Week in the Life : Album Creation Part One

I definitely felt like something was missing yesterday. Having a camera attached for seven full days and then taking it away definitely made for a different sort of day.

One of the things I hoped for in doing this project again was to get back into the groove of taking daily photos. It has been awhile since I felt that desire or excitement related to using my camera daily. It definitely renewed my spark and appreciation for the everyday.

This past week I took 247 photos. That is quite a few less than when I have done this project in the past. Monday had the most photos with 83 and Sunday had the least with 14.

I spent most of my working day yesterday figuring out my formula for this album. Here's what I ended up with: two 8.5x11's (also called a spread) with one baseball card divided page protector sheet sandwiched in between. So far I have just completed the basics and plan to do a bit more embellishing (especially on the patterned paper rectangles as the week goes along) - process details to follow below:

NOTE: A lot of information follows. Take a deep breath, read through, and adopt the pieces (if you want) that make sense for how you want to put your album together. This is my album and the way I approach the process is what makes sense to me :) - everyone will be different.

Also, I work fast. Once I get going and decide on a formula I just go for it and don't spend a lot of time wondering if this is the "right" way or if I should be adding this or that. I want to get it done :). This approach is not hard, there are just steps to go through along the way.

MONDAY

[ album: Corduroy American Crafts 8.5x11 (ended up with chestnut); page protectors: Avery Baseball Card Protectors; cardstock: Bazzill Lily White ]

TUESDAY

THE PROCESS

When attacking a project like this I prefer to do "like" things all at the same time. It's basically working in production-mode: doing things that are the same from one spread to the next all at the same time rather than finding yourself jumping back and forth. 

Here's my process:

1. Print out all the daily templates (I am using the 8.5x11 Story of Today templates. A 12x12 version - that could be adjusted to 8x8 for printing at home - is also available). I added my journaling to my templates before printing them out. I simply copied and pasted from my Word document and adjusted the font/spacing/etc.

ADJUSTING THE TITLE TO MAKE ROOM FOR JOURNALING

As you will see, some pages have much more words than others. For these pages I adjusted the height of the title on the Story of Today template to make room for the journaling (this means my photos on these pages will be smaller).

Here's a look at how to change the height of the title to adjust for your journaling (images are from Photoshop CS3):

1. Type or copy and paste your journaling on a new layer (on top of the template).
2. Select/activate the template layer. Using the rectangular marquee tool, draw a box around the title, line, and days of the week. Be careful not to cut into the border as you are selecting this area.

3. Switch to the Move Tool (the black arrow) and the selected area should just include the title, line, and days of the week. Use the up arrow key to move the entire piece farther up the page to accommodate your journaling.
4. Print.

2. Add a stamped date and circle the day of the week on each of the first page templates. Circle stamp from savvy stamps. Letter stamps are unknown. Ink is from Stampin Up.

3. Order photos or print out at home. I ended up printing all mine at home today once I established my design formula. I printed photos for the opening page of each day. If you are using the 8.5x11 templates the width of my photos were 7.25 inches (the height varied by the amount of journaling - Monday had the most).

Before adhering I rounded the corners of the photos on the top to mimic the frame from the template. 

There's seven pages finished (six are shown - the seventh is in the album already).

4. For the other full-page part of my spread I decided to do a gathering of photos that would fit into the same Story of Today template frame as the first page. Again, I followed the steps above to move the title to the top of the page (I removed the line and date at the bottom and the days of the week). I printed out seven of those onto white cardstock. 

My photo gathering (created in Photoshop but could be easily done by cropping and arranging printed photos) is 7.25 inches wide by almost 9 inches tall. I varied the placement of the photos (large vs. small, etc) from one day to the next depending on the number of photos. Print, trim, corner round the bottom edge, and adhere to the white cardstock.

14 pages done and in page protectors (even though I plan to go back in and add a few embellishments - most likely word stickers, felt pieces, etc).

DIVIDED PAGE PROTECTOR PAGES

1. Print photos 2.5 inches wide x 3.5 inches tall. I chose to go with twelve of these size photos for each day - six for the front of the page protector and six for the back. The other pockets are filled with patterned paper (see below) or pieces of stuff cut to 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches.

Here's a look at the canvas of photos in Photoshop:

To do this and any other sort of gathering I create a new canvas (usually something like 8 inches x 10 inches at 300 dpi) and then open photos I want to use. Each photo is re-sized before adding to the canvas: in this case to 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches (which requires portions of the image to be cropped). I usually set my photo to 3.5 inches tall first which gives me a width of over 5 inches (if you have the proportion lock checked).

From there I use the crop tool to crop the image to 2.5 inches wide. I get to keep a lot of the image that way. After sizing the image I drag and drop it onto the new canvas and print after filling it up.

2. Cut up patterned paper rectangles for the divided page protectors: 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches. I cut seven of each pattern. Here's what I went with (from top left: Basic Grey Recess, Hambly Studios, Scenic Route Claudia Street (this one has big numbers on the back), 7gypsies Life Creme, Bazzill Basics Dotted Swiss Cardstock, and Scenic Route Sonoma Napa Street. Any six papers you have at home will work.

