What kind of shelving unit or display do you keep your scrapbooks on?
I have had these Cropper Hopper cubes forever, but I’m not sure they even make them any more. I know a lot of scrapbookers love the Expedit series of shelving at IKEA.
Worth mentioning: I just recently – like this past week – moved the scrapbooks down to the kids’ eye level and suddently there is a surge of interests in looking at scrapbooks. Seriously, it’s like a magic trick and I’m so thrilled. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?
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Would you be kind enough to share where your kitchen wallpaper is from?
The company is Seabrook. The name of the book/collection is Shadowplay. Go here for more information. And since I smell the next question a mile away … the chair, pillow, and little chest are all from Potato Barn in AZ.
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I want to incorporate a date stamp into my pages. What date stamp do you recommend using?
You can pick up any ol’ date stamp at an office supply store, but I do think that Dear Lizzy’s new Neapolitan Roller Date Stamp is rather fun.
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Just watched the Project Life video. May sound crazy but I love the pink on the bedroom walls. Any chance you know the color/brand?
Behr’s Raspberry Lemonade 130C-3 (purchased at Home Depot). Claire’s bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids, several years ago. Stuffed animals and very sleepy girl not included.
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I’m out of the loop. Are there any Photo Pocket Pages to accommodate Instagram prints?
We are working on it.
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What do you do with all the Christmas, Birthday, etc. cards that you and your family receives?
Naturally, Christmas cards are displayed on the wall and our tradition is to leave them up after the holidays 2-3 months. I’m about ready to take them down this weekend, in fact. I used to save all of our Christmas cards until last year when I had an epiphany: I am not the keeper of other peoples’ memories. I have enough to keep track of with my own family. So I made a very liberating decision to throw them all away. If you missed that organization post, check it out. My camera was along for the journey as I went through and organized a bunch of stuff in our home office. That was fun.
As for Birthday cards, most of them get thrown away but we save the special ones that were homemade or have a sweet note, or grandma’s handwriting, etc. These go in the Big Envelope Pages in the kids’ scrapbooks.
For 17 years I’ve been keeping a basket full of the most special letters and cards we receive. Remember: We keep the kids’ special cards in their scrapbooks. But the cards that are for David and me? I just add them to the basket. It’s not really organized but they’re all in one place and that’s good enough for me. To be honest, I don’t ever go back and read them. But they meant something to me/us and so I’ve been hoarding them I guess. Mind you, these are not the thank-you-for-our-wedding-gift kind of cards. They are personal and specific and special for one reason or another and it doesn’t feel right to toss them. I figure there may be a day later in my life that I’ll have time to dig through that basket and remember the kind words of loved ones. Who knows.
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What kind of spiral grid paper are you using in this photo?? (Referring to a picture I posted on facebook + twitter that showed what David and I were working on recently.)
Oh, how I love my Marimekko sketch notebook. First of all, this is my go-to place for all work-related sketches. Everything from product design to ideas for the website. It is well loved and well utilized and some day I’ll have to take you on a tour through these pages. I picked it up in Finland when we were there visiting my parents a couple years ago. The sad thing is, I’m about ready to get another one and I can’t find it anywhere online! : ( If anyone else has a cool resource for a sprial-bound notebook with grid paper, I’m all ears.
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What kind of scanner do you use?
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M has a permanent spot between my computer and David’s. It’s a sheet-fed scanner, and compatible for our Macs. I’m sure there is a similar scanner for PCs. And here’s the portable version. We also use a flat-bed scanner (Epson Perfection 4490) for scanning thicker items (like pages in my grid notebook from the last question, and some of the kids’ art, and other odd-shaped items that won’t work in the ScanSnap.
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How do you reduce the page after you scan? Is there a certain program used?
I re-size everything in Photoshop Elements. That’s my only photo editing software, besides what’s built-into iPhoto on my Mac.
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What camera do you use? Trying to decide between a Nikon d3100 or CANNON eos rebel t3?
