Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category

12 videos of Christmas!

Friday, November 2nd, 2012

Woohoo – it’s that time again! Most of you know we have a little tradition around here in the month of December (I can hardly believe I’m talking about December. I mean – seriously.) It’s the 12 Videos of Christmas! Throughout December on un-announced days, I share 12 videos of various and completely random topics. It’s really just meant to be a form of entertainment and maybe even a little bit of enlightenment. In past years I have tried doing this a couple ways: 1) do all 12 videos on my own; 2) invite others to share their videos.

You already know where I’m going with this. There are 2 main reasons I want YOU to be a part of this tradition again: 1) You have such fun ideas and let’s be honest – I’d rather see videos starring you, than videos of myself. You keep the series well-rounded; 2) I am have invested so much of my time and energy and ideas into the video presentations for my Project Real Life class, so I need your help!

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{ what are the videos about? }

You name it. Seriously – ANYthing. It can be beautifully heart-wrenching or completely silly.  It can be Christmas-related or completely not related to holidays at all (although keep in mind we do want a strong representation of Christmas topics). It can be any sort of how-to, showing off your beautifully decorated home, a cool tour of your awesome home town, a day in the life, some sort of song & dance, a step-by-step DIY project … I really do mean anything. Variety is the spice of life.

If you are completely unfamiliar with the videos we have shared in the past, please do take a few moments to at least view a few of my own Videos (in the Other Videos section you’ll find home decor, DIY projects, hair cuts & hair styles, musical presentations, random tips, etc.). You can also see a review of all 12 videos from last year in THIS post, which by the way – that Christmas Miracle home video still makes me get weepy, darn it.

If you want me to let you in on a little secret, I am really hoping to see another “day in the life” type of video like Kris Murray created. SO fun. And SO in line with what I love to promote … taking notice of everyday life. I’d love to see someone with remarkable video skills like Eric Raum, and a fun food DIY like Jenalee’s White Chocolate Holiday Popcorn, and … Obviously I could go on. I loved them all! And that’s why I have to invite you to participate again!

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{ stuff  to know }

- Absolutely anyone can submit. You can be my BFF or a total stranger. Boy or girl. You can live anywhere in the world. Young or old. You can be a scrapbooker or have nothing to do with such a thing. You can be familiar with my brand or this might be your first time visiting my blog because someone told you to enter the contest. I don’t care who you are … you have equal chances of winning if your video is pure awesome sauce.

- Length. Just to keep things short + sweet, since everyone is so busy during the holidays … let’s aim to keep the videos under 5 minutes, okay?

- Cash prize. This is a fun contest, but it’s even MORE fun because cash is involved. Each winner will receive $100 – which really tends to come in handy this time of year.  : )

- Timing. Submissions are due no later than Monday, November 26 at 12:00 midnight Pacific Time. I will contact all the winners by Monday, December 3. All winning videos, along with my own homemade videos will be sprinkled throughout the month of December.

- Quality. It matters. You don’t have to be a professional videographer. We just want good, clear, attractive quality with pleasant lighting. I’m just saying – it helps your chances.

- No stupid stuff. Don’t submit anything offensive. Just don’t.  : )

- Limit. Please do not enter more than 2 videos per person/family.

- Spread the word. Making videos – not your thing? Perhaps you know someone that would love this contest and they have some video skills. Please share the link to this specific blog post so they can get the low-down. We want lots of entries, lots of variety!

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{ how do I submit? }

- Post your video somewhere (Vimeo, YouTube, wherever) so you have a working link to share with us. If your link doesn’t work, you’re out of luck for being considered.

- Email your submission to: submissions@beckyhiggins.com

- Include in your email: name, location, equipment used, blog/website (if you have one), link to the video, and any information/story behind the video. Please be brief.

- Be sure to email us by Monday November 26 or you won’t be considered.

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Can’t wait to see your videos, guys. We’re all seriously a little giddy about this contest around here.

