Week In The Life™ 2015 | First Steps In Creating An Album

Now that we've collected some photos and words (or at least the photos) for Week In The Life™ it's time to begin bringing them together into a tangible album. 

People approach this process in a hundred different ways. Some people like to give a little space and time between documenting the week and putting their album together. Others like to dive right in and finish it up. My general approach is to work on it very soon after completing my week but sometimes, like last year when December Daily® was so close, it just isn't possible. Know that it's okay whenever you end up putting it together. There is often a real beauty that comes from waiting and separating yourself a bit from the content - different stories emerge when you look back vs. when you are documenting in the moment. There's also a beauty that's very evident in doing it right away - the stories and photos are fresh and top of mind and your enthusiasm for the project may still be moving you forward. 

Whatever you decide to do it will be awesome, because what's really awesome is what you've captured from your life the last week. 

As for me, my album will be photo and word-centric much like my approach in 2014. I guess you could say I'm not ready to let go of that style just yet (and many other projects I do include more product play). I also like seeing similarities in design as well as content from last year. 

Another great resource as you are getting started is my Working On The Album post from last year. Lots of ideas and tips and things to think about. 

I eased into the "making" of this album yesterday by printing out my main photo for each day first. I like having a full-page 6 inch x 8 inch photo as a "start" for each day. I went back through, selected and edited the ones I wanted to use, placed them in the 6 inch x 8 inch templates in Photoshop (I'm just using a full page vs. the collage option) and printed here at home on my Epson R2000 printer. If you are interested in learning more about working with layered templates check out this post from last year.

After printing out each photo I added one of the perforated strip phrases from the kit

There are no hard and fast rules for choosing your photos. I rely a lot on my gut - which ones grab my attention, which ones were my favorites from the day, which ones do I want to use full page? I considered having all the start photos for each day be self-portraits but ended up switching that up as I went along. 

TITLE PAGE

Here's a look at my 2015 Title Page: 

I considered using the 2-inch pocket page as my title page, but came back again and again to this photo. I played around with a few different ideas for a title that would be directly on top of the photo and ended up using the black sticker that was part of the kit packaging (I think I first saw Trisha Harrison using it in the 2-inch pocket page) in conjunction with the white plastic numbers. This means I won't use the numbers with each day of the week as I did last year, but I'm rolling with it. Along the bottom I printed the actual dates and then used the phrase "our lives are made of these moments" from the perforated strip sheet. There is also a "week in the life of us" and a "week in the life of me" included on that perforated strip sheet as well if you'd like to use that on your title page. 

To adhere those white plastic numbers I used spray adhesive. 

MONDAY START

I started adding words directly to my photos and printing them out for Monday. My words are coming straight from my blog posts for last week. I've got all of Monday's photos printed and am currently deciding what to do with a bunch of 4 inch x 6 inch photos that I still want to include but don't have enough pockets for if I follow my own set-up. Last year I adhered those extra photos back to back and punched holes along one edge and added them to the album that way. I'm considering doing that again because I liked the look of it and Mondays are usually the day I have the most photos.

I'll share my completed Monday soon, but in the meantime here's another look at the end of my Monday:

I'm going with a full-page 6 inch x 8 inch photo at the end of each day again as well (the templates include a photo collage option if you want to be able to fit even more photos). I like how it really puts the emphasis on the photos to begin and end that way. 

As you can see, I've got my words on the photos and I just need to add some embellishments before calling it good. If you didn't write anything down as you went along last week here's something to consider: Look at the photo and think about what it means to you. What is the story behind the photo? What's important about it? What can you tell me about it that will tell me more about your life or what's important to you or who this person is who was in front of your lens? For the photos of Simon and Anna in the pool on Monday I literally sat here and looked at them and thought about what defines each of them right now and simply wrote that out (you'll see those images and words when I share my full Monday collection). 

I'm using the font Remington Noiseless (same as last year) in 9 pt type or smaller. 

For more Week In The Life™ posts check out my archives here

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74 thoughts

  1. NatashaP says…
    08/26/2015

    Looks great!

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. hgauvin says…
    08/26/2015

    When adding text to pictures, do you just create a text box in PSE and type it that way? Great start to your album!

