I'm warning you now...this is going to be a long post! A lot happened during Week 9 and I can't wait to share it with you! Chris had a conference to attend in Germany this particular week and there was a separate program for spouses! Needless to say I was excited to travel along with him and have the opportunity to meet other military spouses from U.S. Embassies all over Europe. Not only that, but the conference was held at Ramstein Air Force Base-home of the big PX and Commissary. Cha-ching! We will be checking an extra bag on our return flight to Riga.
Again, this post will be a long one. Not only do I want to share my Project Life pages, but I want to share some before and after photos as well. I mentioned in my Week 8 post that I started "iShot That! iPhone Photography Class" at ReneePearson.com. The spouses program at this conference was only going to last 3 days and briefings were only in the morning. There were several tours planned for us during the week as well and that meant photo opportunities! I made the conscious decision before we left Riga to leave my Nikon D80 at home and only use my iPhone along with the apps that were featured in the class. So sprinkled throughout this post will be before and after pics along with the app and filter I used on the photo. Here we go:
Click the link below to download this week's Word Art Titles.
This week's layout goes way beyond the 2-page spread. I knew from the beginning I was going to have to be organized when putting it together. I began by printing some of the page planners I created (you can download them from this post). But as the project moved along, I changed my mind several times as to which protectors I would use, added more pages, etc, so I ended up sketching out some of the protectors as well. Below is a photo of my sketches. You can see how I was labeling each section as to where photos, journal cards or filler cards were going to be placed. I placed checkmarks in the sections as I printed each photo so I wouldn't lose track.
Because Week 8 was only a one-page layout, that means Week 9 will start on the right-hand side. I used Design F Page Protector.
I just had to take a pic of the "Flat White" coffee Chris and I enjoyed at Costa Coffee before we got on the plane in Riga. I loved the design in the foam. The other photo in the same row was taken at the Frankfurt Airport. I thought these "smoking rooms" were pretty funny. Those who need their nicotine fix before or after their flight can do so in one of these small rooms. They are all glass and it looks as though smokers are put on display when they are inside. I can't imagine being inside one when it is filled with smoke!
(just as a reminder, if you would like to read the journaling, just click on the photo to make it larger)
(The spread below uses the Design F (of course because it is the back of the page above) and the 6x12 divided page protectors). The briefings we sat through were filled with lots of information, but with the exception of my place card, there were obviously no photo opportunities! After our meeting on Tuesday, we had a USO guided tour to Neustadt, Germany with a wine tasting along the Old German Wine Road. Neustadt is such a charming little town, filled with shoppes, cafes and restaurants. I was so happy to spend some time with Michele on this tour (that's her in the bottom left-hand corner). She lived in the apartment above us when we lived in Garmisch, Germany. We haven't seen each other since our family moved away in 1997! I just love the close-knit military community!
Time for a before and after. The photo of the mouse climbing a lantern was part of a large fountain in Neustadt. You can see in the before photo, the color is a little flat and lacks contrast. I took the photo on my iPhone using Camera+ and editing it in that app as well. I was able to crop it to 4x3 and used the "Clarity" style to bump up the contrast. Using the "Clarity" style on photos of architecture can do AMAZING things as you will see later in the post. Click the photo to open a larger window to view the subtle differences between the two photos.
The next photo is a little more dramatic. Again, I used the Camera+ app and cropped it to 4x3. Not only did I use the "Clarity" Style, but also added the "Vibrant" Effect to pop the color! I LOVE the results of this one!
Our USO Tour Guide, Sandy, was fabulous! The group really liked how she would point out surprising little details about the city and architecture that we otherwise may not have noticed. Take for example the bottom photo in the page protector below. These small, brass "stumbling stones" are scattered throughout Germany and are more than likely to go unnoticed if you weren't looking for them. Pounded into the cobblestone, the brass plates commemorate those deported and killed by the National Socialist regime. The artist, Gunter Demnig wanted to bring back to the present, the people who once lived in the neighborhood. Each stone is engraved with the person's name who once lived where the brass plate in placed, the year they were born, the year and place they were deported to (most likely a concentration camp) and their fate. Those who walk on the plates (and they are meant to be walked on), keep their memories alive by rubbing the dust and dirt off the metal and bringing back the shine. To bend over and read the inscription is interpreted as bowing to the victim in tribute. I love this.
