Tutorial: Using the Pool Party Documenter Kit with Kelsey McEvoy

The project I'm sharing today is one I made using the last of my bits from July's Pool Party Documenter Kit. It's a 6x8 page protector documenting our love for #pooldayeveryday during the summer. I don't often use 6x8 page protectors, and I've never before documented in full the process I use to create a layout, so this was certainly a challenge – bear with me :)

The vast majority of the time, I don't end up moving things around on a page once I put them down – but because I don't use 6x8 page protectors very often, I was switching things around left and right during the creation of this particular project.

I started with this arrangement of photos, journaling cards (cut up to fit 2x2 pockets) and embellishments:

As you can see above, I sized down two of the 3x4 filler cards included in the Pool Party Documenter Kit, and used two of the rubber embellishments, two of the chipboard words and two of the plastic asterisks from the Pool Party Documenter Kit. I slipped into a pocket a 2x2 photo of my oldest daughter in the pool, which I'd already printed for a separate project that didn't work out. I had a small assortment of 2x2 photos of my other two kids as well, and cut up filler cards from the Pool Party Documenter Kit, which can be seen floating around to the right in the photo above.

Next, I slipped in the photos of my other two kiddos. From an aesthetic perspective, I knew I didn't want the photos stacked in a row, either horizontally or vertically (or diagonally), because I wanted a more balanced looking page. So one photo went in the center column and the other went in the column all the way to the right.

Even though this layout's primary purpose was to document our love of the pool, I knew I wanted to use that photo of the bright pink flowers from a recent local Farmers Market trip. There were a few reasons for this. First, I love the photo (it's so happy!). Second, all three of the photos of my kids that I used are primarily blue, and many of the bits from the Pool Party Documenter Kit I used are also blue, and I didn't want a monochromatic (boring) layout. The layout needed something that jumped out – something bold and summery – and I felt like the photo of the flowers was perfect. So in it went!

At this point, I also added some summery sequins and a chipboard piece from April's Film Club Documenter Kit (the piece has the days of the week printed on it, which represent our #pooldayeveryday motto).

Next, I slipped in the repeated sun patterned card (a filler card sized down to 2x2) and a "go outside" pin/flair that I picked up at the bookstore 2nd and Charles, and moved the days of the week chipboard into the pocket with the asterisks.

Next, I added in the palm tree card (also sized down to 2x2) to the bottom left, and an ice cream cone I made using the beach ball rubber embellishment and one of the journaling cards free-hand cut into a triangle/cone shape. I was* (*am) overly proud of this teeny creation.

So far, so good. I've added a handful of elements to the page, but haven't really moved anything around yet, aside from the days of the week chipboard bit.

Not 100% in love with how that looked, I started moving things around. As I mentioned at the beginning, I very rarely move an element (or replace it) once I've set it down on the page. But I'm not used to working with this size of page protector – or this configuration of pockets – so this layout saw far more rearranging than usual.

The "go outside" pin/flair came off the top left pocket, the pink flowers moved to the center of the second row, the flip flops rubber embellishment went on the top right pocket, the palm trees card and pink chipboard words went below the flip flops and the rubber beach ball + cut-up journaling card ice cream cone went in the bottom left.

After messing around a bit, I realized that I liked the original *almost* final layout better. So I moved everything back – except I swapped the sun patterned card and the palm trees card (top and bottom left pockets), and then I added "SUMMER" alphas, included in the Pool Party Documenter Kit, to the top of the bottom left pocket. I always add elements with dimension (like rubber or chipboard bits) and stickers/alphas to the outside of the pocket. I think it looks better, and it also is more forgiving and allows you to move things around if you want – if you add stickers directly to a photo, you're usually out of luck if you change your mind...

I wasn't sure what to put in the last two pockets, but I knew I wanted to use the filler card from the kit with the handwritten quote, so I stuck that next to the sequins, and then I moved around the plastic asterisks, the days of the week chipboard piece and the ice cream cone. I loved how it looked, so I called it done.

And here are some close-ups of each section of the page:

And a final look at the whole thing, completed:

For now, that's it! At the end of the summer, I'll likely go back and add in a full 6x8 page on the left side of the spread with typed journaling about our #pooldayeverday motto, and our goal to spend 100 hours at the pool over the course of the summer – just to add a bit of context to this photo-heavy right side of the spread, and, of course, to fully document our love for the pool!

Pro Tip: You can use the digital version of this kit's journaling cards to create a new project if you've already used the physical cards that came in your kit! The digital version is super affordable ($5.99), and since it's digital you can use it a million times (I totally do this)!

Supplies: Journaling/filler cards, plastic asterisks, green + black alphas, rubber beach ball, pink chipboard words – Pool Party Documenter Kit; days of the week chipboard circle – Film Club Documenter Kit; sequins – Color Theory Sequins Pack in "Woodshop" and "Emerald City", sold out but other colors are available in the shop; miscellaneous sequins (white stars, small blue) – my stash