3. Slip a combination of photos and patterned papers into the divided page protector pockets. If you have many more photos you could skip the patterns and go with all photos or if you have a lot of stuff cut up pieces of those things to 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches to fit. Consider adding more pages if you need more pockets.

Some days I had less than 9 photos to crop after doing the photo gathering for the second page. For those places I will be adding more stuff/patterned paper rectangles.

These patterned paper rectangles will be embellished over the next few days.

Make this project as simple as you can for yourself so you will actually DO IT! You have already done so much work in taking photos, gathering stuff, and documenting life. Give it a home.

The pumpkin muffin recipe can be found here at allrecipes.com.

A complete list of posts related to the week in the life project can be found here.

 

Comments

[Peggy]

I love that you finished this already. I just finally downloaded everything last night, I will order the pics tonight or tomorrow.

My 4 year old took some pics on Saturday at a Halloween festival and they are some great shots, I must have a budding photographer in my future.

Thanks for doing this.

I hope to do something similar in December.

[Hannah]

Ali, this project is turning out great!!! I'm working on mine today!!! Thanks so much for the inspiration! (love the PP's you picked out, those are some of my favorite colors!!!)

[Melissa]

YAY for you, Ali!!!!

I am just learning PSE6 so I spent the majority of my day resizing & distorting photos into your DD 8.5x11 overlays!! 'Not sure how to "un-distort" them w/o redoing them...*sigh*

I am wondering if anyone can tell me where to have .psd files printed out; none of the online photo developers are recognizing them.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: THANKS for getting me 'moving' on this. My mojo had taken a hard hit lately and this will get something done and, hopefully, moving again. :-)

[Rachel M.]

Wow...amazing! I am so inspired, as always!
Thank you so much for continually sharing your time, life and creativity with us! :)

[Nicky Anderson]

Love it Ali - have started to figure out which pictures I will do as my main and then which ones to add. Love the process, Can't wait to get mine done. With a houseful of company for thanksgiving this weekend - I am going to at least organize my pages this week, then create my picture spreads in photoshop (which now that I am getting the hang of - I love)
Can't wait to see the finished product.
Can't wait to get mine done.
Thanks again for the inspiration!!
Nicky

[Ophélia]

Great Great album.
Are you doing the same template on 8,5*11 landscape size?
I have a old AC album in landscape size and i am thinking to do my week in a life album in here...
Thanks a lot for this fabulous project, and sharing your work.

[Heather]

This is awesome -- I love the way your are organizing -- I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the end product. I may do this way when I do this project again in the spring (for this year I am going to try to do a fall, spring and summer version). For this time I made photo composites that I plan to put in a 5x7 album-- or maybe a 6x6 and inlude the story on the facing page -- we'll see, I am picking up the photos this morning and will try to workon it today/night. :) Heather

[Danielle]

I love that you are encouraging us to keep it simple you are so right if things get too complicated I would give up on it. Yesterday I put together a photo collage of each day so I have 25 snapshots of each day and then today I'll print those and start putting my pages together.

[telisj]

Ali-this is so super cool! I love it!

[Kim]

Oh sure, you've already done your album for an entire week and I have yet to even download my photos from one 24-hour period! LOL!

Although I didn't photograph the entire week I did get a bunch of great shots, this was a really fun project and it was great to see you "week in the life of..."

[Becky Swisher]

Hey Ali- love it! If you have Any Photoshop Elements users that can help with the redesign of the templates I would be eternally greatful! Just let me know.

Becky

[Jamie Rex]

Ali, it's been awhile since I "tuned into" your blog. I've been away from daily scrapbooking, and focused on my garden. I had to say, I'm so glad I peeked when I did. My husband is getting ready for a second deployment overseas. He'll leave in 2 months, and I think I will do a one or two of these week-in-the-life albums for the kids to look at while he's gone. Last time he was deployed we made laminated pictures, and videos, and this time we'll do it again, but the addition of a story about everyday life with daddy should really help them not lose sight of who he is while he is gone. My kids are 2 and 4, and they love to look at my scrapbooks. Thanks for the inspiration as always. Your art is, as always, fantastic!
Jamie

[Laura B.]

I was so excited to start this project. Prior to this week I hardly ever used my camera. My husband was always the photographer. Hopefully I can spend tonight putting my game plan together for the finished project. Love the look of yours.

[jennyg]

Your album looks great! Can't wait to start pulling mine together!

[Maria]

Thank you, Ali, for all that you do to encourage us and make us appreciate our lives all the more - God Bless! Maria

[simply]

wow! I love it...now how would you do the "mini" card part if you didn't have a printer at home??

any ideas?

~simply~

[alexandra]

This is seriously fabulous!
Can't quite figure out why it made me weepy to look at it - I'm either sleep deprived or totally inspired by your creativity - come to think of it... it's both!!
Thanks, Ali!!

[amy]

I have loved this project. I didn't do it this week but plan to next week. It is so inspiring.

