All About Week in the Life

This year I’ve teamed up with the awesome people over at Ali Edwards Design Inc to talk about Week in the Life and the different ways that the community approaches this amazing project.

Week in the Life is a 7-Day documenting project that Ali Edwards started doing almost two decades ago! I remember reading about it in Creating Keepsakes magazine and then learning everything I could about it on the internet back in the day.

Now, almost twenty years later — there are thousands of Week in the Life projects that have been created by tons of people around the world. Throughout the last month, I’ve been talking to a bunch of different people about the ways they approach this project, from the brainstorming phase, to capturing photos and words, to putting the album together and everything in between.

We now have a wealth of Week in the Life resources right here at the Awesome Ladies Project — ready for you to dive right into.

Crafty Ass Female Podcast Series

Episode 185 | Roundtable #1: Tips and Tricks for Newbies and Veterans Alike

In this episode Kristin kicks off our Week in the Life series by talking to Amber Dawson, Elizabeth Heinz, Megan Anderson, and Amy Gretchen about tips and tricks for making this project easy and fun! Week in the Life is a documenting project by Ali Edwards — taking place in the community starting on June 20th. Learn more about this project at aliedwards.com.

In this episode, we get into some great topics:

• we talk about how we’ve approached this project over the years
• we talk about why this project is meaningful for us
• we talk about what happens when you dont finish

Very Special Guests:

Megan Kiekel Anderson is a crafty nerd who loves documenting everyday life. She’s currently settling into her 1900 Witch House and writing lots of speculative fiction. Follow along with her adventures on Instagram and Twitter @megan_nerdnest

Elizabeth Heinz resides in Peoria, AZ. She’s married and happily raising two boys, Bailey (22) and Joshua (19). She also has an affectionate Boston Terrier, Bond. She works part-time at Midwestern University as a standardized patient. When she’s not crafting, she enjoys hiking, pickle ball, reading, and gardening. She’s passionate about writing her story.

Amber Dawson is 38, and has been scrapbooking in some form or another since she was about 15 years old. She live in PA with her boyfriend and his three kids who are with them part-time. Therefore, a lot of her documenting is of her and her partner, their 2 kitties, and the kids when they visit. She’s done WITL albums for the last 2 years and has really enjoyed the process of digging deeper into their lives.

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCBloFAPH3e0z7h2OsSDskzQ

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adawson816/

Amy Gretchen lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and one of her three daughters. She has been memory keeping since her first scrapbook 20 years ago. Since then her passion has evolved to include everyday photography as a way of telling her story. She loves how photos + words help her to see life more fully and have gratitude for the details. Documenting life on a weekly basis through pocket pages fits perfectly with her goal to capture the everyday moments and keep it simple.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/amygretchen

Instagram: https://instagram.com/amygretchenstudio

Episode 186 | Week in the Life: Interview with Ali Edwards

In this episode, Kristin sits down for a chat with Ali Edwards, founder of the Week in the Life project. Week in the Life has been running for almost two decades and emphasizes the stories of our everyday lives through photos and words.

Kristin and Ali chat all about what Week in the Life is going to look like for 2022, as well as an epic Star Wars adventure Ali just recently returned from!

In this episode, we get into some great topics:

• we talk about the epic Star Wars adventure Ali just got back from
• we talk about how Week in the Life started
• we talk about our favorite parts of the WitL project
• we talk about how we are approaching this project in 2022

Episode 187 | Roundtable #2: Tips and Tricks for Newbies and Veterans Alike

In this episode, Kristin is joined by Shu-Wen of Choux Puff Creations, Kirsten Heal, and Steph Grimes all about the best ideas for capturing photos and words during Week in the Life. Bring your notebook — this is a good one.

In this episode we get into some really great topics

This episode might be one of my favorite episodes in the longest time — I absolutely loved talking to this group of women — the density of information in this show is jam-packed.

Best advice for capturing photos for Week in the Life

• The best stories can come from photos that are just captured in the moment
• Explore what a Wednesday really is for you?

