U.S. customers: All of our products will be on sale from midnight to midnight – all day Friday November 25 (Pacific Time).

1. Sorry for the confusion about the start time. We thought we could specify the time zone on Amazon and as it turns out, we can’t.

2. All discounts are automatically applied; no need to enter any special code while shopping on Amazon.

3. The Project Life Core Kits will be 20% off, as promised. The price that is shown is $22.50, which is 10% off. But when you add products to your shopping cart you’ll notice you’re getting 10% off EVERYthing we sell on Amazon. So you’ll save a total of 20% on the Core Kit only. Bottom line: You will get 20% off the Core Kits and 10% off everything else.

4. We are expecting* all 4 of our Project Life Binders (Amber, Turquoise, Cobalt, Clementine) to become available on Amazon by December 3.

5. We are expecting* the following products will become available on Amazon by December 10:

Project Life Core Kit – Cobalt Edition

Project Life Cardstock – Cobalt Collection

Project Life Core Kit – Clementine Edition

Project Life Cardstock – Clementine Collection

6. We are expecting* our Signature Binders (Black, White) to become available mid to late December. I know that’s vague but we just don’t have that date yet.

7. Expecting* = hoping, hoping, hoping.

Ready … set … Happy Shopping!

NOTE: This is a 4×6 image that you are more than welcome to save, print, share however you’d like.

I am tempted to discuss this a little. I am tempted to give examples of how we can simplify. I am tempted to offer suggestions and even share how I need to simplify in my own life. But the thing is – this is personal. How we allocate our time – how we consecrate our time – is a very personal thing, isn’t it?

So I’ll just leave this thought with you in hopes that we can all take this wisdom to heart and sincerely evaluate how we spend our time. Something that you might find interesting, is that Belle S. Spafford said this sometime during her service as a women’s leader for our Church between 1945 – 1974. Long before this time that we’re in now. Women of the world needed that message in her time and I would say that we need this message now, more than ever.

Part of cultivating a good life is putting first things first.

A few housekeeping items for this beautiful Monday:

{ holiday cards }

It’s on a lot of your minds. And if it wasn’t already, it probably is now (sorry?). I just wanted to let you know that we’ll have FREE holiday card templates on the website this week. I’ll blog about it when they’re up. See what happens when you follow my blog? You don’t miss anything exciting.  ; )

{ thank you }

The messages and happy wishes and notes of gratitude for David are very much appreciated. That was really cool of you guys, thank you. He had a great birthday and is loving his new smoker grill. Dinner last night was soooo good.

{ winner }

I’m pleased to announce the randomly selected winner of The TomKat Studio giveaway. Congrats to Michelle Stohlmann in Ashland, Nebraska! Michelle, go ahead and email Toni at the TomKat Studio and she’ll hook you up with your goodies!

{ another winner }

Remember when I did that big giveaway of all that stuff we hauled home from The Creative Connection? Well, I announced Tami L. in Trabuco Canyon, California as the winner in the very next blog post. But guess what? No word from Tami. I wonder if she missed that announcement? Tami – if you’re reading this – please email customerservice@beckyhiggins.com by Wednesday. If we don’t hear from you by then, we’ll randomly select another winner.

{ your project life questions }

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you know that we just released a slew of new products on Amazon.com over the weekend. Hooray! I posted this video to review all the products that we have available now, and mentioned that if you had questions, go ahead and ask. This is just a reminder to let you know that I did my best to address every question that was asked and I’ll try to get through even more questions that came in yesterday. You may be interested in that Q+A in the the Comments of that blog post. A lot of great questions!

{ project life glamour shots }

You’ve seen this rotating collection of happy customers, right? So fun! There is no longer the “big white box” but rather the small white box and a whole bunch of white packaging for all of our products. Let’s keep the Project Life glamour shots tradition alive. So many of you will soon be receiving your Project Life products – as early as today/tomorrow – and this will continue on for weeks and weeks. When you receive your products, have someone snap a picture of you with your products and email those to projectlife@beckyhiggins.com. We would LOVE to see these, and update that part of our website with your new pictures!