[tracy]

amazing. wow.
You have already accomplished a lot and I just love how it flows together.
I am going all digi and did what I hope are my first two pages (well, I need to do an intro)but like you, might add a few embellies. it is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7652520@N05/2920067136/
I am running off to a meeting but will include the materials I used sometime today.

[tania]

way cool! i love how simple, yet GORGEOUS this is!

[Christine_H]

I love your finished album Ali!! :) Totally inspired to start this project. Thanks for sharing :D

[Maggie]

Whoa. That is some serious work. Not a good project week for me, being Fall Break...that's why I posted so many finished pages as I went last week. I got through Tuesday or Wednesday with that approach. Maybe i can print and add...not even sure on the size of my album for sure yet, though. Still mulling. Love that quote "give it a home!"

[Molly]

super, super cool, Ali. I love seeing the process and the project. What a keepsake!

[Mish Gasser]

Your album is really coming together nicely...clean lines, lots of words + photos. :-) I really like the idea of putting the baseball card holders in the middle of each day to hold the "goodies". I'm still collecting those things from the week. Can't wait to see more.

[Becky in VA]

Question: Are you including original receipts or did you copy them and print them out? I'm wondering if the thermal printing will hold up. Also, are you incorporating the newspapers you saved at all?

[Sue]

Thank you Ali so much for sharing your creativity. I cannot wait to put my album together!

[Ali]

Becky - yes, I am including original receipts. You could just as easily scan or photograph them as well :). The newspapers are going in an additional page protector in the back - you can see one popping up in the photos of the cover page + spread.

[Ali]

Simply - I would either just have your photos printed at regular size (4x6 or 3x5) and then crop them to fit. You could also print wallets (which are 2x3 - just a bit smaller) and either mat them or just go with that size.

[bloomingayls]

Reading everyone's comments makes me anxious to start putting the book together. I just wanted to say, I really missed my camera today. I don't want that part to end. It made me look closely at the little stuff and liked that.

[sandee]

wow, feeling a little over whelmed with all this information. I think my eyes glazed over somewhere after reading about the Avery baseball protector pages, which I do like for the receipts, but after that I think I froze.

[stephanie]

thanks ali. I only did a weekend in the life and this will help me with trying to arrange the set up! plus the avery card holders are easy to find. I think I will add this to my regular album and not give it a seperate album though.

[Kerry]

Hey Ali! Thanks for sharing your process. It's so helpful for those of us who stare and stare at your projects and think, 'Okay, how did she do that?'. I fell off the wagon about the middle of the week but I did still take a couple daily pictures. So I've decided to do a 'Photo a Day Album' for the month of October. Something I think might be fun to do for a whole year.

Melissa- If you hold down the shift key while you are cropping your photo it will eliminate that distortion. :)

[tara pollard pakosta]

you know what's funny? my brain can't think so orderly like this and so that makes it harder for me to do it so simply! i am better off just grabbing some scraps and making it simple, but not all the same because that's too hard for me to grasp! LOL!!!!!!!!! but i LOVE LOVE LOVE what you did! so so much! i wish i could copy it but again, that's too hard for me!!!!
i will get mine done by sunday!
tara

[Shelly Kettell]

LOVE IT SO FAR!!! Can't wait to see the finished product! You're great! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!!

[Linn]

Wow. This is really inspiring. I haven't scrapbooked in months, and this is just enough to light my fire again. I'm taking Jessica Sprague's digital class right now and am thinking something like this combined with her digital pages we're creating might just work for or recent vacation album of 500+ pictures! Thank you, Ali.

[Ali]

Becky - are you looking for help in addition to what I wrote above? Email me :)

[Ali]

Melissa - hold down the shift key while you are resizing to keep the proportions correct. Also, you will want to save those .psd files as .jpg (just click save as and choose .jpg) before uploading to a developer.

[Ali]

Melissa - hold down the shift key while you are resizing to keep the proportions correct. Also, you will want to save those .psd files as .jpg (just click save as and choose .jpg) before uploading to a developer.

[kat]

so great! thank you so much- i looooved doing this project, and can't wait to put it together!!!!!

just a question- i don't have photoshop. do you know another way i can get my pictures to the width of 7.25 and still print at home?

[LesleMora]

Truly inspirational. Thanks!

[rachel carlson]

this is FANTASTIC ali, thanks for the continued inspiration! mine will all be digital but i will probably add to my (the year i turned 40) album.

[Ali]

Kat - what sort of program do you use to print at home? I would guess there is some way to set the width and height of the photo.

[jonipossin]

Thank you so much, Ali, for the fantastic inspiration and ideas!! I have loved reading (and seeing) the daily modeling of your album. I know it took oodles of your time and it has been very appreciated. It's such fun to see a project from beginning to end... and sooooo helpful.

I did an innovation on yours... "A Year of Tuesdays". I volunteer in a friend's 1st grade classroom every Tuesday. As a retired Reading Specialist I am having fun doing a story with a response to it in the form of a class Mini-book that each child contributes to.

Using your album format... I'm journaling through words and pictures about each Tuesday. I'll send you some photos when I have the past 5 weeks completed.

The mini-albums are on my current post on my blog.

Merci to you!
Joni

[Kristin]

WOW - you have been busy, looks fab!

