{ simple or creative – it’s ALL good }
I’ll emphasize it again and again – Project Life is designed for simplicity. If you need a pep talk about this, be sure you see my recent post: Project Life in its Most Basic Form.
However … anyone who has been following my blog + facebook / twitter posts has noticed a flurry of creative idea-sharing. While I strongly promote the simplicity of Project Life, I am also fully aware that many do love to embellish and personalize and add their own flair as a creative outlet. I have personally evolved in kind of a full-circle way, in that simple is my personal style and I don’t add much of anything. And yet – I do love that so many enjoy the creative aspect of scrapbooking as well. Project Life is completely flexible that way.
No matter if you are using Project Life in the most basic form or you’re seeking for creative ideas, you are sure to feel inspired as you see what others are doing. Today we’re sharing some recent layouts from our Creative Team.
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{ but first! }
Please help me welcome our newest Creative Team member – Jessica Sprague!
Heard of her before? Yep. It’s the same Jessica Sprague that carries the Digital Project Life elements on her website. And guess what? She is actually doing Project Life this year and we are so pleased that she’ll be sharing her layouts with us. It’s so fun have Jessica join our Creative Team and I know many will be inspired by her work.
In case you’re wondering (I have a feeling the question will come up) … yes, we are considering adding another digi Creative Team member or two, to represent the digital side of things.
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{ on to the inspiration }
Layout by Jessica Sprague. Layout template is Design A. Most elements are from the Clementine Edition.
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Title page by Cathy Zielske, using her 6×12 template – available to anyone for FREE. The red damask print is from the Digital Clementine Edition Paper Pack and she put it in our 6×12 Page Protector (which is expected to be back in stock early Febrary).
All patterns you see in Cathy’s pages see are part of the Digital Clementine Edition. The Scrapbook Divider (clear bookmark) shown will be back in stock early February.
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Pages by Deb Duty using the Turquoise Edition (currently sold out; not sure when it will be back in stock yet). She used a Design G Photo Pocket Page (back in stock early February) to combine horizontal + vertical photos to the full-sized Design A layout. You can see the front + the back of that above.
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Layout by Jennifer Woodbury, using the Amber Edition. Also used: Classic Calico Scrap Pad from Studio Calico; Ali Edwards 365 Photo Overlays; C-Line Flip Pocket 4×6 Page Protectors.
Jennifer’s comments: “This is a layout that illustrates something I love to do in my Project Life albums, which is to show connections across time. Current photos often remind me of moments and photos from the past, and when that happens I like to try to incorporate the older photo in the layout as well. In this layout, the photo I took of my #2 & #3 daughters going down the slide holding hands reminded me of a similar photo from two years ago of my #1 & #2 daughters. I used a flip up page protector to showcase the older photo. This layout also shows how I sometimes incorporate current events into my Project Life album, with a photo and journaling about Steve Jobs.”
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Pages by Liz Tamanaha. Do you love, love, love how she implemented her girls’ art? She used kraft paper from paper source; striped journaling card from her then & now journaling card kit by paislee press + three paper peonies; vintage label stamp from purple onion designs.
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Pages by Marcy Penner, who brilliantly pulls little bits + pieces from her stash to mix and match and always implements little Instagram prints.
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MaryAnn Perry used a Big Envelope Page (back in stock again in early February) to keep lots of memorabilia from the month of December. She created the 4×6 insert with one of the papers from the Original Edition of the Digital Project Life Paper Pack. Also used: Ali Edwards Brush for the title Holiday Word Art Vol. 03.
Pages by MaryAnn Perry. She did a little mix + match because her title card is from the Turquoise Edition and her journaling cards are from the Clementine Edition. In addition to the Design A Photo Pocket Page (coming back early February like almost everything else that is sold out), she used Design E as well, and trimmed it down to 6×6. She also used the 6×12 Page Protector. Also used: Ali Edwards Templates (December Daily Template Package Vol. 04); Cathy Zielske Templates + 6 x 12 Photo Templates; Avery Small + Large Adhesive Tabs; Technique Tuesday Stamps (December Daily 2011 by Ali Edwards); Cosmo Cricket Tiny Text TX903; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.
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Pages by Michelle Wooderson. You’ll notice she used a 6×12 Page Protector (coming back early February) to add some extra highlights, like a handwritten list and her husband’s warning (oops!).
