DISCLAIMER: There is an abundant amount of inspiration in this blog post. You may be required to cuddle up in your favorite chair for this one. The last thing I want to do is overwhelm you. Remember: Project Life is designed to SIMPLIFY. My purpose in sharing so much, especially in this first week of January, is so that you can pick + choose which inspiration might stick with you. Project Life is a personal thing, and yet we are part of a community and we share a common goal: Cultivate a good life and record it.
My hope is that you will feel inspired + motivated + ready to make a plan for your Project Life in 2012.
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Title page by Kelly Purkey.
Supplies Photo Pocket Page – Becky Higgins; Patterned paper – Crate Paper; Cork paper – Recollections; Vellum – Paper Source; Tag – Bananafish Studio; Stamps – Studio Calico; Ink – StazOn; Stickers – 7 Gypsies, Basic Grey; Stapler – Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Pen – American Crafts; Fonts – Avenir, Bebas Neue
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{ most important message about Project Life }
Project Life is whatever you want it to be. Please, please, please keep this in mind as you see a smorgasboard of ideas and examples from others who are doing Project Life. The products are designed to simplify the process of memory-keeping for you. If all you do is add your pictures and write some journaling notes, that was the whole purpose in the first place.
Project Life is designed to be an easier-than-ever scrapbooking system. Simply pair your photos and journaling with pre-designed title cards and journaling cards. Your photos, these cards, and even your memorabilia slip into the Photo Pocket Pages and that’s it. The result is a stylish masterpiece that represents your life or whatever occasion you choose to record. With Project Life’s beautifully simple format, deciding what supplies to use or how to design layouts becomes obsolete, leaving you more time to experience life.
However … I totally realize and appreciate that many of you have that creative instinct to do something more. And that’s wonderful too! Personalizing your project and going beyond the core essentials can be fun and just the creative outlet you need. Kelly’s title page above and Mandi’s title page below are examples of artists who take customization seriously.
Title page by Mandi in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Supplies for her 8.5 x 11 title page: Crate Paper Neighborhood Collection – Friendly; Basic Grey Basics Micro Mono Stickers; Heidi Grace Beyond the Sea Punchboard Box Set Alphas + Symbols; My Minds Eye Lost + Found One of a Kind Buttons (from Studio Calico’s Handmade kit); Cosmo Cricket Tiny Text Stickers (from Studio Calico’s Brooklyn Flea kit); Studio Calico’s Mister Huey’s Calico Shine; We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper; Stampin’ Up Dimensionals; Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife
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{ my personal approach to Project Life in 2012 }
For 3 years I have documented our family’s story with a picture + blurb of journaling to represent every single day. I used the physical product to create a 12×12 scrapbook in 2009. I made a digital photo book for 2010 and 2011, both of which I need to wrap up the journaling and having the actual books printed and shipped. Soon. Super excited about that.
Project Life began with that “365″ approach for me, but I want to emphasize again + again: Project Life does not necessarily = Project 365. Yes, you can absolutely do that. Of course. In fact I know many of you have done that, or are planning on that for 2012. The 365 approach is so very cool but honestly – it can be difficult to keep up with that pace if you have a lot going on in your life. I will forever be grateful that I have documented our life with the picture-a-day format for the past 3 years. But even I – a dedicated documenter of life – find the photo-a-day approach challenging because of how much I have going on.
Now. Twenty-twelve is a new year and I am beginning the next volume in our family yearbook series. I am choosing to stick with the digital version and will be doing a Project Life photo book on Shutterfly. I’m using the Clementine template. The Turquoise template is also available and very cool. My main reasons for choosing this method: 1) I can print multiple copies so that each child has a family yearbook and 2) The photo book is much smaller/thinner. I have so many large scrapbooks in our home and they already take up a lot of space.
My approach: I know some of you will be surprised about this, but I am going to relax about the picture-a-day thing. I love, love, love it. But this year I am joining many of you in the weekly approach. Each two-page spread will show a week in our life but there will not necessarily be a picture for every single day. I’m looking forward to this.
Big picture for me: No matter how I document our family’s story, the end goal is to have a family year book each year. Some years it might be photo-a-day (check), some years it might be just a few highlights for each of the 12 months (check – did that in 2008), and some years it might be the weekly approach (new to me). The point is that I’m preserving my family’s story. I can accomplish this - you can accomplish this – with very little time and stress. I have been – and continue to be – very open to how I evolve in my approach.
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{ advice to those who are brand-new to Project Life }
1. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Project Life is designed for SIMPLICITY.
2. Watch my Getting Started video. (NOTE: I did this video last year when the products were slightly different. When you see little things that look different than your new products, look past that and focus on the core content of getting your album set up.)
3. Check out the Project Life Community. This is a great place for Project Lifers to ask each other questions, share ideas, and of course share finished pages to inspire each other.
4. Follow me on facebook or twitter (same content; two options). I share almost-daily inspiration for picture-taking + life-documenting. I’m sticking by your side on this. We’re in this together.
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{ advice to those who are “behind” }
Yuck. Don’t you hate that word? Who wants to feel behind on anything right? If you have already been doing Project Life at all in the past few years, and if you have a year (or more) that you haven’t “finished” please consider this: Let it go.
