Week In The Life™ 2025 | Special Guest Denine Zielinski

Hi friends! It’s Denine here, and I am excited to share my design plans for Week In The Life 2025 with you today.

I am especially excited for WITL this year because of the week that Ali chose (June 2-8). This will be my fifth WITL, and there was only one other time for me when the documenting week was during my Summer break. The other three years were during school. Life is quite different for me in each of those seasons as you can imagine. This year will be unique because I will be in school for the first half of the week and on break for the second half. So, I am really looking forward to seeing how that plays out for me.

In the video below, you can see + hear me as I flip through my album set up. I am really happy with my design plan, but I am also looking forward to leaving things open for change. Having a loose plan definitely helps for thinking ahead about what photos I will take as well as what orientations will work best and how many approximate photos I might need. Like Ali says, I am setting myself up for success.

If you have checked out Ali’s blog post, you know that she also used the 3x4 One Week Seven Days Journal Card for her title page. She cut it out and added it to one of the 11x8.25 Days Of The Week Patterned Papers from the Journal Card + Paper Variety Pack. I also cut mine out, but I chose to use the 11x8.25 Color Blocks Paper. I wanted to add a little more playfulness here, so I cut a larger scalloped oval shape from the middle of the paper and used clear cord to hang the cut-out journal card inside (yes, I am still channeling my inner December Daily vibe.)

On the backside of the title page, I used the same 11x8.25 Days Of The Week Patterned Paper that Ali used (oh, that red!), and I modified the digital version of the 3x4 One Week Seven Days Journal Card to add my reason why. That is adhered back-to-back with the original cut-out card that shows through the front side.

In the picture below, you can see how cute those cards look just hanging there as I turn the page.

After that we begin with my daily set up. Here’s a look at my Monday pages set up in my album.

After the Transparency Divider (cut down to fit the 6x8 album), I have the 3x8 Scalloped Journal Card from the Main Kit. Here, you see it in a page protector just to hold it in place. I have not yet decided whether I will add these cards with page attachers or if I will punch holes directly in them.

What I will write about on the 3x8 Scalloped Journal Card each day is TBD as is what I will be doing on the backside. I am initially thinking three small photos for the back. Next is a Citrus Twist 4x4 two pocket page protector that will be the home for the 4x4 Something From Today Journal Card from the Main Kit and mostly likely some photos.

Next, I have a 4 pocket Instax sized page protector also from Citrus Twist. One of the pockets will contain a Plastic Number from the Mini Kit. The other pockets will most likely be photos. I love little photos so much. If you have seen any of my 2024 Project Life spreads, you also know that I love having all different sized and shaped pages in my albums. The Citrus Twist page protectors are perfect for that.

I’m also super excited to add little tabs to them. I plan on creating my own tabs using the colors from the kit and different phrases. The photo below shows an example of how that might look + it just makes me happy!

After that will be a 3-pocket page protector with a 3x4 Journal Card from the Main Kit and a 4x6 Journal Card from the Journal Card + Paper Variety Pack. Placement of these cards (front or back of the page protector) will be determined later.

One of the products that I love + am going to use are the 10x4 Journal Cards from the Journal Card + Paper Variety Pack. I just haven’t quite decided how they will fit in. In the photo below, I cut one down from 10 inches to 8.25 inches to use to long ways. It’s in a page protector now, but will be added directly into the rings if I choose to use it in this way.

My other option is to cut them down to 6 inches and place them in the 4x6 pocket of the 3-pocket page protector. Either way, I will be adding one of the 2x2 Circle Die Cuts from the Mini Kit or the Day of the Week Chipboard shape from the Main Kit (or both) on top of the printed circle.

Also, in the photo above (and below), you can see a fun page that I created in PSE to document a few “Little Bits” every day. I love creating my own unique page to be added into each day. Last year, I created my own checklist. This year, this page will be home to either just journaling in each box or a combination of journaling and small photos. My topics here are Mood Check, Little Wins, Yes to This, Note to Self, Grateful for, No to This, Noticed This, and Best Moment.

As I was typing this post, I started thinking about the recent January 2025 SBTM 3x4 Stamp Set. If you’re not a subscriber, I added a photo of the set below. It has four little faces, each with a different mood…love this, so hard, meh, and LOL.

How fun would it be to stamp one of those faces in the Mood Check box? I measured the faces, and they will fit, too! So fun! By the way…this set is still available in both the physical and digital formats. Below is an example of what one of the stamps might look like. Here is a link for you to download my Little Bits page for yourself.

The last page for each day will be the Cardstock Insert from the Main Kit. Since it will be adhered to the backside of my Little Bits page, I had to insert it into the rings upside down and backwards. I am totally fine with this. I may or may not add the Bits Of Life Vellum Pockets from the Main Kit in the center of this page. Still unsure, but all I do know is that those vellum pockets will be used. They are one of my favorite pieces from this release!

Sketched out, here is a quick look at my plan that will repeat each day.

Thank you so much for joining me today on my Week In The Life prep journey. I’m really excited for the community documenting week beginning on June 2. I will spend the next few weeks elaborating on my design plan with more detailed ideas for what content I want to include, but having a loose set up feels fantastic!

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below. I love hearing from you guys! You can also find me on Instagram @denine2 and YouTube @Denine2.

Happy storytelling, my friends!