This week’s new release at Sweet Shoppe Designs is a much-requested 3×4-inch version of my Bits & Bytes: 4×6 Weekly Title Cards:

Bits & Bytes: 2013 3×4 Weekly Title Cards

The Bits & Bytes: 2013 3×4 Weekly Title Cards, are a 3×4 inch version of my own Project Life 4×6 title cards which I designed these as a way to give my album a clean and cohesive look throughout. Included in the templates are two sets of date formats: Sun-Sat & Mon-Sun.

The actual 3×4 Weekly Title Card templates are sized 2.9×3.9 inches so they’re perfect for slipping into a smaller page protector pocket and freeing up a 4×6 space in your album…

My favorite thing about these title card templates is they’re an easy way to use digital patterned paper in your hybrid albums. The smaller 3×4 inch size makes them super easy to print an entire month at home on a single 8.5×11 sheet of paper. Woohoo, for saving trees! Here’s a peek at a few cards I printed for June…

Team Awesome Inspiration

Of course, Team Awesome had a lot of fun using the Bits & Bytes: 3×4 Weekly Title Cards digitally as journal cards and photo mats…

SAVE 20% thru Saturday

As with every Sweet Shoppe Saturday you can save 20% off all new releases thru Saturday….

Want to save 20% off this weekend?

Pick up the Bits & Bytes: 2013 3×4 Title Cards here today!

For those new to Nettio Designs & the Faves, my Monthly Faves project is a year-long scrapbooking project where each month you scrapbook one layout documenting your top-ten favorite things from that month. Your faves can be anything: events, food, tv shows, technology, clothing – the sky’s the limit!

I’ve done my Monthly Faves project twice before, once in 2009 & again in 2011, and I love it so much I’m doing it again here in 2013. I can’t even tell you how much fun it is to look back on those layouts and see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. It’s like a mini time-capsule of your favorite things from way-back-when.

Here’s how my 2013 Monthly Faves layouts are shaping up so far this year…

I’ve written before about why I believe everyone should scrap a Faves layout but here’s the cliff-notes version:

Because scrapbooking lists is fun
Because you don’t remember nearly as much as you swear you do
Because it captures an easy snapshot of your life at the moment
Because it’s the easiest All About Me layout you’ll ever do. Seriously.

And this year I want to make it even easier for you to creatively capture your faves. So on the last(ish) Saturday of every month, I’m releasing that month’s Faves layout as a new Sweet Single template. Which should give you plenty of time to capture your Faves for that month before the new month arrives.

Which brings me to this week’s release…

FAVE-O-RITES 2013: May Faves

This week’s release is the fifth FAVE-O-RITES Sweet Single digital scrapbooking template of the year, FAVE-O-RITES 2013: May Faves. It features room for one or two photos of your lovely smiling face, your top 10 faves for this month and a bold patterned paper-lovin’ list-tastic design.

Here’s a bigger look at my 2013 May Faves layout that inspired this template. As you can see, my faves list is super random, which is exactly what I love! It’s not something you have to stress out over: make a list of 10 things, scrap it and boom, you’ve captured an easy snapshot of YOU in your scrapbooks. Just think how much fun it’ll be for you or your kids & grandkids to look back on one day!

Team Awesome Inspiration

Of course my team had a ton of fun this month scrapbooking their own take on the May Faves:

Jen scrapbooked her May Faves including reorganizing her scrap supplies and a trip to Carlsbad Caverns…

New Team Awesome member Jenn went photo-free for scrapbooking her May Faves…

And SugarBabe Jacinda got list-happy and used the May Faves template to capture ten things about her daughter at age six…

New Release Discount: SAVE 20% thru Saturday

And of course, as with every Sweet Shoppe Saturday, you can save 20% off all new releases thru Saturday.

Want to save 20% off this weekend?

Pick up FAVE-O-RITES 2013: May Faves here today!

Well, that’s it from me today! Have a great weekend everyone!

From the Desk of Nettio Designs Issue No. 14

The past two weeks my husband Adam and I have been busy moving from San Antonio, TX to Houston, TX. Being a military family, we’re certainly no strangers to moving, especially considering this was move number five in just under eight years. But despite being one of the shortest moves distance-wise we’ve done – no new states or countries involved! – this move was by far on of our craziest.

