Our life hasn’t had any big events recently, so without Project Life, I probably wouldn’t be capturing any of these photos. ….. I love that I’m capturing otherwise fleeting memories ….

Like Andrew obsessing over Game [...]]]> Still working on (and keeping up with) Project Life! Of course, since I started April 2 I’m only a few weeks in!

Our life hasn’t had any big events recently, so without Project Life, I probably wouldn’t be capturing any of these photos. ….. I love that I’m capturing otherwise fleeting memories ….

Like Andrew obsessing over Game of Thrones, or the 2 months when we have had to do the dishes in the tub.

Here are my Project Life spreads from the end of April and beginning of May…. My weeks run Monday to Sunday – which I love, because they keep the weekends together in a chunk. So the images are *roughly* arranged from Monday on the left to Sunday on the right.

(if you’d like to see the images larger, you should be able to click through to view them on Flickr)

Week 4 : April 23 – 29

This was a low-key week where the biggest news was our dishwasher got delivered. Not installed, mind you. Just delivered.

left side:

Yardwork and unpacking martini glasses and errands to Sprouts …. super normal week for us

right side:

The ‘errands’ little insert adds a fun touch to the spread….. I wrote the list of errands that I ran that week on a piece of paperbag from Sprouts …. mounted on a small scrap of cardstock, and then mounted on another piece of paperbag …

Week 5: April 30 – May 6

This week Andrew did SO much! About half of these photos are his iPhone photos …. between his recording sessions, and his having to move his recording equipment I’m so glad he’s willing to take photos for me

I used Picasa to make A LOT of photo collages this week

You’ll notice I used one of Elise’s stamps …. the THIS-arrow stamped pictured below (I also got the TODAY IS stamp but haven’t used it yet)

left side:

right side:

I know I’m using just photos and text almost exclusively … but A) that’s my style and B) my office looks like this.

Maybe once I’m able to unpack my scrapbooking supplies more I’ll be able to work in more embellishments and scrapbooky things!

Are you doing Project Life?

Project Life, created by Becky Higgins, is a flexible, easy-to-use, highly customizable way to preserve your memories and record your stories in an easy way. Learn more about getting started with Project Life or check out all my Project Life posts.

(and yet I’m still getting those generic emails from spammers offering “developing content partnerships with good quality blogs and [...]]]> For the last few weeks we’ve been talking a lot about guest posting here at Lemon and Raspberry … From an overview of how to craft and pitch a guest post to why you would even want to.

(and yet I’m still getting those generic emails from spammers offering “developing content partnerships with good quality blogs and websites like yours” …. with ZERO specifics as I have pointedly requested.)

I love the practice of guest posting – both giving and receiving. In the 6+ years I’ve been blogging, I’ve have DEFINITELY found guest posting to be one of the most effective ways of promoting my site.

Guest posting can be used for

• Marketing. Growing your audience, gaining a few more customers, increasing your visibility.
• Networking. You will start to connect with new readers and other blog authors and start to gain name recognition in your little industry
• Practice. Practice practice practice. Writing well takes practice and the more you do it the better you will be.

I try to brainstorm a guest post whenever I’m sponsoring a site, as well as every couple months in between sponsoring a site.

But any guest post I write, I always have a goal. I always have a reason for the guest post. And I always give that new audience a reason to come visit Lemon and Raspberry. And it has WORKED. Worked to grow my audience (in REAL numbers). Worked to make sales (tracked directly to guest posts).

I figure, if it’s working for me if can work for you too ….

So today I am releasing my super-simple guest posting template: Connect

Written by me and designed by Allie Trumpower, Connect contains the basic structure to help you build a guest post that both connects with new readers, and guides them to follow-up with you to help grow your business or blog audience.

The simple structure outlined in this pdf is easy-to-use and perfectly adaptable to any subject or niche you may be blogging about.

This new guest post template – Connect – gives specific steps to crafting a guest post that is both promotional for your new product or service, but also intimately connects with the reader in a way that does not feel “salesy”.

TODAY ONLY (May 15, 2012) – Connect is 30% off

Click on through, download the template, read it today and send me your guest post pitch. One of the easy ways to improve your business right now!

