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mini kits, big picture.

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

Last Summer I introduced the Project Life Childhood Mini Kits in THIS post, including a video. I got all philosophical and really dug into in explaining the purpose behind my product development – and how these little kits evolved to be. If you haven’t seen the video, I encourage you to check that out. You’ll see how I personally love to use the cards in my kids’ albums as I flip through a years’ worth in Porter’s scrapbook.

Today I have some explaining to do. I want to explain the who, what, how, when, where, and why about these Childhood Mini Kits – and how they might fit into the “big picture” of your memory-keeping. As a reminder, all 3 editions are currently 20% off this week. This is the time to pick these up. The direct links are on our Products page in the Core Kits + Mini Kits section.

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WHO are these Childhood Mini Kits for?

This is for the mom who feels totally overwhelmed about the very idea of documenting her child’s life. This is for the person whose child is no longer a child, but they have a desire to go back and create an album (or more) of their son or daughter’s childhood memories. This is for the person who wants to go back and record their own childhood (check out Jessica Turner’s college scrapbook!). And this is most definitely for the kid (of any age) who wants to record their own story – past or present.

WHAT comes in a Childhood Mini Kit?

A Mini Kit includes 100 cards. There are (20) 4×6 Title Cards, which are completely flexible to use either vertical or horizontal (same design printed on both sides, but different orientations). There are (40) 3×4 Prompt Cards, which are also flexible (horizontal or vertical) and include journaling prompts about childhood and school memories – various topics in a child’s life. And there are (40) coordinating 3×4 Journaling Cards that can be used for any kind of notes on one side, and the other side has a “filler design” in case you have nothing to write in that particular space.

Note: There are 3 editions of the Childhood Mini Kit – Bridgeport, Mayfield, and Wellington. Same prompts, same designs for the most part, but different color palettes. Be sure to click on each one so you are familiar with the difference between the 3 options.

HOW was the Childhood Mini Kit designed to work?

The kit was designed with complete versatility in mind. The prompts are worded in such a way that they’re not just for a child to write about their own life, or a parent to write about the child. For example, instead of saying “my favorite teachers” or “your favorite teachers” … the card says “favorite teachers”. So the kit was designed so that parent – or child – can use the cards to document life.

The kit was designed with 3×4 and 4×6 cards – just as you would expect out of any Project Life kit – so that they work beautifully with the Photo Pocket Pages that we offer.

The kit was designed to document a full year’s worth in a child’s life. The photos below will outline that concept. Or … you can certainly spread them out across several years.

Be sure to check out our INSPIRATION page which shows sample Project Life pages using the Childhood Mini Kits. Those were created with no extra embellishing. Just photos + cards slipped into Photo Pocket Pages. Simple. Fast. Fun. DONE. And it looks amazing.

WHEN is the best time to use the Childhood Mini Kit cards?

The kit was designed so that you could fill the cards out throughout the year – kind of “as you go” or “in the moment” … or … as a totally retrospective project for those who want to go back and document the past. In other words, any time is the best time.  : )

WHERE should I include the Childhood mini Kit cards?

The kit was designed to provide plenty of cards that you can use throughout a 12×12 album, but as we’ve seen this week, a Mini Kit has the perfect number of cards to include in a Project Life Mini Album with your photos.

Let’s not forget to think outside the box. Those adorable 3×4 cards are SO great for little notes in your child’s lunch box or backpack. Or leave a little stack of those cards out with a pen and invite everyone in the family to jot down random compliments toward one another – or what they’re grateful for – and then … (you know where I’m going with this) … those cards slip right into the 3×4 pockets in the Project Life Photo Pocket Pages!

WHY does a little box of cards have to be so awesome?

I know, right? They are so fun. So beautifully designed (go Lori!). So versatile and user-friendly and inspiring.

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Now – Let’s talk big-picture. This is for those of you who are planners like me. Or maybe you don’t think of yourself as “organizationally-minded” and so you’d like some help. I love the idea of beginning with the end in mind, and want to share with you my thoughts on this as it pertains to the Childhood Mini Kits.

