enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Elisekolo
IMG_5983

It’s two months later, but I finally have my Week in the Life album to share. I took a pretty minimalist approach to the documentation process and just focused on taking a lot of photos and writing a blurb about what I did Monday – Friday. (You can see all the posts here : M, T, W, Th, F.) The plan all along was to get the text and images off the computer and into something but I didn’t have a plan of attack.

IMG_5989

Which is why I was pretty excited to make my second Kolo project a digital album. (You can see the first project I took on with Kolo here.) I uploaded my images to their photo book online program, selected templates, dropped in my photos and copied in my text. I spread the upload/design process out over a couple days (the program saves your progress) and the album shipped in about a week. I was very pleased with the quality of the printing. At the end of this post, there is a 5 minute video which shows how I used the program.

IMG_5990
IMG_5996

For my title page, I combined a self-portrait from the week and some of the text from this post about my thoughts on the project.

IMG_5998
IMG_6001
IMG_6005

For me, this was definitely a project where the photos were the most important. I chose simple layouts and repeated them throughout the album. Not every photo that was taken each day made it in, but a lot did. I especially liked the template for a row of photos because I thought they told the best chronological story.

IMG_6006
IMG_6004

As mentioned, the only text in the book was what I jotted down here on the blog. I chose to keep it all in a block and paired it with photos from the appropriate day. Each day ended up with 3-4 two pages spreads depending on how many photos I had.

IMG_6002
IMG_6009
IMG_6012

Overall, I am so pleased with the result. It was nice to upload, arrange and send to print. Because I didn’t save any scraps of paper or handwritten thoughts, the digital format worked really well for me and this project. I will definitely be participating in Week in the Life again (hopefully capturing a week Paul is home next time) and may use the same format or experiment with something new. Because the program was so easy to use and the quality was good, I am going to be making another album (topic to be determined!) soon. I am also hoping to work with Kolo to develop more templates for the program. I will be sure to share when they are available.


using mykolo.com from elise blaha on Vimeo.

And as promised, here’s the short video that shows how to use the backend of myKolo.com. I am happy to answer any questions in the comments!

disclaimer : the album for this project was provided free of charge by Kolo. Content idea and expressed opinions are all my own.

Posted in , , ,

17 responses to “my week in the life album.”

  1. susan Avatar

    It is gorgeous & very beautiful !!
    but that isn’t a surprise – at all
    so inspiring are you !! xo Susan

    Like

  2. susan Avatar

    ps. I love how the big blocks of type are so close to the edge on an entirely white page – makes them look like images as well 😉

    Like

  3. Kaytie Yost Avatar

    so simple and gorgeous! i feel like i could have easily picked up this book in a book store and looked at it for hours. really great design, i love it!

    Like

  4. Lisa Avatar

    What an awesome way to document that week. Very sleek and well presented. Nice 😀

    Like

  5. Marieke Avatar
    Marieke

    Hi Elise!
    I really loved your ‘week in the life..’-posts! But this album isn’t doing it for me.. there’s something missing. A spark or something, that your work normally makes look amazing.. Sorry!

    Like

  6. Skye Avatar

    I can’t decide how I feel about the blank white page with text off to the side. But I love the rows of photos! And I love how using an online program takes away all the work of ordering photos, cutting them, and putting the book together- not that I don’t love that stuff, but not having to do it all the time can lead to more finished projects.

    Like

  7. Sara Avatar

    This is a good alternative to Blurb. Thanks!

    Like

  8. Kate Avatar
    Kate

    It’s really beautiful! I’m inspired. I think I should do this, too. I followed your posts of week in life and I loved your photos when they were posted at this time.
    Please stay so creative. I love to get my own new ideas by watching your blog.

    Like

  9. Funnelcloud Rachel Avatar

    This is so beautiful, Elise! I’ve been wanting to make digital albums for years but the amount of photos I have to sort through is daunting!

    Like

  10. cinback Avatar

    Love the simplicity of this. I was away during the Week in the Life project this summer, but I am planning to do it the first week of October. Your version gives me ideas…

    Like

  11. Design Editor Avatar

    Love the clean design. Hooray for white space! Great job.

    Like

  12. Kathy Avatar

    I love your album and clean lines and photos. I have done WITL for 3 years in a row and it’s great to look back on it say 2 years ago to see how your life has changed. I agree, your next one should be when Paul is with you but I love how you documented all those things while you were by yourself. I love those breakfast bowl shots every morning as well. I’ve printed mine, just need to do some more journalling. I have a hard time once it’s over to get in and finish it off.

    Like

  13. Koko @ Koko Likes Avatar

    This is so cute! I will definitely be trying out Kolo, so cute

    Like

  14. glee Avatar
    glee

    beautiful approach to the project. mine is still in shreds on 2 desks!! one day soon…

    Like

  15. Peter Avatar

    You did a beautiful job on this project Elise. I love the use of white space. You see that done in high end art books and other design pieces. I never would have thought of doing that on a photo book and using the templates in that way. But less is more here. It really highlights the photos you did choose to use. Love the chartreuse choice too. Thanks for using a Kolo book for this project! Disclaimer: I work for Kolo.

    Like

  16. samone Avatar
    samone

    Hi Elise!
    Not sure how I found your blog but Ive been here for a few hours now reading all your posts! Thought Id say Hi from Australia and just say i love this book! Also very inspired that you can create and call it work – off to continue reading. Samone x.

    Like

  17. Pink Ronnie Avatar

    It is so dangerous reading your blog because you keep giving me new ideas when I know I realistically don’t have time for. But this Week In A Life is great!
    Ronnie xo

    Like

Leave a comment