I am so not up on the latest & greatest in cameras. I find myself taking most pictures on my iPhone these days (you can see my favorite iPhoneography apps here). But I do really like my dSLR (Nikon D90), which we’ve had 3.5 year now, and I still use it at least weekly for one reason or another. Isn’t it amazing how technology is changing the way we photograph life?
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Ok Becky… I have to know, HOW do you style your hair? I love it!
This is funny. You should see me right now. Okay, actually… I’ll snap a quick self-portrait. This is exactly what I look like right now as I’m writing this. For real, I’m sporting a pony tail almost every day. When I’m not, I change it up. Sometimes, I’m round-brushing for straightness and body. Sometimes I’m throwing my curling iron into the mix. Maybe it’s down. Maybe it’s up with a dozen bobby pins. But today is typical. Pony tail. Truth is – I really don’t spend my time on my hair, like … ever. But I guess that’s relative.
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Say you have a 7 day trip to California that includes SeaWorld, Disneyland, Beach, Zoo, etc. Would you still print just a few pictures, enough to fit your WEEK or would you consider making perhaps a small photo book just for this vacation? I just know that I go picture crazy on trips and I wind up with another album. What do you do for special occasions?
You asked what I would do … and I’m nothing less than honest with my answers. So I’ll just tell you that with any traveling we have done and any big events we have had in the past few years since I have been using the Project Life method of memory-keeping, I have taken so much pressure off my own shoulders by just sticking with my simple plan to have one week represented per layout in our family yearbook. That means I’m choosy. Yes, of course there are loads of pictures not “scrapbooked”. But that’s not the point. We want to remember our life, but we don’t need every picture and every memory written down. I have never loved memory-keeping so much as I do now – ever. It’s very liberating to be choosy and really narrow down. The rest of our photos remain on our computer (and of course backed up) and I’m 100% content with that. I’m not really doing extra pages or mini albums these days. Just not the phase I’m in.
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Why do your pockets come in such odd sizes? I can’t print off 3x4s at WalMart. Or 6x6s. Am I missing something? This seems like a really neat prospect… but when the printing of the pictures is a hassle… what is the point?
Welcome to Project Life; sounds like you’re new to the concept and I’m so happy that you want to learn more! If you check out our Getting Started page, you’ll see how this all works and how easy it really is. The 3×4 pockets that are found in most of our Photo Pocket Pages are designed to hold our 3×4 Journaling Cards. Many Project Lifers enjoy being creative with their pages, even though it’s designed to be incredibly simple. We love ALL approaches to Project Life!
As for the 6×6 pockets in Design E, those are great for cutting down kids’ art, or placing a cd or dvd in a pocket, or a block of patterned paper, or a photo enlargement trimmed to size … you get the idea. Here’s one way I used it in Porter’s album. I showed this (and much more) in my recent video about Getting Organized with Kids’ Stuff.
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I’m using Project Life to catch up on several years of high school scrapbooks for me and my brothers (we all graduated 5-15 years ago). I have a pile of old 3 x 5 and 4 x 6 traditional prints to scrapbook, but harder — a whole lot of newspaper clippings (my brothers were into sports and landed in the news a lot). I would like to use the clippings as they are (would rather not have to scan and trim them down because I only have a bubble jet printer). Some of them are small (those aren’t the problem), but others are full size, big articles. Any ideas on simple ways to preserve and scrapbook these within the PL system? Further, any ideas on how to scrapbook all those certificates kids get in school (i.e., award certificates) within PL?? Thanks!
This is exactly why we have the products we have, and why we’re bringing out more products for needs like this. Our Big Envelope Pages are a huge seller for a reason. They are an excellent place to store newspaper articles and cards and all sorts of memorabilia. Depending on the size and shape of your newspaper clippings, these are excellent plastics for displaying that kind of stuff as well: Design E, 6×12 Page Protector, and the classic 12×12 Page Protectors.
