Day in the Life: July 2013

I am having so much fun with this little project.

I followed along with Ali Edwards pre-set day at the end of the month, though it seems she didn't really do it this month herself.  Not sure about that one.  If I miss the day and do it the next day, it is fine.  I just like the sort of randomness it gives the process versus a day I might select myself which would more likely be a certain type of day.  Turned out this day had plenty of specialness to it anyway.

I used a silhouette cut for the title card, but I did not use the negative so there is no see-through element this month.  I am in love with this design from Kal Barteski (and used it already here.)  I painted the hello with Heidi Swapp gold mist to echo my story page.  The airmail envelope is from an old Jenni Bowlin kit.  I love airmail.

I decided to try some more night shots.  The fact that we randomly had a date night on a Wednesday helped with that.  

 I used another Kal Barteski design as a mask here.  I just placed the die cut on cardstock and dotted gold mist around it with a paintbrush.  I have seen this idea on pinterest, using embroidery on negative space. The effect of the color+texture of the thread give the design it's appeal. I have no where near enough to sew that much, but luckily the Heidi Swapp mist has little bits of gold in it not just ink so it gives the look of some texture at least. 

 The pages open to hold more stuff.  I just attach two photos together a piece of washi tape (use white washi and save yourself some headache) then glue the inside photos on top. Easy and has held up so far.

 The tabs this month are more vintage bits from Jenni Bowlin. The cardstock is simply a 4x12 piece folded in half and slipped into the page protector.

I finally used one of the actual Kal B stamps.  I stitched around each story page for a simple border.  I think it adds a finished look to the mostly bare cardstock. I used a few life.love.paper labels here and on the photos as well.

 I used a few Carta Bella stickers because they really worked with my color scheme.  And yes, getting a second dinner of Vietnamese food at 11pm made me incredibly ill after we got home.  Romance was everything on date night though and Ryan stepped up and cleaned the mess.  Now that is love.






Thoughts on this project so far:

• I still love the see-through title page and will likely return to that next month.
• I could be a little more creative in my photo taking.  I'd like them to be brighter and less cluttered.  (Just like my life in general, ha.)
• A continuing theme of gold is developing which I think helps to keep the album cohesive and seems to work well throughout the different seasons.  Same thing with adding a touch of paint.
• I love keeping it simple, but I also like the little bits of texture and color too.  I think it is important to do this to give the pages a nice finish, otherwise it looks too incomplete.
• I like doing one visual thing (sometimes borrowed from Pinterest) for big impact each month.  It keeps it fresh and keeps it fun for me. 
• I like my story cards a lot more when I really focus on my handwriting instead of letting it get sloppy.  I also make the first word a little decorative.  It is a little detail that makes a big difference in the final look for me.  
• I would also like to try some different story telling.  In the future I would like to include some lists, like books we read or songs we sang throughout the day.  I could keep a running list on my phone to record it. 

linked up with Jessica.