One of my favorite things about the Story Foundations core kit is how effortlessly it plays well with others. It was designed to be neutral and flexible, and this Project Life spread is a perfect example of how that intention really shines when you start mixing collections to tell layered, real-life stories. This week held a mix of everyday moments, meaningful experiences, and heavier current events, and I wanted all of those things to live together in one cohesive spread.

I approached this layout by using an insert to expand the story. Inserts are one of my go-to tools when a week has multiple threads that deserve space without competing visually. They allow you to organize stories in a way that feels intuitive while still keeping everything connected. For this spread, the insert helped me clearly separate “normal life” moments from stories that needed a more specific tone and visual language.

On the left side of the spread and the front of the insert, I leaned fully into the Story Foundations core kit. This section documents everyday life, including my son’s 15th birthday. The clean patterns, neutral cards, and flexible phrases made it easy to support the photos without overwhelming them, letting the story stay front and center.

The back side of the insert is where I intentionally shifted gears. I used the Indivisible protest-themed collection to document current events, which I believe deserve a place in our memory keeping, especially in times like these.

By “specializing” this portion of the spread, I could acknowledge the weight and importance of the moment while still keeping it visually tied to the rest of the week through the neutral foundation underneath.

The right-hand side of the spread tells a completely different story: an independent bookstore crawl I did with my best friend. For this section, I mixed the Bookish collection with a few embellishments from the paper version of Bookish to add texture and warmth. The illustrations and phrases were a perfect match for documenting a day built around friendship, books, and slow wandering through spaces we love.

What I love most about this spread is how cohesive it feels despite pulling from three very different collections. Story Foundations does the quiet work of grounding everything, allowing the more thematic kits to shine where they’re needed most. Instead of forcing one collection to do all the work, each part of the spread gets to speak in its own visual language.

This approach is something I come back to again and again in Project Life: using a strong, neutral base and then layering in specialized collections to tell specific stories. It’s a flexible way to document weeks that don’t fit neatly into one category—and honestly, most weeks don’t. By letting Story Foundations anchor the layout, I’m free to document the full spectrum of life as it actually happens.