 

guest post : how amy scrapbooked 150+ photos in 4 hours

Friday, August 31st, 2012

Hi! My name’s Amy Cornwell. I have my own business where I make jewelry to celebrate all of life’s events and I also have a small lifestyle blog where I talk about crafts, family, jewelry and traveling. I’m so honored to be talking to you all today about my Project Life experience.

I’ve been scrapbooking since middle school, using paper & embellishments to make my pages. When I fell away from scrapbooking after having two kids, I knew I needed something different. I still loved capturing memories with my camera, but the thought of scrapbooking it all was daunting. Enter Project Life. I saw the simplicity of it and it intrigued me. I knew I had to have it.

The first year doing Project Life I did the picture a day. It was hard for me, because as a working mother I felt like my pictures were all the same – in the evenings of my kids playing or taking baths. The second year (2011) I did things differently. I scrapbooked events, not putting pressure on myself to take a picture to put in the album every day. I loved doing it this way and easily kept up with my book in 2011. (notice below that sometimes I don’t even journal, I let the pictures tell the story)

Enter 2012. We started the year with our 10th anniversary trip to Mexico and then it was back to real life. I had a conference to attend in April and shortly after that summer hit. As of a week ago, my 2012 book was stuck at March. I have had no desire to work on my album this summer because of general busy-ness and the fact that my pictures were piling up. I felt a little bit like a scrapbooking failure and very overwhelmed. I had done well in 2011 and now I was getting way behind for 2012.

Finally I had my chance to catch up. My husband went out of town for a work trip last weekend, so I organized and edited the pictures I wanted to print (about 200 in all). Once the kids went to bed one night, I got to work! I started at 8pm with 200 pictures and over 5 months to complete. I’m all about simplicity. I love seeing people like Ali Edwards create beautiful spreads for their Project Life albums and wish mine would look like that. But I’m realistic and know my own personal limits. So I do very easy spreads with just a little bit of journaling and sometimes stickers.

For my massive catch-up session I used just a few items: my core kit, various plastics, a black pen and some letter stickers. That’s it. I didn’t use any other embellishments on these pages. In 2011 I rounded the corners of each picture, but for 2012 I’ve left them as-is. I like that look because it fills up every bit of available space in the plastics. My favorite plastics to use are the classic Design A (I think because I’ve been using that for the past three years) and Design C. Design C is great for me because I take mostly landscape portraits, so I just slip them in with one journaling card (or not!) and that page is done!

Here’s the exciting part: By midnight I was DONE. Completely. Journaling. Pictures in. Done. I ended up using about 150+ pictures and 13 page protectors. This is the exact reason why I love Project Life so much – you can keep up with it weekly or you can slack off (like me) and get a massive amount done in one night. My kids love going through the books, laughing at memories and flipping back and forth to see pictures of themselves. That in itself is all worth it to me.

inspiration a la tina

Wednesday, July 18th, 2012

If you follow my blog regularly, you’ve noticed that I occasionally spotlight a few bits of inspiration from a personal friend in my life. Some recents: Inside the homes of Lisa and Jen, my brother Kevin with his weight loss success story, and even my mom with a great tip for corn on the cob.

Today’s inspiration comes from my friend Tina. We met in Cleveland 10 years ago and she was my very best neighbor there. She was the first one to show up with cookies when we moved in, really motivated me to pick up running again between having babies, she’s just plain fun to be around, and yet – she is so far from being outwardly overzealous. Tina is genuinely kind, selfless, and humble. She is such a rock and probably has no idea just how much she is adored and admired.

Not the greatest quality picture – and not even Tina’s best hair day – but this is us together just last month with another dear friend Sarah sandwiched in the middle. Our family was visiting their families in Colorado Springs.

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{ idea no. 1: giant photo wallpaper }

This is the first thing that catches your eye when you walk in Tina’s beautiful home. Um, hello picture lovers. Go ahead and pin this one. She used a favorite photo of their kids and had the mural made at MuralsYourWay.com. Talk about impact.