On Wednesday we didn't have a tour, but attended a German cooking class sponsored by the USO. We made apple strudel, apple kuchen and zebra cake. YUM! In the 4x6 pockets below I placed two 4x3 photos in each to show what the desserts looked like before and after they went into the ovens. I used the labels from the digital version of the Clementine Core Kit, changed the color to match the Cobalt kit and typed the name of each dessert on the label in Photoshop. I then printed and mounted them to each picture.
Wednesday marked the last day of briefings for spouses which left Thursday wide open for a trip to Wissembourg, France, sponsored by the USO of course (gotta love the USO!). I was excited for this trip not only because we were going to a small, charming French village, but because this is one country Chris hasn't been to before me! Hahaha!
Wissembourg is located in the very northern Alsace region of France, just over the German border. It is considered one of the country's "finest detours." We didn't spend as much time here as we hoped to. Our train leaving Landstuhl was almost an hour late, so it put us behind a bit. But we did have time for a great lunch at Restaruant du Saumon where we enjoyed different flammkueche-which can be described as very thin-crusted pizzas with no sauce, just various toppings of vegetables, salmon, meats and of course French cheeses. Paired with French wine, it was a great lunch!
My highlight of our trip to Wissembourg was a visit to Daniel Rebert Chocolatier, which is the #2 chocolatier in France! Oh my chocolaty goodness. I wish I would have bought more of this chocolate. It was by far the best I've ever tasted. I cut apart the little shopping bag and used it as filler in one of the slots in my page protector-I even cut out the phone number and website from the inside of the bag and attached it to the top (just in case I want to order something in the future!).
Time for another before and after.
(I have NO idea why the top photo is showing up so purple! It is NOT like that on my screen at all in Photoshop! Sorry about that! But I guess that makes the "after" that much more appealing!)
The example below is a shot of the front of Daniel Rebert's. I cropped the photo to 4x6 within Camera+, applied the "Clarity" Style and "Fashion" Effect. I really like the way it turned out. The shop now looks "chocolately"! :)
There were small canals winding through the town. Our USO Guide mentioned that Wissembourg is France's "Little Venice." The before/after picture below was cropped in Camera+ and only the "Clarity" style applied. "Clarity" really brings out the details!
This one is a bit more dramatic. I snapped the photo in Camera+, applied the "Clarity" Style and saved it. I then opened the photo in an app called BeFunky(pro) and applied the "LomoArt 2" Effect and saved it. Finally I opened the photo in the app Label Dispenser and added the label. Pretty cool, huh?
The left hand side of the next layout just documents dinners we enjoyed with friends both Thursday and Friday night. One of the things I love about going out to dinner with a group of people in Germany is the way the check is handled at the end of the meal. I know it sounds silly, but the waitesses amaze me! They will visit the person paying for each party and ask what those in their group had to eat and drink. She will then quickly add everything on paper (or in her head) right there and payment is taken in cash on the spot (you usually round up for a tip). No referring to the menu for prices, no cash registers or calculator needed. They do it all right there. Amazing. I can't see that being done in the States!
The layout also demonstrates that you don't need photos or journaling for every slot in your protector. I cut paper from the Cobalt collection in 3x4 rectangles, rounded the corners and placed in the in the bottom row. I printed some word art from the digital Cobalt Kit and mounted it on one of the rectangles with pop dots.
On our last day in Germany, Chris and I took a drive up into Heidelberg. The last time I was here Dustin and Ryley were probably 7 and 3 years old! We just spent the day strolling the main street in Old Town, stopping for a wonderful lunch at a hotel restaurant off the square and had the best German meal of the week! German sausages, sauerkraut, and my favorite, spatzle! We needed to work off that lunch we had and decided to walk up to the entrance of the castle instead of taking the funicular. Glad we did, too! I got some good shots along the way!
Last before and after. Again, done in Camera+ with "Clarity" Style applied. It just pops!
Finally, I needed a place to put maps, recipes and other papers I collected throughout the week. The Project Life Envelope Pages were perfect! I used one of the title cards from the Cobalt kit to label it and placed everything inside. It was a great trip!
Thank you so much for reading! I know it was a long post, but I was excited to share my travels with family and friends! I also wanted show those who are doing Project Life that you don't have to keep your weekly layouts confined to a two-page spread. In total ended up using 6 various page protectors for my Week 9!
One more week and I'll be all caught up! I hope to have Week 10 posted by Friday!
