Last Spring, I decided the allure of Project Life was just too great to resist, so I jumped in with both feet and was raring to go!
And I absolutely loved it for about 8 weeks and then I fell off the wagon. And even though scrapbooking is supposed to be fun and guilt free, I have to tell you: I wish I would have kept it up!
Life got in the way. Work got in the way and I found myself not tracking and documenting the way I really wanted to. It's funny, because when I look back at those 8 spreads, I absolutely love how they transported me right back to March and April of 2010. And then I felt like a bonehead for not keeping it up.
Enter Project Life 2012.
This year will be different, and why? Because I have a plan. My plan goes like this:
• Stock up on 4 x 6 photo paper.
• Create Weekly Project Life Folder on my hard drive (and sub folders for Weeks 1 to 52) to drop in pictures or bits of journaling for each week.
• Use layered journal cards where I add a bit of story every few days while it's still fresh in my mind.
• Pay closer attention to the every day.
• Put my pages together on Sunday afternoon, with some tea and some good music.
• Share them on my blog each week following.
• Be open to tweaking and playing with the products as the inspiration hits me.
I am using the Clementine core kit and a basic black We R Memory Keepers 12 x 12 album. I used a bit ofthe digital paper from Clementine but plan to mostly stick with the paper kit products, and digital creations of my own, like this title page file:
You can download these files for free by clicking the link below. They can be printed on a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock and trimmed to fit one of the 6 x 12 Project Life page protectors. One is a printable PDF where you add your name manually; the other two are layered PSD files that both use a free downloadable font, Museo Slab.
I've created a few other products that work well with Project Life, the latest being my Weekly Wrap Up 6 x 12 templates. I plan to use a number of the 6 x 12 page protectors for weeks where a bigger story space is needed. I'll also be using two different story cards to tell stories as well, these and these, as well as develop pieces as needed.
I also have a 6 x 12 photo template set that could be cool for dropping into the back side of the 6 x 12 protector. However, I'll have to have those printed at an online printer as I don't own any 12 x 12 photo paper.
I love the idea of combining traditional with digital, along with any other bits of ephemera that will find their way into this album project.
I'm also starting to use an app (for Mac users only at this time) called Day One on a recommendation from Izzy from the Paperclipping Roundtable show that I was on just the other day. It's a little journal app for the computer and the phone and it pops up every now and then for a check in. I figure if I jot down little notes throughout the week, I'll also have that as a Project Life resource.
Just like I try to Move More and Eat Well every day, getting back into a regular habit of slowing down and documenting our every day here at Chez Zielske is going to be a priority in 2012.
I've got my album set up in a corner of my "scrapbook" room, and I'm ready to go.
Here's to 52 weeks of saving life.
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Project Life, created by Becky Higgins, is a flexible, easy-to-use, highly customizable way to save your memories in a fun, stress-free way. Learn more about getting started with Project Life by clicking here.