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{ idea no. 2: more photo displays }

She printed some favorites at Costco. Each square is a 12×12 size. The cheapest way to do this, according to Tina, is to put 3 images on a 12×36 canvas (in Photoshop), save that JPG, and print that size (which apparently they do now!). Then cut the 3 pictures apart. She dry-mounted each picture at Hobby Lobby and mounted them to the wall with my own personal favorite – Velcro.

She had these printed at PosterBurner.com and then had them dry-mounted at Hobby Lobby.

{ idea no. 3: big-striped panels }

You might be inspired to take on this little DIY project. Tina picked up white canvas panels at WalMart, some red canvas from Hobby Lobby, and just cut out thick red strips of the red to sew onto the panels. So stinking cute.

{ idea no. 4: healthy + delish }

Tina eats really well. In fact, their whole family eats really well. I about died watching their 10-year-old snacking on spinach. For real. Not Oreos or Peanut M&M’s. Noooo. Raw spinach. And don’t get me wrong – I love spinach. But my kids still balk at the idea.

So anyway – one of the things we ate during our visit was this. It’s a recipe she got from her ultra-healthy mother-in-law called Almond Pate (I think it’s spelled this way, and I think it’s pronounced pah-’tay but correct me if I’m wrong). Seriously, I love this and am working on making my first batch at home now. I’ll get it on the Recipes section soon. And I’ll get more recipes from her too.

Click here for the recipe PDF.

{ idea no. 5: regular exercise }

Tina, me, and David about to embark on a trail run in the mountains by her house. Incredibly refreshing to run through trees since we came from the desert.

Super dear friends Sarah, Katie, and Tina. That’s David and Sarah’s husband Eric too.

The Manitou Incline beckons me every time. This is my third time climbing one mile straight up, on crooked railroad ties. The altitude kicks my behind, my stamina is tested, and my time to the top is laughable – but oh man, how I love the challenge of hiking these stairs and completing the goal of making it without dying. Tina is kind to stay back with me.

Regular exercise is something we all should have in our lives. We know that. But like many of you, this is something that ebbs and flows in my world. Sometimes I’m really good and I’m making something happen on a regular basis. There are other times I could go months without so much as jogging around my neighborhood. This has become my reality of being a busy mom + business owner. Tina’s not my only friend who’s great about working exercise into her routine. But there is just something about being around her that motivates me to make it a priority, no matter what. I love her for that.

And I’ll let you know when that happens.  ; )

 

inspiration a la lisa

Thursday, June 14th, 2012

In case you don’t recognize this beauty, it’s Lisa Bearnson. She is the Founding Editor of Creating Keepsakes magazine, the premier publication dedicated to memory-keeping. I’ve known her for as long as I’ve been working in this industry – 15 years. She was the one that gave me my “big break” and took a leap of faith in hiring me way-back-when. We worked side-by-side on many projects, wrote a book together, traveled together, developed products together, and … more important than any of that, she is a dear friend to me. The Bearnsons are dear friends to our family.

Flash back: If you’re new-ish to my blog/brand, you might be interested in reading the blog post announcement from nearly 3 years ago when I announced that I was resigning from Creating Keepsakes. It’s a bit of a historical moment in my personal career, and of course Lisa has been an important part of the journey.

When our family was road-tripping a couple weeks ago, we were able to spend a little time with the Bearnsons. So thankful for that. While we were in their beautiful home, I snapped 3 pictures of 3 different home decor ideas that I wanted to share with you – and Lisa is happy to share a little insight on each of these.

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{ chairs }

I don’t know anyone else with chairs hanging on the wall. It’s quirky and original, but it’s more than that to Lisa’s family. She shares: “The chairs are a constant reminder of a talk a promiment leader (Ezra Taft Benson) of our church gave several years ago called “No Empty Chairs”. He said: God intended the family to be eternal. With all my soul, I testify to the truth of that declaration. May He bless us to strengthen our homes and lives of each family member so that in due time we can report to our Hevenly Father in His celestial home that we are all there – father, mother, sister, brother. Each chair is filled. We are all back home.

