I attempted the project in 2018, 2019, and 2021 without success. I found the project overwhelming and discouraging, not 2 words I ever want to associate with my memory keeping. In 2022, I took a new approach and it was the first year I successfully completed the project and sent the album to print. So this year, I followed a similar format, not needing to try anything new when I know what works for me. And I am happy to report I have completed my 2023 project and have sent it to print. Yay!
In this post, I am going to walk you through my format and the few products I used to support my storytelling.
Photobook Format
Like last year, I created a 5x8 Moleskine Photobook through Milkbooks. The photo book is set at 96 pages, no more, no less. Having this predefined constraint is helpful because it removes a decision point. It also confirms my budget from the start, because I don't have the option to add or remove pages, I know the cost of the photo book is set regardless of how I design the interior pages.
I also used the same Wilson | Wilson Life Documented Card for the front cover. This year I added the dates documented for easy reference. I like the consistency year over year for this project.
Photo Selection
Last year I started with the page design. This year I started my process with photo selection. It is a key change in my process I credit to Catherine Saunders. I took her Family Archive Photobook course in October 2022 and it fundamentally changed and improved my process. I recommend it to anyone and everyone, no matter your memory-keeping experience.
For this Week in the Life project, I took a total of 877 photos! For reference, in a typical week, I may take a total of 50 photos, and that is on the high side. When I first saw that 877 photo count, I admit, I felt a pit in my stomach. It felt overwhelming, but that feeling quickly dissipated because I know I have the tools at my disposal to cull and select the photos for my album.
The photo target is 50 or less. That equates to about 6 or 7 photos per day. In my first pass, I go with my gut, which photos do I love immediately, grab my attention, and make me feel sentimental? That first pass resulted in 84 photos - a drastic decrease from the 877 - yay!
From there, I know I need to eliminate about 30 photos. So day by day I review my first pass and make notes about the stories I want to document. This organically culled my photos down to the target and helped me identify the topics that warranted a custom photo collage spread.
I am ready to design and document the photobook pages!
Interior Blueprint
Daily Chapter sections. I did this last year and love the way it breaks up the photobook. I used the Wilson|Wilson Day Titles Collection for the Monday through Weekend chapter sections.
Last year I created custom templates for every page, and while I love the look I wanted this year's album to be even simpler to create, so I simply leveraged the Milkbooks software and standard layout options for the majority of the pages. Now, there are a lot of options in the software so to help myself reduce decision points again, I decided to stick with a single photo per page paired with a single journal template. The journal template I used throughout the album is from the Wilson|Wilson 'Tis the Season. Christmas Album 6x8 Templates. These are my go-to templates for almost every project. I added the day to each page along with the time stamp of the photo.
This year's photo book only included six custom spreads - 2 full bleed photos paired with a title and caption and 4 customs photo collage templates paired with a title and journal spot. Limiting the number of custom spreads and putting the photo book software to work is a huge efficiency gain and has transformed my memory-keeping process for the better!
Full Product List
Limiting the number of products in my projects is another key efficiency driver. For this album, I used the Wilson | Wilson Life Documented Card for the front cover. I used the Wilson|Wilson Day Titles Collection for the Monday through Weekend chapter sections. The journal template is consistent throughout the album and is from the Wilson|Wilson 'Tis the Season. Christmas Album 6x8 Templates.
The first page of the album is a dedication page from the Wilson|Wilson Childhood Book Matter Collection. I used the Everyday Life and Home titles on the custom full-bleed spreads from the Wilson|Wilson Yearbook Template.06 Collection. I also used the Around Here and Pet Chronicle Cards as Titles on 2 of the photo-collage spreads. A third photo collage spread included the Favorites card from the Wilson|Wilson About Me Childhood Collection. The last product I used was a quote card from the Wilson|Wilson Family Life Childhood collection on the final page of the photobook.
Final Thoughts
Documenting a week of your life in this detailed format is an endurance activity vs. a sprint. Culling the photos, creating the pages, and documenting the words is a labor of love, and once the process is complete and you send the album to print it is one of the best feelings a memory keeper can have. Second only, to having the finished album in hand and flipping the pages with the ones you love. That said, I encourage you to give it a go. I promise you won't regret documenting a week in your life.
If you have made it to the bottom of this post, a heartfelt thank you. Please know that I appreciate you and value your time in being here. This community is so special, and it is a true privilege to have the opportunity to connect with you, thank you!
~Amberleigh
@memorykeepingmama