This video is a brief compare/contrast look at the two Project Life offerings: The scrapbooking kit (which thousands of you are already using and some of you are waiting for it to become available on Amazon.com this week) and the digital/online photo book which will be launching later this week as well.
This video does not answer all the questions about the digital Project Life. I’m working on the FAQs so that you’re as informed as you possibly can be. That list of FAQs is coming soon. You’ve asked really great questions, thank you!
[ PS - In the original video my head is not cut off. Who knows why that happened when I got it up on YouTube. ]
In the coming week, we are planning to launch the site for Project Life | digital version. I have all the information coming. Frequently asked questions, details about how it works (so, so, so easy!), and all that good stuff. So many of you have been patiently waiting for this (thank you, oh loyal people).
I just got my sample book so I wanted to at least share pictures of this little beauty. This is the end product — the final result — of what you get after you create a Project Life book online.
Oh, and I want to tell you this one more thing: Everyone — ANYone — will be able to build a book online and play around with it for FREE. No obligation.
Did you catch that? Free.
Should you choose to print a book, then you can pay for that. But if you get in there and play around and decide it’s not for you, there’s nothing to lose. You just don’t follow-through with printing. And you pay nothing at all. Do you love that?
Go ahead — ask your questions (in the Comments section here). Go for it. We’re working on compiling all the FAQ now, so now is the perfect time.
For a couple of weeks now, there has been local & national news coverage on a missing baby “Gabriel”. You can watch an overview of the story here on The Early Show. And here is another follow-up story on The Today Show. Of course there are several related news video clips.
On Wednesday this week the local news did a bit about my website (as in … what you see on your monitor right now) and how there was a possible lead to the missing baby Gabriel on my blog.
Say what!?
You can watch the news story here. Click on “Blogsite Offers Tip In Missing Baby Case”. Or if you don’t watch it, the summary is that a woman named Beth posted a comment that mentioned that a Baby Gabriel that has been placed in their care – in San Antonio – and she’s so excited to be using Project Life to document his life, etc.
So obviously the local news contacted us. But what I did not expect was for an NBC producer to knock on my door yesterday. As in … The Today Show, MSNBC. Ummm. Right. That NBC. I invited her to come in of course. And she proceeded to hang out for two and a half hours. Lovely woman. We just scratched our heads and made some phone calls and can you guess what we chatted about in our downtime? Hell-O. Project Life, of course.
Alright. So fast forward. Last night David and I decided that we would just call this Beth in Wisconsin who posted the comment on January 4th. And I’m so glad we did. So is Beth! This lovely woman and her husband did just pick up their sweet baby Gabriel in San Antonio. He is just over 2 weeks old and they are in the process of adopting him. Totally different baby. Totally unrelated. And she was totally in shock over the phone call. : )
I’m so pleased that we can dismiss Beth and her family as having any sort of involvement in this case. You’ll notice a follow-up story here called “Person Of Interest Admits Lie in Baby Gabriel Case” and the last part of that video clip mentions this update.
So there you go. My blog has nothing to do with this case after all. Crazy. And I have to say that talking to Beth was such a pleasure. She is a completely lovely woman and we are so happy for this addition to their family and wish them all the very best. We certainly do hope that the police are able to locate Baby Gabriel very, very soon. My heart goes out to those who love him and miss him.
Oh, one more thing (since my blog traffic is now magically heavy at the moment!) … NBC, if you’re reading this … My friend is a die-hard Matt Lauer fan so go ahead and email me an autographed photo and I’ll get a nice glossy print for her. : )
And since I’m just sure all the producers for Oprah, Ellen, NBC, CBS, and ABC are now devoted to beckyhiggins.com, I’d be delighted to tell you all about Project Life and how this photo-organizing, story-telling product is going to sweep the nation and how you absolutely will want to feature it on your show.
Hello there fine people. First, a quick Project Life timing update:
1. Project Life on amazon.com: The kits will likely be available for purchase (again) by the end of next week, January 22nd. Don’t etch that in stone, but it should be close to that time.
2. Digital version of Project Life: We are just wrapping up a few details — want it to be perfect for you — and should be able to launch this next week sometime. We’re so close. Many of you have been so patient and I thank you. You’ll see that it’s worth the wait. I’m so stinking excited about it. Just got my sample book and seriously, it rocks.