But thankfully we’ve managed to dig ourselves out from the piles and piles of boxes and now that life is feeling a bit more settled, I’m starting to get excited about our new adventure and the creative opportunities hidden within.

One of the things I love most about moving is the opportunity to start fresh with a clean slate. There are few things more inspiring for me as a memory keeper than a new home in a new city, ripe with the possibility for new adventures, photo opportunities and memories. Moving pushes me to look at everyday life with fresh eyes and even the most mundane tasks, like taking a trip to Target or cooking dinner can suddenly seem interesting when paired with a new environment.

But let’s face it, unless you’re living a modern-day nomadic lifestyle like I am, odds are you probably aren’t going to be packing up and moving every few years. So how can you take advantage of a fresh start without the hassle and stress of actually moving?

Well here are a few ideas:

1) Switch up your scrap time

If you normally scrapbook first thing in the morning, try scrapbooking at night. If you’re a night owl, try scrapbooking first thing in the morning! The change in lighting and mood may just push your pages in a fun new direction.

2) Scrapbook from a different location

Do you always scrapbook from the same exact spot in the same room of your house? For a change of pace, try switching up your scenery. If you have the luxury of a laptop, go to a crop or spend an hour scrapbooking in a coffee shop. Desktop lover? Move your computer to a new room in the house for a little bit. Even if all you do is moving from the living area to the bedroom for a day, the new view can do your creativity good.

3) Go on a vacation

Vacations are one of my personal favorite ways to get a fresh start because they’re basically like a short, non-permanant move. Even if you don’t have the luxury of a three week trip to Europe or a seven day cruise to the Bahamas, spend a weekend camping at the lake or even an afternoon visiting a new-to-you place in your hometown. The downtime and break from your normal day-to-day routine paired with some fresh new memories is sure to jumpstart your creativity.

By nature, we are creatures of habit. Our brains love routine, repetition and pattern because let’s face it, it’s less work for them! That’s why starting with a clean slate can be so inspiring. Because it forces your brain to take a fresh look at your surroundings and see new ideas & connections. Even if you only step away for an afternoon or a day, it’s sure to give your creative process a quick boost.

Well now that you’ve heard a little bit about what I’ve been up to, I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! Any other fellow movers out there?

The Sky’s The Limit Kit & Template Collab

The Sky’s The Limit features 28 papers, over 50 elements and two 12×12 digital scrapbooking templates in my signature clean & modern paper-lovin’ style.

Here’s a closer peek at the templates I designed for mine & Meg’s collab. Each template includes embellished details designed by Meg…

Of course, the Sweet Shoppe Sugarbabes and Team Awesome had a ton of fun scrapbooking with my templates & Meg’s kit…

Team Awesome Inspiration

New Release Discount: SAVE 20% thru Saturday

As with every Sweet Shoppe Saturday, you can save 20% off all new releases thru Saturday.

Want to save 20% off this weekend?

Pick up The Sky’s The Limit here today!

Well that’s it from me today! Have a great weekend everyone!

The second installment of the Everyday Storyteller idea book series, Everyday Storyteller Vol. 2 contains 83 pages of practical scrapbooking goodness from a group of incredibly talented memory keepers. It is a book that is equally perfect for digital scrapbookers as it is for paper scrapbookers and let me tell you, our contributors have really outdone themselves this time around. I learned so much just as I was layout out the pages!

The coolest thing is that, like it’s predecessor Everyday Storyteller Vol. 1, it not only comes in eBook format (print-quality PDF) but also as a soft bound print book. A real life book!

While I’m currently stalking my mailman waiting for the official printed proof books to arrive from Amazon, I thought it’d be fun to share a little behind-the-scenes peek at some of the design changes we made with Everyday Storyteller Vol. 2. It’s safe to say that Jennifer, Neisha and I learned a TON from the process of  creating Vol. 1 and lucky for you, all those lessons added up to an even more kick-ass product the second time around.

LOGO REDESIGN

One of the first changes we made was to design a new logo for Everyday Storyteller. We liked the logo from the first book but I think we were all craving something a little bit more clean and streamlined. After lots and lots of sketching and debate about colors and details, this is the one we loved the most:

And here’s a look at the Vol. 1 vs Vol. 2 logo. Quite the evolution, no?

