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:

1. Print out the pages I created using the layered template set.




2. Cut up the smaller photos to go into the divided page protector pockets.




3. 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.




4. 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.




5. 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?"




6. Create an end page.




7. 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.

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!