The chairs hang high on a wall and can be seen from both floors of our home. They represent each member of our family and remind us of two things: 1) A righteous home is within a “whispering distance of heaven”. We all want to be together in the next life having a grand feast together. We want “no empty chairs”. And 2) Dinner starts promptly at 6:00 pm in the Bearnson home and we want “no empty chairs”. If the kids are late, they have to eat sitting on their chair on the wall! (Just kidding.)”

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{ clock }

This DIY project is so much fun, isn’t it!?The 12 frames are just old frames Lisa collected from around the house, but a thrift shop is another great way to collect some for a very small cost.

Lisa’s friend makes photo clocks and yes – she is willing to sell the hands to anyone interested. Why do I have the feeling a few of you are interested? It sounds like they’re hard to find. And yes, they work. Her company is ForAllTimeClocks.com and the hands are around 10″ – 17″ in length and come in cream, black, gold, dark brown, and white. Contact angie@foralltimeclocks.com for more information.

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{ photo crate }

Lisa found this antique mail holder at a local antique shop. It’s a fun way to showcase current photos and easy to rotate and update.

Many thanks to Lisa for letting me share a few snippets from her home with my readers. She continues to inspire.

more creative uses for cardstock

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Yesterday I featured 4 nuggets of cardstock inspiration and today I’m sharing 4 more.

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{ Idea #5: Frame It }

From my own home … and something I bet some of you have done in your homes as well. It’s simple, really. Need a splash of color in an otherwise boring frame? Don’t want to spray-paint the frame? Just cut a piece of your favorite patterned paper to the right size and place this in the frame. That’s it. (This piece is from the Clementine Collection.)

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{ Idea #6: Handmade Photo Book }

Alison in South Auckland, New Zealand: Since getting a Zutter I have been making lots of different notebooks and albums. I make my own photo albums for all those photos I want to print and keep, but that don’t make it into Project Life or our standard scrapbook albums.

I love the Project Life cardstock and the Cobalt colours went well with these photos for this little album I made. I put DuraSeal onto the cardstock (on the cover) to protect it from little fingers and to help it keep a bit longer. The photo pages have strips of cardstock glued to them and then its all punched and bound together for a very personalized album. It takes some time folding and gluing the strips but the end result is so worth it and these albums make great presents.

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{ Idea #7: Instagram Backgrounds }

Lisa in New Jersey: Like many people, I am documenting our family’s year for 2012. I purchased the Clementine kit and the additional pack of cardstock and have been putting it to good use! Many of the pictures I include in our album are smaller than the 4×6″ photo pocket (some 2×3″ and LOTS of Instagrams sized 4×4, 3×3, and 2×2).

I have been cutting down Clementine Cardstock sheets to the 4×6 size and using that as the background to these smaller photos. It is quicker and so much easier than rummaging through all my other “regular” scrapbooking cardstock to find a piece to coordinate with my layout. I am enjoying this process so much! Thank you again for developing Project Life and for all the new products. It just keeps getting better & I can’t wait to see what else is on the horizon!

Peyton in Virginia has the same idea. In fact, this is a picture of her stash of pre-cut cards from the Clementine Collection of 12×12 Cardstock. You’ll notice she even cut some 3×4 cards as well.

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{ Idea #8: Greeting Cards }

Naturally, cardstock is a great staple for making cute cards. Kristen Spencer in Texas says, I love to have kids’ birthday cards on hand and I think these turned out so cute! I have to say the weight and texture of your cardstock is PERFECT for the Cricut! It cuts even the tiniest details flawlessly! (Cobalt Collection shown.)

