Ali Edwards has been talking about the upcoming Week In the Life adventure in July, which is a good reminder that it’s been over a year since the last one, and maybe I should get the heck finished with that thing.
Don’t you think?
I’ve been putting it off, mainly because my last memory of working on it doesn’t infuse me with good feelings. I don’t know if I was overwhelmed by the amount of info and pics I was trying to coordinate and fit into the space, or the fact that I was working on it in the public library where a guy near me wouldn’t stop making gross noises and I couldn’t figure out how to get on their free wifi.
Funny how negative feelings can affect you, no?
Because when I pulled my project out, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed what I had done so far!
It wasn’t that the products were my favorite, or even the photos. It was the content.
The stories.
The little things I had forgotten.
What My 2010 Week in the Life Project Looks Like
In between the photo-sleeve pages from Becky Higgins’s first Project Life Album I placed a pocket page I’d made ahead of time for each day. In used eyelets as the holes for the album rings. I am not putting these inside a page protector.
On the back of that is my own photo of the day that I had Izzy take for me. I protected each of these photos with a transparency.
I had more photos on this first day than I did on any other day, which forced me to find ways to include all the notes I’d taken for the day. I love the journal strips on the left page (first photo, above) and the painted metal tab I added to this journal card, which I tucked behind this photo.
Motivation to Return to Old Projects
Our tastes in products fade. Even some of the pictures we take and initially love prove not to be as significant as we once thought.
But when you…
- have a solid meaningful concept for your project — as Ali did for Week in the Life…
- and when your project has a decent foundation in design principles, which stand the test of time…
- and when you’ve captured the stories that remind you why life is good, or why you love the people in your life…
Then your older unfinished projects will still motivate you, even after it’s been sitting away in a box for a long time.
That’s why I was so excited to work on this again once I actually pulled it out and read the journaling I’d recorded on the first page.
The Rest of the Project
Fortunately, I had done much of the work before starting the photo-journaling and assembly parts. I only had a few things left do. First, I needed to transfer all my journaling, along with the subject word-strips I’d made ahead of time, onto the journaling cards.
And I needed to assemble the back pages of the pockets, where I added my own Pic O’ the Day.
I miss the journal strips on the photos from the first day. A few of my pictures could use the help of some context, so I may go back and add some here and there. But since it’s not necessary, I’m not going to bother with it now. I have other stories to tell.
Of course, there have to be mishaps in any project. I put the holes on the wrong side of my pocket insert page. The “stuff” pocket should be showing right now, and this picture side should be facing the other way.
No worries. It’s just a lack of consistency, but it’ll do.
I LOVE this paper i used (twice!) for my outfit pictures — the yellow fading into blue. I have a tutorial where I show how to do that. Paperclipping Members can watch it from the archives: Paperclipping 146 – Easy Altered Backgrounds.
If you’re not a Paperclipping Member, you can see a few examples of the background papers I made using variations on this technique. Then hop over here to find out what you don’t want to keep missing out on by not being a member!