I took in total 653 photos. Can't believe it. It took me ages to sort through them all. I finally got down to under 200 for the week and now just waiting for them to arrive. On Monday i really had a problem not taking photos all day, my outlook as the family photographer is now for sure a lot different.

I now can't wait to scrap them all.

Thank you so much for such a great challenge and sharing a bit of you with us all.
Kristin

[vanessa]

I defiantly missed my camera yesterday and by noontime I had to bring it out! I can't wait to get started. I'm thinking I'll do an 8.5x11 also. We'll see. Thanks again.

[Amy]

You rock, Ali! Fantastic album. I so love the way you concentrate on the photos and the words. My "Week in the Life" album from CKU-Anaheim 2007 is my most prized.

Thanks for the daily inspiration. You truly are my creative hero.

[Jakes Mom]

Another winner! Love this formula. And all the photos of everyday life are fabulous.
Thanks again for sharing this with us and working through it step by step.

Sharon F.
Oakland, CA

[Christene]

It has been so much fun to play along with this project.

After (or on) the last day's spread, I am going to do a 'lessons learned' page. Such as... (start) I hate this new P&S camera - too slow, too few options, etc. (end) This new camera takes nice clear pictures and I managed to capture a good idea of our week in the life shots. (start) It was harder for mommy than Matthew to say goodby to his bedtime bottle this week. (end) I am so proud to see my little baby growing into such a happy little boy.

I can't wait to finish the project. Thanks again for the inspiration, Ali.

[Liz (Sweden)]

Wow, wonderful album! Love how the album is not filled with lots of decorations but more focused on telling the story.

After seeing this and other very inspirational mini albums by you I have started to make my own little minis. I will definitely have to make "a week in the life" album too. So many ideas so little time.. but next up is a travel mini of my recent trip to Iceland.

Thank you for such an inspirational blog.
Liz

[Kristin]

Ali-
I used all of the information I gathered for the "Peek into my Week" class at CKC-Hartford and made an awesome mini-album which, thanks to all of the homework I did beforehand, I was able to complete while I was there. Woo-hoo!

But now I have another question --- how do you store your minibooks? I am usually a 12x12 scapper, and have just recently started making some smaller books with chipboard/acrylic and alternative bindings. The new books don't really sit well on a shelf and I have two small kids so I don't want to leave them on a coffee table. I want them to be handy for sharing with others, but I don't think I have a suitable place. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
~Kristin

PS - so funny that you took 247 photos while taking photos 24/7.

[Annette]

this is amazing. thank you so so much. it's the first project I've done in awhile and needed just your inspiration to keep me going.
question: when you have done your photo gatherings and resized your pictures - have you had any problems with them printing darker than the original photos? I've had this problem a couple times and not sure how to correct it. (I have been printing at Costco.) Sometimes the results were ok and usable but sometimes just too dark. Just wondering if anyone has any tips. thanks :)

[Davinie]

Okay, you are brilliant! I have been following your week but have yet to commit to doing the project. I worry that my life is too boring to fill a whole album, lol! But you have really inspired me.

[Kimberly]

I really love the look of your album. I was wondering where you purchased the Avery Baseball Card Protectors? Thanks!

[Ali]

Kristin - I store my minibooks in a basket that is either in the living room or the dining room depending on time of year, etc.

[Ali]

Kimberly - and Staples, Office Max, etc should have them :).

[Vicki]

I love your album. I did this project. Taking pictures is not a natural thing for me - so even though I took probably less than 100 photos in the week, it was WAY more than I would typically take. I ended up printing pix off each day and just sticking them - along with memoribilia from each day - in my journal. I just wanted to complete the project. I love the way it turned out. I'd like to try it again in the future, making an album of it all. Thanks for your great ideas!

[Ali]

Annette - you can lighten the entire group by using the "curves" tool or adjusting the "levels" in Elements or Photoshop (or whatever editing program you are using). I do this between my computer and home printer - I know the photos need to be lighter on my screen to come out better on my printer.

[diane]

I really love this and am so inspired to do it next week. I wasn't yet ready this week, but after seeing the result...I can't wait to get started!

[Melanie J]

Love how you put things together so quickly. The template for journaling is fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

[SueB (the other one)]

You are a genius! This is wonderful. You've done so much in so little time. I've nearly given up on this project as I get distracted and forget to take photos, even though my camera has been with me each day.

[Sharon]

Thank you for all of the wonderful detail. I took your Day in a Life class several years ago & loved it. This post has really got me ready to do another. Thank you again for being such a generous and sharing soul ...

[Jessica Griffin]

Great project. My mother in law was in town when this started, so I'll have to start next week sometime. Saw your ad in Paper Crafts, wish I would have seen it sooner! Have a great day!

[Annette]

Ali,

love this!!!!!!!! I'm waiting on my album so that I may start. Thanks for all of the great info on resizing and moving the title. I'm probably going to follow your format, love it!!!!!! WOW you do work fast!!!
Annette

[marilyn Tan]

thanks, Ali for the step by step guide on creating the album. Love the details and also a great way to document the daily life. I must really do one for myself and I admire you for the energy you have during this stage of pregnancy. :) Take care and God Bless.