Note about scanning: I’m a fan. You mentioned your bubble jet printer, which makes me think that maybe you don’t know that you can print anything that you scan, just like you print photos. Just be sure your scans are saved as JPGs and upload for printing like you would any other pictures. It’s a very inexpensive way to get excellent prints of your newspaper articles, awards, and other memorabilia. Like I said – I’m a fan.
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I’m wondering – do you print your photos at home? If so, do you have a sweet printer?
I don’t. And I don’t. But … most of our Creative Team uses and recommends a printer for home use. If you missed that question in their Q&A on my blog, you can see their recommendations in this post.
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Do have a favorite pen that you like to use for journaling?
Yep. I’m a long-time fan of American Crafts’ Precision Pens.
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What is the significance of the 10 of hearts in the Clementine Core Kit – just for fun?
That’s a fun question! I asked Lili, who designed that edition and she said, “Yes, for fun – because it’s cute, and as far as I know it means love and good luck!”
Page by Deb Duty.
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{ a couple favorite comments }
“This is my first year doing Project Life and I just had to send a huge THANK YOU your way. I became an avid scrapbooker in 1997 when my daughter was born. After child number three and life becoming so busy, I found myself turning into a collector of scrapbook supplies. I continued to take the pictures and collect the supplies but very few stories actually made it to pages Now that I am involved with Project Life, I no longer have to stress about all the stories I’m not telling. I love how the project can be as simple or detailed as you want. I have even collected some of my favorite photos from the past years that have been sitting collecting dust and I incorporate them into my current Project Life pages as a “flashback.” It has been fun to tie the past and present together. I love how this Project Life can be anything you want it to be! Thank you, Becky, for Project Life!”
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From Donna: “I just wanted to let you know how much I absolutely love doing Project Life on Shutterfly. It’s a breeze! Now let me tell you – I am so computer-illiterate that sometime turning on my computer can be more than I can handle but it truly is as easy as everyone has been saying it is. I just about have a whole book done just with my January pictures and it is so much fun to click drag and see results. I totally had my feet dug in to not like this way of doing Project Life but wow! With results like this I just may switch. Thanks for making life so easy. You are my EASY BUTTON.”
Tags: camera, cards, Claire's bedroom color, date stamp, Design E, dSLR, grid paper, hair, journaling pen, kitchen wallpaper, marimekko, pink paint, Project Life, scanner, scrapbook shelves, sketch notebook
You have just released me from the pressure of saving all my friends’ Christmas cards to be archived one day! “I am not the keeper of other people’s memories” – that is SO BRILLIANT. Thank you so much Becky.
Thanks for answering so many varied questions in such an honest way – love your hair comment
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My DD has the same PB kids bedding and pink walls. Love it! Thanks for sharing. Really fun
For the person deciding between the Canon & Nikon digital cameras. I was shopping for a dslr for Christmas and here’s what I know, i didn’t look much at nikon because my dad & brother each have a Canon xti & my previous camera was a canon powershot that is almost a dslr, but not quite. So i was familiar with the feel of a Canon.
If you decide to go with Canon see if you can find a good deal on the t2i instead of the t3 or spend the extra and get the t3i. The t3 is pretty much the most basic dslr you can get, and the main differences between the t2i and the t3i are some improvements for hd video and some other nice to have but don’t add a lot in picture quality.
I print my pictures 6×8 & crop to fit the 6×6 pockets. My local photo lad (Big W in Australia) have the option of printing mini prints & they do 2 almost 3×4 on one 6×4 print, or 6 2×3′s which work well in the 3×4 pockets. Just ask, you never know. Also Ali Edwards did a tutorial on putting 2 pictures on to one 6×4 canvas in Photoshop, I will find a link…
For a notepad with graph paper – make your own! Take graph paper to (or purchase at) an office supply store and have them spiral bind the side. You can even have them laminate the front and back covers. Now YOU get to decide what the covers look like based on paper/cardstock choice.
What a great idea, you could use the lovely project life 12×12 papers for that!
