What a fun family!

Lots of little kids + snow the day before and still some on the ground + rain threatening on day of shoot + laid back parents and grandparents = AWESOME Shoot!

My 365

Here's the deal. As the launch of Becky Higgins Digital Project Life has gotten closer she's "revealed" more and more about it. It promises to be a great product and I'm sure it will be easy to use but while I've waited for its release I've been messing around with some options of my own.

This fun calendar template is from Ali Edwards over at Designer Digitals.  I love being able to see our "month at a glance".  Below area couple weeks for my Project 365. Project Life/Photo-a-Day Project.  I've laid out my pages similar to Becky's Project 365 album last year, the pages are 12x12 (below are the full 24x12 spread)  Simple, clean, easy!  The blocky letters are also from Ali Edward/Designer Digitals.

A couple things I'm really excited about if I do go this direction is
a.) I get to keep my albums all the same size (12x12).  Becky's Project Life album will  be 8.5x11.
b.) I get to add additional pages/layouts as necessary, for "special events".  I know that's cheating and going past the 365 photos in the year but it will make my book feel a little more complete.  I think I'll like being able to add an extra layout here and there for holidays/birthday/trip. They will have the same simplicity and feel as the rest of the pages throughout the book.

Let me know what you think or if you have any other great ideas or if you've seen others that you like as well.  I love the concept of the Photo-A-Day album and am excited to do it for 2010, no matter what format the album will be.  At least they'll be in an album!

Another great fall shoot

This shoot was part of my "Holiday Mini Sessions: that I offered. It was quick (30-45 minutes) and we got the shots that we wanted for their Christmas card. I even think Rolf would agree that it was pretty painless!

Back to Business

Can you believe it! We're cruising along, buzzing right through January! I thought I'd finally post a few shots of a senior shoot I did way back in what, October!

Thanks, Brittney, for the great shoot! You were great to work with. So glad your Aunt sent you my way!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends!  I'm coming with a little update on an album that took me all year to complete.   Last year about this time I posted about this brand new project I was going to give a try, Project 365.  So in front of me sat this brand new, empty album, a box full of adorable but empty journaling cards and all kinds of other goodies to go along with it.  While I was eager to fill it up I always wondered if I would actually get a picture in each of the openings and journaling on all of the cards.  Well, (roughly) 365 days later I HAVE DONE IT!  What a GREAT feeling!  I know many of you are taking on this task for 2010 and some of you are using Becky Higgins latest kit, Project Life. You may feel a little overwhelmed but I'm here to tell you whatever you do DON'T stop!   If you get behind, it's okay!  Slowly get caught back up again.   At the end of the year you'll thank youself (and your family will, too!)  I'm going to post some of my favorite pages from the year as well as some of the creative way to add more than 365 photos.

Those great little accordion cards I often used to add more journaling, like I did below on a spring break trip or to add more photos, they're just a little smaller.


The kit also came with 4x6 title cards to include the date on. There were a few times where I needed more space for photos so I didn't use the included cards, I created my own by typing the date on the photos.

Don't forget to take pictures of some of your favorite things around your house. This is a magnolia blossom from our huge magnolia tree that I just love. Every week or two I took a picture of the blossoms opening up further and further.

What about the weeks I just didn't have 7 photos or I had a favorite I wanted to include but it was vertical? For the picture below of my kids I enlarged it to a 6x8 and then cropped it into two 4x6's. (I saw this idea on another blog sometime this year, too)

You can also do this with a 4x6, just cut it into two 2x3's to fit into the journaling spots along the bottom.

From a camping trip this summer, using Photoshop, I added a few more little photos onto the 4x6 photo of the day. (This was an idea that I saw on Becky's blog last year.)

I thought I also add some different ideas of what to take pictures of.
 Hobbies (yours, your husbands, your kids),

funny little things that happen during the year, such as a cat locking itself in the car

kids practicing their instruments, report cards,

little "accidents" that are just to funny not to document with a photo,

getting those Christmas cards ready and out the door,

packages left at the door, especially during the holidays,

notes or subtle hints left behind for you see,

special homemade gifts, quiet times reading,

the list goes on and on but at least there are some ideas I can share with you to get you going! Good luck and leave me a comment with a link if you, too, are joining in on the fun! I'd love to see your ideas. I am doing it again this year and will be using Becky Higgins great product however, I'm holding out to see what her digital kit will include and give that a try this time around.