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Hi - yes, simply select the T tool, draw a box and begin typing (or copy and paste which is what I do from a blog post). I've got more tips on Getting Started With Digital here: http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/getting-started-digital-scrapbooking

    2. sarahboirin says…
      08/26/2015

      You need to fix the link for the journalling blocks on that page Ali ! Although the page that it goes to with you and Simon is too funny!!

  3. picaloflies says…
    08/26/2015

    Would you please tell me which spray adhesive you used??? Thank you! Love your album so far!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Hi - just the Scotch brand.

  4. lindalovescreating says…
    08/26/2015

    Thanks so much for doing this project! I've followed your blog a long time ans participated in other projects, but I'd never done this one before and I love it. I have a few comments/questions.

    First, I wanted the 6x8 layered templates but none of the digi products for week in the life show up under the week in the life tab in your shop. I went to the digi tab and everything was just mixed together and I couldn't find them so I just bought the 4x6 instead (I believe Sunday night). I've been enlarging the text and dragging/dropping it onto my first page photos (my album is 6x8). Now that I've spent the money on the 4x6 one I can't justify getting the 6x8 one, but I just wanted to make sure you were aware those products don't show up under the "week in the life" tab because that would be helpful if fixed.

    Secondly, I wrote my words out the day of like you do (in a word doc because I don't keep a blog) and they are generally chronological what happened in that day, with reflection throughout. However I'm having a hard time with the final 6x8 photo of the day because it's not going to be my last photo in the day and is often related to another part of the day and is blown up just because I liked the photo/it summarized the highlight of the day. What type of text do you include on this photo? How do you keep the text related to the photos while keeping the overall flow of the story?

    Thanks so much for everything you do, you are truly an inspiration!

    Reply 5 Replies
    1. katie1980 says…
      08/26/2015

      Fot the last photo of the day, why not include a thought about that day, or a highlight, or an explanation why this was your favourite bit of the day? Or even a "round up" of the day?
      Maybe that will help.

    2. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Thanks for the feedback on the digital files - yes, they should be under the Week In The Life™ tab as well as under Digital (they are right at the top of the Digital section because it's a date based organization).

      For the last photo, last year, at least on Monday I ended the week with a Gratitude statement. On the other days it was another favorite photo - I'd say my journaling is more related to the specific photo and less concerned with chronology (why I loved the photo, a story about it, etc). Generally my photos flow from morning to evening throughout the day, but it's not a hard and fast requirement. For Sunday I'll be opening that day with a photo of the evening gathering at my house and probably ending with an image of dishes in the sink.

      PS - it's okay to blow it up just because you like it and it's okay for it not to fit in with the time flow of the day. You are still talking about something that happened within that day :).

    3. jchurch2 says…
      08/26/2015

      Ali, with the divider pages for each day, the last page is not 6x8. Last year, I had a 6x8 as the last page for one day, then had the title page for the next day on the back. How are you managing this?

    4. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      I'm putting the divider after the full page 6x8 (my Monday begins behind my title page) - I still end with a full page 6x8.

      Sorry, this feels confusing. I'm still ending and beginning each day with a 6x8 (for Monday, the other side is the title page). My divider is going into my book after my intro 6x8 photo (you can see it in the Monday Start photo above).

      There were 8, 6x8 pages in the kit in order to end with one.

    5. jchurch2 says…
      08/26/2015

      Thanks, Ali. I never thought of putting the divider page after the title page....gotta think outside the box!

  5. JenHart says…
    08/26/2015

    Fantastic Ali :-)

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. katie1980 says…
    08/26/2015

    Lovely. I look forwards to seeing your completed Monday! And having got a lot of the bits done last night that need doing for the weekend, I might actually get some WITL album time this week, which will be great.

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. sfleggett says…
    08/26/2015

    Oh I always love watching your Week in the life albums come together each year. Can you tell me where you purchased that bath mat in Thursday's 6x8 photo? Love it!

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      I think it's from Ikea.

    2. angymuse says…
      08/26/2015

      it is from ikea.. they have a lot of different colors and its rather inexpensive too its awesome.

  8. Murray says…
    08/26/2015

    Love it! So Inspiring!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. rhondaw says…
    08/26/2015

    Love it! And I love the full page photos. I didn't do that last year but after seeing this post I am inspired to try it this year.

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. angymuse says…
    08/26/2015

    Ali, why do the layered templates for WITL say No. 2? is there a No. 1?

