Welcome to a new themed week! This week we are going to talk all about Project Life. It seems that this year, Project Life has blossomed. You can find it on blogs and sites everywhere! And we have several team members that are keeping their own Project Life projects.
Before I show you my Project Life, do you all know what Project Life is all about? Well, let´s give a little background.
Becky Higgins is the mind behind this project. Think of it as photo album scrapbooking in a fast, easy, and weekly format. Becky has created several products to help make the process even easier. With page protectors in several sizes and arrangements, and note cards for decor and journaling, in just a couple of hours each week, you will have a place to keep track of your everyday life, be it photos, notes, shopping lists, receipts, report cards... anything you would like.
Here is how Becky describes Project Life on her site:
By pairing your pictures and words with these basic products, you will be able to tell your story, in your own way, resulting in a complete album. The Project Life line of products has grown to also include many other items that enhance the memory-keeping process for those who want to do more.
This week, five of us are going to show you our take on Project Life. Some of us use Becky´s products and others has made the project their own with other methods. Everyday will also have a freebie printable or two for you to use in your own Project Life albums, or for your scrapbooking pages.
My Album
I started my Project Life album the first week of 2012. I really wanted to use the products that have been made for the project, but as I had a hard time getting hold of them (since I don´t live in the US) I bought some page protectors that I found at my local bookstore and a binder and got started. The page protectors have four pockets, so every week make 8 pockets where I can just slide in a photo or journalingcard.
Format
Here is a look at my third week, just to show you how a week would look like in my album.
I often use the pockets to hold my photos. Some weeks I make most of my cards (that's what I call the things I put in the pockets) digitally. Meaning that I open my photo in PSE and add digital brushes, overlays and my journaling and then just print everything out and it is ready to put in the album. I love this option since I can work on my cards even if I am not home to use my scrapbooking supplies!
Mostly this project is hybrid for me. I bought a few digital journling cards from different online shops that I print out and add my handwriting to and then use with my photos. This project is a great stash burner, since you can use scrap pieces from other projects to jazz up your Project Life cards.
Some weeks have more stuff than others. This image above shows my birthday week, so I wanted to include the cute birthday cards I recieved. I simply added a smaller page protector and put it inbetween my ordinary weekly pages.
Photos
I have used my phones camera alot for this project. I have an app that allows me to upload and share my photos online (much like Instagram) and I download all the photos that I want to use in the album and print them out. These photos (above) show the size that they actually come out of the printer without me resizing them. They fit into the pockets fine and I still have room for journaling of whatever I cant to add to the card.
Here (above) is an example of the phone photos in a smaller format. This was I can fit in a few more on each card and still have room for journaling.
A few times I have created photo mosiacs to be able to use lots of photos on one card. You can create mosaics on a number of online sites, but I usually use bighugelabs.com.
And lastly I use 6x4" photos from time to time also.
Content
I have included all sorts of things in my album. For example, our weekly menu, movie tickets, weather forecasts, stuff from Facebook, snail mail and emails, books e are reading, creative stuff I am working on, inspirational quotes, Tv show favorites and business cards.
A few weeks I have also had a lot of words. I have made an extra pocket that I have placed over a pocket on my regular spread and placed journaling under a photo or something else. That way I can easily just flip the top pocket to read the journaling instead of getting the card out and take out any additional journaling.
I don't just include stuff and stories that are happy. Our life goes up and down and things happen that are tough. During my third week I spent many, many hours holding my grandmothers hand while she passed away. I included that and the story that went with it. I have since then used my journaling from my Project Life album to make a special layout about that time.
My life includes depression and anxiety. That´s in there in the album also. Some days are better than others and I tend to use the extra pockets to include hidden journaling.
I have also included inspirational quotes, emails and comments from friends and blog readers. I am a team member of Ella Publishing's Take Twelve project and I have included my Take Twelve photos in my Project life album.
Thoughts
I love that I started this project. First I was afraid that this would mean I wouldn't make my ordinary scrapbooking layouts, but that has not been the case. On the contrary, I have been able to go back to see which stories I have scrabooked or not by just flipping through my Project Life album.
I haven't fallen behind (yet!) but one thing I have been struggling with is the plain and ordinary weeks when nothing special has happened. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to record the everyday, but I like to have a twist on that somehow. My solution has been to focus on a few particular things those weeks, meals, books, the weather etc.
The thing I love the very most about how this project has affected my life, is that my husband and daughter also contribute to the album. By sending me their phone photos I can include events where I wasn't attending. I love that! I have also asked my daughter to journal about her weekends etc.
I hope that you can take soemthing from this post and be inspired to make your own Project Life!
ps. a few little freebies for you...
Download playtime here.
