Week In The Life™ 2022 | Special Guest Denine Zielinski

Hi everyone! I am so super excited to share my 2022 WITL album here with you. This is my first year truly being an empty-nester as my son graduated college, got a job, and officially moved out. For that reason, I made the decision to document in the 4x4 Buildable Album from this year’s Travel Collection. I didn’t think I would have so many stories to tell, but I did. And I was still able to fit everything that I wanted in my album! It is chunky, but it is just pure happiness to look through. 

I originally planned on using the 10x8 album but changed my mind. So, I needed to make some choices on what I would use from the Main Kit (since I would have much less real estate with a 4x4 album). As you will see, I chose a minimalist approach while still using some of my favorite things.  

You can see how I prepped my album ahead of time here: WITL 2022 Album Prep

Once the documenting week was over, I went through my photos and decided that I would choose 8 photos for each day: four would be in the rings using the Attacher Stickers and four would be in a pocket. 

Each day ended up consisting of a Large Heart Stitched Pocket, a 4x4 piece of the Transparency Divider, 4 photos in the rings with the Attacher Stickers, and a pocket that I cut out with my Cameo. Inside of each pocket are the four additional photos, journal cards, and weather/newspaper photos.

So let’s take a look!

Each day begins with a Large Stitched Heart Pocket in the rings. Inside of the pockets, I decided to add some general journaling. I used the custom shape tool in PSE to create the heart and then added the journaling by clicking inside the heart with the type tool. I printed them on a transparency and fussy cut them out. I added a sticker tab with a stamped sentiment on it with my tiny attacher. 

On the back side of each heart, I added the photo that I took for the prompts that Lisa provided for each day of the week.  I added a puffy heart sticker from the WITL Mini Kit to each photo.

Next up is the transparent divider cut down to 4x4, and then the first of my photos. I added my journaling directly onto my photos in PSE. I used the Remington Noiseless font at 10 point. I cropped my photos to 3.5x3.5 and printed them on 4x6 photo paper. This way I had the white border around them. I adhered two photos back-to-back with the plastic Attacher Sticker (cut in half) between them. To each photo, I then added a chipboard star from my stash.

After my photos is my pocket with the Pleather Day of the Week sticker, the phrase “One Day at a Time” from the Circle Days of the Week 4x6 Stamp Set, and a chipboard star.

Let’s take a look at what I have included in each pocket. All of these items have holes punched in the corners and are held together with tiny book rings. 

First up is the Facts & Feelings Journal Card from the Main Kit.

Adhered to the back of that is the grid card from the Main Kit that was 4x6. I cut the first row of grids off to make it 4x4. I added Morning, Afternoon, and Evening to each block. I added some of the things that I did each day with bullet points. 

To tell longer stories, I used 3x4 journal cards from the 2021 Day In The Life Main Kit.

On the back of the 3X4 cards, I added Vellum Die Cuts and larger chipboard stars.

To finish off each day, I wanted to add a photo of our local newspaper and a screenshot of the day’s weather.  I ended up modifying one of the templates from the Week In The Life™ 2022 Digital Variety Pack and dropping in the newspaper and weather screenshot. You can see the newspaper below.

Here is my screenshot of the weather for the day. You can also see one of the heart transparencies that slips into the Heart Stitched Pocket.

Just as a gentle reminder: You do NOT have to have everything all figured out while you are creating your album. As you can see below, I left the backs of the pockets empty for now. I am totally okay with that because I know that I will get a creative spark that will make the lightbulb go on. I will then come back and work that magic!

Once I had my plan together for the first day, all of the other days just fell into place. This was only my second year doing WITL, and I am looking forward to doing it again. If you did not participate during this year’s community documenting week, it’s not too late to pick a week and give this wonderful project a go!

Thank you so much for coming along with me as I shared my album and process.  I have recorded a walkthrough if you would like to have a look: WITL 2022 Complete

You can also find me on Instagram, if you would like: @denine2

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14 thoughts

  1. Jeannew says…
    08/05/2022

    Looks great!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. denine2 says…
      08/06/2022

      Thank you, Miss Jeanne!

  2. Tf6082 says…
    08/05/2022

    Thank you for sharing, it looks fantastic.

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. denine2 says…
      08/06/2022

      Thank you so much!

  3. Dawngee3 says…
    08/05/2022

    I love your formula! And this is a fun size. Do you run your physical journal cards through the printer to add your text? Just curious - the type looks great but I don’t have any luck running the cards through my printer.

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. denine2 says…
      08/06/2022

      Thank you so much! I do run the cards through my printer, but I recently discovered the clear inkjet full sheet labels, so I am going to be giving those a shot. It seems a lot easier! I am not always successful with running the cards through.

  4. Elizabeth_Heinz says…
    08/06/2022

    LOVE what you did with the 4x4 buildable album. You fit a LOT in a smaller format.

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. denine2 says…
      08/10/2022

      Thank you, Miss Elizabeth!

  5. bookemper says…
    08/07/2022

    This album looks great. I love how much life you fit into a small album!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. denine2 says…
      08/10/2022

      Thanks, Miss Janet!

  6. daslebenistbunt says…
    08/08/2022

    Love to see, how much this small format can hold!
    A really great album!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. denine2 says…
      08/10/2022

      Thank you so very much!

  7. peggy1958sue says…
    08/10/2022

    Love your approach to WITL!!!! LOVE YOUR ALBUM!!! You mentioned Lisa giving photo prompts for each day....where can I find those? I have yet to figure that out. Also the IN THE NEWS & WEATHER alphas. Can you please share where those are from? GREAT album!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. peggy1958sue says…
    08/10/2022

    Love your approach to WITL!!!! LOVE YOUR ALBUM!!! You mentioned Lisa giving photo prompts for each day....where can I find those? I have yet to figure that out. Also the IN THE NEWS & WEATHER alphas. Can you please share where those are from? GREAT album!!

    Reply 0 Replies

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