A recent email:

Dear Becky,

I have no idea what possessed me to google your name (loved your sketches in CK) the other day, but I did, and I am just thrilled. I have not scrapbooked since 2006 (although I always loved it, I couldn’t find time for it anymore). In these past 5 years, I have accumulated many large bins full of old photos, memorabilia, and tons of my kids’ school and art work … not to mention thousands of pictures on my computer. My husband says my bins are taking over the house, and I feel terrible that I haven’t been recording these precious years for my 2 boys. That’s why I’m so excited about Project Life – such a great alternative to traditional scrapbooking and perfectly suited to me and my family. Thank you, Becky, for making it possible for me to get back into documenting our life again. Can’t wait to get started!

P.S.  By the way, I have been talking about PL and your blog so much to my family lately, that my 11 year old son now affectionately refers to you as B Higgs!

Leslie
Elllicott City, MD

……….

Dear Leslie,

I have a feeling a lot of people reading your letter are totally nodding their heads. We can ALL relate to the idea of having stuff stashed away and piling up (physical stuff and digital stuff) and feeling like we’re getting behind. Your family’s story is worth recording. Your boys will be thrilled when they see you putting their pictures and papers into a scrapbook.

I am so pleased that you know about Project Life – you will find that it is a fantastic system that makes scrapbooking easier than easy, certainly easier than how you and I did it 5 years ago, and then – even easier than that. What I also wanted to tell you is that I am also working on childhood-specific and school-based products for 2012.

There is so much that you and I can do in preparation for getting stuff into an album. You can certainly use the Project Life products! And when the childhood/school stuff comes out, you’ll have even more options for helping you to get those books caught up. Just so you know, I am working on a VIDEO right now that will outline some stuff that we can all do while you and I are “waiting” for those products to become available. I hope to share the video before the end of this month.

If you (or anyone!) have specific questions about this whole gathering, sorting, organizing process … leave me a note here and I’ll see what I can do to implement more thoughts + ideas into the video.

PS – No, I don’t have a release date for the childhood/school products yet. I do have an overflowing plate of responsibilities. And I am doing my best to make the products amazing. That takes time.  ; )

Love,

“B Higgs” (tell your son I said hi)

The wait is almost over. The Project Life Core Kits (Amber + Turquoise Editions), Project Life Cardstock (Amber + Turquoise Collections), and Journaling Cards (box of 100 3×4 grid cards) are expected to arrive at Amazon this week! Just wanted to give you that heads-up. As soon as they become available, I will let you know right here on my blog … and I have a video to go along with the product releases as well.

As a reminder – All of the new Photo Pocket Pages, Big Envelope Pages, and the NEW Cobalt and Clementine Editions of Project Life are all coming as well. The stuff arrives in a few batches throughout the next couple months. As always, this is the place to come for all updates & information.

……….

I got this note from Beth the other day. Thought it would resonate with many of you —

I had to write you right away. I am cleaning out a hallway overflowing with baskets of preschool art, old report cards, ticket stubs, and theme park maps. I hate to throw these things away, and so I put them in baskets thinking that someday I’ll get to them. Well, I think today might be the day!

This year is my first year doing Project Life, and I love it. My husband even raves about how nice it is to have a day-by-day scrapbook without all the mess all over the house. Cut back to today. I was literally – just minutes ago – sitting on my living room floor thinking that it would have been nice to have done Project Life before, so I could add those bits of our life into the album.  

Then it hit me!! Why can’t I do an album NOW for those previous years?? I can put those bits in order, add a few photos to go with, and voila! Project Life for 2010, 2009, 2008 … You get the idea  I can do this with any album, any page protectors, any journaling or none at all.

This project is such an incredible way to get this stuff out of boxes … it is so versatile and individual. That’s what makes it so very important. Thank you so much for the brainstorm!

Sincerely,
Beth in Dayton, OH

It’s my tag line. It’s the meaning behind the products we create. It’s also one of my core philosophies in life. And it’s how I hope to inspire you. In fact, this very simple phrase sums up the foundation of why I even have a blog.

To cultivate a good life means a million different things. That’s why nearly every day I share one specific thought to ponder – and hopefully implement – as we each strive to cultivate a good life (I share these little notes on facebook + twitter). But today I feel the need to elaborate in a way that 140 characters doesn’t allow.

I watched and listened to a remarkable talk on Saturday. The speaker was Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Some of you know him, many of you do not. But his message – clear as day and incredibly poignant – is for every woman I know. I have been thinking about some stuff recently and his talk was the icing on my cake of thoughts. I just wanted to share what’s been on my mind, some of which came from listening to his talk. Someone needs this today – probably a lot of somebodies.