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Pages by Monica McNeill, who included her boys’ “Guess How Many” journal cards from the party (she set out Amber Edition cards for them to write on) and also included pieces from the Turquoise Edition. She trimmed down Design F to accommodate the number of cards that she had, and worked this in with Design A and Design G. Also used: Decorative Paper Tape Numbers + Vintage Numbers Rubber Stamps from Cavallini & Co.; Star Banner Yellow Stickers + Border Stickers Brown from Jenni Bowlin; Tiny Type from Cosmo Cricket; Graph Paper Bag from MishMash; Wood Grain Tag + Honeycomb Tag from Banana Fish Studio;
Scrap Pads from Studio Calico; Mini Market Stickers Red&Cream from October Afternoon; Tickets from Tim Holtz; Smash Pad Entertainment from K & Co.
Tags: creative team
Gorgeous inspiration today! Good to hear that there’s going to be some more digi inspiration. I’m keeping up so far, but always good to get more ideas
. Interested to know how Jessica is planning on printing, I’m intending a photobook so I’ve used templates that I’ve adjusted away from the edges in the hope that they’ll print better.
Thanks for this jump start this morning!
Jessica Sprague is awesome and I owe it to you Becky for leading me to her website to check out the digi PL products. Not only did I LOOK at them, but for Christmas I PURCHASED 6(yes 6!!!) of her classes for myself!!! If anybody hasn’t checked out her site yet, you don’t know what you’re missin’!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Becky and all Team Members for your inspiration!
I’m to pick up my pictures today to finish 2011 and begin 2012 PL and I can hardly wait!!!
Becky, Thanks for all of the ideas that you share. I am truly inspired, and cannot wait to receive my goodies & get started on my 50th (parents) anniversary WDW trip and Disney Cruise Album – whew! That’s a mouthful. When I did my 365 album w/ a Project Life kit, I preloaded it, and did every page the same as far as layout (with the exception of rearranging some vertical photos).
This time, I’m going to be more flexible, and order different kinds of page protectors so that I can accommodate various Disney memorabilia and journaling with my photos.
I chose the Turquoise Binder and paper for the colors, and because of all of the circle patterns (mimicking that famous Mickey head!)
Have a happy Wednesday Becky!
I am so excited about Project Life this year and am telling everyone I know with the hope that they give it a try. I take so many photos (have a hard time editing how many & of what) but in recent years I have been so overwhelmed about the amount of photos and always feeling “behind” and when I sit down to do layouts never getting as much accomplished as I would like. I feel confident with PL that even if I get a week or two behind, it won’t be nearly as cumbersome as months & months. I know it will still take a little time to gather a rhythm and figure the best way to print my photos but to see my title page & my first week definitely feels like an accomplishment. Ps — Thanks for the post a few weeks ago about Project Life without kids. I’m single and sometimes it’s hard to wade through all the family pages out there and feel okay about what I have to share. Keep up the good work =)
Project Life saved me from ditching scrapbooking altogether. It had just gotten so complicated and time-consuming, and NOT FUN. When I finally understood what PL could be, it was a great moment! And now I understand even more that PL is a nice, cozy safe place for many of us who are too busy, too uninspired, too whatever to make it more than it is. We want and need and like it simple! I’ll admit to feeling my heart beat more quickly when I see all of the creative things others are doing, and part of me would like to try some of those things. But I don’t have to in order to make this a meaningful project for myself and my family! What is it about us gals that can be so insecure when we see others doing things we’re not! It’s okay! Let others be creative and maybe I will be, too, someday. For now I am going to celebrate the fact that I’m recording another year in our lives. Thanks again, Becky!
How creative having the kids write on the actual Project Life cards! That’s an awesome idea! Loved seeing all the different pages. Gave me lots of ideas
I haven’t started this year yet..still working on the last album and was waiting for some stuff to get back in but I don’t think I can wait any longer!!
This is my first year doing Project Life and I am using the digital version. I am loving the flexibility the digital version gives. I use the digital elements along with my pictures to create my weekly 2-page spread and if I find, for example, a journaling card I want to use but it doesn’t quite match my layout, I use Photoshop to tweak the colors, and as easy as that I have a perfectly matching element for my week. I love it.