If you are beginning with the end in mind, I encourage you to envision what your child might be physically bringing with them in terms of scrapbooks, when they move out of the house as a young adult. This thinking + planning exercise can be very helpful to you, and what you decide makes the most sense does NOT have to be the same as what I’m about to suggest, or what your friend or sister-in-law is doing. Do what make the most sense for you and your family (and your space!).

The following is simply a suggestion, and a sample, of what I’m talking about: Let’s say I wanted to document my child’s entire life (birth to age 18) and let’s say I use a Childhood Mini Kit per year to document those school-aged memories. That would probably end up being about (8) 2-page layouts per year. Figuring I’ll want to have a few additional layouts for a big trip, birthday, holiday, or some other special occasion … let’s round that up to (12) layouts per year that would summarize that year in my child’s life.

If there are 12 layouts per year, and I know that 60 Photo Pocket Pages fit beautifully in a standard 12×12 album, that means you can essentially get 5 years worth in one album. But let’s remember all the memorabilia that you want to add in the Big Envelope Page (sold out but coming back in May) at the back of the album, right? So with that in there, I am suggesting that you can cover 18 years in 5 albums. Still with me? As an “end result” a child’s complete set of albums could look like this:

Album 1 = First Year (which includes a little family history) … using the Project Life Baby Edition, of course!

Album 2 = Toddler + Preschool Years (yes the Childhood Mini Kits can certainly work great for this, or use any Project Life Core Kit)

Album 3 = Kindergarten + Grades 1 to 4

Album 4 = Grades 5 to 8 (4 year’s worth)

Album 5 = Grades 9 to 12 (4 year’s worth)

I realize many of you reading this are not in the U.S. and your “grades” and “years” aren’t exactly like that. It doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to share the general concept and share the big-picture vision that’s in my head – and perhaps your head too.  : )

I also realize that some of you have children that are older and you’re feeling pretty darn overwhelmed about the idea of several albums per child, if you have more than one kid. I have a friend right now whose daughter is about to graduate from high school and she’s working on telling the story of this girl’s entire childhood in ONE album. And that is awesome. See what I mean? Do what works for you.

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I’ve gone on long enough and I don’t want you to sit at your computer all day reading my blog. So let me just end with a series of pictures that will show you a sample year’s worth of Project Life pages using all but a few of the cards in a Childhood Mini Kit.

These 8 layouts would summarize a year in a child’s life. The white cards represent where photos might go (which, for the purpose of these sample layouts, totals 40-45 photos). I’m mostly using the Design A (our most popular design) Photo Pocket Page, but I’m also sprinkling in a few other page designs so that you can see how easy it is to flip cards over, or on their “side”, depending on your photos and which orientation and page design you choose.

Note: Our Big Packs of Design A are currently sold out, but coming to stores in May (very soon!). We do currently have our Big Variety Pack 1 and Big Variety Pack 2 in stock on Amazon. You may want to pick those up while you get your Childhood Mini Kits.

Also note: The following sample pages show cards from the Wellington Edition.

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Both pages are Design A.

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Design A (left) + Design B (right)

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Design B (left) + Design A (right)

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Design A (left) + Design F (right)

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Design F (left) + Design A (right)

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childhood6

Both pages are Design A.

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childhood7

Both pages are Design A.

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childhood8

Both pages are Design A.

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As a reminder, the Childhood Editions are not only 20% off on Amazon, but so are the digital version of these editions on AC Digitals.

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Posted in family & children, products, scrapbooking | 19 Comments »

kids documenting their own life

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

There are two main uses for the Project Life Childhood Mini Kits:

1) Mini Album: The 100 cards that come in a Mini Kit + your photos + a Project Life Mini Album.

2) 12×12 Album: The cards that come in a Mini Kit can be inserted throughout the full-sized 12×12 pages that go in a standard 12×12 album. I have ideas regarding this format that I think will be very helpful, and that’s coming this week. Those of you organizationally-minded folks will really appreciate what I’m going to share.

But for right now – today – I just wanted to share more about this concept of a child documenting his or her own life by putting together their own Mini Album. Project Life makes it simple + keeps it fun. The end result is something both child and parent can be proud of.