MORE WHITE SPACE

When it came to the design of Everyday Storyteller Vol. 2 book, we knew we wanted an overall design that felt like a sister to Vol. 1 – something that stood on it’s own but when you saw the two side-by-side, you knew they were related.

So while the color scheme and overall format stayed the same (one two-page spread per contributor), all of the headline and accent fonts were updated to reflect our new logo design. I also scaled down the main body copy font a smidge to not only give all of our amazing content more room to breathe, but to also allow for maximum readability in both the digital and print formats.

LOTS & LOTS OF QUICK TIPS

One of our biggest lessons from Vol. 1 came during the contributor content process. The first time around we were flying blind a little bit in terms of how much and what kind of content would work best in this format. The second time around we knew exactly what we wanted. Not only did this streamline the design process in terms of editing, but it also allowed us to really cater the design to the content we knew we’d be receiving from our amazing contributors.

One my favorite changes is the addition of our new Quick Tip callout boxes. These bite-sized bits of information not only add a fun element to the page design, but they’re great for when you just want to flip through the book but still pick up a lesson or two.

I am so excited and proud to be finally able to share this with you, as it represents such a collaborative effort over 5+ months. In a way, it’s kind of surreal that it’s finally here! You can click here to check out the new book. Oh, and if you don’t yet have Everyday Storyteller Vol. 1, you can save $5 when you buy them as a bundle!

Disclaimer: all of the links in this post are affiliate links but given just how much time I’ve spent pouring over all the details & content in Everyday Storyteller Vol. 1 & 2, I’d say I feel pretty confident recommending it to you, hehe. 

I know all the fun & craziness of iNSD can be a little overwhelming so in an effort to make things simple for ya, I’ve called on my powers of listy-ness and put together a list of all the things you need to know about celebrating iNSD with Nettio Designs. I hope you’re nice & comfy because there’s a whole lot to talk about this week, haha.

1. New Goodies: Grid-tastic Vol. 1 Templates

What would iNSD be without some new goodies right? This week I’m releasing Grid-tastic Vol. 1, a brand-new four-pack of templates designed around one of my absolute favorite things: grids!

What I love most about grids is you can easily dress them up or down any way you want and no matter what, you’re guaranteed to have an amazing design because the grid is such a strong design element. Plus they’re super easy to customize to any story because you can easily swap a paper block for a photo and vice-versa without compromising the overall design.

The best thing about these grid-tastic designs is they can really be used for any sort of life adventure you want to capture. Just take a look at all the different ways the Sweet Shoppe Sugarbabes and Team Awesome scrapbooked with this template…

Team Awesome Inspiration

2. Storewide Sale at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Of course, in addition to new goodies, what would iNSD be without a sale? Through Monday you can save 30% off storewide at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

We’ve also got a special spend $10-$15-$20 promo going on which if you spend over these amounts you’ll get some amazing FREE goodies included with your purchase.

If you spend $10 you’ll get Misty’s adorable kit…

If you spend $15 you’ll get Misty’s adorable kit AND our exclusive iNSD SSD collab which is chalked FULL of amazing goodies including a brand-new template from yours truly…

Here’s a closer look at my template…

HAnd finally if you spend $20 or more, you’ll receive Misty’s kit, the iNSD collab AND a set of awesome quick pages from the Sugarbabes…

Also as part of the iNSD festivities is a RARE custom font sale from our fontographer Darcy Baldwin!

I was lucky enough to have had my own handwriting turned into a font by Darcy a few years ago and let me tell you, not only did she make the process crazy easy but it’s hands-down my most used font for my scrapbook journaling. There’s just nothing like having a digital copy of your own handwriting to add that personal touch to your pages.

3. iNSD Digi Parade Free Template

Looking for some FREE goodies this weekend? Here ya go! I don’t often give out full freebie templates but in honor iNSD this year I’m participating in the May Digiscrap Parade, where an amazing group of designers from around the community teamed up to create the awesome That’s Life collab.

No hoops to jump through for my goody – just hop over to this page on my site and click download.

4. Introducing the New Team Awesome

And now the announcement I know quite a few of you have been waiting for…the results of my Creative Team Call!