What a FANTASTIC idea!!
http://aliedwards.com/2012/01/video-tutorial-printing-two-3×4-images-on-a-4×6.html here you go.
Becky thanks for being so honest with your answers & I love your hair!
Hi Becky, I wanted to let you know how much I LOVE your plain 12×12 page protectors! I did a traditional layout yesterday and grabbed one for the first time. I had ordered them out of convenience when I ordered my Project Life supplies. When I went to slide my layout in, I immediately noticed they felt different from any other ones I’ve used. The weight and quality are amazing! My layout just slid right in without difficulty and the protector looked crystal clear. When I slipped it in my album next to a different brand protector, I couldn’t believe how much better yours looked. Thanks for a reasonably priced, quality product! Just one problem…now I want to go back and switch my other ones out with yours!
I remodeled my entire crop/scrap room last summer with the Expedit shelves from IKEA. They’re perfectly sized for 12 by 12″ products, and they look nice too!
DO the Cropper Hopper paper holders it in your expedit? Mine are 1/4 inch too big. How did you store your paper?
Julie – I also have the expedit and cropper hopper paper holders. I just used sharpscissors to cut that extra 1/4″ off the trop of each one. They fit perfectly now and you can’t even tell they have been cut down.
Hi Becky! As luck would have it there’s a Marimekko store in town close to where I live (in Norway). I can pop down there tomorrow and see if they still have your notebook if you want. Have a great day and thanks for all the inspiration over the years.
In response the person’s comment about what to do on Disney trips…
this is what I did in my project life, and it’s just a snapshot of our trip:)
http://kellimjohnson.blogspot.com/2012/02/project-life-goes-disney.html
I love all these great random feedback questions, how wonderful to get to know you more that way.
Kelli,
I checked our your project life goes Disney, I LOVE IT!!!
I like how you had everyone in on it. I bet the kids enjoyed it.
This year we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary – so the 10 of hearts card was perfect for us!
Hey Becky thanks for mentioning my comment on your Blog I was soooooo excited to see it as one of your favorites, you are my Scrapbooking Guru I mention you PL and your Blog to anyone who will listen. Have a great weekend Donna
I have a Fujitsu Scansnap S1500 as well and use it all the time. I scan all our receipts in and then shred them. I try to go paperless as much as I can with documents. I love the double-side scanning and how fast and easy it works.
I have a suggestion for a graph notebook. I bought the Cachet Classic Graph Sketch Book 9×12 back in 2009 and I love mine. It’s not cheap but the paper weight is more hefty than most graph papers and it’s just a joy to write/sketch in. You can find it here: http://www.misterart.com/paper-boards/art-illustration/drawing-sketching-paper/sketchbooks-journals/cachet-classic-graph-sketch-book.html I bought two last time!
For my storage, I borrowed the two black wire shelving units from our basement for my scraproom -until I can find something a bit shabby chic /vintage. The shelves are approx. 6′h x 48″wide. I have them filled with the 12″ x 12″ plastic Sterlite 3-drawer units for embellishments and 12″ x12″ divided white Cropper Hopper units for papers and a small tv. A smaller wire shelf holds my CD player and all my Creating Keepsakes magazines! I am almost done with the room and I can’t wait to share pictures! Trust me when I say, my decor is unlike anyone else’s room! Hint: I have incorporated one of my very favorite parts of my childhood into the theme and colors of the room ! It may seem a bit silly to some, but when I step into my room, I feel like a kid again! I am 55 years old, but my room gives me such a happy feeling, I get so creative! I am never growing up! (And, no, it isn’t a doll collection!) Have I got you curious now?
~Terry
Hi Becky! I am loving Project Life! Just want to share what I use for graph paper notebooks. I use the miquelrius brand and I love them! Here’s a link:
http://www.shopmiquelrius.com/servlet/the-531/100-pct–Recycled-Notebook-MR/Detail
I love seeing that sweet puppy Oreo in the background on your journal shot! Please update us sometime soon how the family is doing with the puppy.
