Week In The Life 2013 | Bringing It Together + Video Overview
Today I'm sharing my completed Week In The Life album for 2013.
As I was working on bringing all the pieces together this past weekend one thing that kept coming to mind was that I like that this project can evolve. I like that there isn't a specific prescription for how it comes together or how many photos I'm supposed to take or how many words are required. I like some years there are a lot of words and some years there are less. I like that some times it can be silly and other times it can be serious.
This year I ended up with less words. I'm not sure there's a particular reason - this year I was a bit more reflective in terms of adding some perspective after the fact. I liked adding in that piece - giving myself room to look at the photos for each day and see what thoughts and words came to mind vs. focusing on the facts of the day. I did include my Daily Sheets at the end of my album but even those are missing big chunks of time.
And it's okay.
You're album will likely look different than mine. You might have many more words or many more photos or less of either. And that's okay too. We are all in different places in our lives, facing different challenges and celebrating different joys. And we get to choose the way we document and visually present our memories.
Here's my process for bringing this together:
- Print out the pages I created using the layered template set.
- Cut up the smaller photos to go into the divided page protector pockets.
- Create three different sets of cards for some very simple journaling: (1) The truth of my day. (2) Note to self. (3) I'm thankful for...(used this one on Thursday through Sunday). I had already created a set of cards that paired pattern transparency with some of my circle stamps - check that out here. I almost always like having some sort of repetition like this in my album.
- Add embellishments throughout the album. I added a chipboard element to the first page of each spread above the "this is our life" or "this is my life" title. I added a strip of this word pattern paper from Carta Bella to each spread.
- Add some words to those journal cards. I asked myself what do I really want to remember about this time in our lives/my life? Some of it might be hard. This gets back to the question, "what is the truth of my life right now?"
- Create an end page.
- Add my Daily Sheets in a page protector at the end of the album.
After finishing it all up I filmed a video overview to show you some of the details of this album:
VIDEO OVERVIEW
This 13-minute video walks you through each spread in my Week In The Life album. Below you will find photos with some additional information (most of which is talked about in the video).
NOTE | I had a really hard time getting these spreads photographed. My 24-70 lens is at Canon being fixed and I only have the 50mm which really wants to focus on one spot vs. the whole spread. Hopefully these shots + the video will give you a good sense of what it actually looks like in real life.
Here's a look at each day:
TITLE PAGE | Cut Out Accents Printed Chipboard Cut & Paste Amy Tangerine Thickers (remember chipboard) + Studio Calico Gold Glitter Star + Words Carta Bella 12x12 Paper
For each day of the week spread I included a 9-pocket, 8.5x11 divided page protector. I decided to cut the pockets for each day based on the amount of content I wanted to add. You can just lay a page protector on your trimmer and cut off a portion.
Each day I included a "daily truth" card (these are close to 3.5 x 2.75).
Teresa Collins Noted 12X12 Family Stories Paper + Cut Out Accents Printed Chipboard Cut & Paste Amy Tangerine Thickers (star) + "daily truth" using the Remington Noiseless font.
Each day I also included a "note to self" journal card that you can see at the bottom of the first page. I used pattern paper from the Pink Paislee Color Wash 12x12 Paper Pad.
For Thursday through Sunday I cut the divided page protector down to 3 pockets (6 total - three on the front and three on the back).
I used tags from Little Yellow Bicycle (Little Yellow Bicycle White Canvas Tags and Little Yellow Bicycle - Naturals Collection - Cork Shapes - Tags) as the base and then stitched pattern paper to the top. On these cards I journaled things I was thankful for each day.
For the last page of my album I used word art from the What Life Looks Like set (also included in the layered templates) and cut a chipboard ampersand from the Cut Out Accents Printed Chipboard Cut & Paste Amy Tangerine Thickers.
SPINE DOWNLOAD | You can download the PNG/JPG/PSD file for the spine here: AE_WITL2013_Spine
WEEK IN THE LIFE 2013 ALBUM SUPPLIES
Click on the images to link to the products.
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SHARE YOUR WEEK IN THE LIFE ALBUM
I'd love to have you include a link to your 2013 ALBUM PAGES here. Please link directly to your post vs. your general blog link. Thank you!