I also wanted to be able to include “paper” memorabilia in my album, so I have found the easiest (and least expnensive way) to do this is by using a photo pocket page to include things like reciepts, kids drawings, notes etc., and then just print some of the digital elements (like journaling cards) cut them to size and slide them in.
So far I am having such a good time. The only difficult part is choosing which of the cute digital elements to include. There are so many cute designs it’s hard to narrow it down to just a few a week.
Thanks for designing such a great project with so many options to document our lives.
P.S.
I am so inspired by all these creative women who use Project Life so beautifully. Thank you.
Just one more great thing I wanted to share about the digital version of project life. Sometimes I need more vertical space for pictures (I take a lot of photos vertically), so what I have found is that I can take a digital template (the digital template is the equivalent of a photo pocket page if you are doing regular project life) and turn it on it’s side to make it have more vertical spaces to place photos. Because the templates are all 12×12, you can turn them and use them any direction you want. It is so handy. In Photoshop, you can go to “Image” then “rotate canvas” and then choose how many degrees you want to rotate your template. Quick and easy.
Great Tip! Thanks for sharing.
Happy to share anything that makes documenting life more doable and fun.
As I was just using my digital templates, I saw that template G is actually 10×12, not 12×12, but as I will be printing it at Costco on as 12×12, I guess I will just have some extra white space.
You can put smaller photos in that ‘white space’, journaling, a large vertical title, digital paper, thickers (hybrid scrapping), memorabilia (real or scanned)…list goes on and on. It is going to print on a 12 x 12 sheet and if you are going to put it in a 12 x 12 protector, fill it up, get your money’s worth. If you are using the G protector and cutting your printed page apart to put in the pockets, use that extra space to print some smaller photos for other projects.
Finally what I have been waiting for and LONG OVERDUE!!! Several examples from your Creative Team using PROJECT LIFE!!! Love it and sooooooooo very THANKFUL that two of my all time favorite scrapbookers ( Ali E & Cathy Z) are part of your team!!!! KUDOS on your team selection….I can not wait to see more from them.
QUICK QUESTION: Will the Turquoise Core Kit be available again?
Thanks for continuing to bring us varied inspiration!!!!!
LOVE the inspiration!
I just received my first EVER PL BINDER!!! I chose the white signature binder and I LOVE IT. I can’t get over how large it is. My first impression was that it was absolutely perfect to lay across “laps” plural. My twin, almost 5 year old, boys have already taken such an interest in looking at the pages that I put together for 2011. This was exactly the effect I’d hoped PL would have. One of my fantasies as I work on my albums and get caught up is that I will spend lots of time snuggled under a blanket with my 3 little ones completely engrossed in stories of who they are, and what they’ve done and how incredibly much they are loved.
It looks sooooooo great. So much inspiration.
Thanks for sharing! Loved seeing all the pages and being inspired!
They all look fantastic! My list of things I want to do keeps growing……maybe I’d better stop looking and do some doing LOL!
First up, congrats Jessica….so well deserved
Can’t wait to see more inspiration from you!
Becky, I love that you’re highlighting different ways you can tackle Project Life! 2012 marks my third year doing it, but my first year using Project Life products
! Can’t wait to post my first couple weeks!! Still working on finishing my 2011 layouts and get them off to print 
Excited that you are including the digital Project Lifers in to the mix! I was beginning to feel a smidge left out. Jessica Sprague is amazing, and I can’t WAIT to see who else you pick to add to your digital creative team.
That would be a dream job!
Whew..I’m just catching my breath after reading & sucking up all the ideas! Aloha.
Welcome to the team Jessica and I’m so glad that there’ll be more digi stuff showcased. I’m scrap mainly digi and have for about 8 years but was initially a paper scrapper. Still do both types but am doing PL this year with a kit and templates picked up at Jessica’s store and some weeks I’ll add physical memorabilia and goodies to my pages but because I just don’t have the time to keep my physical goodies out all over the place, digi will be what I will do mostly this year. I still do paper scrap but love the convenience that the digi side of scrapping offers you plus you can play around with your photos, rotate templates, recolour goodies and just get plain old creative when you feel like it! Plus I’m printing my pages week by week and will add in assorted page sizes throughout the year to incorporate my kiddos art like Liz is doing, tickets, receipts, shopping lists and the like. Am loving visiting your blog every day Becky to see what else is going on in the world of PL!