{ supplies needed }

- Project Life Mini Album

- Project Life Childhood Mini Kit (we have 3 editions available + they’re all 20% off this week only!)

- a pen for journaling (the official Project Life pens are coming to stores in May – hooray!)

- 4×6 photos (60-80 will fill a Mini Album, depending on how many 4×6 Title Cards from the Mini Kit you use)

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I already shared how my teenage niece and nephew put together their own Mini Albums. If you missed those posts, be sure to check out 15-year-old Ele’s “This is Me” album HERE and 13-year-old Thomas’ album HERE.

I’m going to let the rest of this post speak for itself in images. My very dear friend Jen was all over this idea of having her young children put together their own Mini Albums, so here are some glimpses of the kids enjoying the process. It was a family affair. And I’m grateful to Jen for documenting it.

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 Amaya is using the Childhood Mini Kit: Mayfield Edition + the Rain Mini Album

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 Collin is using the Childhood Mini Kit: Bridgeport Edition + the Kiwi Mini Album

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 Avery is using the Childhood Mini Kit: Mayfield Edition + the Cherry Mini Album

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And no way is Cali going to be left out of this party.  ; )

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And … Lincoln was toddling around the house somewhere while his big sisters and brother were working on their Mini Album. Yes. Jen has 5 kids. No, she doesn’t have their lives all “caught up” in albums as much as she’d like. Yes, she feels behind like the rest of us.

But … Jen can absolutely manage to help them document their own stories, which is a huge help. There’s no reason that full responsibility needs to fall on mom’s shoulders, right? Are you with me on this?  : )

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Posted in family & children, products, scrapbooking | 16 Comments »

childhood mini kit sale + giveaway

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

We’ve been very excited for this. It’s going to be a fun week of more inspiration!

Everyone loves a good sale, and we’re super excited to be offering 20% off all 3 editions of our Childhood Mini Kits from now until Saturday, April 27. There is so much goodness packed in these Mini Kits. We’ll be sharing plenty of ideas to get your wheels spinning about how you can use these to HELP you document childhood – thoughtfully, meaningfully, and yet – SIMPLY.

You will understand more about why these products are the perfect solution to help you get rid of the “mom guilt” that many of us feel when we fall behind on documenting our kids’ lives. Let’s get those childhood memories documented … whether you are creating albums for your own children, yourself, or turning the mini kit over to your kids and letting them tell their own story.

Available in 3 different color schemes (Bridgeport Edition, Mayfield Edition, and Wellington Edition), the Childhood Mini Kits will make it fast + easy for you to get all of the kid “stuff” you’ve been collecting into beautiful albums. These adorable little boxes of goodness also make a GREAT gift for birthdays or other holidays. Mothers Day, anyone? That’s right around the corner, and you can’t go wrong picking up a few extras to share.

ChildhoodMiniSaleIn addition to the sale we are offering through Amazon, our friends at Craft House { they distribute to customers in Australia/New Zealand } have a similar sale going on. Plus – AC Digitals is also offering 20% off the Childhood Mini Kits this week.

DigitalChildhoodSale

{ giveaway }

Oh heck yes. We are giving you the chance to win the Childhood Mini Kit of your choice along with one of our Mini Albums. Leave your first name, city + state to be entered. We will announce 3 winners at the bottom of this post on Wednesday, April 24th – so be sure to check back. And stay tuned for inspiring ideas about documenting childhood – all week long.

MiniGiveaway2

 

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Updated 4.24.13

Congratulations to the following 3 winners:

Dana – Nashville, Tennessee

Heather – Idaho Falls, Idaho

Crystal – Simpsonville, South Carolina

Please email kari@beckyhiggins.com to claim your prize.

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Posted in products, scrapbooking | 1,167 Comments »

got old photos?

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

old picture sizes

Yep, I thought so.

Me too.

Most of us are sitting on old photos. Photos from our childhood, photos from our parents, our grandparents. And if we’re lucky, we have photos even older than that.