If you would like to be notified when Project Life becomes available again — Amazon and/or the digital offering or anything else that I do for that matter — just click on a button on the right side of this blog. Sign up for my eBlast newsletter or follow me on Twitter or Facebook and you’ll know right when it happens.
3. Replacement pieces: For those of you who have emailed Customer Service about some part of your kit that was damaged or missing, we are getting closer to having the supplies to replace those pieces & parts you need. We should be able to start shipping those the end of this month, with the exception of the binders (those will take longer). So if you’ve emailed us, we will continue to be in direct contact with you via email. We appreciate your patience while we needed some time to gather supplies.
On to something fun and NOT Project Life related … : )
Just wanted to share what we did for our daughter’s 4th birthday party a few months ago. Claire and I are fans of the book, Pinkalicious. Super cute story. And all about pink, so what’s not to love about that? Anyway, it became a natural theme for the gathering.
Invited a few friends, requested that they arrive in pink (of course, right!?), read the story to them …
Served pinkalicious cupcakes with pinkalicious (strawberry) ice cream …
Played a few games and sent everyone home with a pinkalicious bag of goodies.
Her party really was a pretty simple and quite memorable event for the birthday girl. Just yesterday, Claire asked if her next party could be Purplicious.
I have to come back to Project Life for a minute because I know many of you will be interested & SO thankful for this.
Lately I’ve been having frequent thoughts about how I need to clone myself. I’m pretty sure most of you know that feeling. So much to do and yet, you can only do so much. Since cloning isn’t an option, I’m pretty sure this is the next best thing. Someone did something that I’ve been meaning to do but can’t seem to get around to it.
Tammy Morales, you are AWESOME.
Tammy is a Scrapbook Coach (yes, there is such a thing) … and out of her own enthusiasm for Project Life, she has created a video of setting up Project Life. I didn’t ask her to do this and wasn’t aware that she was even planning to do this.
Are you one of those people who just needs to see something explained? If you feel like you’d appreciate a little hand-holding, or even if you’d just like to watch someone put their Project Life album together … click HERE to watch her 21-minute video.
… Because a certain 16-month-old found a way to get to the rack of spices hanging on the wall. And decided to toss them to the tile floor, one by one, in hopes of making a loud noise or getting some sort of reaction. Like broken glass.
At least now I’m familiar with the scent of tarragon. I’m not even sure I’ve ever used that before.
Naturally, this was our potd yesterday. Picture of the Day. Remember: It can be a picture of anything. Mundane. Routine. Exciting. Adventurous. Unusual. Painfully usual. Funny. Sad. Frustrating. Pure joy.
And every day it’s something different. Every day you can add to your collection of pictures, another piece of your life story.
First of all, yay to New Zealand and Canada for receiving their Project Life kits now! Welcome aboard!
You guys are bringing up some more good questions & comments. And my inbox is full of wonderful testimonials & pictures of you with your Project Life boxes. Thank you so much! Keep ‘em coming (for those of you who are still receiving yours). projectlife@beckyhiggins.com.
On to your questions …
Q: Thank you for your dedication to your customers…it is wonderful!! Maybe next time, do yourself a favor and don’t release a kit over the Christmas holidays!! lol!
A: I promise you that if it were possible to make this happen any earlier, it would have gone that way. As a reminder, I resigned from my job at CK on September 15, 2009 (blog announcement found here). We got the LLC set up, started working on the design of the product with the graphic designer, made all the arrangements to have the kits manufactured, fulfilled, etc. … all within two months. It’s a miracle that these kits have arrived to your homes this early. Really. This was a crazy-fast turn-around. So yes, I will obviously be releasing this at a much more ideal time as we move forward with Project Life and other potential kits.
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Q: PLEASE make a school kit??
A: Of course I would love to do this. It’s part of the plan. I’m glad so many of you are enjoying the one I did a couple years ago. And since some of you are asking about the availability of that kit, it sold out quickly and is no longer available. But if/when I do a school kit, you know it’ll be even better than the last time. : )
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Q: I can tell you and your hubby are very involved in the “business,” is your hubby still working? Isn’t he a dentist, doctor, or something? Just wondering.
A: Yep, David is still doing his regular work as a full-time anesthesiologist. He’s just as much devoted to the Becky Higgins business as I am. He believes in what I’m doing. As busy as life is right now, this has been such a great opportunity for the two of us to work together. Something we’ve never done before, and now I can’t imagine it any other way.