So very happy to see Jessica Sprague on board. Love, love, love Jessica!
I know who Cathy Z is, but hadn’t realized how cute her PL is! Great inspiration.
Also, I am thrilled to see a little more showcasing of ideas that take PL pages to a little more of the “crafty” feel of my former scrapbooking pages. No time for that anymore, but I admit, I do really miss the creative part of a traditional scrapbook page, though not at all enough to go back to that never-able-to-even-dream-of-staying-caught-up-universe. Seriously. Those days are so, so, SO over. With 4 kids aged 7 and under…I am honest enough to admit that I would love to have some kind of books to preserve everyone’s everything, yet the pace of my life does not allow me to spend too much time. That old way of thinking is just too stressful. I am happier living my life with my kids and not spending more of my time furiously attempting to keep it all recorded. There are just not enough hours in this lifetime. It sounds a bit broken-record like, but PL is awesome and 2012 has shown me it is just a little more awesome than I thought it was.
The extra-oomph of the PL pages has given me a newfound inspiration.
I’ve been following another scrapbooker’s blog who has just started PL this year and she is also a great inspiration – Kayla Aimee. Love her style too.
I will admit, in the beginning of my journey with PL (that initially began with P365 during its beginning), I just slapped the photos in there and completed my write-ups everyday. Day after day after day. Sure, the memories were in there, but I felt a bit shell-shocked. I went from extremely detailed, well-thought out scrapbook page that had a variety of page sizes and a allowed a great deal of creativity. Love my creative side. But…scrapbooking with 4 kids and relaxing? That is impossible. I have, like you and so many others, finally come to terms with saying goodbye to that impossibility for my grand scheme of memory keeping. I went to PL. Loved it, but I can admit, I was a bit sad to say that at the end of the year, my memories were there, but I felt like I went from one end of the extreme to the other and I was missing out on the creativity part of things, but wasn’t quite sure how to throw more creativity in there.
Seeing this recent crop of more “scrappy” versions of PL, I feel like I have really found a great balance. Thank you so much for that! Keep the inspiration coming.
Yay!
Thanks so much!
So happy to see Jessica has joined your team! Hoping you have a call out for some more digi-team members. I’d love to be considered.
I do have one question about the digi-set, however. The template and the elements don’t match completely, size-wise. When I mask a journal or filler card I always have to resize, why is that? I would think the template and the cards should be the same size, for a perfect fit. Is it because the digi-elements may be printed and need to fit into a page protector pocket?
Thanks,
Helen
I may be able to help on this…hopefully I understand your question. I am doing my PL hybrid so I’ve had a chance to use the templates and the digital kit that matches my physical product. I am forcing myself to learn to do the digital stuff this year. It’s an uphill battle with me…but I think I’m getting there.
I’ve found the elements aren’t exactly the same size as the template layers but not enough to resize each thing. I Just put the element on top of the layer where you wish it to go, making sure it’s in the list to the right of PSE (not sure what that’s called!) in the right order, i.e. the journal card element is above the slot where I want it in that list. Then I ‘clip’ it to the layer (Command G on the Mac, not sure on PC). This then hides the edges that are a little bigger. You can then move it around to tweak its position within the template. Does that make sense???
Also, Ali Edwards has some great tutorials on her site for resizing pictures to fit PL. I think the one I referred to is here:http://aliedwards.com/2012/01/video-tutorial-printing-two-3×4-images-on-a-4×6.html
My process is: Open the template, open the elements I want to use, bring the pictures into PSE that I am using.
Resize (crop to specified size per Ali Edwards tutorial instructions) pictures.
Put elements where I want them and clip to template.
Bring pictures up, clip them to template.
Add text boxes and journaling.
Done.
Hope this helps…
You can skip the resizing of the photos if that is too time consuming or mind blowing. Use the corners (little squares connected by dots) of the bounding box around your photo to resize it to whatever size fits the template borders while featuring the photo to your liking. No prior cropping or resizing necessary.
Great inspiration. I especially love Cathy’s pages. LOVE them! She inspires me every time.
I love all of the inspiration. It was because of the inspiration and your words of no rules, and do it any way that fits YOU, that I decided to give it a try again after an attempt back on 2009 with project 365. I’m making it mine again, after a little revamping. Thanks for sharing the encouragement and inspiration.
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