No February KOTM

We're sorry to announce that we are postponing the next release of Kit of the Month because we are still in the midst of correcting the fulfillment issues of Project 365. We want to make sure that everything is back to normal before embarking on another kit, so we won’t be offering a KOTM during the month of February.

Stay tuned to this blog and the Kit of the Month site for more information as it becomes available (and maybe even sneak peeks of the next kit!).

Thank you for your understanding.

The KOTM Team

photo tip: go vertical!

Today's tip is from Kerri Bradford. Here's what she has to say:

I’m doing my Project 365 based on a week at a time. This means I can have a photo for every day of the week or if there’s an important event, such as the example I’m sharing in my tip today, I can do that whole event on the two-page spread for that week.

The important event I wanted to capture this last week was my son receiving his LDS mission call. I wanted to include this photo of just him reading the letter informing him of where he was going to serve (which is Washington DC, French speaking), but it was a vertical photo.

No worries. It can work...vertically even!

Here’s what I chose to do. I used Photoshop (or you can use Elements or another photo editing software) to crop the photo size to 6" x 8". Then, I cropped and saved a copy of the top half of the photo as a 6" x 4" and did the same for the bottom half . . . giving me two separate photos that can combine to make one, as shown in the layout example here.

Imagine these photos are contained in the four photo pockets from the kit. Please forgive me for doing this as an example instead of using live product, I’m on “backorder” too. ;) But you get the idea. You’re not limited to strictly 6" x 4" photos. Mix it up, have some fun, and throw in a little variety!

photo tip: get YOU in the photo

Before sharing the photo tip for today, we wanted to answer your questions about seeing more Project 365 pages here on the KOTM blog. Well, that’s a tricky one since we didn’t get hardly any samples in-house due to the sell-out. It’s not that we don’t want to share, it’s that we only had a couple kits to spread around as opposed to what we’ve been able to do in the past. So as the couple artists that have them make their pages available to us, we’ll for sure be sharing them here!

Also, many of you are asking questions about whether or not you actually have a kit, whether credit/debit cards have been credited/charged, etc. Unfortunately, there’s nothing our team can do as far as checking orders for your customer service questions. The most direct route in finding an answer regarding your order is to call or e-mail the fulfillment partner (see contact info two posts below)...and we realize that hasn’t been easy either. There are CK Media people working fervently on trying to correct the customer service and quality assurance issues (empty boxes???) for both past orders as well as hopefully eliminating any future problems.

As for creating a full digital version of Project 365, it is something we are still thinking about, but nothing has been determined at this point. We have had a free partial download available for a couple weeks though. You can find out more about it in this post here.

So now let's continue on with sharing Project 365 tips and ideas here on the blog. Here’s one from Loni Stevens:

Okay, so I know this isn't the first time you've heard this, and I'm sure it won't be the last, but I think it's worth mentioning one more time, at least from me.

Make sure to include photos of YOU in this project!

Don't be afraid to ask someone else to take charge of the camera so you can be in the picture. Or, if nobody else is around, set up the tripod or place your camera onto something stable and use the self-timer, or do the good ol' outstretched arm method! That always works. Whatever it takes to get yourself from behind the camera, right? Another fun gadget I ran across recently through my friend Viv that I thought was pretty cool is the XShot. You attach your camera to a pole, one person holds on to it, and extends the camera far enough out so several people can be included in the shot. If you happen to get the pole in the photo, you can always crop it out like I've shown below.

Whatever your method, make sure to get yourself in the photo! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

And here's the XShot in action (photo from the XShot website)

photo tip: include text on your photo

Use your photo editing software to include pertinent details on your photo. Not only does it provide the obvious information, but it adds a whole other graphic element to the photo. This is also a great option for those of you doing your own version of Project 365.


You could also try typing your journaling along one side of the photo by either typing directly over the image itself or by creating a small rectangle box along the side to type your text over. If you are using Photoshop or Elements, make sure you create the rectangle box in a separate layer so you can change the Opacity (found on your Layers palette) to give it a translucent appearance, if desired.


[tip by kerri bradford]

we are here

We are reading your questions and concerns, however, nothing has changed over the past couple weeks.

1. We are still checking into whether or not we can do a reprint. There’s so much more involved in the process than just “reprinting it.” There are no immediate plans, but that can change in the future. We just don’t know yet.

2. Any customer service issues still need to be handled by our fulfillment partner:
E-mail: CreatingKeepsakesCS@Holdenmss.com
Domestic calls: 800.453.1173
International calls: 720.374.3628
[Phone line hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. MST, M-F]

3. We are monitoring this board and making sure that concerns, especially regarding the fulfillment side, are being forwarded on to those that need to know.

4. Still continue to check out Becky’s blog for all her ideas and tips using Project 365. Since this is her kit and she had begun promotion on it before the KOTM blog was in place, we wanted her to continue to be that source of inspiration and information on 365. We’ll still continue to share tips or pages, however, we thought it best to keep most of the information in one spot vs. going back and forth...with this kit, in particular.

Please know that we are here and we are listening.

project 365 photo tip

Did your Inauguration invitation get lost in the mail? Didn't get that front row VIP seat next to Magic Johnson, Dustin Hoffman and Oprah for the perfect photo op of this momentous occasion? Forgot to even take a picture of the television? Try looking on the internet for images from the day to use for your "Tuesday photo." There are many great photos out there!

This photo was just way too cute!

a couple more pages from maggie holmes

Here's a little more of 365 from Maggie Holmes. Maggie's approach for 365 is on the life of her kids, what they do, and how they will change throughout the entire year. A fun perspective for sure! And, on top of it all, Maggie is an amazing photographer!

Thanks for creating these wonderful pages Maggie!