[Angela M.]

Love, love how your project turned out!! How would you do this project if you did not have Photoshop? I am thinking that you can just print the templates, handwrite your journaling and mount along with photos? Don't you have a book similar through Shutterfly where I could just upload my photos to that? Thanks for all of your inspiration! You're amazing!

[Jen Davis]

Love what you did with yours...can't wait to get mine going, hopefully tonight! =)

Thanks again for doing this as a group thing Ali!

Jen Davis

[Audrey]

The way you broke down the process and explained it makes it so less overwhelming. THANK YOU! Today is day 2 of photos and words for me!

[Kelly]

I have been thinking about doing more "hybrid" scrapbooking because I'm hardly ever home, but usually have a computer. I love the way your book turned out. And you still get do to the fun stuff - embellishing. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Joyce]

Ali, you're my hero!

I love your work. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Sue]

Hi Ali,

I am going to use the 8.5 x 11 Story of Today templates for my album also. I am just learning how to use Photoshop and I cannot figure out how to change the color of the text and lines on the templates. Can you provide a how-to on that? Thanks so much.

[Maggie]

I confess I am not participating in your Week In the Life exercise, though I do plan to at some point within the next six months.

But I did want to thank you for the "growth chart" photo you took on Sunday. Seeing that made me think that maybe I should mark Jackson's height at times other than just his birthdays. (He is almost 15 months old.) Lo and behold, he has grown over an inch in the past 2 months! Thanks for that reminder that we can do things "just because we want to" and not because "it's time".

[Amanda D]

I can't get the 8.5x11 Story of Today link to work. Is it my computer? I'm totally in love with you album. Love the clean lines and the simple-ness of it & everything. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Elka]

Ali, you must hear this 24/7, but you seriously rock my world. I love how generous you are with your process. I learn so much from you!

Thank you so much.

[Rinda]

Ali,
your "Just do it" message is really inspiring! I'm hoping my pix are in my mailbox today, and your post will give me some real motivation to finish the project quickly. I've done some quick minialbums with Shimelle, and I think I need to channel that energy here, too.
Thanks again!
Rinda

[Maggie]

This project has totally inspired me to do something similar for my daughter's first year album! She's almost 2 (gulp) now and I've been struggling with how to document her first year. I think this will be perfect! Thank you SO much!

[Erin Glee]

You AMAZE me that you are already (almost) done!

I am starting my 12 Days of Christmas album with circles cut from 12''x 5-1/2" pieces of soft olive green paper I have left over from another project... I'm making a 5" circular album with a tab~( from cereal boxes glued together to make my own chipboard), and I will punch out photos that I take every day and stick them on the solid cardstock pages and then hand journal and stamp/embellish afterwards. The tab will be where the holes for the ring are punched, and hopefully it will look like a ball tree ornament when I hang it up to display it!

Thank you for your inspiration!

[Bianca]

Hi Ali!

I just started to read your Blog!!! Fine stuff! The album is really great. I love your clean and simple style!. I hope I can find the time to do this album soon!

Bianca from Germany!

[angie (CKMB & AMR: craftyscrapr)]

ali, your album looks fabulous!..i think i am going to use the baseball card pages as part of my album...it is a great way to get a bunch of pics in!....

thanks for the inspiration!...

[Heather]

Darn you, Ali. ;) I've ordered an album to do mine in, but I really, really adore the simplicity of yours. So now I'm thinking I should change my format, I'm worried that I'm making it far too complicated and it will never, ever get done. I can't print 12x12's at home, so I may just have to change it up to 8.5x11. Hmmmmm. Off to think........

[Lydia]

This is an awesome IDEA!

[Ali]

Sue - here is a link that will show you how to recolor the .png files: http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/blog/2007/3/23/photoshop-friday-2007-12-re-coloring.html

[Tanya]

Wow Ali you're a machine..I can't get over how quickly you got your album together. I haven't even decided what album to use yet. I'm at a stand still and I think I'm making it a lot more complicated for myself than it needs be.
I love all your ideas. Thank you for sharing them.
T.

[Shayne]

Your album is an inspiration to us all. I'm now beginning to put mine together and love your layout - one small problem is that i live in South Africa in a small farming village and scrapping supplies are somewhat limited! Any ideas how i could order the Avery Baseball card holders? I plan to order the album from scrappers.com. Many thanks for your daily inspiration!

[SueB]

Especially enjoyed seeing the pictures depicting the process you go thru to create the album ~ TFS and thanx for the inspiration!

[Natty]

wow gorgeous album you've put together. i documented this week in pictures and words but was thinking about leaving it at that but your album is inspiring me to rethink!

[abbey]

HI there, I have a question - I was thinking of doing an 8.5x11 album using the "Story of Today" download, but I wanted it to be horizontal rather than vertical. Is there a way to flip this element? (I'm new to the digi scrabpooking world and the software here so I appreciate the help).

Abbey

[abbey]

Oops, that should be scrapbooking... sorry. In any case, I like what you've done here and think mine may be similar if I can figure out the proper orientation of everything. Thank you for all of the great suggestions. I really have enjoyed the project thus far and am looking forward to seeing everyone's final products.