 

creative uses for project life cardstock

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

As you know, Project Life is designed to simplify the memory-keeping process. Our Core Kits and Photo Pocket Pages are the basic components to go in an album and really, that’s all you need. While I firmly believe that you can complete an entire scrapbook with just these items

… we totally recognize that many of you have that desire to get creative and do more than the beloved slip-the-photos-and-cards-in-and-be-done method. This is why we have additional products – to support your need to create, and help you keep it all looking good together.

So let’s talk about the Project Life Cardstock. You don’t have to have full 12×12 cardstock for a Project Life album, but you asked for it, we listened, and so of course we have it. We have a collection of designer paper to go with each of our Project Life Editions:

Many Project Lifers have put the 12×12 Project Life Cardstock to good use with a creative spin. Today I’m sharing 4 recently submitted ideas. Tomorrow I’ll share another 4 ideas. Each idea comes from readers/customers who submitted their own pictures. We’re grateful for their willingness to share so that you can be inspired.

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{ Idea #1: Manila Folders }

Pedita in Newcastle, NSW, Australia: I covered some manila folders to brighten up my desk. (Papers from the Amber Collection are shown.)

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{ Idea #2: Mini scrapbook pages on one scrapbook page }

Megan in Nashville, Tennessee: I use the cardstock with Design E Photo Pocket Pages to do 4 mini layouts for each of my sons each month. I highlight what they are doing that month. (Papers from the Cobalt Collection are shown.)

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{ Idea #3: Chore System }

Regan in Texas: I used the Cobalt cardstock to make a new chore system for my two daughters, ages nine and five. My girls helped me cut the papers into cards, then we added a chore to each front and a gold star to each back, and then laminated them and punched a hole in the top. We hung them on our fridge on hook magnets. When the girls complete the chore, they turn it over to the star side and put it on the hook below (we love that the papers have such fun patterns on both sides!). Each day I select the chores that need to be done that day (the extras live in an envelope at the top), and at the end of the day they receive a tally mark for the completed jobs (and they lose a tally mark for the ones they did not finish). They also have the option to select additional jobs for extra marks. They have both set a goal for their reward when they reach a certain number of tally marks. It is extremely flexible, and more importantly, extremely cute! The girls each chose which papers they wanted for their own jobs. So far, so good!

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{ Idea #4: Wrapped Boxes }

Carol in Washington state: I think these boxes are great sizes and yet I just send them to recycling. SO … I covered them with cardstock (papers from the Turquoise Collection are shown) and keep the things I am working on in them. Plus, they match my Project Life album. From baggie boxes, to supply boxes …

DIY memory game

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

Anyone who has Project Life knows we give you plenty of supplies in that little box. Chances are, you have some extra cards in your stash. Right?

Creative Team member MaryAnn has put her extra cards to excellent use. She whipped up a DIY project that you’re going to want to pin. (No – I’m still not on Pinterest. I’m holding strong, ladies.)

This is a memory game that she made using filler cards from the Amber Edition of Project Life, and the cards are stored in a 3×4 journaling card box. MaryAnn says, When I was a kid I loved to play Memory. I can recall countless hours of fun playing the game with my parents and siblings. I wanted something fun and small to take with us while we are traveling by plane cross country on our summer vacation this year. It’s a twist to the traditional game of memory match-up using family photos.

I have also started working on a Go Fish game using the same concept as the memory game. I love it! The best part about both of these games is that just when my girls think they know all of the cards or have it mastered, I simply switch the photos to more recent ones and totally update the game. Love it! Well … really the best part is the look on the girls faces as the play the game. That is priceless and it just makes my heart smile!

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Of course you don’t need to use Project Life 3×4 Journaling Cards. It’s just convenient with those because they’re pre-cut and pre-designed. You can certainly use full sheets of cardstock and trim to your desired size. I did this several years ago and used the same pattern on the back of ALL the cards.

Download MaryAnn’s PDF of instructions: Photo Memory Game

Speaking of creative uses for patterned cardstock … keep your eye on the blog this week for more DIY goodness. We have oodles of fun ideas on the way and I’m certain you’re creative juices will be flowing.

on teens + documenting life

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Teens documenting their life? Yeah. I’m totally a fan of that idea. Well, let’s be honest. I’m a fan of anyone and everyone making a point to document their life in some way. It’s ALL good.

