and that was fun, too.

    Benefits: higher quality (usually), cheaper per print

    Drawbacks: wait time, paying for shipping (but you may be able to find a deal)

    This is a good option if you are going to do a bunch of spreads in bulk, that way you make the shipping cost worth it. If you are trying to keep up with weekly or bi-weekly spreads it might be harder since you’ll need your photos quickly.

    Same-day pickup

    This is kind of like the old one-hour photo. You still use an online service to place your order, but you choose to pick them up in-store instead of having them shipped. This is the option I use most frequently, and I’ve had good success with Snapfish. You can also do this directly through the photo lab that you choose, like Walgreen’s or Costco.

    Benefits: get your photos quickly (usually within an hour), still affordable

    Drawbacks: quality is very dependent on the photo lab you choose and might never be quite as high, the price per print is higher, limited sizing of prints

    I like this option because it enables me to complete my spreads in a timely manner but it’s still fairly affordable as far as prints are concerned. If you are going to choose this route I recommend trying a few different photo labs to test the difference in quality. I’ve found that my local Walgreen’s does a decent job and it’s super close, so I use them. I tried using Wal-Mart once and there was a whole fiasco so I stay away from them!

    Printing at home

    This might be an option to consider if you are someone who needs a lot of flexibility in your creative process, or if you aren’t going to be printing a whole lot of photos (because it can be pricey).

    Benefits: flexible, get your photos at any time almost instantly, quality can be very high depending on your printer, easy to print different sizes

    Drawbacks: the combination of initial investment in a printer, paper, and ink can get expensive

    Personally, this option is too expensive for me to rely on for all of my photos, but I do like having it available to me. I have a Canon Selphy which prints a max size of 4×6. I love it. The printer itself wasn’t too expensive, it was incredibly easy to set up, it’s quick and easy to use (I do all of my printing wirelessly from the app on my iPhone), and I love being able to use it when I just need one or two photos here and there.

    These are the main ways I know of to print photos, and I use a combination of all three depending on the situation, but same-day pickup is what I use most often! Did I miss anything? What’s your preference? Have I convinced anyone new to try Project Life yet? ;)

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  • project life 2014 : weeks 15 – 16

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    This is from April 7 – 20. I have an insert for Easter, but the above is the spread without it.

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    The first week Liam was still dealing with an ear infection and nebulizer treatments. So glad he’s healthy again!

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    This picture of me and Meredith is my favorite in the whole spread. It leant itself perfectly to journaling in the negative space.

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    Then we have my favorite bluebonnet pictures, Liam’s 3-month update, a little bit about Eddie, and our zoo trip.

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    Here is the insert I did for Easter. (Front on the left, back on the right.) I just wanted to include all of that stuff in one place.

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    Journaled on vellum.

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    And that’s it!

  • works in progress

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    I finished the winter sampler I was working on, and now I just need to frame it. I love it a lot.

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    Also done with my quilt top! It looks okay from a distance, but get up close and you can see how I screwed up with a rookie mistake:

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    I totally didn’t account for the seam allowance and so the tips of my triangles are cut off. I’m not too bothered by it though, and I learned my lesson! You can see here that I have it marked off for quilting. Yes I am going to hand quilt it. I may regret it but I will be pretty proud when it’s done. :)

    I am kind of at a stand-still with the quilt for now until I can get my hands on some batting. Craft supplies aren’t in the budget for now, so I am hoping to come across someone who has some to give away.

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    Lastly, I started working on Liam’s stocking! I want to tackle this at a slow and relaxed pace instead of rushing to get it done for Christmas. I love felt needleworks projects now, so I’m excited to have it going!

  • thrifty decorating ideas // on the wall

    Even though we are on a tight budget, I figure I can still do some decorating around the house. There are always the craft supplies I already own, thrift stores, and “shopping” at Mom & Dad’s house. :) In this new series I’m going to share with you some ideas I’ve found for thrifty decorating. Since I’m working on our gallery wall in the master bedroom, the first edition is focused on stuff you can make to hang on the wall other than traditional photos or prints.

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    woven wall hangings – I’ve already done one of these, and I love it. This link takes you to a great tutorial on how to do it by making your own loom, and it includes several ideas for making them interesting. I can’t wait to try some new techniques.

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    felt banner – there are so many options for this idea! I actually made one this past weekend very similar to the one pictured. It was SO fast and easy, and I already had all the supplies on hand. I want to make more in the future that are seasonal or holiday-themed.

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    geometric photo display – I think this is so cool. All you need are nails, some kind of string, clips, and photos.

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    quilted wall hanging – this one might be a little more involved, but if you can sew a straight line I think you can do it, just using fabric scraps. I’m really excited to try it.

    packing tape transfer art – couldn’t get a picture of this one, but click through the link to see what I’m referring to. You make art using packing tape and magazines and it’s super cool.

    So, any other ideas for stuff to hang on the wall? Have you tried any of these?

  • my project life process

    I wanted to share with you the exact process I go through when putting together my Project Life spreads, including the time frames. This way you can see that it’s totally doable! I put together this particular spread completely while in sole charge of the kids, so I didn’t even need dedicated alone time.

    Sunday – end of the week : sometimes I won’t get started until the following weekend, but I didn’t expect to take more pictures and we were staying home from church recovering from sickness so I got started.

    10:30am : I create an album in my photos on my iPhone which is my only camera. I put all the photos from the time period in it – for me that’s the past two weeks. Immediately I remove the ones that are super similar to each other or that don’t fit. I assess to see how many horizontal v. vertical photos I have. (5 min)

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    11:20am : I look at the photos again and realize I have too many horizontals. I notice a theme with a few of them that I can combine into one 4×6. I edit these three photos on my phone (I use PicTapGo) & upload them to Flickr so I can access them on my laptop. Then I get on my computer to format them in Photoshop Elements. I also find another set of photos on my computer to edit in PSE. (20 min)

    11:40am : I edit all other photos on my phone and upload them to Snapfish, which is what I use to order prints. (20 min)

    12:00pm : Do some brief editing on Snapfish – just cropping to 4×6 and adding a white border to some. (2 min)

    12:06pm : Place my photo order.

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    3:30pm : David brings home my prints. They were available to pick up at Walgreen’s within an hour, but I wait and let him pick them up for me when he was out already. I arrange them briefly. (2 min)

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    6:22pm : I fill out and print the week in review cards using PSE. (18 min)

    Saturday following

    9:00am : I add brief journaling using white labels and vellum. I end up switching a couple photos around. Realize I had a few extra things that I thought about including (a postcard from a friend, the daycare report from Liam’s first day, and his hospital bracelet). I decide to leave them out and put them in the big envelope at the back of the album instead. (15 min)

    9:15am : Step back and call it done!

    As you can see, choosing and editing photos is a lot more time consuming than putting the spread together has to be. If I can only keep on top of that, then I know I will stay caught up. This week I didn’t even use any extras, even with the core kits, but only the supplies you see in the photo above.

    I still love this project, and have really streamlined my process. This works for me even with our very full life!