project life 2014 // maui

Here's a little secret . . . . our last two vacations to Hawaii are not documented in a scrapbook or photo album anywhere.  Yes, I wrote about those trips on my blog.  But I have zero tangible real-life photos or albums in existence at this point.  Ack!

So when we returned from our trip last month I was determined to get some highlight photos into our 2014 Project Life album.  Pronto.

And that was the focus for my spread this week -- the photos.  I took almost 300 photos on our trip so I could have filled up many pages in this album.  But I decided to keep it to just one spread, with one small insert.  Here's a look:

The left hand page is super simple.  Photos and one 3x4 card from the Jade edition.  Anna helped me choose it.  I turn to her often when I'm trying to decide on a 3x4 card for a particular layout.  She's my little design assistant.

The insert is a Design J photo pocket page.  The 4x4 pockets fit some of my favorite instagram shots.  I created the "Maui" card in Photoshop Elements -- I used the eye-dropper tool to select a blue from the ocean photo and used that as the background layer.  The other 3x4 slots are filled with cardstock and post-its from our hotel that I cut down to size and journaled on.  I love the nature art elements -- they complement the photos so perfectly!

 And the backside of the insert.

For the last page I used a Design D photo pocket page and all the photos are from our drive on the road to Hana.  I used my big camera the most that day, and got the best photos of our trip, so this was a perfect way to showcase some of my favorites.

The photo on the bottom right was created in Photoshop Elements on a 4x6 canvas.  I included a 3x4 photo, colored the remaining 3x4 background layer to a dark brown/grey that matched the photos (again, using the eyedropper tool), and added a title and text.  Flatten all the layers and print it out as a single 4x6 photo.

I love how this spread turned out.  Very, very little journaling, but the variety of photos is enough to trigger a wealth of memories and remind me exactly how this vacation felt.  

Additionally, this is just another reason why Project Life is so great.  You can add photos and journaling about the day to day stuff - which is awesome.  But you can also simplify it even further and just fill it with photos - which is also awesome.  It truly works with whatever your needs are.

 

PRODUCTS USED:

Jade Edition

Photo Pocket Pages - Design A

Photo Pocket Pages - Design D

Photo Pocket Pages - Design J

Project Life Journaling Pens

Font - Bebas Neue 

 

Project Life is a back to basics approach to memory keeping. I've been dabbling in Project Life since Becky Higgins released the first kit in 2009.  I love that it is simple, streamlined, and keeps the focus on the photos and the memories. (The extra supplies & design-y stuff is totally optional.)  Learn more about it HERE.