Ideally, I think it’s best to get them all scanned. Share them with family (another reason technology is so amazing). And ultimately we want to get those originals safely preserved in an album where they can also be enjoyed (hello, Project Life).

You guys know I’m a fan of creating products that are truly solution-based. So here’s the thing. Those old photos? That is so pre-4×6. They’re not 4×6. They’re odd sizes. And there are a LOT of different sizes.

So in order to help you … in order to be smart about the Photo Pocket Pages we design that will best fit your old photos … I want you to have a voice. I am asking you to get out the ruler. I am asking you to MEASURE those photos. Not every single photo. Just pull out a few of the sizes that seem to be the most common photo sizes in your stash of old photos that are not 4×6.

Tell me your measurements. Be exact.

In order for your “vote” to count, I’m inviting you to email projectlife@beckyhiggins.com (in the next few days if possible) and tell me your photo sizes. Use the subject “old photos”. And if you have more product requests that would help you specifically with those OLD photos … by all means, we’re listening.

We’re always interested in what you want, and what will help all of us have a more successful memory-keeping experience. Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks for taking a minute to add your input.

Posted in scrapbooking | No Comments »

project life can save the world.

Monday, April 15th, 2013

Stating that Project Life can save the world … maybe that’s a little dramatic. But humor me for just a moment.

There was an article in the New York Times that was published about a month ago. One of our readers/customers brought it to our attention, and for that I am very grateful. It’s called The Stories That Bind Us. I invite you to read it. Really.

I’m not going to pull a bunch of quotes, review the article, or repeat what the author shared. That’s why you need to read it. But I can’t help but feel a strong sense of community among those of us who have this love for documenting life. There’s just something about it, know what I mean? But have you taken the time to really think about WHY it means so much to you and your family?

Many of you have. Many of you have identified exactly what it means to your family – and specifically what Project Life means to you, because of the back-to-basics approach of putting pictures and stories together in a simple, do-able format. We receive testimonials every day from Project Lifers. Some are traditional families living traditional lives. Some are empty-nesters and others are single adults. We even hear from teenagers once in a while! We also hear from cancer survivors. We hear from those who are helping someone with a terminal illness record their life, using Project Life. We hear from those who have struggled in various ways, and they have found that recording the little moments of their life reminds them of how blessed they are.

In context of this New York Times article, I also had a very interesting experience over the weekend. If you follow my picture-sharing on instagram, facebook, or twitter, you may have noticed that we received our 2012 Higgins Family Yearbooks, which I create using the Project Life designs on Shutterfly. It’s something I’ll blog about in more detail soon. I know you have questions – which is great, and I’m excited to share more about this with you.

But here’s what I experienced: I sat the kids down and was totally a dork mom “presenting” the new Family Yearbooks to them (we print a copy for each child). In that moment, and based on their reaction, I realized that they hadn’t really been very familiar with our Family Yearbooks. Their individual scrapbooks that are all about them? Yes. But these Family Yearbooks that show more of them in the context of our family unit – and so many pictures of friends and extended family and the world around us? Nope. They really hadn’t seen them much at all lately and in fact, kind of forgot we had them.

Shame on me. I have been keeping these books on a shelf that has cupboard doors – you know, to keep them nice. To keep them in good shape. We have little friends over all the time so perhaps I didn’t want too many little hands messing up the pages. Who knows. It doesn’t matter. What I learned was what I read in their faces for the next 20 minutes or so, as their noses were practically pressed in the pages of these books. They were glued. They were entertained. They were incredibly reminiscent.

looking at family yearbooks

What they – as young children – don’t necessarily understand right now, is something that we as adults should understand. By having these memories and these stories recorded, children are truly building up their sense of belonging. Their self worth increases. Having journals, photos books, scrapbooks … I don’t care what method you use … can absolutely strengthen the family, which is undeniably the most important unit in society. And with stronger families, we have fewer problems. And that’s how we can save the world.  : )

But seriously – do you feel what I’m feeling? It’s remarkable. Most of you reading this are documenting life in some way. That is awesome. The key for all of us, is to be sure that our families can enjoy this documentation. And this is precisely why Project Life is creating such a movement. We’re all busy. Most of us don’t have time to spent 3 hours a day creating elaborate layouts. Project Life takes so much confusion and guesswork out of the equation and we are honored to be the memory-keeping system of choice for so many.