[Ali]

Abbey - you can easily adjust the orientation (place the template on it's side). Moving the title/line/etc will be a bit trickier since it will be shorter than the width - you would need to add to the line. It can be done :).

[Nikki]

this is amazing and coming together so fast. I love the template and fancied doing something similar but the template is for US sized letter paper - do you think it would resize to A4?

[Lisa]

Ali- I love your layouts. I really like the way you did the first page with The Story of Today template and photos (I'm assuming from the whole week?). I purchased the 8.5 x 11 templates and I'd love to do something like this, but I have seven files and each one has a day highlighted (bold), so I couldn't do a title page like that. Is there a way to un-bold one of the words? I don't have Photo Shop. I have been using a program for Mac called Portraits and Prints to put photos onto the template and then print out the whole sheet. Thanks- Lisa

[Ali]

Shayne - I would check at a stationery/office supply store or maybe an online one that services South Africa. You can also check online at staples.com.

[Tania]

love everything you do and this project looks great, i plan to do it next week had a bit of a crazy two weeks and wasn't really in the frame of mind to do it.

I love your headboard though in all your pictures any chance you could share were you got it?

Thanks Tania

[Ali]

Hey Lisa - What happened for me is when I re-colored the template (by following these instructions for Photoshop/Elements: http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/blog/2007/3/23/photoshop-friday-2007-12-re-coloring.html) the bolded day of the week went away so that they were all the same. You could also erase the days of the week and just use the main title.

[Ali]

Tania - it was hand-made by my sister-in-laws dad :). We love it.

[Susanna]

Ali, this tutorial/tip came just in time for me. I was going to hang myself with tape runner because I'm so desparately behind in my scrapping. I loved all the tips to really get streamlined.

You were the Runner Up Tutorial of the Week at Card of the Week.com. You can see the original post here: http://www.cardoftheweek.com/2008/10/crafting-101-tu.html.

I did use a picture from your post, with links back to the site and the original post. I hope that is OK. Please feel free to email me if you need me to change anything.

I also have an “I was featured” on badge for you if you want it :D

[kate]

Ali, first of all, as always, you inspire me much. I am expecting my first little bebe girl in November and am planning on taking this "concept" and making it into her first year baby album. But I want to do the non-card slot pages 12x12 with then the 8.5x11 card sheet in between... my problem: i don't have a 12x12 printer but desperately want to do the whole template thing... what do you suggest? have you ever had things printed onto CS at a place like kinkos or something? any ideas? btw, you rock!!

[nicole]

absolutely awesome!!!

[Nancy L]

Ali, I love this! I don't have PS either and I am wondering is there anything I else I can use to use these templates?

[Ali]

Nancy - you can use these templates in Word. Open a new word document. Click insert/picture and select the .png file. You will need to adjust the margins of your page (depending on the default) and then enlarge the template by selecting it, holding down the shift key, and dragging the template to size.

[Ali]

Kate - I know you could have them printed through any developer that prints 12x12 or larger. You would want to check out the paper selection - maybe choose matte rather than glossy. I don't know that they are able to print them onto cardstock.

[Charisse]

Ali, you are such a inspiration :)
I'll be tackling this kind of project some week in December, since it's my baby boy's first Christmas & the first Christmas I don't have to work!

Thank you so much for all your tips!
*Charisse

[Anna Aspnes]

Ali what binder are you using?

[Krystyn]

Ali -- I'm hoping you can answer this question for me...I'm printing my pics 2x3 but I end up losing so much on some of the pics that they end up looking funny...any suggestions?

I'm doing 4 pics across on an 8.5x11 LO, 2 rows of pics w/journaling @ bottom like yours.

Thanks!!

[Ali]

Krystyn - try resizing them first before cropping (not sure if you are doing this already). I resize to 3 inches tall first (I have it set to keep the proportions correct so it just gives me the other number). From there I select two inches of my image - sometimes from the middle, sometimes from the side, etc.

One thing to keep in mind when cropping like this is that part of what the photos do is show pieces of the whole story. It is ok to crop out some aspects and focus on others to help tell your story.

Hope that helps.

[Anthonette]

Ali, I've loved hearing about this project. You've wet my appetite...definitely. I love seeing the photos you've taken. I've only had my Canon SLR since July and PSE6 since then too. I still feel "green" on the digital Photoshop stuff, but I really want to try this out. I like your 8.5x11 overlays. I'll certainly let you know when I complete my Stories of Today. Thanks for all your inspiration and all the step-by-steps you given to help people like me.

