I ordered it from Artifact Uprising and I am so happy with the way it turned out. I went with the hard cover book option and the full size dust cover.
It’s so beautiful I almost cried…the quality of the paper and the finish are so pretty. And there is something about seeing my photos printed out big like this that just makes my heart swell.
For my photobook layout, I was totally inspired by the Floret Cut Flower Garden book that I shared a few weeks ago. I borrowed very heavily from the book and incorporated some of my favorite design and typographic elements into my Week in the Life Photobook. And I used these as jumping off points to create an outline of sorts for how to organize my content.
Basically each weekday followed this convention:
- double-page photo with the day of the week
- full-page photo/brief recap of the day
- photo and journaling (i broke down each day into morning, afternoon, and evening)
- full page photo and/or photo collages for each part of the day
If you happened to have followed along during that week, you’ll see that these Monday pages are nearly identical to my blog post from that day. Which I think might be my best piece of advice if you’re thinking of taking on big project like this. I find it much more manageable if I can keep up with my photos and write/type at least a little every day. There are definitely places in my book where I fleshed out some thoughts a little more and added in a few more details. But just to have the bones of the day typed out was a huge time saver when I went to create the layouts.
And speaking of the layouts, I created them all using a combination of Lightroom (for photo collages) and Photoshop (for text and digital embellishments from the Week in the Life™ digital kit). Then I just went to work, following my formula, and created pages for each of the days during the week. The exception to this was Saturday where (like I did in blog post) I typed out my ‘Saturdays are for’ list and included a few photo collages. And on Sunday (also like I did with my blog) I created a few pages where I shared a photo along with some gratitude journaling. Finally, like I do with most project like this, I included a page at the end with random photos during the week that didn’t make into the other layouts for some reason.
If you are interested in seeing all of my layouts, I have created a little slideshow below.
You can find all of my Week in the Life™ 2017 posts here:
Following a simple, repeatable format and having much of the journaling already typed out were key in helping me get this project wrapped up quickly. Which, more than any specific kind of project, was was I really wanted…a completed album of a week in our life.
As I look through my album, I feel like this project really does capture the heart of soul of my original intentions. And I can’t stress enough how seeing my words and my photos in print – holding it in my hands – brings that reality home to me. This project, this photobook, has truly been a labor of love…a love for this ordinary, wonder-full, messy, imperfect life of mine. A life that I am so, so grateful for.
Love, Kelly
This is so beautiful. So inspiring. I am in awe!
This is absolutely beautiful. I’ve done WITL for 8 years and this year is the first year I was unable to do it the same week as Ali and everyone else around the world. I plan to do mine in July this year which is winter in Australia. I’ve used Blurb to do 2 of my WITL books as Artifact Uprising postage to Australia was about $66 a few years ago and with the Aussie $ I’m sure it’s more. I know their quality is beautiful and I only hear good things about them. Your book and pictures are stunning. It’s such a wonderful project. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia
thank you so much kathy! i have used blurb as well and have always been pleased with the quality of their albums!
Absolutely beautiful. Well done. ??
The 2 questions marks were a “heart emoji”…not meant to be a question at all.
🙂
thank you so much lisa!
Wow! This is absolutely stunning. I miss memory keeping so much and this right here just might be the push I need to start documenting again. Happy to have found your blog via instagram. Thank you for sharing.
thank you so much michele!
I absolutely love this! It’s so beautiful!
thank you stephanie!!
This is unreal! Your photos are so so beautiful. Wiuld love to know your process for taking and editinf your photos.
thank you so much meagan. i actually have several tutorials under the Lightroom menu!
Hey Kelly! In love with your book and your tips. I had a similar plan as to stay consistent and simple. However I never thought to have a separate book for it. Perhaps this is exactly what I would like to do. I recently got my first “my social book” and it makes my heart happy holding it. Thanks for the inspiration.
thank you so much cathy! i totally agree about holding a book of your own photos! 🙂
Gorgeous, Kelly! Thanks so much for sharing your labor of love with us 🙂 xoxo
thank you so much suzanne!
Your photos of your week and the book are truly beautiful. Holding in your hand a finished book is so very heartwarming. I love how you documented each day, and a full week in your life. It’s something I may try. I really love Artifact’s quality of work with the cards I’ve had printed by them. Thank you for sharing.
thank you so much sweet friend.xoxo
Where did you get the book from?
melissa i created my book with Artifact Uprising.
Wow!! This is amazing – so inspiring! I want to create a book just like this one….
thank you carmen! photo books are so easy and fun to make!
This is THE MOST GORGEOUS BOOK I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! Wow this is so beautiful! The photos are gorgeous, the layout. I just could say wow to infinity. Thanks for sharing!
oh my goodness rhadonda. thank you so much for the kind words.
You did a beautiful job, I am astounded! I did buy “Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden” and I love it but I have to say that your book surpasses it in so many ways. You are so inspiring!
This is really a lovely piece of work…and a history going forward. I love the lay-out and someday I might like to try this also…I’m so not good with this kind of technical stuff but I’m willing to give it a try…thanks so much for sharing…
oh i hope you do give it a try! it’s totally worth the effort!
Wow Kelly your book is stunning, Im in awe how beautiful it turned out. Thank you for sharing your week
Your photos make the ordinary look so unordinary! Your book is truly beautiful.