I have to point out something. I know without a doubt that some of you might have that feeling of guilt. I hate guilt. It’s not cool. Please do not feel guilty if you have not been recording your story or writing in journals or taking lots of pictures or putting pictures and stories together in books. That’s not the point of this post. Please join me in feeling MOTIVATED – not guilty.

I felt incredible motivation after watching my kids pick up their Family Yearbooks over and over and over this weekend. So much that I finished up another year (2009) that was still unfinished. Now 4 copies of that book are on their way too! I feel motivated to get to David’s childhood and my childhood books. And our family history books. And other projects that are all story-telling and life-documenting related projects. Of course it’s not all going to happen at once.

But it’s not going to happen at all – unless you choose to feel motivated. I want to help strengthen the family. I want to ease your burdens. I want to continue hearing your success stories of how you’re cultivating a good life and recording it. Anyone is welcome – at any time – to share how Project Life is helping them.

<< projectlife@beckyhiggins.com >>

I’ll close by quoting the closing line of the New York Times article that seriously, I think you should read:

“The bottom line: if you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family’s positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones. That act alone may increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come.”

 

Posted in family & children, scrapbooking | 33 Comments »

shutterfly photo book inspiration

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Last weekend I checked off a huge to-do on my never-ending list: I completed our 2012 family yearbook! As you may remember, I do our family yearbooks in the photo book format on Shutterfly and make a copy for us as well as each of our 3 kids. I seriously can not wait to get that package in the mail.

As we announced yesterday, there are now 3 additional Project Life editions available on Shutterfly – yippee! Today we wanted to share with you some sample pages from a couple of our Creative Team members.

Dunia Acauan made quick work of this gorgeous photo book by using the newly-available Bridgeport Edition. By adding little more than her photos, she has a spectacular keepsake of their time at the beach.

She notes of her experience: I made this album from our “Carnival Holiday” on the beach. I didn’t want to have those photos only in my computer but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time making a photo book from them. That’s why I love to make albums with Shutterfly – especially now that we have amazing pre-made photo books like the Bridgeport Edition that I used in this album. Just fill the book with your photos and it’s ready! Simple and amazing! If you want something more personalized you also can add or change the background, embellishments, text and change the layout of your pages (I did that with a couple of pages). Another amazing thing about Shutterfly (for international customers like me) it’s that they ship your album to most countries with a very reasonable shipping price.

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Dunia’s cover (above)

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Leena Loh also created a few pages using the new Olive Edition:Shutterfly Olive_LeenaLoh1 Shutterfly Olive_LeenaLoh2

If you have Project Life layouts you’ve created in Shutterfly, we’d love to see what you’re doing with our designs! Anyone is welcome to submit their pages to submissions@beckyhiggins.com, any time.

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Posted in creative team, products, scrapbooking | 15 Comments »

shutterfly has new project life editions!

Thursday, April 11th, 2013

Last year we announced that the Clementine Edition and Turquoise Edition were available as photo books at Shutterfly. We answered lots of your questions about this new option in this blog post (please note our digital products are now available at AC Digitals rather than jessicasprague.com as was listed at the time). The fabulous Brandi answered even more of your Shutterfly questions here.

Today we are delighted to announce that the Olive Edition, Mayfield Edition, and the Bridgeport Edition have been added to the list of photo books available for you to create! With even more features added to the Custom Path process – our favorite being the ability to choose/import photos directly from Instagram+ Facebook – it is even easier to create a photo book that you will love.

This is a peek at the Olive Edition:

 

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This is a peek at the Mayfield Edition:

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This is a peek at the Bridgeport Edition:

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Note: You may remember that we added a Design A style layout to the idea pages in the Clementine and Turquoise Editions shortly after those were released last year. We are currently working with Shutterfly to include a Design A option for each of the 3 new photo book editions. We are hoping for those to be added sometime in June. Yes, we’ll let you know as soon as that page layout is available.