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Q: Some of the journaling cards have numbers on them, some of them don’t. Does it matter where or how I use the different cards? Was the numbering just a design element?
A: Yep, just a design element. But the fun part is that if it happens to work out once in a while, you can circle the date on your journaling card. Like this.
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Q: How are the title cards & journaling cards supposed to work as far as placement?
A: There is no rhyme or rhythm. Just choose whatever title card you want each time you start a new layout. Same for the journaling blocks. Choose whatever card suits your mood that day. If you feel like you NEED a system (okay, so that would be me) … just get all the “like” cards and put them in piles. For example, you’ll have 10 piles of title cards because there are 10 designs. Then just grab one from each pile and create some repeated pattern to your liking. That’s what I have done.
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Q: What font is used in the Project Life design?
A: News Gothic.
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I don’t know about you, but I could use a little blog break from Project Life. Love, love, LOVING Project Life but miss, miss, MISSING “regular” blogging too. So the next time I post, it’ll be about something NOT Project-Life-ish.
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Added note: Jessica Turner (a fellow Project Lifer) has posted her first in a new series called “Project Life Tuesday” on her blog. Everyone is welcome to take a peek and even participate if you want. Go HERE. Always great to see what others are doing with their books.
You would have probably never guessed that I was working from Mexico last week. We’ve been planning for months now to go to a friend’s wedding in Puerto Vallarta. As we got closer to the time, we realized it wasn’t exactly the best time to leave home. But we wouldn’t miss it for the world. So the kiddos were safely at home and our work accompanied us to Puerto Vallarta.
Ahhh … the life of running a business. (Many of you understand this life, first-hand.)
Every blog post, every customer service email addressed, every bit of communication and trouble-shooting that was going on behind the scenes … I share this with you for one reason: We care. David and I care to make things go as smoothly as possible for our customers. With everyone receiving their Project Life kits now, this was not the time to “take a break from emails”. So we didn’t.
Even with many hours spent on the computer, we did enjoy our time there. Lovely wedding, fun people, beautiful landscape … and we didn’t have to cook or clean a thing. Now that’s a vacation.
I enjoyed taking some zero-pressure pictures at the wedding. Just for fun. Pictures from a different perspective, that the wedding photographer would not be able to get. I wouldn’t want that job. Too stressful. But I wouldn’t mind being the “back-up photographer” … a lot less pressure.
I’m reminded of a friend whose business it is to photograph weddings and she is simply amazing. Hi, Melanie! You can see her fine work here. I always love a good photographer’s website, don’t you? Eye candy.
(Question for myself: Why on earth am I talking about other jobs I would have? Like I have time to even think about that nonsense.)
Moving on.
The only item of “Project Life business” that I’m addressing in this post is regarding the title page/last page of the project and the designer cards in the kit. When you click on the Project Life page, you’ll see “(16) designer cards for title page and back page of the album” listed among the kit contents. Clarification: This means (8) 4×6 cards and (8) 3×4 cards. So before you email me to report missing cards, please look at this picture.
These are the (16) designer cards you should have. And this is the way we intended for you to put together your title page & last page of the album. (However, scroll down for other creative ideas on creating the title page.)
1. Some happy customers are asking if I will repeat Project Life every year. The plan is YES, that I will continue bringing Project Life back every year with product improvements and design updates each time.
2. I’m also getting a lot of questions about selling the page protectors separately. YEP. Also in the plan. Not available tomorrow, but working on making that happen. You know this is the place to come for all of my product updates. If you haven’t already done so, I recommend clicking on one of the cute buttons to the right. If you sign up for my eBlast newsletter or follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll be notified as soon as I have any updates.
3. Here’s another title page idea from another fellow Project Lifer. She put one of those 12″ x 12″ sheets of designer cardstock in the kit to good use. Thanks for sharing, Carolyn!
4. Shipping update for those of you in the 2nd batch of orders that went out this week: I told you to expect an email confirmation from FedEx on Tuesday. We were informed that’s when all products would be shipped. The shipper informed us last night (two days later) that those orders were actually not shipped until Thursday. We understand your frustration. We assure you that this is incredibly frustrating to us as well.
The reason for the delay? Our warehouse shipper only received half of the FedEx labels on Tuesday, so in order to prevent errors in shipment, the rest of the labels arrived Wednesday and everything was confirmed to be accurate at that time, which lead to the packages actually delivering to FedEx on Thursday. On one hand, I’m glad they didn’t rush. The last thing we all want is messed up orders.
