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.

Pick Me, Pick Me & More Project 365

Over at jessicasprague.com some new classes are starting up, one of those classes is a photo editing class and she's giving away a class each day for the next 3 days, just check her blog for details.  Today she asked us to post one of our favorite photos we've ever taken.  Well, Jess, here's mine!  This was taken almost 5 years ago after the boys got their first pair of ears at Walt Disney World.  But the best part of the picture isn't actually visible.  Everyone always asks how we got them all to look and smile.  What you don't see is my husband running and jumping around making silly faces getting them all to smile and laugh.  And most of our other photos of all our kids together have been a team effort as well.   I have been using different ideas I've seen others using with this kit as well as finding some things that work good for me.  For example, on the KOTM blog they had a suggestion if you had a vertical photo you could use 2 of the 4x6 slots.  So in Photoshop I made the photo into a 6x8 and then "cut" in into 2 4x6's.  Then I was realizing I wasn't getting to many photos of myself (which is fine with me) since I'm the one usually taking the photos.  But my kids and I were messing around with PhotoBooth on my Mac so I decided to use one of those.  I am loving these according folded journaling cards, too.  At first I wasn't sure  I'd use very many of them, now I'm using them each week about.  I saw a suggestion on Becky Higgins blog I think about making the photos smaller and putting them on the cards.  This was a day that my boys had a well-check and then we hit our usual errand spots that I thought would be fun to document.  And what about all the school projects?  Take a photo of your kids holding them.  One of my girls made this fun little "George Washington" wig in school and then came home and was searching the internet to figure out what number  President he was.  

And for some reason, I always take pictures of my kids on the phone.  Maybe it's because we have a lot of family living out of town and I love to capture their expression when they're telling stories or when they hear the other persons voice.  Here, one of my boys is talking to their babysitter who moved away to nanny for a family with brand new baby girl triplets and he was so excited to hear from her.

If you are doing Project 365 and have some ideas posted on your blog, post a link in the comments.  I'd love to see what you're doing, too!