January 10, 2012

Project Life Update (Cover & Week One)

I have already gushed and gushed about my love for this project...so I'm going to jump right into my update for the week.  First...I threw together this cute little title banner for my weekly update posts.  LOVE that the digital elements are available to purchase and download immediately!!!!  (more on how I will be incorporating these elements below).
This is the opening page of my 2012 album.  Totally love the idea (and FREE printable from Cathy Z) for a 6x12 title page.  I tweaked the idea a bit and cut one of my 12x12 papers in half, printed the title on cardstock, cut it out and incorporated a photo.  I raised the cardstock with pop dots for a little more dimension.
On the back side of the 6x12, I have photos of the kiddos.  LOVE, LOVE these photos from Stacey Clack Photography!  (you're the bomb Clack!)
Since the photos were only 4 inches wide, I attached them to another patterned paper, used a few digital elements in Photoshop Elements to jot down the kid's ages, and adhered a big fat ribbon I had laying around that kind of matched.  MAN, those kids are cute!
Found these cute little acrylic letters and just stapled them right to the paper and photo.
January 1st fell on a Sunday so I struggled with how to approach my first week since I lay out my weeks Starting with Monday ending with Sunday.  I decided to use this space for my One Little Word. 
As the photo above shows, I'm hoping to include some little blurbs about each kiddo.  Maybe about Dan and I too?  I did this last year, and I liked the little "snapshot" of who they were at the beginning of the year.  They have changed so much!!!!
Here is my first week.  Again, since January 1 fell on a Sunday, I just grouped it all together and did 8 days in a spread.  Oh well.  I put my title page on the top right corner so my Friday, Saturday, & Sunday are together.  Weird?  Maybe...it just seemed to work best last year, so I'm going with it again eventhough I'm going with the weekly approach vs. photo a day.
Left Side.  Some DSLR photos, some iphone photos.  Trying not to abandon my camera, but that darn phone is just so convenient!  Since I've been using Instagram photos a ton over the past few months, I keep running into the obstacle of what to attach my square image to?  Last year I used my 12x12 patterned paper, my bi-fold journaling cards, random scraps of paper...but a thought occurred to me...
Why not use the digital papers I purchased that coordinate with the kit???  DUH.
So that's what I did.  I always crop my photos in PE before uploading them to Costco anyway...Why not just put a patterned paper behind the 3.5 x 3.5 instagram  and print it as a 4x6?  (added a shadow behind the image so it looks more 3 dimensional.)  Saves my 12x12 paper, and only costs about $.13 each.  May seem like a lot of steps, but this process has become pretty streamlined for me.   The entire digital collection is about $20, I've already used it a bunch!  LOVE!!  Thank you Becky and Jessica Sprague!
      
I'm linking up over at The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday.  

14 comments:

Ânia Morouço said...

It's a realy beautiful family. The kids are soooo cute.

Hugs :)

Tara Willman said...

I've said it once, I'll say it again: You're a rockstar! Your layout rocks ... the pictures and the details - ::Wishing for a PL Monday Night::

You're awesome!!!!! #1 Fan - Right here!

Anonymous said...

Oh, that definitely gives me food for thought. I haven't bought the digital kit, just thinking I would use up my stash. But I have so many more cool elements that would look so good in the book! And that picture looks totally real with the shadow behind it. :-) Thanks for the inspiration!

Abby Devine said...

I am new to PL and found your blog through PL Tuesday link up and from my friend Christy Wallace.

Love Love Love your title page and first layout. You have a beautiful family. Saw lots of great ideas for my future layouts. Love the blurbs about your kids and even you and your husband. And one word for the year is a fabulous idea!

Julie Rae said...

Wonderful job! Just discovered your blog from PL Tuesday and will definitely be returning. Very inspirational! As a digital scrapbooker I am SO excited to see someone embrace and love the new digital offerings. The fact the kits are so complete and once you own it, you never 'run out' is just HUGE and yet no other blog I have visited grasps digital beyond the printing of books...until now. Thank you and I'll be back to see how you incorporate the digital aspect in your amazing pages throughout 2012!

slkooiman said...

I love the idea for the Instagram photos! Pinning it!

The Wallace Family said...

Oh my I love everything about your book so far. Your title page is amazing and what cute kids for sure!! I love the photos. Your first week is amazing as well. I always do Friday-Thursday. Don't know why I started that but this is my third year and I just continue that way each year. I always put the last few days of the year before in my new album. Your album is going to be amazing at the end of the year! I am also thinking about getting the add on kit to add to a few of my pictures throughout the year as well. I just have to get photoshop for my new computer!

Melissa said...

Your layouts are beautiful! I've been seeing so many posts about OLW and I'm really tempted to join in! It seems like such a wonderful way to set the tone for the year. I love the way you incorporated your OLW into your title page!

Kimberly said...

Love all the little details and color!

Heather said...

SO pretty!!

I'm Mel said...

Love your layout for the first week and the idea for the instagram photos is awesome. Can you explain how you put the shadow in to make it look more 3D, love it. The more I see the digital elements in action, the more I think I need to have them. :)

Colleen said...

I love it Sara! Such a pretty title page to start the year. Your kids are adorable!

Anonymous said...

Your title page and 1st week layout are super cute!

Shannon b said...

I love your idea for printing the instagram photos directly on the digital paper! Brilliant! And I love how you incorporated your OLW on the front page. After your comment on my blog I've poked around your blog a bit and you have such a cute family and cute personality! I'm excited to follow along with you this year!