My local Walmart has spiral bound graph paper notebooks – but not with a pretty cover. But maybe you could embellish the cover yourself? An idea, anyway.
HELP!!!!!!I am totally baffled?! I have the 5×5 expidit shelves, but my Cropper Hopper paper holders are 1/4 inch too big. Am I crazy?!? I have several packages. Is it just me? I saw also “The ScrappyJedi” blog where she also used CH paper holders in her expidit too? Somebody please her me in my quandry.
I also have the expedit and cropper hopper paper holders. I just used sharpscissors to cut that extra 1/4″ off the trop of each one. They fit perfectly now and you can’t even tell they have been cut down. You could also use an exacto knite and ruler.
Yes, I cut the top 1/4 inch off of the Cropper Hopper paper holders also, so that they fit into my Expedit shelves.
A quick note regarding the graph paper notebook, you might want to look into the Arc system from Staples. You can add and remove pages, there are pocket dividers, and of course graph paper refills. Just go to Staples.com and enter Arc system, organizer fun!
You can also enter “quadrille” into the search line at Staples.com and find top and side spiral bound notebooks with your graph paper. Quadrille is the key word for graph paper. They come in 4×4 and 5×5 squares per inch. These are cheap and perfect for what you want!
Did I miss why everyone is using graph paper?
I’m new and so deeply loving how Project Life is the pictures/memories out of a box and back into our lives.
Another option for the loads of Disney/special trip pictures is to do a photo collage. I have Comic Life on my Mac so I just put our Disney pictures on there and printed them out on photo paper. I put some of the ephemera down the sides of 12×12 pages and some I just slid in an 8×10 sleeve to mix it up.
I know the iPhone is all the raves nowadays, but I have an Android phone. I also found myself using my phone to take pictures, too especially of my two boys. Can you recommend an app similar to the Instagram for iPhone?
For a graph paper spiral notebook I really love the Whitelines brand. They have some sizes available at Hobby Lobby but also on Amazon. Instead of a white background it has a light gray background with white lines which makes it easier to see your drawings. Many different sizes too and they are a ‘green’ notebook
Here is a link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=whitelines+notebook&x=0&y=0&sprefix=whitelines%2Caps%2C302
For the person with the 3×4 photos- I have ordered a wallet size and they split a 4×6 into two photos (they print the same photo twice on the 4×6 so you get two of the same). It doesn’t require any extra thought and they fit perfect into the 3×4 journaling spots.
Thanks so much for your Feedback Fridays!
Here’s my request for a new product for Project Life: I have many old photos that were printed in 3 X 5 horizontal format. I would hate to have to go back and resize and reprint all those photos, and I also don’t want to crop them down to a smaller size as they are originals without negatives. Any chance you will be designing divided page protectors that would allow displaying 3 X 5 horizontal photos?
Becky- I just wanted to thank you for the flexibility with digital PL. My husband was deported to Mexico almost a year ago, so he has missed A LOT of time with our kids. With digital PL, I can make a copy of our family PL albums, so that he can have some pictures and ideas of what is going on around here. I just add a DVD of the home movies I make, and he can completely see what’s going on here. Thank you for that option. It’s helping my family stay connected!
Rhodia notebook
http://rhodiapads.com/collections_metallic_reversebook.shtml
Becky,
I am becoming a fan of White Lines books/journals. http://whitelines.se/
The whitelines allow your sketches and writing to stand out and the lines distract less. Plus if using a scanner or photocopier, you are able to almost eliminate any sign of lines/grids and just showcase the sketch.
This may have been brought up before, but have you thought of making a 3×4 punch? That would be awesome! Love PL, new to it this year and I can already see what I would have missed if I had not been doing this. Thank you.
My expedit does not fit cropper hopper stuff
so that has to fit somewhere else but it works well for heaps of other scrapbooking things. Would be cool if expedit came up with some inserts (vertical or horizontal) so you could have a cube or two or three… with nicely separated papers straight onto the shelf.
