Week in the Life 2012: So now what?

Week in the Life: the week after.

I'll be honest. I have really good intentions. That maybe last a day. Such is the case with the daily journaling for Week in the Life. I did Monday...on Monday night. And it was awesome! Last year I didn't keep up so well with the journaling and note-taking, but I was still able to put together an album that I love. So yes, it would be easier in the end if I would keep up daily, but that's not always what works for me. I wanted to share a bit of where I am in the process. Because this is a huge project. Especially if you have >1600 photos like me! Here's a look at my Monday journaling:

Monday's Journaling

A closer look. This is classic: "Where are my keys?" Typical Monday morning.

I'll admit it. I felt pretty good about myself! The behind the scenes: I got off a little early that day which made it much easier to do! So as real life rolled on, my dedication wavered. And that's okay. I tend to do a bit of pre-journaling by writing in various notebooks, etc before I decide what I want to say on the daily sheet. And that's where these come in: 

My arsenal of note-taking tools.

A few things that work for me:

• Planner. Useful for jotting down the main events of the day as well as details. I will go through my photos and see what I've captured to help jog my memory. Can't remember an exact time? That's what photo "details/information" or metadata is for. I found that when I was putting together my album for 2011 that I enjoyed having a few exact times in there. It made it look like I was oh so good at keeping up! Ha ha! Really just looked up the info in iPhoto!
• Grid lined notebook: Love this thing. Sam found it for me at the bookstore and I love it. I can sketch ideas, jot down notes, whatever. I start all my projects in here.
• Cute little notebook: Little notebooks are great especially if the sizes of the pages can be used directly in the project. Bonus if they are cute! This one is from Martha.

Hello cute little notebook!

• Daily sheets from Ali Edwards. I printed these out smaller to fit my project too. I am planning on slipping them in between the photo layouts for additional journaling. I like the small format of my book but one thing I observed is that I wanted a little more details about the week, and these planning sheets are great for that.
• A good pen. I bounce between pens. For the actual daily sheet I am using a Zig Millennium pen in I think the 01 size. Other than that I just keep a variety of pens handy because which pen I use depends on the mood I'm in! Random but true.
• Momento: an app on my iPhone that grabs all my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds. I can also jot down notes each day. So easy. I love it! Day One is also good for journaling.

So that is kind of where I am at right now. I did upload photos from my iPhone and Canon every night. I have also created smart albums for each day in iPhoto. And I have my album and pretty papers and things just waiting for when I have time to work on it. 

Which leads me to reflect about an epiphany I had during the December Daily rush of 2011. I had made my cover and planned my papers but putting it all together and posting all the time just wasn't working for me. I realized that it was ok!

I create because I love to do it. The photos, the moments and the memories are what I want to remember. Thankfully I found Instagram because it allows me to share in a "microblog" format with the photos and make connections with other scrapbookers that I enjoy.

Hopefully this has helped in some way to those who may be a little slower on the production side of things like me. My motto: enjoy the journey and savor the process. It's such a blessing to be able to capture so much of our everyday. It's truly amazing and I am truly grateful for it all.

So how is your Week in the Life coming along? Would love to hear other tips too!

Week in the Life 2012: The Plan

Here we go! Week in the Life starts tomorrow. Some have already started and others will start Monday. Yet others will do a totally different week and that is cool too. It's awesome to see the #weekinthelife hashtag start heating up on Twitter and Instagram. Just awesome to see different approaches and the excitement with it all. I think it really helps me personally to maintain the level of excitement I need to be able to document so much for the full week. 

I wanted to share some of my preparations I did today. Since I actually finished my project from 2011 (even if it was last week!), I decided I wanted to keep it simple and repeat the recipe. I also like having at least a few matching albums to put on a shelf. You can find the link to my project here. 

Here is the Martha Stewart with Avery album for 2012. I like to add a few filler pages just to get a feel for the direction I am headed. I'm going with a little bit calmer feel hopefully. Not that the week is looking any calmer to say the least!

I also like to gather my supplies that I might use. Almost looks like a little Week in the Life kit. Stacy Julian calls these "Materials Files" and I like doing this because it keeps things together and helps me get an idea of where I'm headed. 

Some of the supplies I am probably going to use are these journaling cards from Bananafish Studio. I am also using her daily cards and am hoping to use some of her stamps or other items. These are actually a digital file called Simple Sayings that I just printed and trimmed to fit the size of pockets I'm using. What's cool is that with the digital files you can customize them too. I'm kind of excited to play around with these this year. You can get the link to the daily cards here.

And I'm hoping to work in some of these really cool wood veneer cameras, arrows, cars, and hearts from Studio Calico. Maybe add a little Shine too. I'm also loving the flair and other bits and pieces. Not sure it will all make it into the album but it's fun to look at and be inspired by it!

As for the patterned papers, I am using mostly Studio Calico from either the Take Note collection or the Classic Calico Collection Volume 2, some transparencies and paper from Hambly, and some other things like corrugated cardboard, cork board and even a shopping bag from the Container Store. See that cool blue paper? Totally cut up a shopping bag!

A few letter stickers is always fun. The cardboard is from Pebbles, and the smaller stickers are from Studio Calico Abroad collection.

Also wanted to note that the silver bookplates from Martha Steward/Avery are sold separately from the binder. Here you can see them on the paper they come on. I will just use one of those on the spine and add my title to it.

As for the interior pages, I am mixing it up just a bit. I fell in love with Ali's new Daily Banners, so I am going to use them on the first page of each daily spread with a full size photo (my pages are 5.7 x 8.5). On the right side of the layout I am probably going to use the 2010 Ali Edwards template that I resized for 2011. I got the updated sentiment tabs, and that template design gives me a chance to add in some patterned paper, which I love. Here is a little mock up of what it might look like.

Between the left and right sides for each day is a trimmed down baseball card protector page. It has four pockets per side, each is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Here I will have the transparency and the flair for each day, plus  photos, journaling cards, ephemera, etc. And the awesome days of the week flair I am using this year are from Shelley Haganman on Etsy. You can find these here.

I'm sure I will try to work in some stamps too. These are from Ali Edwards Studio AE from Technique Tuesday, and some from Studio Calico (they were the exclusive Project Life sets--I hear they are making new ones too) and Bananafish Studio. I also like the little label stamps from Jenni Bowlin, and the little banners and camera are from Dear Lizzy.

Okay! So there we go. I really need to go clean up now and finish getting ready. Here are some items on my checklist or some tips that might help:

• Charge the camera and iPhone. Upload and delete photos from the SD card and the iPhone.
• Print the daily sheets from Ali Edwards. Really great resource for documenting the week. You can find those here.
• Clean the house just a bit. Reality is one thing, total sloth is another!
• Brush my teeth and get to bed. I really need some sleep.
• Relax and have fun.

I'll try to be posting some during the week but not sure I can with my work schedule. Will most likely be posting on Instagram. You can find that here or follow me on Instagram: annetteharing

Thanks for looking! I had fun pulling product and making a few preparations. Now ready to say Hello to Week in the Life 2012 and Hello Routines! Here we go!