Let me just say that you guys did not make it easy on my team and me! SO much good talent and I can’t even tell you how fun it was to read a little bit more about each of you who applied. I’m so honored that you would want to scrap your life adventures with lil’ ol’ me. W would have loved to take all of you but well, that would be crazy, haha. So instead here are the six lovely ladies who I’m so excited to announce will be joining Team Awesome…

And here’s a few layouts from them using my new Grid-tastic Vol. 1 Templates…

5. Your Chance to Join the SSD Team

Speaking of teams, over at Sweet Shoppe Designs we’re looking for some fresh meat to join our SugarBabes team. I was honored to be a Babe for over four years before becoming a SSD designer and let me tell you that it truly is one of the sweetest gigs in digi. The call only lasts two days so if you want to throw your hat in the ring, go to this thread for all the details.

Also over at SSD we’re looking for a fabulous action/preset maker to join our design team so if you think you have what it takes, drop Robin an email at admin@sweetshoppedesigns.com

6. Fun & Games at SSD

And finally, what would iNSD be without a chance to win some prizes?

All weekend long in the iNSD Forum at SSD we’ll have plenty of action to keep you busy, including chances to win some goodies from Nettio Designs, including your very own custom template! So be sure to pop over this weekend and join in the fun!

Well I think that pretty much wraps up this iNSD edition of Sweet Shoppe Saturday! What do you think, new goodies, freebies, a CT call or two and a chance to win prizes good enough for you? Be sure to stop by SSD this weekend and pick up Grid-tastic Vol. 1 Templates!

Pick up the Grid-tastic Vol. 1 Templates here today!

Have an awesome iNSD everyone!

Woohoo, welcome to my stop on the Everyday Storyteller 2 Blog Hop!

If you’re reading this going, what? Everyday Storyteller? Everyday Storyteller 2 is a brand new idea book offering more than 100 tips, tricks and techniques for scrapbooking. You’ll get to go behind the scenes with 33 of your favorite memory keepers to see how they capture moments, tell stories and document their best memories. Sign up for the VIP list to be the first to know when the book is released and to receive an exclusive discount.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog and have wondered why things have been a bit quiet around here or why my poor Project Life album has been oh-so-neglected the past month, the answer is this bad boy shown above.

As one-third of the Everyday Storyteller team and the graphic designer of this book, I’ve spent the last month pouring over design details, fonts and colors all to make sure the Everyday Storyteller 2 showcases all of the amazing content included within as awesomely as possible. Let me tell you, if you liked last year’s book, you’re going to LOVE this year’s book, because unlike most sequels, this one totally rocks.

As a special pre-release bonus, each book contributor participating in the blog hop today is giving away an eBook copy of Everyday Storyteller 2. To enter, use this entry link or click the graphic below to complete your entry form. Be sure to select “Lynnette Penacho” from the drop down menu when you enter!

You must enter by 11:59pm PDT on April 30, 2013 to be eligible. You may enter from each stop. Winners will be contacted directly as well as posted at everydaystoryteller.com on May 1, 2013.

Be sure to visit ALL the stops on our hop for more chances to win and don’t forget to join us Friday, May 3rd at 8:30pm Central Time, for the LIVE Everyday Storyteller launch party where you’ll have the chance to win even more prizes from our amazing sponsors.

Tangie Baxter
Kerri Bradford
Joscelyne Cutchens
Catherine Davis
Patty Debowski
Lisa Dickinson
Karla Dudley
Leah Farquharson
Karen Grunberg
Jenni Hufford
Donna Jannuzzi
Amanda Jones
Mandy Koeppen
Riikka Kovasin
Kami Leonard
Amy Mallory
Amy Martin
Ann-Marie Morris
Celine Navarro
Lynnette Penacho <<YOU ARE HERE
Kelly Purkey
Krista Sahlin
Linda Sattgast
Cindy Schneider
Wendy Smedley
Elisha Snow
Amy Sorensen
Neisha Sykes
Jill Sprott
Laura Vegas
Allison Waken
Crystal Wilkerson
Jennifer Wilson

Happy hopping!

For those new to Nettio Designs & the Faves, my Monthly Faves project is a year-long scrapbooking project where each month you scrapbook one layout documenting your top-ten favorite things from that month. Your faves can be anything: events, food, tv shows, technology, clothing – the sky’s the limit!