My friend did mentioned that the container store has paper holders wide enough for 12×12, but short enough to fit in the expedit. I sure do love mine.
preisvergleich strom…
[...]feedback friday « Becky's Blog[...]…
I could read your blog all day (and honestly I have spent serious amount of time doing it)…your information is SO helpful and timely! I am in the process of buying some 3 ring binders and most of them hang off my shelves. That annoys me. (For example, the We R Memory Keepers binders are 15″ deep!). Not sure how deep yours are. But my current shelves are only 12-13″ deep. I am in the market for some new shelves as well. I am considering the Expedit (they are nearly 15″ deep) but in this particular room I was looking for more of a traditional bookcase (2 of them actually) to flank an armoire I have. Most shelving units are only 12-14 inches deep unless you get them custom built. Anyway, while processing all of this its good to read what solutions others have come up with. AND….the question/answer about the greeting cards was also SO timely! I have a box of those I’m working on right now; in fact tomorrow I’m having my hubby go through some of his and we are deciding what to keep/toss. I purchased See Jane Work linen art boxes for our cards, memorabilia and kids art work. Can you believe…we’ve been married for 30.5 years and have kept every single card we’ve exchanged! Plus we have all of the cards our kids gave us and most of the cards are parents, siblings and grandparents, aunts, etc. gave us. However, I just recently purged many…but kept a few favorites with my grandma’s and great aunts handwriting. I’ve had these cards stored in various decorative boxes but they’ve gotten out of control! So thanks for the tips. Oh, and as one of those people who LOVE snooping at other people’s homes (gotta LOVE all the decorating bloggers who share their homes with us!), thank you for sharing the information so freely about your paint, wallpaper, furniture, office, etc. LOLOLOLOL It’s beautiful!
I love what the creative team are doing with all the different pag protectors, especially cutting off part of them to make an insert smaller than the 12×12 layouts. I’d love to know what they do with the part they’ve cut off – are these bits just thrown out or is there a way to use these parts as well?
The above question regarding the “odd size” page protectors. I use a free program called Photosheet. Here is the link http://www.photility.com/PhotoSheet/default.html This software combines several separate images into a single image with a layout of your choosing. You can select 12×12 and fit 4 photos that would fit into Design E. You can put mulitiple images on 4×6, 5×7, 8×10 and 12 x 12. There are more options as well. Once complete you can either print at home or your favorite printing site.
I’m sharing a link for a notebook which I just ordered for myself. You can get it personalized with your name on it. It has 70 lined pages and 70 blank pages plus a 12 month 2 page spread monthly calendar in the front. Also comes with a zip lock clear envelope (attached in notebook) for loose papers. Now it does’t have graph paper and it’s also $39.00. Yes, I said $39.00. Sounds kind of crazy but I have looked all over for a notebook like this and so I just bit the bullet and bought it. They do an awful lot of customization so maybe you could get yours with graph paper? Just wanted to share. If the link doesn’t work for some reason just go to erincondren.com and click on the tab for ‘notebooks’.
http://www.erincondren.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=129_861_858&products_id=2551
Hi becky, I just wanted to let you know that for the last couple of years I wanted to try Project Life. I already had 2 kids and another on the way and thought of adding one more to do on a daily would be hard. 2012 is the year for me and so far it has been fun. I first went on You Tube for ideas and found Sunshinelovesfire (MaryAnn). She was so inspiring to me that I wanted to buy the same camera as her but had to settle for a Cannon 7d (love it) I also purchased the Cannon Pixma Pro 9000 MarkII (love it too!) so the process of printing at home has made it cheaper and easier. I’m alos soo loving all the different plastics…
Maria
[...] notebook that I picked up in Finland a couple years ago. I talked a little about it in a recent Feedback Friday post. I mentioned that I was almost to the end of its pages and couldn’t find the same [...]
[...] answered this same question HERE a couple months ago and it’s a question that comes up once in a while. I certainly [...]