    Reply 5 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      There is a set from last year with 2014 dates (that can be deleted and re-typed) that is essentially no.1 (it was the first set at least for my offerings here on the new site).

    2. angymuse says…
      08/26/2015

      ahhh okay. thought i was missing something

      thanks :)

    3. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Here's the 6x8 one from last year that is still available: http://aliedwards.com/shop/layered-templates/week-in-the-life-6x8-layered-templates

    4. angymuse says…
      08/26/2015

      I love the ones with your lettering, more organic looking. the first ones are nice too, cleaner look.

    5. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Yep - nice to have a choice :)

  11. justrhonda says…
    08/26/2015

    I love it Ali. Makes me excited to get home and start to put my album together!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. papergoddess says…
    08/26/2015

    Thanks for sharing your process. I like the little word strips on top of photos, may have to try that out. I am a sit with it for a bit before diving into project type. Altho, part of that is I just don't have time this week! I did sketch out some page ideas and notes, trying to figure out how to get some of the "other" stuff in there. Thoughts, music, stories that don't have a picture. Looking forward to seeing the finished project!

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Nikilee30 says…
    08/26/2015

    Ali, I will be doing a week in the life the first week of September (which always feels like a new year for me) and working on and completing the album at Crop and Create Cornwall in one of Becky Higgins PL classes the end of September. I don't have a computer or printer so I am going to journal notes to take with me and print all the pictures at a local photo shop. Any advice you can give me on how to get a good amount of journalling in since writing on the photo's will be a bit more difficult since my handwriting is an average size

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      I would definitely encourage you to use the 6x8 and 4x6 pockets to hold journaling if you aren't printing with words on your photos - especially if you are interested in getting in more stories. Also consider adding in more pages that are just words - don't limit yourself based on the number of page protectors in the kit. Give yourself the space you need to include those words!

  14. Mrsfabry says…
    08/26/2015

    I love that you are putting the album together so soon! I wanted to join in last week(for my first ever WITL), but due to a forest fire that came 1/4 mile away- we were evacuated from our home for a week. I didn't think it was a week that I wanted to focus on, so I'm doing it this week. Having a "end album" to look at as I go thru the week is a great inspiration when it comes to taking photos (as well as motivation to keep going all week!).
    Great stuff as usual!

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Glad you and your family are safe!

    2. northcarmen says…
      08/26/2015

      Mrsfabry -- Whereabouts are you from? We were evacuated from our home in northern Saskatchewan for 2 weeks in July -- such a strange experience. Are you going to document your evacuation at all in scrapbook form? I would like to do something, but haven't yet. My WITL will reference that experience, because it is a big part of our summer, and we were able to see some of the burned area this week when we made a trip further north. If you'd like to chat, please message me! :)

  15. repoynto says…
    08/26/2015

    Hi. Where did you get those clear plastic pages (clear with white stripes, white poka dots, etc.)? I have seen them used by other folks as well and wondering how I can get those. Thanks!

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. jchurch2 says…
      08/26/2015

      They came with the kit if you pre-ordered.

    2. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Yes - they were a pre-order bonus when we first launched the kit this year.

  16. Kirby says…
    08/26/2015

    thanks for this, Ali!
    I think, after years of putting it off, it's time i learn photoshop....or at least how to use these layered templates of yours...they look great on your 6x8's. above, where you say to check out the following to learn more about layered templates, I don't think there's a link?
    enjoyed following along last week & looking forward to putting the stories & photos together!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Ack! Sorry - adjusting that now. Here's the link to last year: http://aliedwards.com/2014/11/week-in-the-life-2014-working-with-the-layered-template-set

  17. tealmyre says…
    08/26/2015

    Beautiful! I have heard you say that you take nearly all of your photos in landscape orientation and it is obvious that you mostly followed that with your week in the life photos. However, 6x8 albums are portrait orientation. Do you think about that while you are taking pictures knowing that you will likely crop them portrait? Do you take more portrait photos when you know you will be working on a project or mini book like this? Do you not think about it at all until you put the album together and just hope it works out?

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      I took all landscape with the exception of a couple portrait - it's just not how I look through the lens. I just crop some to 3x4 (when I'm looking through the photos that's one of the things that helps me decide which to crop - which ones can be adjusted to portrait). I don't think about it until I put the album together knowing that there will always be a way to make it work out :).

    2. tealmyre says…
      08/26/2015

      Thank you!!

