Those of you who read Ali Edwards' blog will be aware that she is planning to do the Week in the Life project again next month. I took part in 2008 and plan to again this year. However, I hadn't actually finished my Week in the Life project from 2008. How could I possibly participate in this years project knowing full well that a weeks worth of photos and note taking in 2008 had amounted to some printed photos and little else? There really was only one option - get on and finish the project. That is exactly what I did last week, I finally finished my 2008 Week in the Life project - hurray! Now I can take part in this years project guilt-free.

But that's just the start of the story, because I want to tell you about the BIG coincidence that happened last friday when I was finishing this album. One of the photos taken back in October 2008 was of Matthew reading a book he'd brought home from school called 'The Sing Song' (the photo at the top of this post). The photo had been printed back in 2008, it was a leading photo for that day. Last Friday (whilst the boys were at school) I typed up the journaling, printed out the page and stuck the photo on to it.

Then came the big coincidence. Callum came home from school that very day with that very book, 'The Sing Song'. He had progressed to the next level of reading books in school that day and this was the first book he'd chosen. He had no idea about the project I was doing and hadn't seen that photo. Now that really was a coincidence.

A coincidence that I had to scrap!

I used a page design from my Yesterday Today class. The journaling template is by Ali Edwards, as is the Then Now accent. The cardstock is Dotted Swiss by Bazzill Basics, gaffer tape and labels by 7gypsies, large Book bingo card by Jenni Bowlin, word sticker by October Afternoon and brad by Doodlebug.

Would you like to see some of my Week in the Life project?

The front cover isn't very exciting, but I wanted to keep it simple and use the papers and elements I'd used throughout the album. I had decided back in 2008 to use these papers and even had them in a zip bag ready. They are Kraft, White and Dotted Swiss (Sandbox I think) cardstock by Bazzill Basics, Life Creme by 7Gypsies, letter and circle stamps by Hero Arts, felt flowers and brads by American Crafts and brown chipboard letters by Basic Grey. The page template for the daily journaling 'The Story of Today' is by Ali Edwards and made especially for this project. Here's a typical daily spread.

Monday - 29th September 2008

I used divided 4 x 6 photo protectors in each spread and on some days I also used a 8.5 x 11 page protector to hold 'stuff' from that day. Here's just the opening pages for the rest of the week.

Tuesday - 30th September 2008

Wednesday - 1st October 2008

 

Thursday - 2nd October 2008

Friday - 3rd October 2008

Saturday - 4th October 2008

Sunday - 5th October 2008

I have a few ideas of how I will put together this years project and I'm eager to see what way Ali plans to do hers. Are you planning on playing along?

I have one more scrapbook layout to share before I go. It's all about my recent love of reading books. It started with Twilight (Stephenie Meyer), quickly followed by the other three books in the saga, then the Sookie Stackhouse series of books by Charmaine Harris (True Blood). I have now come to the end of the last book (book 8) and I'm waiting for the paperback version of the latest one (book 9) to be released in June. So until then I have started to re-read the Twilight saga. I figure that second time around (third time for New Moon) I'll be finished in time to watch Eclipse when it's released in the cinema at the end of June. Failing that I'm tempted to read 'The Time Travellers Wife' or 'The Host'. Have you any good suggestions?

I kept this design super clean and simple. More dotted swiss and kraft cardstock by Bazill Basics, white cardstock by Making Memories and white foam letter stickers by American Crafts. And you know what I really like the minimalist approach.

Have a lovely Easter weekend.