Remote control or Apple Watch

• Makes people feel more at ease
• Helps you take really cool pictures
• Use portrait mode

Invite others to take photos

• Be specific with what you want from them
• Tell them the lenses that you’re using

Sometimes scrapbooking and documenting our lives can feel a little extra

• This is the time to do all the extra
• This is the time to set up the cool photos
• What do you WANT to capture?

Spend 10% of your photo energy on taking interesting photos

• 0.5 wide-angle lens is your friend
• Look for different perspectives

Best advice for capturing words throughout the Week

• The advice I start with is never the advice I finish with
• It’s okay not to have a lot of words

Use lenses to help narrow down the stories you’re telling

• Use a kit to create your lens
• Look at each day through a different lens
  • Currently List has seven prompts

There is a Thursday slump — here are some solutions

• Ask somebody else to tell you a story
• It’s okay to have less photos or words than the rest of your pages
• Just do your Thursday3

Write Notes

• Set up a notes template
• Use whatever works for you
  • Journal
  • Post-its
  • App

Guests

Shu-Wen Hello! My name is Shu-Wen (Choux Puff Creations) and I’m a baker / crafter / music maker from Canada!
I’ve been making cards for many years, but only recently started scrapbooking in 2020, and I’ve loved every moment of my creative journey! You can find my work through my Instagram or YouTube channels, as well as through my design team work for Citrus Twist Kits, Color Cast Designs, Layered Life, and on the Ali Edwards Brand Ambassador Team!

Kirsten Heal Hi, I’m Kirsten and I live in beautiful North Vancouver, BC where I take every opportunity to enjoy the mountains and the oceans. I’ve always had a love for crafts and photography, and when I found scrapbooking was like a really thing, I was hooked. That was 20 years ago. I live with my husband (who wonders when this phase may stop, yet buys me crafty stuff), my almost grown kids (19 & 17), two dogs (9 & 7) and two cats (12 & 1).

Steph Grimes I’m Steph Grimes and I’m a lifelong storyteller and memory keeper. I made my first scrapbook from a kit bought at Michael’s when I was 21 and have been making scrapbooks ever since, for over 20 years now. I live in Maryland with my amazing husband and our little red pup, Ruby. I enjoy documenting all types of stories from our day-to-day life to our grandest adventures, but travel albums are my favorite! This is my 6th year participating in the Week in the Life project and it is one of the highlights of my year each year.

We’ve got another podcast episode (the last of this series) coming out on Monday, and I’ll update this post when it goes live!

Instagram Live Roundtable Series with Ali Edwards Design

IG Live: PREP

Recording available here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cezkr_2lMox/

Guest Panelists:

@createdbysteph
@megan_nerdnest
@adawson816

In this video we chat all about how we preparing for Week in the Life:

• How we mentally and physically prepare for WitL
• What lessons we’ve learned from going back through past albums
• The different supplies and notes we’ve gathered
• Top tips for how to prep in order to make this a successful project.

IG Live: Process

Guest Panelists:

@chouxpuffcreations
@adawson816
@wilderstories

Recordings are available here:

Part 01 — Bigger conversation around process: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce2LNzOFdGy/

Part 02 — Our favorite tips: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce2KdnkFk91/

IG Live: Format

Guest Panelists:

@kashakgage
@createdbysteph
@nehlan.has.a.plan

Recordings are available here:

Part 01 — Bigger conversation around format: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce2LNzOFdGy/

Part 02 — Our favorite tips: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce2KdnkFk91/

rukristin IG Live Album Prep

https://www.instagram.com/p/CezDob4BLL8/

Week in the Life in our Forums

We’ve got some great discussions going on, click on the forum discussions below and jump right in!

Week in the Life 2022

Week in the Life | Photos You Want to Take

If you want to learn more about Week in the Life, Ali Edwards has even more resources on her blog, her YouTube account, and she even has some fantastic products (both physical and digital) that really help to support this project.

Week in the Life Resources

Here is a list of free resources that you can use/download to help you document your everyday life. These may/may not be directly Week in the Life related.

• Week In The Life | Thoughts On The Process & Daily Sheet PDF
• rukristin’s Week in the Life Digital Journal (via Craft App) (here’s more about Craft app)

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to drop a comment below and we’ll help you out!