You will be well on your way to growing your blog audience, connecting with new customers and increasing your sales.

Let me know if you have questions and how guest posting has worked for you!

Around here…. home improvement projects, coffee and long to do lists, warmer weather, longer days, our kitchen is FINALLY installed completely, frozen coffee drinks and favorite books, brainstorming yard work [...]]]> post inspired by Elise’s ‘around here’ posts

Around here…. home improvement projects, coffee and long to do lists, warmer weather, longer days, our kitchen is FINALLY installed completely, frozen coffee drinks and favorite books, brainstorming yard work and projects, grilling and flowers waiting to be transplanted….

Follow specific home projects and details at Those Crazy Schuberts

(In my defense I have a very long drive to-from work)

From their site:

In WNYC’s new podcast series, award-winning actor Alec Baldwin gives the listener unique entrée into the lives of artists, policy makers and performers.

[...]]]> Last week I listened to the whole of Alec Baldwin’s new podcast Here’s the Thing.

(In my defense I have a very long drive to-from work)

From their site:

In WNYC’s new podcast series, award-winning actor Alec Baldwin gives the listener unique entrée into the lives of artists, policy makers and performers.

Alec sidesteps the predictable by taking listeners inside the dressing rooms, apartments, and offices of people such as comedian Chris Rock, political strategist Ed Rollins and Oscar winner Michael Douglas.

Every two weeks, Alec pursues great conversations in unexpected places to find out what motivates his guests, how they feel about what they do and what keeps them up at night. Here’s The Thing: Listen to what happens when a man you think you know surprises you.

Here’s the Thing is produced by Emily Botein and Kathie Russo, with Jim Briggs, Wendy Dorr, Ed Herbstman, Melanie Hoopes and Ariana Pekary.

I admit it – I’m kind of in love with Alec Baldwin. Ever since 30 Rock. I can’t help it. He’s so charming AND straight-shooting (in the interviews/pieces of his I’ve seen).

And I loved him on Friends. … but other than that, I’ve seen hardly any of his other movies/work. Or, I’ve seen the films but I don’t remember him in it (which actually speaks to his acting ability now that I think about it, if I didn’t remember ALEC BALDWIN but just the movie as a whole).

But anyway. I love Alec Baldwin. I love learning about behind-the-scenes filmmaking. And I have big chunks of time in which to listen to podcasts, so I thought I’d give Here’s the Thing a shot.

This new program is produced by WYNC – who you might recognize as the producers of Radiolab and Freakonomics and SO MANY other great shows!

From the way each episode is broken up (about 25 minutes long with a break in the middle which I assume is for a commercial or station identification or similar), my guess is that it is aired on the radio. The podcast is updated into iTunes once every couple weeks. And so far, there are about 6 months of archives available.

Between this podcast and WTF with Marc Maron (which I’ve been listening to this week), I realize I would be a terrible interviewer. Baldwin just has this gift of engaging conversation, intuitive questions and genuine curiosity that really draws out his guests and makes the whole interview seem natural and intimate.

I can’t do that.

I’ve listened to all of these episodes (there was another that was posted this week that I haven’t gotten to yet).

You’ll notice these aren’t all entertainment-people. Ed Rollins is in politics, Rob Morris helped found Love146. … and the newest episode (which I haven’t listened to but am definitely looking forward to) is with an economist!

I love Baldwin’s approach to these interviews. … he has definite opinions on things like politics, and the entertainment industry and being a parent … and he is not afraid to turn his interviews into a 2-sided discussion, rather than just softballing easy questions to his guests.

At 25 minutes every 2 weeks, this is the kind of minimal commitment that I think makes podcasts accessible to busy people ….. Take a listen!

Let me know what your favorite interview is … (personally, I loved the Herb Alpert one because I kept thinking how much Andrew would like it).

