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2020 Family Yearbook


So excited to be finally sharing pages from my 2020 family yearbook! I mentioned a few times on Instagram and various Facebook groups that I will be changing things up quite a bit this year, so I’ll just get right to it.


Weekly or Monthly?

This year I have decided to document our photos and stories in a monthly format. I did a weekly format in 2018 and 2019, and felt like I needed a break. It’s not because I’m taking less photos or anything like that. I just wanted a little more freedom to not follow such a structured time frame or not worry about making sure I have enough photos for a weekly spread.


Which kit in the Project Life App will I be using?

None of them. While I will be using the Project Life App for its templates and printing, I have decided not to use any of the kits, for two reasons. One, I have to be honest and say I am a little disappointed a new Project 52 kit wasn’t released for 2020. A big kit was something I looked forward to each December or January, but I totally understand why there wasn’t one released. I know Becky has encouraged us to use hat is already in the app, but I just couldn't decide on what to use. For a brief moment I thought about creating my own kit and using it, but I don’t have the time or energy to do that. And this brings me to the second reason. I have SO MANY Digital Story Kits by Ali Edwards and it’s about frickin’ time I use them. So that is what I am going to do. Ali’s products are so classic–they never go out of style. Her choice of simple, clean fonts, mixed with her own handwriting on her embellishments, filler/journal cards, makes it easy to mix her kits with one another. I will, however, create my own cards from time to time, which I have done on some of the pages below.


What additional apps will I be using?

The Project Life App will allow me to add filler/journal cards from outside kits as a photo. I keep these additional kits in my iCloud Drive and access them by selecting the photo icon on a placeholder and then scrolling to the bottom of the selection window and selecting “cloud.” But I need to use additional apps if to want to add embellishments, create my own cards, or give a special “treatment” to a photo/group of photos.


ADOBE SPARK POST–You will notice on the pages below I have a white border on all of the photos. I did this in Adobe Spark Post. I have several “templates” in Post in various sizes and orientations, making it super easy to swap out the photos. I know there is an overlay in one of the Project Life app kits that has a white border, but there is a slight issue with it where it doesn’t fit quite right. In addition, that overlay is for 3x4 photos. I want more sizes, and Spark Post will allow me to create custom sizes.


SUPERMATIC–See that large 6x8 photo that looks like a Polaroid? This was done in Supermatic. Like Spark post, I have several templates, in various sizes/orientations set up in Supermatic to make it easy to swap out photos.


AFFINITY PHOTO–I’ll use this app for a few things. 1) To add embellishments, word art, etc. to my photos. 2) To create photo grids/collages. I did this with for a 4x6 and 6x12 placeholder on my January pages. 3) Every once in awhile I will add journaling to a card. The small, italicized journaling that is on its side on the 6x12 card on the first page was added in Affinity Photo.


AFFINITY DESIGNER–This app was developed by the same company who brought you Affinity Photo. It is very much like Adobe Illustrator. I will be using this app to create more complex cards, like the large 6x12 card on the first page and the 3x4 “this wine” journal card.


What are some other style changes I am making to my process/style?

Looking at other memory keepers social media feeds, I noticed over the past several months I really have been drawn to a pages with a very light gray colored background. For years I have kept the background of my pages white, but this year I have decided to use the light gray from the Baby Boy Kit in the Project Life App. I especially like it when the photos have a white border on pages with a colored background, hence the reason for adding this border to my photos in Adobe Spark Post.


The way I am telling the story behind my photos will be changing as well. There were a few occasions last year where I used the 6x12 placeholder in the Big Shot 9 template to tell the entire story about a specific set of pictures, like those from a vacation. This is what I will be doing for my monthly pages. I’m not saying that there will be no other journaling throughout the pages, but most of my stories will be highlighted in this one specific placeholder. You will notice that I created a 6x12 January card for this placeholder. I will change it out for each month, adding new icons, maybe adding different call-outs. For instance, maybe I’ll swap the weather info you see on the January card for something fitness related, like the number of steps I took in February. The style of the card will remain the same. I have to be totally transparent here. The design of this card (and the “this wine” card) was inspired by the work of Geralyn Sy, from In A Creative Bubble. Even though I LOVE her designs. I couldn’t find what I needed in her collections, so I created my own.


I’m looking forward to the changes I’ve made this year. I think the pages will have more of an organic feel to them instead being static. We’ll see how it goes! If you have any questions about the pages in the post, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!




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