Author: Diana Sanchez

Project Life

Project Life: February ’16 (Part One)

Diana SanchezLeave a comment

Hi there! Today I am sharing a couple of my February Project Life layouts. I had fun trying out new pocket pages and playing around with pictures.

For my first layout, I used Becky Higgins’ Pocket Pages H and L. Also from Becky Higgins, is the Project 52 2016 Calendars, which I’m using this year for my monthly cover photos. I took a bunch (around 60) of pictures of AJ, it was so hard to photograph this boy. We tried so many poses and different backgrounds until finally we were both just so tired of it. But, I had to give it one more try and told him to tell me about his day and he had no idea I was taking these pictures. I picked my favorites and journaled on a digital card from the High Five Kit from BH.

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For my next layout, you guys know I love listing my “faves”, and I wanted to do that here but I wanted to try something new. Instead of just listing my faves, I took pictures of them. I wanted this layout to look fun and funky so I tried to incorporate my hands in as many of the pictures as I possibly could.

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My “faves” this month were:

Beyonce (duh!)

Def Leppard (Two words: Love Bites, and this in no way reflects my real life, I have to throw that in there in case the hubby reads this.)

Deadpool (I love comic book movies and this is the best!)

The Bachelor (#TeamLauren)

Birthday Presents (I got two charms, and the two Harry Potter books I was missing.)

So there you have it, my first couple of pages. I’m still working on my last layout for February so be on the lookout! Hope you guys are having a great weekend!

My Favorites · Uncategorized

February ’16 Top 5

Diana SanchezLeave a comment

Hello again! I’m a little late on posting my February Top 5 but I have been enjoying spending time outdoors. We have been having beautiful weather out here in west Texas, plus we’re getting a lot closer to moving into our new house. So fingers crossed that everything goes well!

For this Top 5, I am listing my 5 favorite Adobe Lightroom Presets. I use Lightroom to edit ALL my pictures that I use for Project Life. I found these presets on Pinterest and I know there is a lot more out there that I have yet to discover. Most of the presets I use are free but there are a couple I paid for.

If you don’t have Lightroom, they do offer you a free 30 day subscription. After my free subscription was over I had no problem paying for a monthly subscription. I am definitely not an expert with this software but I feel like I have learned enough to play around with my pictures and I’m satisfied with how they come out.

Feb Top 5

1. Catch A Fire Preset

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The Catch A Fire preset is free, and if you click on the link above, it’ll take you to an awesome website, LookFilter, that offers 27 free Lightroom presets.

This is my black & white go-to, I just love the vintage feel to it. Almost all my black and white photos have been edited with this preset.

 

2. La Tuna Preset

This preset is also available in the LookFilter website. Again, I love the vintage feel to this, I love using this preset on portraits. This is also free!

3. Warm Retro Preset

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If La Tuna is a little too dark for my picture, I end up using Warm Retro. This preset is from a different site that also includes free presets, Preset Love. You guys might remember this picture from one of my Project Life layouts from last year.

4. Blood Brothers

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As much as I love a good vintage feel on my photos, I also love when pictures pop. I love all the detail and color you get with this preset, which you can also find for free on LookFilter.

5. Dragan Inspired Presets

And last but not least, the Dragan Inspired presets. Yes, I meant presets and not preset. I paid about $20 for this bundle which includes 58 presets, and I do not regret it at all. I use these presets on the majority of my pictures. I used two of the presets in this bundle for the photos above, I usually use about 2-4. It might sound a little daunting but it’s very easy to use.

I have made a couple of my own presets but definitely nothing like the ones I mentioned here. Please let me know what you guys think, I would love to hear what you do with your PL pictures, do you edit? If so, what do you use? What are some of your favorite presets?

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Project Life · Uncategorized

Project Life: January ’16 (Part Two)

Diana Sanchez2 Comments

Hey guys! Today I’m sharing the rest of my January Project Life layouts.

I have always wanted to use the Design P pocket page for one of my layouts so I decided to use one with these pictures I took of our new house. The center is a 4×4 card from the Stampin’ Up Moments Like These digital set and I typed on it using the Becky Higgins Jonathan Font. (I am LOVING digital sets right now!)

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For this next page, I used the Becky Higgins Everyday Edition and Cottage Living paper packs and some Kellie Stamps. These are just random photos I took during January.20160214_110222-2

And last but not least, I used a Design H pocket page to end the month and a 4×6 card from the Cottage Living Core Kit and one of Kelly Purkey’s label stamps.20160214_110040-2

As you can tell, we’re pretty excited about the new house, fingers crossed that everything goes as planned!

So as you can see, I am loving mixing and matching pocket pages. There are still more techniques I want to try and play around with and I hope I get to try those soon.

Thank you for stopping by!

Project Life · Uncategorized

Project Life: January ’16 (Part One)

Diana Sanchez2 Comments

I know, I know, I skipped two months! I was too excited to start my 2016 album but I WILL finish my November and December layouts soon!