So … while I wish that we were notified about the delay earlier, the bottom line is that your Project Life order has left the warehouse. You have probably received or will be receiving a shipping confirmation email from FedEx (except if your shipping address is in Canada, a PO box or an APO address). If you don’t see it be sure to check your spam/junk folder of your email. Be sure you’re checking the email account you put on your order. Please use that tracking number to track your package at fedex.com. That is the best source of information on the status of your shipment.
We are grateful for so many of you being understanding and patient through this process. I will reiterate that these shipping issues (and for SO many other reasons) are exactly why we’re fulfilling the rest of our inventory at Amazon. It should save all of us these hassles in the future. As for Amazon, we will continue to update you on the timing of that availability. It’s going to probably be another 10 days or so.
5. I will remind you that I can not help you with your specific issue from a comment left on my blog. Email customerservice@beckyhiggins.com if you have a question about your specific order.
6. I realize so many of you are awaiting the arrival of your kits and they will be arriving soon (yippee!). It’s not too late to send your picture, if you’re interested in sharing. Email projectlife@beckyhiggins.com if you want to share a picture of you with your Project Life kit, or to share a testimonial.
Hello fine Project Lifers … and any & all friends popping onto my blog today. : )
Staying in touch with a few quick notes today:
1. The monthly bookmarks in the Project Life kit have a thin protective layer on them. These are meant to be peeled off. Like this.
PS – I’m borrowing this picture from something I posted on my blog a year ago, so it’s NOT a part of the Project Life kit. But the peeling off the plastic thing … same idea.
2. If you want to implement “regular” 12″ x 12″ or even 8.5″ x 11″ page protectors in this album, go for it. The rings are situated so that you can do that with most standard page protectors.
3. New Zealand & Australia customers: You will soon be receiving your orders! My understanding is that those will begin shipping to you from Wellington this week.
4. Yes, the digital Project Life and the availability of the original Project Life kit on Amazon.com are still coming. We are working hard to make both of these dates as soon as possible, but need to be sure all the details are fine-tuned and in place.
Tara, a fellow Project-Lifer (Project-Lifette? Project-Lifite? No. Project-Lifer is good.) … Okay, so TARA did this awesome title page and I wanted to share it with you. Thanks for the inspiration Tara!
1. We are totally working on an online forum for sharing Project Life ideas. Thanks for your patience. It’s coming. : )
3. Email projectlife@beckyhiggins.com if you want to share a picture of you with your Project Life kit, or to share a testimonial.
4. A very warm thank-you for all the amazing, kind emails coming in so far. Doing our best to stay on top of customer service emails first but want you to know how much we appreciate your emails too, and how much we’re enjoying seeing all of your delighted faces.
I had good intentions of updating the map with more red dots today. But I don’t think there’s any point because it looks as though pretty much everyone in that first batch (in the U.S.) has either received their Project life orders … or the delivery is so, so close.
On a related note, everyone else who has placed an order should have received a confirmation order from FedEx today. If you don’t see it be sure to check your spam/junk folder in case it went there. The exceptions are PO Boxes, APO, and international orders. No FedEx confirmation emails for you guys, but your orders are coming too.
First, a visual update of where I’m starting to notice more Project Life deliveries in a few more states today — MONDAY.
It sounds like some of you are taking a picture when Project Life is delivered to you. Just for fun … send me a picture of you holding your Project Life kit (doesn’t matter if it’s still in the box or not). I’m going to do something fun with those pictures.
Likewise … If you want to email a brief testimonial about Project Life, drop me an email. By sending me a picture and/or testimonial, you’re giving me permission to potentially use it on the website.
Lots of newbies popping in here on my blog now that Project Life is shipping, so for those folks (hello to you!) and anyone else who hasn’t been around here in a while, I’ve been doing a LOT of Project Life updating … so scroll down and have a look even further below this post.
Alright girls and boys … so for today … some Project Life business matters … answering your questions, addressing your concerns, and all that good stuff.
1. QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR ORDER. If you have a question about your specific order and you post a comment here on my blog, I will not be able to help you. I want to help you. The appropriate place to ask questions about your order is to send an email to customerservice@beckyhiggins.com
NOTE: When emailing, please be sure to include the name, address, and Project Life order #. The more information we have, the quicker we are able to help you.