But I really have a special place in my heart for kids who scrapbook because I started scrapbooking when I was young. I’m sooo glad I have this stuff. I’m so glad I cared about my pictures + stories + clothing tags + handwriting samples + doodle art + candy wrappers + movie tickets. I’m so glad I can share that stuff with my kids so they can see what their mom was like back then.

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Tonight I’ll be speaking with a group of girls from church – ages 12-18. They know the significance of cultivating a good life, so I’m going to focus on documenting life. Naturally, Project Life will come up and in fact, I have a whole lot of goodies with their names on it. While developing this concept and this system, we always kept in mind the spectrum of those who would be interested in documenting life. This isn’t just for 30-something moms like me. This is for singles, empty-nesters, teens … even pre-teens.

Meet Kayla.

She is one of my favorite young people on the planet and this year she decided that she would embark on her own little Project Life journey. (You can imagine my elation the day she told me.) Kayla is 15 years old and a Freshman in High School.

B: Kayla, why did you decide to start a Project Life album?

K: I began high school this year and wanted a way to document my experiences in high school.

B: What are you hoping will be the result of doing Project Life this year?

K: I am hoping my Project Life will result in me wanting to do more! I want to continue keeping memories throughout my life.

B: What are your observations taking on a project like this when you have other responsibilities, like school?

K: Project Life fits right in with my life. I have found it easy because I can be creative but I don’t have it spend a lot of time on it. It’s scrapbooking made easy!

B: Do you have a routine for working on your album?

K: I take a picture every day but I do the layout and journaling every Sunday.

B: If you could see an album like this from anyone that you know, who would it be and why?

K: I would like to see one from my mother’s childhood. I would like to see it because I could see how she was as a teenager and compare our different experiences.

Kayla is doing an awesome job telling her life story. Favorites, family, friends, quirks, entertainment, goals, hobbies, daily rituals, spiritual stuff, funny stuff, weird stuff … all the stuff that makes up who she is. I so love that Kayla is doing her part to tell her story. She has no idea what a goldmine and a time capsule she is creating. Sure, she’ll love looking back at this in a couple years – and ten years – and thirty years. She’ll also find her children and grandchildren eating it up. It’s hard to imagine the impact something like this can have on future generations, let alone those who are doing it today.

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cobalt edition

Kayla’s album is the Clementine Edition, which is currently sold out. In fact, you guys gobbled up all the inventory we had on all almost every edition of the Project Life Core Kit. (Yep, we’re working on the re-print of all of everything.) HOWEVER … We do have some of the Cobalt Edition left and I happen to think it’s such a fun + perfect fit for most teens!

Of course this isn’t teen-specific. This style will float a lot of your boats. So fun, eh? I love how designer Kim Gayton made the Cobalt Edition so bright and lively and happy. Check out a sample album that Creative Team member Kelly Purkey created HERE.

Remember: Project Life isn’t about starting on January 1 or your birthday. It’s about getting your pictures and memories into an album, whenever you want, however you want. You only need the following items to complete an entire scrapbook. Anyone can do this.

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Here are direct links, for your convenience:

Project Life Binder – Cobalt Edition

Project Life Core Kit – Cobalt Edition

Photo Pocket Pages – Big Pack of Design A (Amazon found a magic/missing pallet and we miraculously have these back in stock … but they’ll be wiped out again soon I’m sure)

Photo Pocket Pages – Big Variety Pack 1 (another option for the pages)

Project Life 12×12 Cardstock – Cobalt Collection (optional but fun to have coordinating paper!)

photos at home

Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Displaying photographs – in our homes, or photo albums, or office cubicles, or anywhere … is a way to recognize our blessings.