[Ali]

Anna - I am using this one: http://store.scrapbook.com/ac-76153.html (American Crafts)

[Shannon]

Love what you have done so far.
I have finished my album, I used a smaller album because I want to do this again and again, that's how much I enjoyed the process. I tried to keep it simple since this is my first attempt.
Look forward to seeing what else you do with your album. You are such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing this project with all of us, it has really opened my eyes to so much more.
My completed project is posted on my blog, enjoy, http://scrapbookbungalow.blogspot.com

[Shannon]

oops, typed my blog incorrectly,
http://thescrapbookbungalow.blogspot.com

[Elizabeth]

You work super fast...very impressive and a true inspiration to me. Love how yours turned out. I think I'm going to use the same idea with the card protector idea for most of my pics...went over board I think with all the photos. Thank you again for this idea...I'm so excited, I'm picking up my photos tomorrow along with a few supplies I need. This will be my weekend project. Can't wait! This whole experience thus far has been fantastic...love it!!! Thanx Ali!

[abbey]

Thanks for the suggestion and reply above. Another question - Am I correct that you're writing a story out from the bullets we saw throughout the week? I'm not sure how expository I'll be as conceptually I'm hoping to keep what I wrote at the time to capture the moment a bit more, but think it would be "cleaner" to read later if I polished it into stories rather than bullets. That said, I do have an expository bit I wrote each day on my blog that I might include and then have the bulleted items as well. I guess I'm just trying to keep a balance between the words and the pictures and struggling with how to do that a bit.

[Angela]

Ali...
You are a fantastic teacher...thank you for sharing this. I've been waiting to see how you were planning to pull everything together; I love the card pages for the smaller photos and bits of things.

You mentioned that you took more than 200 photos - just a quick question - what size are the images that you shoot? Your photos are always so crisp and bright. I typically have my camera set on high resolution because you never know when you might want to blow up a photo, but I don't really want hundreds of everyday photos that are 4 meg cluttering up my IPhoto. Just curious about your process regarding this.

Thank you again for sharing this wonderful concept for documenting the everyday. I'm looking forward to trying this process throughout the coming year.

[Grace]

You put it together so quickly! Awesome. I wish I had an ounce of your talent! I just love the simplicity and how it didn't need "excess" to tell the story. Also love how you used those card holders to place pics - - I can find those anywhere!

[Cami]

I know those letter stamps! They are only the *most* awesome letter stamps ever created, they sold for super cheap, too, if I remeber. They are by PSX. I have every set they made. I don't think they are still around, but I love mine, too.

Love your album!

[Ali]

Abbey - I went with bullet points for simplicity (super easy to just cut and paste). I do lots of different types of writing throughout my projects :).

[Robin]

It's good to see a pic of your handsome pup here!

Love this idea! It may take me more than one week to get a week's worth of pictures-- sometimes I get involved in life and forget to photograph it! But the format for your album is awesome. I've never done an 8.5x11 album, but I have some of those baseball card holders here (I use them for small rubber/acrylic stamp storage), so I think I'll try this!

[Ali]

Angela - I shoot at the highest resolution (but not raw). I use an external hard drive to hold my photos and digital elements.

[mrstjshelby]

"Words and pictures are yin and yang. Married, they produce a progeny more interesting than either parent."
— Dr. Seuss

I love that quote - and thought you would too.

[Angela]

Thank you for answering my question so quickly. I appreciate your personal assistance in as much as I know your readers appreciate your overall inspiration. A final thought...

I like to think that one of the ways a person can measure their contribution on this earth is in the number of lives they touch in some meaningful way. How wonderful for Simon and your precious baby girl that their momma has affected so many lives in such a positive and personal way. Thank you, again...may they grow to be so proud of you!

[Ali]

That was really nice - thank you Angela :).

[Christi O.]

Okay, LOVE the idea of using the card protector pages!! I just picked up a few packs of those to store my ATCs, so thanks for sharing this! Your book is just GORGEOUS!! Seriously, you could publish it! :)

[Amy Bjorkman]

Hi Ali. I was wondering where I can purchase the Story of Today templates? The link in your post did not link to anything. Thank you! BTW, I really enjoy your blog and your work. Truly inspirational.

[Ali]

Amy - here's a direct link: http://www.designerdigitals.com/ecom/product_info.php/products_id/5929

(not sure what is up with the links - they are going through for me?)

[Annalisa]

Ali,

I have tried to stay away from the project because I am a LAZY BUM, but I had to give up because it just looked so much fun, so I started one week later but I have started!! I am only at day 2 and it is FUN!!!

[EmmaJ]

I totally love your album! I have posted a slide show of my pages. Once I get them printed off I'll just add the journaling and be done. Check it out at

http://emmaelizabethjohns.blogspot.com/

Thanks Ali for the inspiration! This was a great and fast project.

[Krystyn]

Thanks Ali! Yep, I'm resizing, then cropping so I guess I have to get used to the images like that. Yours always look wonderful so I'm hoping mine will be OK. I can't wait to post them to the Flickr group. I'm loving this project!!

[Shannon S]

Hi Ali,
Thanks for all the helpful information. I went and downloaded the template from Designer Originals today and started to play. I typed up all my journaling for each day in word. I made several 8 x 10 canvas' of photos, so I was on a roll. I hate to say this, but I am stuck big time. I for the life of me can not get my printed journaling in word, to stick it as a new type layer ontop of the template in Adobe CS2. I just got that program not to long ago and this is my first project using it. I read all the help topics on the program about type, but just can't seem to get the type to copy and paste into the type/text layer. Do you have any idea, what I am doing wrong? I know you use MAC, and this is different for you, but did you type all your journalling manually into the layer above your template? I can't even get that to go for me. Maybe you know of a good article that uses word and type into adobe photoshop for me to read. I am about to just print out everything and just use my sissors to make it fit. URGH! I thought this process was to be the easy part. Thanks Ali for any help you can give me.

