Pixel Scrapper January Blog Train ~ The Best Is Yet To Come

This month I made a bunch of designs for Project Life title pages and layouts about the new year. I had such a great time searching the web for inspiration, checking out people’s title pages and other annual-style layouts for 2013 and 2012. I’m a magpie of a designer – I find stuff that inspires me and replicate it. Sometimes it ends up very different, sometimes so similar it’s more of an “homage” than a “scraplift.” 🙂 I want to give credit to all the creative minds whose designs dazzled and sparked me, so I’ve created a Pinterest board specifically to showcase people whose creations inspire mine. Go check it out – there’s some amazing unique stuff out there! My favorite inspiration for this round was this elegant, two-tone title page by Rachel Swartley. Just beautiful. I pretty much replicated the whole thing, for myself and for you guys, which was extra fun because I was translating a paper design into digital.

This month’s blog train palette, with the theme “The Best Is Yet To Come”

Speaking of paper, I’m leaning towards doing my own Project Life album in paper form for 2014 (I’ll write more about that in an upcoming post), so I wanted to be mindful of hybrid scrappers as I designed for this month’s blog train. I sought counsel from the hybrid scrappers of the Pixel Scrapper community and got all kinds of great tips. For this time around, I made non-textured versions of all the papers and many of the cards and elements, for cleaner home printing. Some of the designs would have made great cut files, and I had high hopes of making SVGs, but I ran out of time. Since my sweetie surprised me (and I mean utterly bowled me over, since before he encountered it at Michael’s a few days ago he’d never heard of it) by buying us a Silhouette Cameo (I KNOW!!!) I am sure there are plenty of cut files in our future, so stay tuned…

On to the goodies! Most of what I made for you this month are journal cards of various types and sizes. I think the best way to preview journal cards is neatly laid out, rather than all bunched up and overlapping, so I went to town and made a ton of example layouts. I had a great time and it’s just awesome to have 5 layouts made by the second day of the new year, though I’ll probably redo them eventually since for these sample layouts I pulled pics quickly from wherever I could find them most easily. There’s a preview for the papers, and another one for the “extras.” The extras are a few things that didn’t make it into the layouts and the actual kit-versions of some of the cards that I stamped and wrote on in my layouts, so you can see what they actually look like.

Blog train freebie links only stay up for a limited time (though you can still find older blog train goodies if you explore the blog). My Best Is Yet To Come kit is no longer available here on the blog – however a wonderfully expanded kit and bundle – updated for 2017 & 2018 – are now available on Pixel Scrapper. The Best Is Yet To Come 2017 bundle includes a commercial use option and TONS of new designs, including plenty of new papers and elements for traditional scrapbooking and 80 journal cards for pocket scrapping. 

Here’s a layout made with the cards inspired by Rachel Swartley’s elegant 2013 title page. The white cards come in both textured and non-textured versions. The kit version of the grey card with the frame is blank on the right side for you to add your own caption.

Next up is a colorful layout with some fun pieces. The quote card is from the Frank Sinatra song, “The Best Is Yet To Come.” The map card comes blank and eight glitter map pins are included so you can show where your grand 2014 adventure will be taking place (if you live in the US). The wooden numbers come in shadowed and unshadowed versions, and the “Hello” element comes in several colors and is large enough to fill a 4×6 spot but also looks great when shrunk down to fit a 3×4.

One thing I did last year that I’ll be doing again this year is to pick my “word” for 2014. One Little Word is a really cool tradition started by Ali Edwards (or popularized by her, seems likely people have been doing something like this for ages, setting intention, etc.). At the start of the year, you pick a word; that word serves as intention, guide, reminder, prayer – there are so many different ways it can manifest in your life throughout the year. On the Ali Edwards site you can find tons of people in the comments talking about their words and how and why they chose them, if you want to try it but need some inspiration. I haven’t picked my word yet for 2014, so I made a layout using my 2013 word, which was “Engage.” The OWL cards I’ve designed for you are quite simple (just cream cards with a word on them, and one blank); I think there’s more room this way to make your layout relate to your specific word. I particularly liked reflecting on the reasons I picked the word (the “because” card) and some of the things I was hoping for in choosing this word (the “invitation” card). There’s also a “goals” card if you have more specific goals in mind related to your One Little Word. (And bonus points to you if, upon seeing my word, you immediately thought of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise! :))

Here’s another title page layout, this one with some sparkle, another example of how the map card can be used, and a different variant of the grey frame-card. The butterfly is not included, sadly, that’s just something I used to gussy up my personal layout. I wish I knew how to make one for you, but that kind of illustration is beyond my ability right now.

A final title card layout, this one more photo-heavy. The “life documented” card is a 4×12 card spread across four photo pockets. I like this look, though I rarely do it. The photo cards are kraft PNGs with washi tape and space for your photos; the monograms I added myself afterwards, so you can use that space for anything you want. One title page I saw had autographs from every family member, which I think is a super cute idea! The cutout “Best is yet to come” card also comes in a clear PNG version so you can overlay it over anything you like.

Here’s the “Extras” preview with all the other goodies that didn’t make it into the example layouts. There’s a ledger paper with a great quote and space to list your goals, hopes, dreams, and wishes for the new year (the ledger paper also comes blank). There’s a fun typewriter 3×4 card that comes in four versions, “This is my/our/the story” and blank for whatever message you want. (I am disappointed sometimes that so many PL cards say things like “This is our story” and “The story of us” on them – I’m not married, I don’t have my own kids; my PL is about me and the many people I love, but it’s ultimately my story.) Other goodies in the extras preview include a sketchy title card, a shiny gold title card, a stamped “Let’s get started” 3×4 card, wooden “Hello” and “Hello 2014” elements, a super sparkly scatter, and then the unadorned versions of some of the cards that show up in my example layouts. Not shown are a set of patterned 3×4 cards in scaled-down versions of the patterned papers you’ll see below, and nicely textured 3×4 cards in each of the palette colors, like the teal and blue cards in the middle row of the first layout I showed you.

Finally, here is the paper pack that goes with everything. I thought this was quite a feisty palette, so I included some super bold patterns. The ledger paper shown above is actually in this paper download, despite being in the preview for the journal cards and elements. There is an additional folder inside the download with hybrid (non-textured) versions of the papers.

Okay, this is me signing off for the month of January! I’ll probably skip February and hopefully be back with more treats in March. If you use any of these designs to make your title page or any other creations, let me know! If you’re thinking about trying Project Life but are unsure or want support, leave a comment for me here; I’m considering starting a PL support group over on Pixel Scrapper and would love to have you on board if I do.

Speaking of Pixel Scrapper, don’t you want the rest of the incredible designs from this blog train? I bet you do! You can find all the previews and links right here in this Pixel Scrapper thread. Enjoy!