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Posted in products, scrapbooking | 21 Comments »

creative team inspiration: april 2013 edition

Monday, April 8th, 2013

As usual with the monthly offering of inspiration, I will share just one glimpse from each of their respective Project Life albums. And then – whenever and wherever you want to see more – just click on the person’s name and it will take you to their blog where they each share more details, more information, more pages, more examples of how they’re using Project Life as a memory-keeping system. If someone’s style “speaks” to you, you’ll want to check out the additional pictures and explanations on her blog.

We completely adore how each person’s style is so unique – in photography, with their journaling, and how they bring it all together in their albums. As you see how others are doing Project Life, our hope is that you will feel an increased desire to document life, and that you’ll be more in tune with what your own personal style is. No matter how you slice it, it’s all good. It’s your story. This post is loaded with eye candy. We don’t mean to overwhelm you. We simply want you to be inspired in your own memory-keeping efforts.

Please remember that while many of the Creative Team members use various products to embellish, keep in mind that you really can create an entire scrapbook with the 3 core Project Life components and nothing else. Album + Project Life Core Kit + Big Pack of Photo Pocket Pages. That’s it. I love and celebrate all sorts of memory-keeping styles, but I personally strive to promote simplicity, especially to those of you who are like me and need to keep it simple or it won’t get done. If you’re looking for inspiration on using Project Life in the most simple format ever (ex – no extra embellishing) – check out the sample albums on our Inspiration page.

And now … enjoy this month’s dose of Creative Team inspiration. They’re pretty remarkable.

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Pages by Amanda Caves. Left page is Design D.

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*AmyTanMarch1adetail

Page by Amy Tan, featuring the Seafoam Edition.

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Pages by Ashley Bennett, featuring the Seafoam Edition. Left page is Design C and right page is Design D.

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*CatherineDavisApril1a

Pages by Catherine Davis, featuring the Midnight Edition – coming to retail stores + Amazon May 2013 or available now at AC Digitals.

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*DonnaGibsonApr1

Digital pages by Donna Gibson, featuring the Kraft Edition coming to retail stores + Amazon May 2013 or available now at AC Digitals.

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Digital pages by Dunia Acauan, featuring our new Bridgeport Edition Photo Book at Shutterfly – more information coming later this week!

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Pages by Elise Blaha Cripe, featuring the Seafoam Edition.

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*HaleyNeyApril1

Digital pages by Haley Ney.

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*HeatherJohnsonApr2

Digital pages by Heather Johnson, featuring the Olive Edition.

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*JenniferHigniteApr3

Digital pages by Jennifer Hignite, featuring the Midnight Edition.

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Pages by Joy Pribish, featuring the Seafoam Edition. Left page is Design D.

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Page by Kristina Proffitt.

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*LeenaLoh_Apr1

Page by Leena Loh, featuring the Midnight Edition – coming to retail stores + Amazon May 2013 or available now at AC Digitals.

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Pages by Lorimay Barba, featuring the Seafoam Edition. Left page is Design D.

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Page by Maggie Holmes.

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Pages by Nisa Fiin, featuring the Cobalt Edition.

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*PetraApril1

Pages by Petra Corcoran, featuring the Seafoam Edition.

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*RebeccaCooper_Apr7

Page by Rebecca Cooper, featuring the Midnight Edition – coming to retail stores + Amazon May 2013 or available now at AC Digitals.

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Pages by Rhonda Mason

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*ShellyJaquetApr2

Pages by Shelly Jacquet. Left side is Design D.

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*ShirleyPolk_week12

Pages by Shirley Polk

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*StephanieBaxterApril1

Pages by Stephanie Baxter, featuring the Seafoam Edition and the Midnight Edition – coming to retail stores + Amazon May 2013 or available now at AC Digitals.

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*TeresaVictorApr2

Digital Pages by Teresa Victor, featuring the Holidays Mini Kit.

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*TracyLarsenApril4

Pages by Tracy Larsen

Posted in creative team, products, scrapbooking | 19 Comments »

wrapping up our mini album love fest

Friday, April 5th, 2013

5 mini albums

Okay – so holy moly.

