enJOY it

HERE WE GO!! It's week one and I'm obsessed with this project all over again.

I have decided that I'll be making my weeks Monday to Sunday (instead of Sunday to Saturday) so I can keep the weekends together. I will continue to share each spread on the blog, but they will go up a week later instead of the day after the week ends. This will give me more time to be sure I am happy with the layout and not just throwing it together so I have something up on the blog. Ideally, this will NOT just give me free reign to get behind on the project. 🙂

I am hoping to simplify the journaling I share on the blog each week by using a bit of Q&A. This is the first week so things may get tweaked, but text should be similar from week to week as I share thoughts, techniques (when appropriate) and ratio of iPhone photos to "real camera" photos just for fun.

click the photo to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : January 1 – January 6.

What happened this week? We were up in Sacramento. I decided to include two photos (one of me and one of Paul) from New Years Eve even though technically that's 2012. We were apart most of the week as Paul was hunting in Washington state.

Yep! I know I spelled "embracing" wrong. The error was caught and fixed after I took these photos.

Anything special in the spread? I used a mini calendar card from Paislee Press, I'll be using one of these in a 3×4 pocket each new month. Because it's a new year, and that is exciting, I tucked some colorful sequins into the pocket as well. I also have a few bits from the Studio Calico project life kit in the spread this week too. I am not a subscriber, but I write for their tips & tricks column once a quarter and am lucky enough to get a kit then.

Yep! I know I spelled "embracing" wrong. The error was caught and fixed after I took these photos.

Techniques this week : I talked in my "moving forward with Project Life" post about how I wanted to make my 2013 album "better." At the time that was super tricky to articulate. And even now, looking at this spread, I don't know what makes it "better" but I do know I feel good about it. This week, I used white space on the photos to add handwritten text (which is super normal for me) and incorporated letter stickers right on top of the photos. Love the look and how it feels almost editorial. I'd love to do more of both throughout the year.

Overall thoughts : I can already tell that this album will have more handwritten "paragraph style" journaling. I am obsessed with the 3×4 journaling cards & simple text designs. I am excited to incorporate two or three a week to share extra stories.

Ratio of iPhone photos to "real camera" photos : 9 to 1. Just the photo of bearded Paul grinning at the camera was taken with my real camera. Most (but not all) of the iPhone photos were processed with the AfterGlow app.

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : 9 to 1. Paul took the landscape one while he was up hunting. The ones of me/us are self timer photos with the TimerCam app for iPhone.

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Studio Calico Project Life kit (ampersand 3×4 card & geotag badge), Elise Joy you're my favorite stamp, Paislee Press calendar card, Freckled Fawn arrow wood chip, Meredith Tilton Love Light transparency, American Crafts letter stickers, Basic Gray for Studio Calico letter stickers, Elle's Studio journaling tag, Studio Calico "man" paper clip, Martha Stewart & Avery labels.

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project? Check here.