I sooo know that it’s easier said than done. But let me tell you from personal experience, that “letting it be what it is” is a very liberating feeling. My first year of trying to do the daily documenting thing went completely by the wayside when I grew more and more sick with my pregnancy. I simply couldn’t keep up. So you know what I did? I compromised. Instead of having nothing for my family that year, I decided that it would be A-OK to create a photo book that simply highlighted each month on a two-page spread. That’s it. And you know what? We love that book. And it tells our family’s story in 2008 – even if it’s less-comprehensive than I originally intended it to me.
Let’s say you got part-way through 2011 and you just burned out. Guess what? What you did document is utterly fantastic and you should be pleased as punch that you cared enough to document with pictures + words at all. What now? Well, obviously that’s up to you but you should seriously consider just letting it be what it is and starting fresh with 2012. Perhaps a different approach for this year is what you need. Perhaps a simple month-at-a-glance photo book is more manageable. By lightening your load, you will likely be more motivated to stick with the project.
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{ excellent “getting started” inspiration from a few of our Creative Team members }
Ali: Reflections, Ideas & 2012 Title Page
Michelle: Organization | My Work Space + Favorite Products
Deb: Photography Inspiration for Documenting Life + Random Project Life Tips
Jennifer: Getting Started
Monica: The Beginning | Finding my Project Life Rhythm
Cathy: Project Life, Take Two (+ free download)
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{ more inspiration on the world wide web }
I was “off the grid” quite a bit over the holidays – happily directing all my focus on family. As I’ve worked on getting back into my groove I’ve noticed an almost overwhelming amount of conversation and sharing about Project Life. There aren’t words for how that makes me feel. Everyone is doing their own thing. Some are taking the daily documenting approach, some the weekly approach, some the monthly approach. Some are using Project Life to go back and scrapbook past years, some are using it to document specifically about life changes (weight loss, losing a loved one + adjusting to their “new normal”, etc.).
It’s allll good, folks. It’s all good.
Enjoy a sneak-peek into the minds + albums of some who are embarking on doing Project Life in 2012. You’re in good company.
Title page by Nicole Reaves.
Nicole: My Title Page, Goals, + Products I’m Using
Kelly: Making it Work for Me / Title Page
Noell: My Intro Page / “Yep I’m Doing This”
Susan: Debated but now I’m Committed + Title Page
Stacey: Project Life 2012
Lindsey: The Beginning + Documenting Vacations
Jenni: Today Matters
Aby: Thoughts from a Professional Organizer (*And she’s giving away Project Life too! Enter for a chance!)
Jessica T.: Plans for Project Life 2012
Jessica: Project Life Newbie
Stephanie: My Goal is to Keep it Simple + My Organization
Robyn: The Start of Project Life
Shirley: Hello, Project 365 + Title Page
Kristina: Jumping on the Bandwagon and Staying Accountable + Setting Up my Studio for Project Life
Natasja: Project Life Preparations
Jeanye: How Project Life Will Become a Part of My Life
Melissa: Wrapping Paper + Pocket Pages
Catherine: Title Page + Free Download
Paula (empty-nester!): Return to Scrapbooking
Lisa: How I Make it Work for Me
Kristine: I’m in Love
Kami: Focusing on our Everyday in 2012
Shelley: Documenting a Happy Life
Allison: Doing this for my Kids and my Kids’ Kids
Jenny: Lessons Learned from Last Year
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{ want to share YOUR Project Life? }
You are always welcome to share with us. We love to see how everyone is using Project Life! Email your pictures to submissions@projectlife.com. Likewise, we always love to see pictures of happy customers with their product.
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{ inventory update }
As some of you know, we are currently sold out of some products. Please know that we really did order a lot, but thanks to the wonderful viral affect of word spreading rapidly about Project Life, some things literally flew off the Amazon shelves over the holidays.
Have no fear. More product is on the way and we’re re-stocking inventory as fast as we can. If you aren’t able to get your hands on something that you want, remember that documenting life can + should still happen. You can still get started on taking pictures and writing a few notes, even if you’re waiting on Photo Pocket Pages.
This is what is sold out now but will be back in stock on Amazon in about a month (early February):
Journaling Cards (box of 100, grid design)
Photo Pocket Pages: Big Pack of Design A (60)
Photo Pocket Pages: Big Variety Pack 1 (60)
Photo Pocket Pages: Design G (pack of 12)
6×12 Page Protectors (pack of 12)
Big Envelope Pages (pack of 12)
Scrapbook Dividers (pack of 12)
Everything else is in stock. Check it all out HERE. As for the black + white Signature Binders? Those will be showing up on Amazon this week. I’ll let you know when they’re there.
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*NEW* items that are part of that same shipment for early-February:
Photo Pocket Pages: Big Variety Pack 2 (60) – This has 40 of Design A + 20 of Design D
Big Pack of 12×12 Page Protectors (60) – Just like what it sounds. Good ol’ classic page protectors with no pockets for full 12×12 scrapbook pages
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{ digital update }
I will have an entirely separate blog post about the Shutterfly option, which I mentioned is the product I’ll personally be using to document our 2012. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, for those of you who are interested in the Digital Project Life components/kits/templates available on JessicaSprague.com, there is some great inspiration from The Daily Digi: Does Project Life Fit in with my Life?
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Oh my stars. How’s that for a loaded blog post? : )