Shannon S.
(If I get this to work, I can bring you my album to show you at the Seattle Expo)

[Ali]

Shannon - you should be able to select the Type tool (the "T") and then point and click on a new layer and drag to create a text box. Then you should be able to copy + paste your text from word.

Basically what you are doing is creating a text box.

[Kim Dynes]

Ali I have LOVED this project from day one and all the thoughts, question/answers, tips, your step-by-step approach (especially for newbies like me), and especially your beautiful photos (congrats on baby #2 - so excited it's a girl - you look great!).

In response to Nancy above about downloading the .png file into Word (I also have Adobe Acrobat), is there a way to change the color and/or move the text around? It's probably pretty easy, I just don't know how and after I bought the wrong size overlay (I now have the 8.5x11 AND 12x12), I'm pretty frustrated at this point....

[cyndi]

WOW that is SO cool, so inspiring. Love the simplicity of this ... I can do this!

[Ali]

Kim - I am not sure how to change the color or change the text around (or if you can) in Word (I don't normally use it for this sort of thing). Anyone have an idea?

[Julie in Houston]

ALI! I absolutely love the simple look of your album. Thank you so much for the step by step instructions. It's such a fun and quick album that looks great. Can't wait to see your extra embellies!

On the Monday journaling, did you talk about the purpose of the album or the process of recording your week???

[Kelly Lanley]

Ali, this so rocks! I downloaded the templates today and even figured out how to unzip and open them!
Thanks so much for answering all these "post project" questions. I was wondering how to change the color on the template and voila! The info was right here already!
It is really wonderful that you are providing so much for all of us!!
THANK YOU!!!

[Kylie]

Hi, I just wanted to say thank you so much for this awsome project.
A couple of people above asked what they can use if they don't have PS or PSE, I don't have either, (I can't really afford it right now.) But I use GIMP, awful name I know, But it is a great programme, very similar to PS but free, just search on google and download. Takes a little bit to get used to, but I have heard PS does too? Since I am still getting used to using GIMP I am making this week Photo resizing week (I am resizing to 3x2, so four photos fit onto a 4x6 since I don't have a printer so have to get them printed at the store - 3x2 photos cost $1 to print, yet 4x6 are only 15cent!?!? Go figure.) I will also get together the album and cardstock and any other paper I will use and then next week I will put it all together.

Thanks again, Kylie :)

Oh, and also, at the end of the album I am going to make the last page, a page of "Nows". What the petrol costs this week, Prices of Staple items from the groceries, our address, what type of car we have, anything that is "Now" that might not be in a year or two, or tens time.

[heidi y]

Wow! How did you do that? You made this process look so easy - I'm sure I'll stumble a little here and there. But you showed us the results in such a short period of time! Thanks so much for the step-by-step instructions. This has really helped me see that it can be done!! I may take a little longer than you, but I'll definitely complete an album! Thanks so much Ali!!

[Caryl Hope]

Thanks Ali! As usual you have a knack at making things simple. At first I thought this is going to be a big project and I don't know if I can finish it but this entry on putting the album together is so helpful and easy. I have ideas on my pages thanks to you. I wish I have PSE so I can buy your overlays though. :-( I'm one of those scrappers who gets intimidated with digital scrapbooking.... maybe your next book will be making digital simple instead of intimidating! LOL. Anyway, this may sound stupid but do I need PSE for your overlays to work? And are your overlays compatible with PSE7?

[Heather]

Ali, I don't have PS, but I am on a Mac and thus using iPhoto. Will the templates work in there? Or do I really need a photo program or Word?

[Peggy]

I may have missed this question/answer but do you have to have a photo program to use your downloads? I have Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition but not sure if that would work, otherwise I have word.

TIA.

[Heathyr]

Wow!!! Ali, I can't believe you are already done with this project. It looks so clean, I just love the look of it. Awesome and truly inspiring :)

[Kerry R.]

I have had so much fun taking photos this past week and my family has caught on to the idea too (now they say, "Hey Mom you'll want to get your camera for this ..."). Your presentation is simply inspiring -- I love it! (Even when I try to do something just like I've seen it always comes out different -- but there are lots of ways to do things right.) THANK YOU for sharing this experience -- it has been nice to be reminded of how big the "little things" are!

[tracey]

good lord woman.
how do you do that?????
that is amazing.

i got sidetracked...I'm out of town for a conference. i'll get back on track later this week but i will say that i love that baseball card look. just awesome!

This is perfect Ali! Thanks
We are heading to Lindeman Island (a tropical island of the coast of Aust) in 2 weeks and I know now exactly how I will document our first big family holiday. My little girls are 3 and 5 and they will love being able to look back on their holiday in an alum like this. My holiday will be even more relaxing knowing how to scrap