I’ve done my Monthly Faves project twice before, once in 2009 & again in 2011, and I love it so much I’m doing it again here in 2013. I can’t even tell you how much fun it is to look back on those layouts and see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. It’s like a mini time-capsule of your favorite things from way-back-when.

Here’s how my 2013 Monthly Faves layouts are shaping up so far this year…

I’ve written before about why I believe everyone should scrap a Faves layout but here’s the cliff-notes version:

• Because scrapbooking lists is fun
• Because you don’t remember nearly as much as you swear you do
• Because it captures an easy snapshot of your life at the moment
• Because it’s the easiest All About Me layout you’ll ever do. Seriously.

And this year I want to make it even easier for you to creatively capture your faves. So on the last(ish) Saturday of every month, I’ll be releasing that month’s Faves layout as a new Sweet Single template. Which should give you plenty of time to capture your Faves for that month before the new month arrives.

Which brings me to this week’s release…

FAVE-O-RITES 2013: April Faves

This week’s release is the fourth FAVE-O-RITES Sweet Single digital scrapbooking template of the year, FAVE-O-RITES 2013: April Faves. It features room for one photo of your lovely smiling face, your top 10 faves for this month and a bold patterned paper-lovin’ hexagon-shaped design.

Here’s a bigger look at my 2013 April Faves layout that inspired this template. As you can see, my faves list is super random, which is exactly what I love! It’s not something you have to stress out over: make a list of 10 things, scrap it and boom, you’ve captured an easy snapshot of YOU in your scrapbooks. Just think how much fun it’ll be for you or your kids & grandkids to look back on one day!

Team Awesome Inspiration

Of course my team had a ton of fun this month scrapbooking their own take on the April Faves:

Bits & Bytes: Label It Templates

Also coming to the Shoppe this weekend is my Free With Purchase from last weekend, the Bits & Bytes: Label It Templates. Make your own labels to match any kit or color scheme!

Nettio Designs Creative Team Call

And finally my last bit of news this week, in case you missed the announcement on Wednesday, is I’m looking for some awesome new digital or hybrid scrapbookers to join Team Awesome!

This is only the second call I’ve held…ever, so it’s pretty safe this is an opportunity that doesn’t come around too often. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be part of my awesome team of ladies, just go to this link below to apply!

http://www.nettiodesigns.com/ctcall

Applications are due Tuesday, April 30th at NOON Eastern.

I can’t wait to see who’ll be joining us!

New Release Discount: SAVE 20% thru Saturday

And of course, as with every Sweet Shoppe Saturday, you can save 20% off all new releases thru Saturday.

Want to save 20% off this weekend?

Pick up FAVE-O-RITES 2013: April Faves here today!

This Creative Adventure actually a started a few years back when on a trip to Archiver’s on a whim I picked up this standing carousel from 7 Gypsies:

I think it’s designed to be a product organizer of some kind but at the time I thought it might be fun to make little hybrid Christmas  to hang from each clip as a Christmas decoration. Of course, that plan never materialized, and for several years now this poor baby has languished away in a plastic tub, unloved and unused.

That is until last month when I saw Persnickety Prints now offers polaroid prints of your Instagram photos:

I’ve written about my love for Instagram before so when I saw I could combine two of my favorite things together to make adorable printed photos, I was all over that.

Ordering my Instagram polaroids from Persnickety Prints was pretty straight forward. I have Instagram set up to automatically save all my photos (both edited & unedited) to the camera roll on my iPhone and then all of those photos get downloaded to Apple Aperture thanks to iCloud. All I had to do was browse through my Photo Stream in Aperture and select my fave Instagram photos:

Once I had my fave photos selected, I exported them out into a new folder and uploaded them to Persnickety Prints. Since the carousel came with 25 clips, I ended up ordering 35 different Instagram polaroids so I’d have options later. If you order more than 15 prints as a time, the cost drops to $0.45 a polaroid so in total it cost me about $16 for all 35 prints.

I ordered all of mine on the Matte Cardstock but if you’re curious about all of Persnickety Prints different paper options, Christine has an awesome post on her blog that compares them all.

