Holding Out For Better Light

I agree, Jenny - a lot of the excitement about this project for me was knowing that so many others around the world were doing the very same thing at the same time. Very motivating and rewarding!

Hi Ali
I just wanted to say, I LOVE this project. I have a family blog (with exactly 5 readers) and we did a day in the life in photos. All my 5 readers loved that post. I'm working up to doing a week.

Thank you for sharing! I am attempting to do this project as well. I am finding it hard to take what I consider enough usable photos each day! I commute 3 hours out of each day and have been taking pictures of my commute, me in the car and the interior of the car but I really don't want it to be about the car!! LOL

I went on a two week vacation just as you were starting this. It couldn't have been better timing. I read the pre-posts while on vacation and came home just as you were putting it together. Perfect. I ordered my photos online (that was a fist) and was so super worried because I had used overlays ... how reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who worried about the outcome! Then, the day I got my photos I was able to put the whole thing together! I could never have done that without your simple and clean-line inspiration! I can't thank you enough for my 2WITL project! (Oh, and I got a square punch and, just like you said, I loved it!!)

Can't wait to see the finished project. I am hoping to put mine together next week. I have all my photos printed.

I SO loved this project! But agree with everyone else that taking the photos was much easier than completing the project. I'm struggling with picking out which ones to use....so many photos, which I guess is a good problem to have! I'm using your digital templates for my project and while I know I'll love the end result, I find it so difficult to decide and commit to photos by just seeing them on the computer, rather than having lots of photos in front of me to play around with. Journaling, well I haven't even begun to tackle that step...just have lots of chicken scratches to sort through. Can't wait to see your finished project. Thanks for the inspiration!

For some reason last week I didn't "feel" like taking as many pictures as needed and also had things to do that one picture would do, like a meeting, that took three hours. Just yesterday I went around the house and took "filler" pictures, kind of snapshots of the status quo of the moment. So, things like the cabinet where I keep the baby foods, my daughter's book shelves to see what she is reading at this point in time, the toy basket - things that haven't changed a bit in the one week that's gone by. I'm going to sprinkle those in the baseball card protectors along with the pics I took last week, junk mail, journaling, and embellished scrapbook papers. Just today I thought about going online to find things like the top 10 movies and music of the week.

I can't wait to see it! All of your work is beautiful.

Question about your photos from SBP, which by the way look great. This is the first time I ordered from them and they came back looking a bit dark. I pulled them back up on the computer to check and yes, they are def. much darker - to the point where I might have to reorder some. I used photshop and enhanced some there. Is there just a huge difference between what I see on the screen compared to what is going to be printed? How do you compensate?

Wendy - when I get to that point I just start sticking them in. It can be so overwhelming. Whatever you place in the album will be GREAT.

You know, mine came back darker than the image on my screen as well. I think I chose "auto" rather than "no" on the options when checking out. I decided to just go with it - next time I might try the "no" or the "full service" option.

Again, simply amazing. Thank you for sharing the process and also your life right now.

I just saw that the site gives the color profiles for their printers, so if I get really adventurous (which is highly doubtful) I might try calibrating my monitor with their profiles.

Ali - first of all, I want to say "thank you"! I have followed you and admired your style for quite some time...but this is the first time I have embarked upon a "Week in the Life" project along with you. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching your album come together.
You have inspired me through this process to learn and play with my photo-editing software...I have created my own layered templates for use with my project. I may have just found a new passion! (I never would have thought I could be a "hybrid" person before this but am looking forward to using my computer in more unique ways!)
I find documenting life in this manner is such a powerful experience. It has really helped me enjoy the moment and reflect upon life in a more positive way. I agree with you that it is worth every minute! I can not wait to look back at my album in five years and remember what it was like for our family during our firstborn's first year...I think this style of documentation "freezes" time as much as any process can.
Thank you: for sharing your creativity, style, & life with us, your blog readers :)

Thanks I do appreciate it!.
I'm working with a really old Photoshop program (that doesn't like anyones digital products!), trying to make my photo collages...really wanting to do it this way and since this is the first time in doing that it's making me very frustrated. But I think I might have to go the just print all of my photos 4x6 and trim to make my own route. I'm at that fork in the road moment right now.
Thanks Ali, for just listening.

as always and amazing work of art! I love to see how your Week in the Life evolves everytime. This one I could see being in the pages of a magazine! Really nice.

My husband casually mentioned his office wanted to make a scrapbook for their soon departing boss, and that he told them I wouldn't mind doing it. Deadline...two weeks! After a sputttering start (which I procrastinated a few days), I wasn't liking the look of my traditional pages. Being stationed on the other side of the world, and the afore mentioned two weeks, available supplies were limited to pretty much just my stash and my printer. Seriously not happy with what I had going, I turned to my fave books & blogs for inspiration. That's when I saw 28 April's post with your layered template tutorial. I went right to deisgner digitals, then right to work. Only, it doesn't work so smoothly with PSE6, and I'm PSE-illiterate... Two hours later I'm rocking my PSE8 free trail. Skip to yesterday; a finished product, and the whole unit crowded around outbound-boss ooohing and aaaahhhing, and laughing at their shared memories. It wasn't a week in the life, more like "3 years in Japan", but it was the perfect format to give continuity to A LOT of unassociated pictures. PLUS, I no longer feel the need to strangle my hubbie! THANKS SO MUCH!!

You have such a clean style. I love it! Thanks for sharing your creative style

Three steps forward .... Still, you know what they say about the man who never made a mistake! Keep going - you'll get there soon - and it's good to have some news again.