So this is my “Plans for 2016 Project Life” post. I actually did come up with a plan and it is totally different than what I did with Project Life last year. Last year, I made monthly layouts, mostly because I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with weekly layouts, and because I really didn’t know if I was going to keep up with it at all. I do tend to get overwhelmed and move on to the next thing.

But I have loved doing Project Life, first, because I have to do something creative, second, I love taking pictures and editing them, and third, who doesn’t want to keep up with a photo album/journal? I’m so happy with how my 2015 album came out (well half of it, I only started in June), and I also enjoyed working on my Summer Manifesto ’15 which allowed me to try “hybrid” layouts. For this year, I have decided to make “event” layouts. Sounds a little weird but you’ll get it once you see a couple of pics. This helps me have a fatter album than just the twelve spreads I would’ve had with doing only monthly layouts. Also, I have decided to do 12×12 AND 6×12 AND 9×12, pretty much any pocket page that I can get my hands on. If you’re OCD you’re probably thinking I’m crazy but, I like seeing albums that have different size pocket pages, I just really like how it looks. So basically my 2016 plan is “go with the flow”.

I used a 6×12 pocket page for my cover and blew up a picture I took of AJ’s hands, added the “2016” and I ordered the print through Persnickety Prints. I typed out my goals for the year on velum paper and stapled it on to the picture with my Tim Holtz stapler.

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I did the same thing for the back of the page, I had a picture of Zoie printed by Persnickety Prints. I have decided to use the Becky Higgins Project 52 2016 Calendars for each month, I just really like how simple and clean they are.

Another thing I’m doing this year is mixing and matching straight corners with rounded corners. I was so anti-round corner last year and was a little scared to use them but I love how the picture of my husband came out with the rounded corners.20160206_083445

I just LOVE the Everyday Edition, I had to get the kit and paper pack. I used this edition for the layout below. This layout is about a certain moment we had with the ducks and this moment deserved the whole layout!

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I wanted to show you guys a before and after picture of the duck picture.

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This was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edage and edited with Adobe Lightroom.

I have more layouts that I’ll share next week so be on the lookout for those!

My Favorites · Uncategorized

January ’16 Top 5

Diana SanchezLeave a comment

Something I started to do this year is reading, and I mean REALLY reading, blog posts. I’ve always enjoyed checking out blogs, but I would usually just skim through posts and just look at the pictures or the blog design. Now I actually sit in bed and read posts from my favorite blogs and not only do I look at the pictures but I absorb every part of the written material, I read the “about me” pages, and even read the comments and I learn bloggers writing styles. I’m very proud of what has become of The Lovely Pear yet there is so much to learn and I feel like I’m barely wetting my toes in the pool of blogging.

This month I want to share my top 5 favorite bloggers. I enjoy these blogs because they have bad-ass looking sites, I love how they write, their message, crafts, pictures, and style. Each one is unique in their own way and I have to admit that I get excited when they upload a new post!

Jan '16 Top 5

1. Give A Girl A Blog

First of all, the name itself is so clever, second, I just love Kellie’s style. Looking at Kellie’s blog page made me realize that the look of my blog was important (which I’m still trying to work on). I also enjoy reading her “currently” posts and I love her Project Life layouts and the crafts that she does. I first found this blog when I saw her stamp sets on Instagram, and after buying all the sets I could get, I’ve been hooked. Plus this girl can give you the 411 on essential oils and you get hooked up with freebies when subscribing to her blog. And, I give her full credit for the idea of my Top 5 posts!

2. Kelly Purkey

Kelly opened the door of Project Life for me. I had really never noticed how photography and journaling could play such a big role in Project Life until I saw Kelly’s layouts. She makes memory keeping look so easy but so fun. I’m still trying to get that great food shot like she does, maybe it would help if I ate something other than pizza and tacos. I love using her stamps and dies for my Project Life layouts and I always go back to her blog when I need some inspiration.

3. Damask Love

Amber’s blog is one that I really enjoy because I have that “omg, that’s how I feel!” moment when I’m done reading one of her posts. Yes, her blog is super cute, and yes, she takes GREAT pictures, but that “she gets me” feeling I get is why I read blogs in the first place. You can find great tips and DIY projects on this blog, and I obviously enjoy the “Damask Loves” posts.

4. Becky Higgins

So when I say I like to “sit back and relax”, first thing that comes to mind is Sunday mornings, sitting in bed, and reading Becky’s “Good Life With…” posts. I do this every Sunday before I start my day. I feel like I learn a new life lesson with these posts, and I enjoy learning new things from different creative people. You can also find great photo/tech tips and loads of Project Life inspiration!

5. A Beautiful Mess

I just wish I was born with Elsie and Emma’s style and creativeness! Their blog has everything, from crafts to recipes, interior design to blogging tips, and to top it off, they’re the creators of the Messy Box! They also just came out with their own app and I can’t wait to try it out (still waiting for the Android version)! Just like their style, they have very unique photos and I really enjoy reading their posts.

If you haven’t already, you really need to add these blogs to your Feedly subscriptions. My reviews seriously don’t do these blogs any justice. Let me know what you think and feel free to let me know what some of your favorite blogs are so I can add more to my feed!