Welcome to Project Life | Week Twenty-Five.
This week it really looks like summer has arrived.
It felt like it to and for that I’m really very thankful.
This week I incorporated one of the new Small Journal Card Overlays that are now available at Designer Digitals.
The package includes 23 PNG file overlays and one psd mask for customizing the background. The PNG files can be opened and used in both Photoshop and Word. You can view a video tutorial on adding text and working with PNG files in both Word and Elements here.
After adding my text in Photoshop I printed it on a sheet of 4×6 photo paper and trimmed it to fit the pockets.
My journaling about Anna’s first swimming lesson was added to a Long Journaler and printed on white cardstock and slipped into an 8.5×11 page protector. To go along with those words I enlarged a photo of Anna and slipped it inside as well.
On the back is the certificate that Simon received from Jedi Camp.
The last page of the spread is wonderfully simple. Photos + words.
This week I put the whole thing together in one sitting (I don’t usually leave it all to be done at once). It took me about 2 hours to print the photos, copy & paste my text about the swimming lesson into the long jouranler, write up the Jedi text, round the corners, hand-journal a couple cards, photograph the whole thing, upload, and write this post.
The result was absolutely worth those two hours of my day.
Project Life is a product created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. The pieces of the album kit (similar to the one I’m using) are available here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life here.
I love how the photos of Simon and Anna really captures the moment. Thank you for sharing your Project Life, I feel very inspired to begin my own.
I just realized and noticed about your Project Life that it was about the week and not a photo a day. I was so hung on taking a photo a day and documenting about the day that I just couldn’t grasp the concept of this album. I am planning on using this album for my Week in the Life project. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Yep – I’m not doing a photo-a-day
.
My PL has ALWAYS been about each week. This is my third year, and this format has worked for me in a big way! Spent last week with my Mom and should get printing photos right NOW! What a superb project!
I’m thinking on buying the page protectors and cards, etc. for my daughter to use to document her high school years. She’ll be a freshman in August. Do you (or anyone reading) have thoughts on that or have done something similar?
I wish I had something like this (or any sort of written documentation) about my college experience – that would be so cool and definitely do-able.
Becky Higgins has strongly hinted at doing a project like PL for school years. I think she will debut it this Fall!!! Check out her blog for the latest info.
My guess on the school years kit is that it will be geared towards K-12 (vs. college) but I don’t know that for sure.
Hi Heather, I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing for my daughter this fall. She will be a freshman and I’ve decided she needs her own PL album or for us to make one to capture each of these four years. I haven’t decided if we should squeeze it into one or two albums or one for each year. After seeing some of the great homemade albums at the BPS community for PL it seems like it would be more fun to make our own and match the school colors even. Please let me know what you decide or want to discuss more ideas about it, would love to hear them. You can email me at rikm@adelphia.net Thanks
P.s. I agree 100% with what Ali said and wishing I had something like this from my school years. That is why I am committed to this project. My kids will have so many different albums recording their childhood and it makes me very happy.
Love the photo of Chris and Simon on the trampolines. I also love that you select important photos of the week – might try that next year. I challenged myself to do a photo a day this year, and sometime miss photos I want to include. Thanks for sharing your work – an inspiration as always!
Ps – have to laugh every time I look at the photos of summer activities as we start to rug up here in Christchurch NZ ….
Ali, what font did you use to type on the journalers? I’m loving your Project Life!
I use Garamond for journaling.
the journaling cards are perfect for this project. you’re making me want to try this for next year!
What are the journaling strips on the photos?
They are pieces of the Project Life journaling cards (http://amzn.to/mL0ELI) – I just cut off the edges with the rounded corners and hand-write the little sentiments.
What a great tip. I’ve cut out the patterns to put over pictures, but never thought about this. thanks!
Yet another clever idea! Thanks so much for sharing.
Ali, do you use adhesive or do you just stick them in there free-floating?
I use mini-staples (or adhesive).
i love the mix of color + bw photos… so pretty.
I think you are doing a fantastic job….
I love how you share the summer from your view. So much fun in the summer and having new adventures for the kids. Love the mix of photos and journal writing for this week. Hooray Simon for liking his camp and trying something new and it being a success. Go Simon. The photos of Anna each week are looking like she’s growing everyday. She’s so big and not such a baby face anymore, sniff. Happy Summer to the Edward’s family
Any preference between the instax mini or the 210 model that takes wider pics? I want to purchase one but I’m not sure which. Thanks.
