Project Life Calendars & Converting Templates in MDS

Being on vacation, I was finally able to go through some of the MDS (My Digital Studio) videos I've been pinning for months.  I was really interested in a video posted by Erica Shaw about converting the "The Good Year" template into Project Life-like page layouts and saving them in MDS.

Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nac02Q2igc

This template is amazing.  I bought it to do summary scrapbooking for 2013 and never thought of using it for layouts for other books.  As I started completing the steps in Erica's video, it hit me that this would be a great template to use for my Christmas calendars this year.  But was  I smart enough to figure out how?  Thankfully, yes!  :)

First, the content in this download is amazing.  It's $19.95 which is on the high end for our downloads but you get an amazing amount of images and embellishments.  To view the contents of this kit, click on the itty bitty image below.  Once you land in the online store, click More Images to see the close ups of each page.  You will want to do this!

The Best Year Photobook Template - Digital Download  132566 

Price: $19.95

 

Download includes:

* 28-page photobook designer template (12" x 12")

* 49-piece SVG stamp brush set*

* 12 Designer Series Papers

* 90 embellishments

* 4 punches

 

So how did I make this into a calendar?  Here were the simplified steps:

• I started out by creating a 12 x 12 calendar in MDS. 
• I added a calendar month to each of the odd numbered pages using the Calendar option on the Design Center.
• I removed the blank pages from the entire calendar so I was only left with the 12 calendar months.
• I went to the upper tool bar and selected Insert/Add Other Template Pages.
• I clicked on the 12 x 12 and scrolled to The Best Year.  Click Next.
• Click on the pages that you don't want to import into your calendar.  I removed all but the cover and the first pages for each month that had the JAN, FEB, etc. on them.  Click Next.
• Click Next to manually populate photos.
• Click Finish.
• Then I dragged and dropped the pages into the right order.

Eventually, I did go back and add in the other page for each month at the end.  This let me steal embellishments that I needed if I didn't have enough photos or if I needed to change out a tile based on the photo I wanted to add.

 

Here is what my first page came out like for my mother-in-law's calendar.  Cute, eh?  I love all the text prompts so that you can truly put a variety of pictures on each page and get through it quickly!

 

 

Remember that if you create one of these, it's best to create the template out as much as you can and then save it before adding text and photos.  That lets you use it for other calendars without having to redo any of the text boxes or things you already changed.

 

We will talk about this at my MDS class on September 9th.  To attend that class, you need to have gone through the Basics class.  Contact me today if you are interested in that 1:1 class before September 9th!

 

Have a craftastic day,

Stacy