I love to see how your projects come together. Thank you for sharing. I take your one little word class and I know your word is OPEN, and I think that you need to give yourself some huge recognition... You are so OPEN on this blog, you share your story as well as Simon and Anna's stories and are completely real and honest. It refreshing to know that its ok to share your ups and your downs, we all have them and reading and seeing your story inspires me to tell mine......
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Love this! Thanks so much for sharing your album and thoughts and feelings on putting it together. I appreciate the video.
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Love this Ali! Looks like you enjoyed your process, and I do love that you use products that make you feel inspired and want to create! Love the final product, so thank you for sharing your pages, and this wonderful project with us, your readers! The video was great too!
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Hey Ali, I've been following you for a few years and you never cease to amaze me with your creativity and style! I have to admit, though I have wanted to participate in these projects I am SO OVERWHELMED with the thought of doing something like this - which is RIDICULOUS because I'm a photographer. Maybe it just SEEMS overwhelming. Anyways, I am embarking on a shift in my life - it's super emotional and I want to document it like this. Can you recommend simple steps to get started? Or a program that will gently guide me? Maybe something that will set me up for success right away so I don't get frustrated and want to quit :) Anyways, thank you for always sharing your life and your mad documenting skillz with us!
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Amazing & Awesome. Thanks for sharing & inspiring, Ali!
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Just wanted to echo what others have said above, thanks for the on-going inspiration Ali.
Even though l didn't participate in Week in the Life, i find your work super inspiring and whether i participate in a specific project or not l find that it fuels me for the next one l tackle. Just finished Hello Story with you, and everywhere l look l am seeing stories !!! :)
Be well Ali.
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Yay! I love it! It looks so great. I really love all the chipboard pieces and the washi tape. :) I have all my opening pages done, but have been putting off diving into the collage pages and in-between pages. Soooo many photos to choose from. I think I will have less words this year, too. I did a lot of detail journaling through the week, so I think I'm just going to let those pages stand on their own, and not worry about rewriting a lot of it on my photo pages. Anyway... just rambling here. Thanks so much for sharing! :)
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LOVE IT ALI!! Looks wonderful and those kids look so big and soooo CUTE!!! Thanks so much for letting us share this project with you and for the inspiration you give us. Great video too!!
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thanks for sharing your album. love it! always so inspiring. now off to work on my WITL.
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Love it - now I wish I had done it :)
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I just noticed as I anticipated putting my album together that you didn't include any ephemera this year - any particular reason?
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I wish you did more videos, tfs
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Hi - I am just putting my album together now (I did my WITL a week late). Some days I found that I didn't take enough photos but I am happy to 'cheat' a little and use ones I already have or take some now to make up for it. Photos of things that aren't specific to that particular week but that show our lives right now - the kids bedrooms, rooms in our house, our backyard, books we've recently bought etc. I want to look back on this album as a slice of our lives right now and don't feel like I can only use photos taken within the seven days. Just a thought if people are having slow photo days. Love your album as always.
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This looks amazing all pulled together in an album. I am almost finished, need to add my writing/thoughts and the last page. Not sure what I do with it, yet. I used your layered templates as inspiration, but used my actual paper pictures and glued them on white cardstock.
I wanted to know how much of photo editing you do after you load them up?
Thanks. This has been year 4 for me for WITL. Looking back is so much fun and so inspiring...amazing to see the personal, but also creative transformations over the years.
Thank you for inspiring me on a daily basis.
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[…] If you haven’t heard of Week in the Life, check out more information on Ali Edwards blog & see her project from this year here. […]
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What kind of clear plastic tabs do you use on your inserts? BTW- LOVE the daily truth and note to self!
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[…] he inspirado en la idea de Ali Edwards ”Week in the Life”. En teoría, se trata de realizar un álbum haciendo fotos y recopilando recortes durante 7 […]
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What kind of photo paper you use? The kind I bought from our local store sticks really bad to my page protectors. Thanks!
Thank-you!!
I use Epson photo paper or Illford Gallerie Smooth Pearl.
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[…] many of you know last September I embarked on (and completed) my annual Week In The Life project. I document during the specific week – taking photos and writing stuff down – […]
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