Please, please, please don’t compare yourself to others. Many of you are just too hard on yourself when you feel like you’re not measuring up. Your best friend is prettier. Your sister has the perfect marriage. Your co-worker is more skilled. Your neighbor is thinner. Your sister-in-law is more organized. That woman you see nearly every day in passing is just so put together and always looks amazing (and chances are, you’ve put off even saying hi or introducing yourself, just based on her looks).

I lovingly say – Enough!

Part of cultivating a good life is being grateful for your life. Celebrate your successes – especially the little, everyday successes. Certainly you can and should look to others for upliftment and inspiration and ideas and ways that help you improve. That’s all good + healthy + exactly how we can bless each others’ lives. But when you look at others in a way that make you feel like your life is sub-standard? Well, that’s just detrimental. You know what a lot – a LOT – of women do? We compare our weaknesses to someone elses strengths. I’ve done it. You’ve done it.

Um – hello? Is this fair? Does this make any sense at all? No wonder men think we’re complicated!

Stop punishing yourself. When you do this, you are stopping your progression. You have your happiness in a holding pattern. It’s so unfair to you, and in fact – it’s unfair to the people you love most, and who love you most. Whether or not you think it affects you … it does. It affects your self-worth and your confidence. And when these things slip, your most treasured relationships can be affected.

Here’s the truth. We all have trials. We all have insecurities. We all have a million weaknesses. While it’s tempting to look at someone else and think “they’ve got it all” or “they’re life is so perfect” … you’re forgetting that they’re human. You’re forgetting that they have things going on in their life that you don’t have a clue about. Heartache, loss, pain, burdens, fears, health issues, emotional concerns, family struggles. I assure you – their life is not perfect.

Be gentle with yourself. And be gentle with others. Do not be so quick to judge. Do be open-minded about what you can learn from other women. Do not be fooled into thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Do look at how blessed your life is – even with the challenges you’re facing.

You are remarkable. You undoubtedly are aware of areas in which you feel less than remarkable. Perhaps you yell at your kids too much or you don’t give your husband enough attention or you hold grudges or you’re a gossip or you’re not taking care of your body like you should or you’re not a good homemaker or you don’t volunteer enough or … Okay, obviously we all probably feel like the list is long.

Again, I lovingly say – Enough!

Take one weakness and work on it this week. Don’t complain about it. Don’t dwell on it. Just take action to MAKE A CHANGE. Today.

……….

By the way … This will brighten someone’s day: Congratulations to Tami L. in Trabuco Canyon, California! Out of over 1,500 entries you were randomly selected to receive all that STUFF from The Creative Connection! Email customerservice@beckyhiggins.com with your shipping address and we’ll get that out to you this week!

Today a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit Virginia. This was too close to home, if you ask me. My family is near there. And many friends. And many of you. But from what I understand, all is well … mostly. And I am so grateful.

What happened today, of course, was not the huge magnitude as many of the other natural disasters we’ve all become familiar with over recent years. But what happened today certainly brought about some feelings, anxieties, uncertainties, and even fears in many. Even if no one was hurt, even if there was no damage on your street, many of you were affected by today’s earthquake.

Because many of us think a lot about documenting life, and recognize the power and blessings in doing so … I wanted to ask you: How do you document something like this? Where do you record written thoughts about how you’re affected? What do you photograph? How do you document?

I would love to share several ideas — your ideas — about this on my blog ASAP, since it’s still very fresh. If you have a picture or thought to share (whether from today’s earthquake or any past experience in your neck of the woods), please email submissions@beckyhiggins.com. I’ll collect the ideas and share tomorrow.

I know a lot of companies do some sort of “Christmas in July” around this time. I’m not sure when or where or why that was ever originated. But here’s my version of Christmas in July.

I suppose this is a little masterpiece from when I was about 3 years of age. My brothers and I each created a little Christmas art for our grandma and my parents put it all into a book. Or something like that. I just came across it and thought you might benefit from the reminder to go through some of your old pictures, papers, and art. When you find some gems, share them with your children.

Fill in the blank.

If I could change one thing about Project Life, it would be ______________.

Thanks! I so appreciate hearing from you.