Week in the Life Title Page and my Process

So, Week in the Life is already over. This time I didn't took as many photos as last year. I have about 20 photos for each day. But each photo has a story to tell. Each photo captures us, right now. And this is exactly what my goal was with this project. I am working my way through each day and will share the finished spreads starting on Thursday. Today I show you my title page and talk about the process behind my pages.

Because I pre-ordered the Week in the Life Kit I got seven transparent dividers for each day. They come with tabs to separate the days. I didn't plan to use them for this purpose but decided to cut them down and add them to 3x4 pockets as see-through filler cards. I used one of the transparencies as my first page, I just cut away the tab. That black and white Week in the Life circle comes from the packaging.

Then follows my actual title page. An enlarged 6x8 photo of us. I totally forgot to take a proper photo of us but then found this one I took on Friday. You can't really see us, but I like the shadows. To the photo I adhered a chipboard star from the kit and one of those phrases from the perforated strip sheet. Before I printed the photo I also added the words "August 2015".

On the back of the transparency I added another circle. I used a stamp from last years kit.

(click photo to enlarge)

I am the planner kind of person. This means that I have to pre-plan all my pages before I even start editing my photos. First of all I wrote down which page protectors I got with the kit. With them I could follow a similar order. Each day starts and ends with a 6x8 page protector. In between I use the four 3x4 pockets and two 4x6 pockets. Sometimes also the 3x8 pocket and photos without page protectors.

As I mentioned in this blog post I sat down each day to upload my photos and write about the stories behind them. This helped me a lot while planning my pages.

First I picked the photo for the first and the last page. Most of the times it was one of the first or last photo I took that day. And then I decided where to put all the other photos from the day. I also made sure to add some of the filler cards that came with the kit. I didn't have to decide which one I'll use, but I just made a place holder (filler card) in my sketch.

After I finished my plan (which took about 5 days, but I wasn't constantly working on it) I edited my photos in Photoshop Elements with RadLab.

This year I am adding almost all words before printing directly onto the photos. For this task I simply copied the words I wrote down each day to the photos.

And then, after printing my photos (I print them at home with my old HP Photosmart) I have to put together the spreads which goes very fast. I add some phrases from the perforated strip sheet here and there, some other embellishments from the kit and my filler cards also from the kit. Because I already have my words on the photos it's a fast process after I printed the photos. 

I am working on it day by day. This means I am editing all the photos from one day, add the words, print the photos and put together my spreads for one day. Last year I edited and printed all my photos at the same time but this was exhausting and boring after a few hours.

I am really excited about this project and can't wait to see the finished album.

SUPPLIES I USE
Week in the Life Kit with the black/white album

TOOLS I USE
StazOn ink pad, White Bazzil Cardstock, Tiny Attacher, date stamp, I print my photos at home with my HP Photosmart C5280 on Canon semi gloss photo paper

FONTS I USE
For the title page: Avenir Next in 24 pt type
For the text on my photos: Avenir Next in 10 pt type
For the day and date on my first pages: Arial bold in 24 pt type and Arial in 18 pt type