I have questions about doing a December Daily/Holiday Faves album

[Lyd]

So, I'm going to try to do a Holiday Faves/Memories Album this year using Lynnette's awesome templates. I have already put together the Foundation and Accent pages as well as the overlay pages. I just need to print them out. So, I have a few questions for those of you who have done this type of project before. I know everything can be done a lot of different ways, so I just want to gather ideas from people and hear how others have done it so I can make a plan for how I want things to work. Thanks in advance for your input.

1 - What kind of paper do you print the Foundation/Accent pages on?
2 - Do you print double sided or do you attach pages to each other to create the front and back side of each page?
3 - As you're going through the month, do you add photos to pages before or after you print? Why?
4 - As you're going through the month, do you add journaling to your pages before or after you print? Why?
5 - What kind of album do you put your pages in? This is a 5x7 album. I would love to cut apart an old book and use that, but I don't have a lot of faith in my own ability to make that look nice. Lol.
6 - Any other tips or tricks that have worked well for you in the past?

[NeverendingJen]

1 - What kind of paper do you print the Foundation/Accent pages on?cardstock or matte presentation paper
2 - Do you print double sided or do you attach pages to each other to create the front and back side of each page?single sided and attach
3 - As you're going through the month, do you add photos to pages before or after you print? Why?both- if it was small photos, I just printed. large photos I printed at walgreens and then attached
4 - As you're going through the month, do you add journaling to your pages before or after you print? Why?before- my handwriting sucks lol
5 - What kind of album do you put your pages in? This is a 5x7 album. I would love to cut apart an old book and use that, but I don't have a lot of faith in my own ability to make that look nice. Lol. Last year I bound my own with chipboard and ribbon(I couldn't get binder rings big enough). This year I am using a bazzill basics 8x8 plain chipboard album cut to size.
6 - Any other tips or tricks that have worked well for you in the past? Have fun with it, and sit down at least every other day to get caught up. I printed as I went so by the time Christmas hit I only had the last week's worth to print, then just had to assemble them all and enjoy. I was finished before New years! I do it as a daily thing, so that is key for me to not get behind. Plus it was a great conversation starter as people came over during the holidays because I kept the unfinished album in a nice box in our living room

[Lyd]

Thanks Jen - that sounds a lot like how I'll do mine. I'll need to look for some chipboard that will work.

Any other suggestions?

[Lyd]

Okay - and now I have a follow up question . . .

How do you cut chipboard? I am such a novice.

[Sherri Tierney]

I cut chipboard on a big guillotine type cutter at school... or I have my DH cut it at his job which has an even larger and more industrial cutter that cuts probably 50 sheets of chipboard at a time.

[NeverendingJen]

Originally Posted by ltarbox

Okay - and now I have a follow up question . . .

How do you cut chipboard? I am such a novice.

I use my rotary cutter and olfa mat from quilting, along with one blade I have designated for paper use. My stash is Grafix brand medium weight. it's just giant sheets.

[Lyd]

Thanks again Jen - just bought me some of that Grafix stuff on Amazon. And, thanks for the cutting suggestions Jen and Sherri. I do have a guillotine cutter, so I'll have to see if it's heavy duty enough to handle chipboard.

Wouldn't it be something if I actually completed this project?! Woah!

[Sherri Tierney]

Good luck!! I'm sure you'll rock it!

I am soooo not a paper scrapper anymore so I won't be tackling it hybrid style. I just want to complete a Shutterfly photo book.

[heathergw]

1 - What kind of paper do you print the Foundation/Accent pages on? matte presentation paper
2 - Do you print double sided or do you attach pages to each other to create the front and back side of each page? print single sided and attach to make them less flimsy, imo
3 - As you're going through the month, do you add photos to pages before or after you print? Why? I got page protectors this year so I'll likely be printing separately, just wanted to try something different this year... mine's a 6x8 album
4 - As you're going through the month, do you add journaling to your pages before or after you print? Why? I do a mix of both, if I'm feeling kinda art journaley then I'll play a bit... otherwise I use my font
5 - What kind of album do you put your pages in? This is a 5x7 album. I would love to cut apart an old book and use that, but I don't have a lot of faith in my own ability to make that look nice. Lol. I'm using the SN@P Red binder this year, otherwise I just use cardboard or chipboard cover and big binder rings
6 - Any other tips or tricks that have worked well for you in the past? I just make it a priority to spend some time on it every day... this year I'm going to try to make as many pages as possible ahead of time

[eranslow]

So I have a question (if you don't mind Lydia ) - do you have a foundation page for each day? I have a page for journaling and empty spots - wasn't sure if I need a blank page or not. I plan on putting receipts and notes, etc on the book and was just going to play it by ear on how to put it in. But I really should have more planned out if I want to finish the project tell me your plans if you don't mind!