I love the mini the best – for portability and just because I like that smaller size better.
Hi Ali! I’m always inspired by your work. It looks carefree, artistic, neat, simple and beautiful all at the same time. Keep it up! I hardly do anything digital. I don’t own Photoshop so I edit my photos with Picassa (because it’s free and I think I’m overwhelmed by the idea of everything Photoshop can do). I tried the link you included so I could view the video showing how to use the PNG files, but the link didn’t work for me. Could you let me know the actual web address so I could view it? If I could learn how to use your digital journalling templates I would but them and love them! I know it!!
Hi Amy – I’ve got a whole series of posts on getting started here: http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/getting-started-digital-scrapbooking.html. That specific post for the PNG files should be here: http://aliedwards.com/2011/02/adding-text-to-overlays-long-journalers-in-elements-and-word-video-tutorials.html
Thanks, Ali! Can’t wait to take some time to review some of that. Thanks for getting back to me on that.
Beautiful… love it all..
Anna grew lot.. So did her big brother!
I love your project life and get a lot of inspiration from it when i do my pages. I too try not to do it all at once but a little bit each day or couple days. I wanted to know how you capture or take picture of your pages. they are so clear. Do you use natural light? what size lens do you use? I never see any glare.
Hey Cindy – I’ll include info on that in my post next week – thanks for asking!
Fantastic – love the colours, the energy and the mix of text and hand-writing.
I also love that you shared that you did this in two hours – I think that if I’m gonna be successful with PL I will have to piece it together at the end of the week – dedicate some quiet/me time to get it assembled. Getting excited for my July start!!
Thank you
It’s definitely faster when you don’t stress over it and remember that whatever you get in there will be great
. Also, you might want to have at least the cards out during the week – I really like having them available to jot stuff down that is hard to remember at the end of the week (I usually work on it some during the week vs. leaving it all to the end because I love grabbing those words that leave way too fast).
Thanks so much Ali – great feedback
I’ll be sure to have the cards handy in the kitchen – you’re right… the words do leave way too fast!!
Ali – wondering what corner punch you use to match the corners on your overlays?
I’m using a small dark blue one from Marvy Uchida – not sure if it’s still available. I think it’s a 1/4 inch. The corner chomper from We Are Memory Keepers includes both a 1/4 and 1/2 inch corner punch.
I want to thank you for showing these pages. I have Project Life for the first time this year and have
been saving little mementos along the way because of your blog
The Cars 2 tickets because I wanna remember the first movie for some of our kids with auditory issues and they did great! Our son graduating from high school and his stub from his Senior Class trip to Disneyland, ER bracelet from a visit last week with Max and the picture our son drew at his last day in his social skills class.
All important things I wanted to remember but would have forgot without you reminding me.
Awesome photos!! Especially the trampoline jumping and Anna at the edge of the pool. I am a swimmer now, but learning was super stressful for me…that photo of her sizing up the pool sums it all up. She looks way more comfortable than I was!
That black-and-white of Simon is really sweet, too.
Inspiring beautiful layouts, all of them. I get inspired every time I come here and check out your weekly update on this project. Thanks for sharing it all with us, and being such an inspiring person/force.
I’m loving you PL posts and album!! You are such an inspiration!
I have a question… If I buy the small journal card overlays and the long journal ones, can I use/print them as many time as I want? Is there a limit? I never bought anything like this but I want to by these so bad!!
Thanks!
Sarah
No limit at all – you can use them over and over
.
Thank you Ali for the quick response!
Sarah
Just purchased both of them this morning! I also watched the videos you shared. So excited to get to play with these!!!
Thanks again!
Sarah
Hi Ali,
I think this will help my PL have the crisper, more stylish look that I am hoping for versus my messy handwriting (although I do want my son to see some of that in his album too – I like the way you mix yours).
I purchased your journalling card overlays and love them! The video was helpful. But when I went to print them it took up the entire 4 x 6″ photo paper that I was printing on. I’m not sure how to get them to stay the right size (i.e. not expand to the size of the photo paper). Please help this newbie
Thank you!
Erin
Btw, I’m using Elements.
Hi Erin – when you go to print make sure that “scale to fit media” is unchecked. Try that and let me know if it works -