I’d like to think that we shared oodles of Mini Album inspiration with you this week but I think I’m bordering on bombarding you! We have shared 20 ideas for Mini Albums. Some created by readers and customers like you. Some from our Creative Team. Some from my personal friends and family. Some by me!

So I guess you could say I’m a fan of the Mini Album. I really am. The thing is – Project Life is ultra simple and ultra easy, but sometimes that 12×12 size is a little too big for certain projects. Or a little too overwhelming for certain people. Sometimes a Mini Album is the perfect fit.

We’re SO happy to see you taking advantage of this 20% off sale that has been happening all week during our Mini Album Love Fest! If you’re only now finding out about this, or deciding that you do want to try it for yourself … here are the links to each of the available colors on Amazon right now.

Midnight  |  Cinnamon  |  Rain  |  Kiwi  |  Cherry

This sale ends today, April 5 – Friday night. If you live in another country and can’t order from Amazon, remember that we have distributors world-wide who have also been running this same discount all week.

There are so many fun possibilities with the Project Life Mini Album. With the divided page protectors already sewn in, it’s all together in one unit – simple as can be – and ready for your photos and your Project Life cards, no matter what your style or your theme. We’ve covered everything from a child’s “This is Me” book to school projects to a honeymoon theme to a 40th anniversary theme. And there are a million other ideas!

I mentioned on social media not too long ago that I’ll be starting a new guest book for visitors that stay in our home. I haven’t shared that yet because our current guests haven’t yet completed their visit. But I will be sharing that soon – for sure. Another idea? You have to check out what Melissa Whitaker did with the Mini Album to create this Children’s Art Book. All that artwork was piling up and now? It’s all in one cute little book.

We invite you to continue sharing with us what you’re doing with the Project Life Mini Albums! Anyone can send pictures and experiences to us anytime: submissions@beckyhiggins.com.

Posted in products, scrapbooking | 11 Comments »

mini album inspiration: this is me (boy)

Friday, April 5th, 2013

The post before this one shows 15-year-old Ele’s Mini Album. This is her 13-year-old brother Thomas. His goal in life is to be famous, so today – I am making him famous. He is famous for being one of the coolest kids on the planet. He is kind-hearted, good-natured, hard-working, smart as a whip, athletic, musical, helpful … and he wants to be a summer intern for our business.  ; )

But you know what makes him especially cool right now? He just documented all about his life – his likes + dislikes, skills, interests, extracurricular activities, goals, grades, friends, even his weekend routine … and he used Aunt Becky’s Project Life Mini Album (the Midnight color) and a Childhood Mini Kit: Wellington Edition. So he has serious bonus points with me right now.

PLUS — He is setting a fantastic example to young men everywhere. Documenting life by jotting down some notes and putting them together with pictures? That’s just awesome sauce (says me – not him – because I am not current with what kids say these days).

We approached this little Spring Break project the same way we did with Ele (check out the steps in her post). This whole thing really took all of a couple of hours so it’s not even a “big” project. It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s self-esteem-boosting. And it spans across all ages.

thomas 1

thomas 2

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NOTE 1: The prompts on the Childhood Mini Kits are designed and worded in a way that offers FLEXIBILITY. A parent can write on these cards about their child or a child can write on these cards about themselves or an adult can write on these cards about their childhood past.

NOTE 2: We currently have 3 editions of the Childhood Mini Kit – Mayfield, Bridgeport, Wellington. Same prompts. Same versatility. Even a lot of similar design. Just different colors.

NOTE 3: The Childhood Mini Kits come with 100 cards (80 are 3×4 and 20 are 4×6 and they’re all double-sided for even more versatility). But they do not “have” to be paired with a Project Life Mini Album. In fact, my main purpose in developing these Mini Kits is to be used in a child’s “regular” 12×12 albums – if that’s what you do. I’ll be sharing more inspiration for that in the coming weeks.

thomas 7

thomas 8

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Posted in family & children, scrapbooking | 14 Comments »

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