  18. dawnmi says…
    08/26/2015

    Thank you for the words in the beginning, they were just what I needed today. Woke up ready to start working on my photos. Sent the first batch in to Walgreens, will see how they turn out and go from there, liking your one day at a time approach. Can't wait to see more!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. ahiggins83 says…
    08/26/2015

    Thank you for these ideas for a starting point! I loved documenting our life last week. I am a stay-at-home mom to a 16 month old and I thought our days would be boring and the same, but you really taught me how to look at our everyday moments through different perspectives and capture our everyday adventures! I am wondering about how many photos per day you typically include? Thanks! And thanks so much for this project!

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Awesome - love that you were able to see that ;). For Monday I will have 26 (includes a bunch of back to back 4x6 that you'll see when I post my pages) and for other days I will have quite a few less - that said I usually fill the majority of my pockets with photos.

    2. ahiggins83 says…
      08/26/2015

      Thank you, Ali!

  20. loripsm121 says…
    08/26/2015

    Ali, I'm so glad WITL was earlier this year and glad I'm not the only one who got into a bind with December Daily. I finally got my regular family albums up to date about a month ago. I've already started getting this project going and I'm determined to be up to date when December rolls around. I know scrapbooking is meant to be relaxing and an outlet for this stay at home mom, but when I get behind it sometimes takes the air out of my ballon. But I just keep going, doing the best that I can, knowing years from now it won't matter that August got into the album in August or the following March. ;-). Ali you do such great work, I can hardly wait for what you have up your sleeve next! Thank you!

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. icequeen says…
    08/26/2015

    Looks great, Ali. I love how you used the 6x8 morning, afternoon, evening card to hold pictures. I wasn't keen on using them for words, but now have a much better option. Can't wait for a video walk-thru when you're all done. :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. TracieClaiborne says…
    08/26/2015

    I saw all these portrait photos and kind of smacked myself on the head because I should have decided up front that I wanted to do my album this way and made sure my first photo of the day was a portrait shot with my DSLR. I am able to crop mine to 6x8 since the file is so large (even though they're landscape) which is what I'm assuming you did but I'm having trouble because I naturally want to make the first photo of the day be the opening shot. How do you deal with that? Isn't your story out of whack if the big photo isn't the first photo of the day? Explain. :)

    Reply 3 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      I totally don't worry about it - seriously. My opening photos, as you can see from the image above, are not all the first thing that happened that day - rather they are just ones I like and want to have be the larger size. I figure that I'm still keeping all Monday together but I'm not bound by having it to go in certain order. I shoot all horizontal - I think there were two shots this week that were portrait. I just make them work.

    2. ktber says…
      08/26/2015

      I was at a workshop yesterday about teaching writing to kids and the presenter emphasized that we are trying to get them away from "bed-to-bed" stories (because, yawn)---every time I've tried to put together my album from last year I get a little bogged down with all the the info, and that idea from the workshop helped me see that the way Ali does the WITL album it avoids that bog--she manages to use the framework of a day and a week to tell little stories that are not bed-to-bed at all. They are pieces of a mosaic and each piece is there for some reason, and the result is so powerful. I just wanted to share in case that helps any one else.

    3. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      That is such a great way to describe that @ktber - thank you.

  23. photoaddict555 says…
    08/26/2015

    Hi Ali. I'm so excited to see you have started your album and sharing. It's 7am here in Australia. I've been checking every morning as soon as I wake up!!!
    I have a question about adding words to the photos. My big camera seems to take great pics but they are at 72dpi do I need to change this to 300 dpi before I can write on the photo?? Sometimes the writing turns out really small so I'm thinking this is why. When I do change to 300 it makes the photo so large though.

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      Good question! I resize to 300dpi (4x6 or 3x4) and then type on my photos.

    2. AliEdwards says…
      08/26/2015

      When the photo gets large you just need to use the magnify tool to make it smaller on your screen.

  24. suzieandrocky says…
    08/26/2015

    I. Just. Love. This. Project.
    THANK YOU for motivating me each day and extra THANK YOU for the ideas and suggestions about how to put it together. For people like me, who really want to be creative but aren't, this is perfect.

    Love it.

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. Bellaa75 says…
    08/26/2015

    There's not one thing you do that I don't love! This is awesome!

    Reply 0 Replies

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