[Lyd]

Well, I just made one of each foundation page that was in the template set. I'm not going to do the "daily" thing, just memories and favorite moments. So, I have no idea how many pages I'll need or what order things will go in. I'm also feeling like I should do more to be ahead of the game, but I kinda think I've done everything I can until I start to get a few pages done and see how things are going. That probably doesn't help you much. Lol. Once we both get going, we'll have to chat about how it's working for us. Deal?

[Nettio]

You guys should check out my Holiday Faves blog posts from last year since I think I answered all of these questions there. This one is has a good how-to on how to build your album with the templates: Holiday Faves How To and this one has a slideshow with all my foundation pages from last year to give you an idea of how I put mine together: Holiday Faves Foundation Pages

With regards to your questions...

1 - What kind of paper do you print the Foundation/Accent pages on?
Epson Premium Presentation Matte for pages and glossy for photos
2 - Do you print double sided or do you attach pages to each other to create the front and back side of each page?
Single sided with some pages glued to each other and others left blank for photos/memorabilia to be added later
3 - As you're going through the month, do you add photos to pages before or after you print? Why?
Some of both. For full 5x7 photo pages or collages, I printed those once I was ready. For smaller 4x6 photos, I printed an added those onto the foundation pages already in my album. All of my journaling, foundation & accent pages were printed ahead of time.
4 - As you're going through the month, do you add journaling to your pages before or after you print? Why?
After, I do all my journaling by hand since we travel at the holidays and I've found it's the easiest way to get my stories down. If had to pull out the computer to type something up, I would never do it.
5 - What kind of album do you put your pages in? This is a 5x7 album. I would love to cut apart an old book and use that, but I don't have a lot of faith in my own ability to make that look nice. Lol.
I made my own album using paintable art board I bought at the craft store and then I added a fabric spine to it once I was finished. It looked like this.
6 - Any other tips or tricks that have worked well for you in the past?
Yes, read my Holiday Faves blog posts since I shared all the tips I had last year. Oh and I have a free Holiday album planner idea/planner pdf you can download here: http://www.nettiodesigns.com/2011/12...liday-freebie/

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by eranslow

So I have a question (if you don't mind Lydia ) - do you have a foundation page for each day? I have a page for journaling and empty spots - wasn't sure if I need a blank page or not. I plan on putting receipts and notes, etc on the book and was just going to play it by ear on how to put it in. But I really should have more planned out if I want to finish the project tell me your plans if you don't mind!

If you're planning to add full-page photos or memorabilia, you should have some empty spots. I usually left the page opposite my journaling card blank figuring I would use that for a 5x7 photo I'd print later. I used the foundation pages mostly as backs to the accent pages. This blog post has a graphic that explains it better I think: http://www.nettiodesigns.com/2011/11...-faves-how-to/

[eranslow]

Lydia - we will definitely have to keep tabs on each other

Lynnette - thanks for all the links!! Off to check them out....

[Lyd]

Believe it or not, Lynnette, I've looked at a lot of those posts on your blog. But, that was before I had actually started working on mine. If I went back now, I would probably glean a lot more useful information that I did when I was just trying to wrap my brain around the whole thing. Thanks for linking everything up. I'll definitely be looking at it all again.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by ltarbox

Believe it or not, Lynnette, I've looked at a lot of those posts on your blog. But, that was before I had actually started working on mine. If I went back now, I would probably glean a lot more useful information that I did when I was just trying to wrap my brain around the whole thing. Thanks for linking everything up. I'll definitely be looking at it all again.

I figured that might be the case but since they're a year old, even I didn't even remember everything they said. And it's quicker for me to link than to write it all out again - plus there are pictures there, haha.

[kristijoy]

This gives me a great idea for a travel journal! Thanks gals!

[aly321]

Awesome advice! I am still non commital for this year. I have SOOO many projects I want to get done, and I keep forgetting to pull out the camera lately too. If I do dive in, I want to do faves and memories.

[dailydwellin]

I'm doing a combo of faves & memories, but I still haven't decided if I'm going all digi or hybrid.