Listening to Here’s The Thing plants a seed of inspiration to:

• Watch a bunch of Alec Baldwin movies. Particularly It’s Complicated, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Cooler, and any of his other BIG ones.
• Hunt down some Alec Baldwin on SNL YouTube clips. I think he’s said he’s hosted 11 times or some such nonsense.
• Learn more about politics. I pay attention during presidential election years, but not much otherwise.
• Watch all of Stephen Daldry’s movies in a row
• Go see a Groundlings performance (went once YEARS ago and should really go again)
• See a bunch of Michael Douglas movies. Particularly Wall Street, The China Syndrome, The American President and Fatal Attraction.
• start my own podcast. Though not an interview-based one.

While I finish up the recent weeks for a bigger post, I thought I’d break down my process some … first up: Photos!

I’ve been using both my ‘big’ camera (Canon 5D w/ assorted lenses) and my iPhone for [...]]]> Project Life has been so fun so far … What am I on? week 6 I think?

While I finish up the recent weeks for a bigger post, I thought I’d break down my process some … first up: Photos!

taking:

I’ve been using both my ‘big’ camera (Canon 5D w/ assorted lenses) and my iPhone for taking photos. But my iPhone is OLD so the photos are just OK. I really just carry my Canon around all the time. Just in case. It works out, since I want to take photos of our house progress anyway….

(note to self: I need to do a real photo-gear post)

I also have my Instax mini camera (only used 1x so far) and all of my other ‘toy’ cameras, but I haven’t actually used them yet. I might still in the future. We’ll see.

Luckily for me, Andrew (bless his heart) is more than willing to take photos for me when we’re not together. He’s been posting photos to Instagram so I can just download them to my computer. He takes photos of his recording sessions, in particular, which I think is such a fun part of our Project Life week.

Ex: In this image below, the photo in the middle on the right (of the building) is one of Andrew’s iPhone photos when he was at the studio early early in the morning.

editing:

I don’t actually own Photoshop.

Thankfully, Kam reminded me that there’s such a thing as Picasa (a free software from Google that has *just* enough photo editing options for me).

I do all of my actual PHOTO editing (color balance, changing the levels, etc) in Apple Aperture, and then in Picasa I add text and make photo collages specifically for Project Life.

For example: In this page below, I added the text to the 3×4 photos … and then I put2 3×4 images in one 4×6 canvas to be printed.

In the case of the library card image in the bottom left, I just left both images in 1 4×6 photo. Or, I cut them apart for the 3×4 pockets.

Or, for example, the green-painting photo on the bottom right … the image of the paint can is about 1/3 of the 4×6 canvas.

Here’s a screenshot of what all my collages look like in Picasa ….

ETA: Here is an actual collage-tutorial for Picasa

I am really loving having the option to create photo collages and include more than 1 image in a 4×6 photo. Otherwise I have no idea how I could edit down all the photos to just this 2page spread.

printing:

I was trying to figure out the best way to get actual photo prints made – not at home, preferably not by mail (due to the cost of shipping) – and finally realized my best bet for photo printing would be Costco.

I love Costco. I’ve been getting my film developed there since I got my first camera (when I was 12 or so). And now, *cough*cough* years later, I can upload the photos to their site, and my current job schedule has me driving by our local Costco (with just a slight detour). I’ve used their photo printing A LOT, and am confident in the quality.

The only problem was I no longer had a Costco card! As soon as I turned 18, my mom made me the 2nd cardholder on her account (so I could go pick up my photos, coincidentally) – and it’s only in the last month (literally) that she’s taken me off. But that’s a separate story entirely

SO – I went on Costco.com and signed up Andrew and I for a Costco membership. ….. And I’ve ordered photos for Project Life every week now. If I really need the images soon I can go pick them up in an hour after ordering ….  OR they don’t charge shipping, so with gas prices the way they are I’m actually saving a little bit of money, just by waiting an extra couple days to get the photos.

Easy.

What about you? What do you use for your Project Life photos?

Do you have other Project Life questions for me? Ask away!

P.S. Also fun? I showed the slideshow and products to my sister-in-law…. and based on her excitement, I’ll be getting her a whole set of Project Life goodies for her baby’s first year album! Can’t wait!!!

Project Life, created by Becky Higgins, is a flexible, easy-to-use, highly customizable way to preserve your memories and record your stories in an easy way. Learn more about getting started with Project Life or check out all my Project Life posts.