This month, Texas-based photographer Kristen Duke is focused on this very topic every single day. She has a whole lineup of others who are sharing inspiration (check out the schedule) and today – it’s me! A special hello to those who are here on my site for the first time. Happy Browsing.  : )

I do love having photos – specifically family photos – all around our home. This invokes a feeling of togetherness, reminds us of our commitment to each other, increases our children’s self-worth, helps us focus on our blessings, and of course brings back fond memories that we love to remember. Here are some of my favorite photo-focused spots in our home.

You have to see this picture a little closer – it’s one of my favorite shots of Claire, taken by Natalie Norton.

These family photos were taken by Kara Layne.

You may notice I’m fond of linear arrangements and grids. For step-by-step tips on hanging a grid of frames with precision, check out THIS blog post. I also share my secret weapon for hanging frames on walls, regardless of the arrangement.

You’ll also notice that I have a splash of older pictures here and there. A few faces from our family history of course, but also pictures of David and I as kiddos. I absolutely recommend to anyone to incorporate a couple pictures from your own childhood into your home. It’s a daily reminder of that innocent youth, and your own kids will remember that you were once in their shoes. You haven’t been an adult your whole life, even though in their young minds it seems like you have been.  : )

project life in its most basic form

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

In light of sharing an abundant amount of Project Life inspiration this week, today I want to broadcast a very important reminder:

PROJECT LIFE IS DESIGNED TO SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS OF DOCUMENTING LIFE.

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I know, I know, I know. I’m the one sharing a smorgasboard of examples and blog posts that have an abundant amount of inspiration. I am fully aware that this can be overwhelming for some of you – especially if you’re just getting started. All of that sharing is mostly going to appeal to those who have the itch to get creative. I will continue to share creative ideas because you are a large part of my audience.

Butthis post is for those of you who really do want to keep things simple. This is for the newbie. The brand-new-to-scrapbooking. The first-timer. The busy + tired. This is for those of you who want to throw in the towel because scrapbooking is just “too much”. This is for your friend/cousin/sister-in-law who doesn’t think she’s cut out for scrapbooking.

Project Life truly is a back-to-basics approach to scrapbooking. Pictures + words. That’s it. Slip it all into pockets and add title cards that are already designed for you. Don’t think about layout design. Don’t think about cutting and pasting anything. SIMPLIFY. Get it done.

I want to share a blog post with you, written by someone who stumbled upon the hobby of scrapbooking, totally loved it, and then found herself totally doing nothing because of how overwhelmed she felt by what everyone else was doing. I really do think many of you will greatly appreciate her words and relate to her experience. This is by Nathalie: Eyes on your own paper, ya’ll.

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My inspiration sharing for today is on the other end of the spectrum from what I’ve been sharing this week. You don’t have to go crazy customizing your Project Life album, because you know what? Your pictures and your words are custom and personal to your story.

Instead of showing you loads of ideas for creative ways you can use Project Life, I am so very pleased to share with you a complete album that was used in the most basic way.

Emily Straw used Project Life to document her family in 2011 – quickly, easily, simply. This is her email:

Hello, Becky! I have to say that I am so, so happy with my Project Life kit from 2011. I finished at 3am on New Year’s Day, in a tradition I decided to start by finishing my album on New Year’s Eve. This is the first year I used your kit and I love it so very much. I am not very eloquent with words, but I wanted to share my finished product with you because you have really helped our family keep our memories from this year safe and special. Thank you for designing such a wonderful system!

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A very special thank-you to Emily for sharing. I know her simple approach to Project Life will inspire many. As a reminder, the very basics are: Binder + Core Kit + Big Pack of Photo Pocket Pages (which are currently sold out but you can pick up some 12-packs or wait until the 60-packs are back in stock in February). Also note: Emily used the Turquoise Core Kit, but that just sold out as well. We still have Amber, Cobalt, and Clementine in stock. All Project Life products are shown here.

Project Life is about your life. Keep it simple, add a little flair, or get fully creative with it. The beautiful thing is – it’s your choice.