And by the way, we do appreciate your comments here on my blog. Thanks so much for letting us know when you get your kits, and what you’re loving, and how you’re feeling motivated, and concerns you have, and ideas for future kits, etc. Excellent feedback. While I can’t respond to everyone’s questions & comments, I do read every one.
2. PLEASE KEEP READING. As much as I’d like to be your email buddy, I really like spending time with my family too (and getting more than a few hours of sleep at night). So in the spirit of trying to address as many “general” questions as possible, please keep reading today’s post. I just may answer your question. : )
3. WHEN IS MY ORDER SHIPPING? Before you email customer service to track your package, please look at your order confirmation number. If your Becky Higgins LLC order number is 3338 or higher and if you placed your order on November 28th or later, your orders are scheduled to leave the warehouse tomorrow, Tuesday. You will receive a confirmation email from FedEx when your package ships.
4. I GOT THE WRONG CONFIRMATION EMAIL. Please read this post from last week.
5. I ONLY GOT PART OF MY ORDER. This order “split” happened to just some of the orders with multiple kits, but rest assured you are still receiving your full order. Once you receive part of your order the rest should follow shortly after.
6. MY STATE HAS A RED DOT BUT I HAVEN’T RECEIVED MY ORDER. Just because your state has a red dot on the map (see the post just before this one) does not mean that every single kit has made it to every household that ordered. It means that folks in that state have begun to receive Project Life shipments.
7. I’M IN CANADA. WHERE’S MY ORDER? I will spare you all the details, but let’s just say that we now understand why companies decide not to ship international. Know why we chose to do it? We’re just nice. : ) Seriously though, we know there is a strong interest and we didn’t want to deny anyone the opportunity to get Project Life. But I’ll be honest. International shipping is so complicated. And expensive. In fact, there have been extra “surprise” fees for the Canadian orders that we’re now forking out (yippee.) The bottom line for our Canadian customers is this: There have been delays with your orders getting out last week and I’m really sorry about that. The kits will be arriving to Vancouver on Tuesday and then distributing to your homes shortly thereafter. They will be coming via Canada Post, so unfortunately no tracking numbers. Thank you for your patience.
8. I WANT TO ORDER PROJECT LIFE BUT IS IT NOT AVAILABLE NOW? They’ll be available again shortly. We’re just having a little inventory transition party at the moment. Please read this post.
9. HOW DO I START PROJECT LIFE WITHOUT MY KIT? You just take pictures. Please read this post.
10. IS THERE GOING TO BE SOME SORT OF ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR PROJECT LIFE SO WE CAN SHARE IDEAS? I love this idea! Please post your suggestions of how & where you’d like to see some online sharing of ideas and we’ll see what we can arrange. I just learned that Jessica Turner is going to be doing a regular feature on her blog called “Project Life Tuesdays” where she’s going to share on a weekly basis. Cool, Jessica! Check it out here.
11. WHEN DO WE DIGI GIRLS GET TO PLAY? Love the way this was asked (Debbie). : ) We are wrapping up details on the digital version of Project Life now and are working hard & fast to get this launched very soon. If you click on one of the buttons to the right (eBlast, Twitter, or Facebook), you will be notified the minute it becomes available. In the meantime, just be sure to take your picture-a-day … every day.
12. UNRELATED TO PROJECT LIFE BUT A BURNING QUESTION: Some of you are asking how we hang all the Christmas cards on our wall so that the paint doesn’t peel off. Clear Scotch tape. That’s it. We’ve never had paint chip off or peel off with all the tape we’ve used over the years (kids art, mostly, and Christmas cards once a year). We’ve used Behr and Dunn-Edwards brand paint.
13. Hope I covered everything. I’ll be in touch again soon with an updated map … covered with even MORE red dots! : )
We have some very special friends - the Fuchs ("fewks") family - that are adjusting to a "new normal" with their special-needs daughter who had a terrible accident and is now confined to a wheelchair. You can read all about it HERE
For the benefit of Claire's family - and also for the benefit of many generous sponsors - I opened my blog for advertising for one month only! This is temporary + the ads will run February 1 - 29, 2012. 100% of the ad fees have gone directly to Claire's family.
Because of the nature of this fundraiser and the need to keep the entire process very, very simple - we are not taking any more sponsors at this time. Anyone who wants to reach out to the Fuchs family with a note of encouragement, or a letter in the mail, or even a cash donation, can find that information HERE
