I make all my own grids building rectangles with the shape tool. I align them with equal spacing (I'm super OCD about this) then rasterize them down, then select them all and shrink them to approx 11x11 inches so I can add my background papers.
I like to use double layered background papers to give my pages an extra color pop. I create them as basic rectangle shapes first, and then use these to clip my paper to at a later point in the process.
One of my FAVORITE time saving features in Photoshop is to use the "Load Files into Stack" script to gather all my things that I'll be placing into my page in one place rather than dragging each file in individually. When you run this script and select a number of files, a new untitled document will open with each file you selected as its own layer, named as the file from which it was loaded. For example, I put all the photos that I want to use for a layout in a specific folder. I use this script to browse to that folder and load all the photos into a single photoshop document.
The first thing that I do is load in and roughly place all my photos in my spread. (As you'll see, I move them later on in the process, but I just want to get an idea of my images and color composition first so I can select the "best kit" for my photos. These photos are SOOC (straight out of camera) and have NO image adjustment yet. Boy do they need it! I play with the cropping a BIT at this point, but don't get too hung up on it.
The next thing I do is select my kit and/or color scheme that goes best with my photo spread and themes for the week and begin loading in some of my favorite pocket cards that I hope to use - just to get an idea of how the colors will all "go". For this week, I chose the Pocket Life February 2014 collection by Traci Reed Designs. I LOVE her sense of color! I wanted to bring out the blue and the red from my photos this week and this collection was perfect.
I start roughly placing my favorite cards. TIP: To help the eye move around the page, make sure that your main colors are balanced across the page with plenty of "built in" white space for the eye to rest (CONFESSION: saving room for white space is HARD for me! sometimes I get carried away and my pages are too busy).
I wanted to use a piece of a journal card in traci's collection without using the background. In real life, I would cut this out, but in the digital world, I created a vector layer mask using the pen tool (this is a screenshot of me drawing that vector mask out bit-by-bit - hard to see without the capture of my mouse and the PS tools visible). TIP: There are other ways to extract an object from a background, but creating a vector mask by "tracing" the object using the pen tool produces the cleanest edges (and I'm a stickler for that). See the tutorial here for more info:http://www.printwand.com/blog/using-the-pen-tool-to-cut-an-object-from-its-background-in-photoshop
The screenshot says it all. I see a lot of pages where text is either strangely on top of digital embellishments or tucked underneath where we can't read it. TIP: You can create a custom shaped text box using the pen tool. See more info in the following video tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL0Z-AQconQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL0Z-AQconQ
I used a painted word from this kit, but I wanted it to look a bit more stampy. I distressed the word a bit by using my eraser tool and changing the eraser brush to a very large grunge brush and adjusting the opacity of my eraser brush to approximately 25%
TIP: Journaling cards can be more than just text. Add your photos on top! Since I have put hearts on the top left and bottom left, I balanced this card by adding labels to the right side.