Once my prints arrived, I divided them into two piles: people and things:

Then I laid all my photos out on my desk paying attention to mixing up people and things photos as well as colors and patterns:

Once I had them in an order I liked, I started clipping them on to the stand, starting with the bottom tier:

I found it worked best to add the clips to the stand first and then clip the photos onto them there. In total there are 7 clips on the bottom tier, 8 on the middle tier and 10 on the top tier.

Here’s what it looked like after I’d clipped up all 25 polaroids:

Cute, right? Here’s a close-up of the clipped photos:

If you’re wondering whether the photos move around the stand, the answer is yes, and sometimes they end up hiding behind one another because of that. It doesn’t bother me – I see it as part of the organic charm of the stand – but if you’re super OCD about things staying lined up or equally spaced, it might drive you a little bit nuts, haha.

Right now my Instagram photo carousel is in my office but once we’re no longer having to show our house to future renters, I’ll likely move it downstairs where it can be part of our everyday decor.

All in all this may be one of my favorite Creative Adventures I’ve done to date. I’m sure I probably say that every time, haha, but what I love most about this one is that it’s literally like I took all of my favorite things and clipped them up for all to see. From the outdoors to travel to baseball, beer and cupcakes, it’s all on there and I can’t help but smile every time I see it.

Plus I love that when I tire of these photos, I can easily print out a new batch and swap them out – no messing around with frames or tape or anything. As a lazy photo printer and hanger-upper, you know I’m all over that.

What about you? Have you done anything creative with your Instagram photos?

______________________________________________________________________

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

In honor of my 30th birthday, I’m challenging myself to go on 30 creative adventures before the end of 2013. This is Creative Adventure 8 of 30. You can read all the details behind this project here and find links to all my completed adventures here.

As I’ve been working on my Project Life album for oh, 15 weeks or so now, one of the items I find myself reaching for over and over again are labels. But it seems like no matter how many sticker or paper labels I buy, I can never find the right size or exact color to go with my digital elements. So I decided to do something about it, which brings me to this week’s release…

Bits & Bytes: 4×6 Labelers

My release this week, the Bits & Bytes: 4×6 Labelers Templates, are a set of 4×6-inch layered photo templates featuring completely customizable labels which are perfect for digital or hybrid pages or pocket scrapbooking. Included in the set are 51 individual 4×6-inch Photoshop files featuring a wide variety of label sizes and shapes (up to 3″ wide) as well as three different label corner options: bevel, rounded and inverse rounded.

Here’s a close up of how I plan to use them for my Project Life album. What I love most about these is how easy they are to use: just clip your photo, add journaling and any custom color overlays or papers and print!

Each label includes separate layers for the border and background which means they’re completely customizable. Add a color overlay to the border or clip your favorite digital papers to them like Team Awesome member Jen did here…

As an added bonus this week as part of our special Sweet Shoppe FREE with Purchase event, when you purchase the Bits & Bytes: 4×6 Labelers between now and Friday, April 26th, you’ll also receive my new Bits & Bytes: Label It templates FREE!

These mini label templates feature labels ranging from 3 inches to just over an inch and are perfect for adding short bits of journaling or dates onto your digital or hybrid layouts. I even went back an added a date to this older page using my Lovey Dovey templates because they’re just so fun and easy to use!

Here’s a close up of one of the labels where I clipped a digital paper to the background to make it match the kit. I love how versatile these labels are since you can customize them to match any kit or color scheme you want in like two seconds. No more trying to recolor elements or create your own, these babies are ready to go.

Team Awesome member Jen also had fun playing with the Label It templates. She used one of the circle labels to add a few details to her layout and then used the transparent PNG labels included in the set to stamp on the background of her page- such a creative idea!

SAVE 20% thru Saturday & FREE Gift with Purchase

As with every Sweet Shoppe Saturday you can save 20% off all new releases thru Saturday. But as an added bonus this week, if you purchase the Bits & Bytes: 4×6 Labelers before Friday, you’ll also get the Bits & Bytes: Label It set FREE.

Want to save 20% off this weekend AND get a free gift?

Pick up the Bits & Bytes: 4×6 Labelers here today!

Well that’s it from me! Make sure you keep your eye on your inbox this week as I’ve got a special announcement coming that if you’re a fan of Nettio Designs, you aren’t going to want to miss. Not on the Nettio Designs email list? Sign up here.

Have a great weekend!