things to know today.

Hello, Friday. And hello to all you fine people. I had an awesomely creative day yesterday. Didn't even sit down at the computer until 11:00 pm. Spent time with a couple of my besties and hung out with my family and I put together something beautiful for our home. Here's a hint.



I'd show you the whole thing but then I'd have to kill you. Actually, it's the perfectionist in me. I have just a teeny bit of tweaking to do before it's just right. And then I'll share the full arrangement. : )

Now on to a few items of business:

[ SOLD OUT ]

As of this morning, Project Life is officially SOLD OUT on Amazon! This leads me to make 2 important comments:

1. YES, we are printing more Project Life kits. Yes, yes, and yes. I will be sure to let you know as soon as we have an approximate availability date.

2. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This is so much more than a business for me. It didn't even start that way. This is a passion. A passion for organizing pictures and stories and memories into a anyone-can-do-this format with beautiful results. And because so many of you get that about Project Life ... you have shared the concept with friends and family. And so I thank you for being an essential part of our Project Life community.

[ LIKE FONTS? ]

I'm pleased to tell you that in the digital version of Project Life we have now added two of my fonts to the collection. CK Jot is my everyday handwriting (legible enough for the journaling) and CK Becky is my script -- a looser cursive (fun for titles). So if you already have an account, you'll notice these in your font options now.



If you haven't played around with the digital Project Life, IT'S SUPER EASY. And totally free to get in there and start building a book. No obligation to buy anything if you don't want. Check it out HERE, watch the short instructional video, and get in there and play!

PS - The "CK" part of those font names is because I created the fonts back in the day ... at CK. During my 12 years at Creating Keepsakes magazine, one of my little things was that I created dozens of fonts. These two fonts integrate particularly well with Project Life.

[ YOUR QUESTIONS ]

Referring to the post right before this one ... you guys are awesome. Some really great questions in the the mix. Some are just so funny, some are rather deep, and some are for sure not answer-able in 3 words or less! I will be posting many of those answers in the coming days. You're still welcome to add a question to those comments here, if you want.

Wishing you an awesome weekend.

5 bits of wednesday randomness.

1. Dude. Many of you are really getting slammed with snow right now. Hope you're taking advantage of some extra inside time. Organize a closet. Read with your kids. Clean out the fridge. Watch a good movie. Oh, and back to the organizing ... that's going to be my focus tomorrow here on the blog. So if you could use a little organizing in your life, tune back in and get ready to set some goals.

2. Today's POTD. Assuming something else doesn't happen today that trumps this.



3. Totally honored. Organizing and Productivity Expert Aby Garvey just blogged about the parallels between why people don't scrapbook and why people don't get organized. And then, just today, she addressed "How to Overcome Scrapbook Overwhelm". And guess what? Lil' ol' Project Life is her product pick! Super stoked that a professional organizer has caught the vision of this photo organizational tool.

Aby states, "I think [Project Life] really addresses so many of the obstacles scrapbookers face. Product selection is made easy -- it's all right there for you in the kit. Perfection is addressed. Everything is already designed for you...you simply slide in your photos and journaling cards. The time issue is addressed -- this is a much faster approach than traditional scrapbooking."

She gets it like we get it. You can read Aby's post here.

4. Cookbook for a cause. My friend Brooke told me about this incredible project and I feel compelled to spread the word. Twenty-seven food writers unite and respond to the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010 with a compilation of recipes. All proceeds from the sale of this book will support the people of Haiti. Go here to learn more and to have a peek at Brooke's packed-with-personality food blog. Or go straight to the shopping cart by clicking here. I'm ordering mine today.

5. Will power update. I have totally resisted peanut M&M's since Monday and now ... I have conquered Mint Oreos. At least for yesterday and today. So far.

Baby steps.

five things to read this weekend

For your weekend reading pleasure ... these are all quick but insightful & inspiring reads. Each has invoked personal reflection and assessment and so I'm passing them along to you. Happy Weekend!

5. Kara Layne: Questions, Answers, and Stories
A reminder to share more with our children. Kara is a talented photographer and a gifted writer too, so her blog is not only eye candy but I enjoy reading just about any topic she addresses.

4. Zen Habits: How Not to Hurry
I sooo need to adapt some of these ideas on slowing down. I'm quite certain many of you feel the same way.

3. Simple Mom: Engaged Parenting
Intended for parents around the time of New Years Resolutions, but I think it's a great topic to think about all the time.

2. Digital Photography School: 11 Tips to Succeed with a Photo365 Project
A photographer's perspective on taking a picture-a-day. Around here, we call it POTD. Picture of the Day. Right in line with those of us taking this approach with our Project Life.

1. Actually ... I'm going to come back to this one. This particular online find does not fall into the "quick read" category. And really, I think it needs its own post. So I'm going to share my favorite online find of the week ... next week. Expect some challenges. : )

bits & pieces for a mid-week post

[ this made me smile ]



[ winners ]

Speaking of smiling ... here are the 3 randomly-chosen winners who will receive a free digital Project Life book, printed & delivered to your home when you're ready. If you are one of these 3 lovely ladies, send an email to customerservice@beckyhiggins.com and we'll hook you up.

1. Jamie in Wichita, Kansas
2. Rosa in Fort Kent, Maine
3. Aprile in Pekin, Illinois

[ digital update ]

So glad that so many of you are creating a digital Project Life book! We understand that there are a few technical issues and we wanted to let you know that we're working on those. Specifically ...

1. UN-DO. I know, I know, I know. We really do need an un-do button. I could not agree more. I assure you that Ziblio is checking into adding this feature.

2. VERTICAL PHOTOS. If you have tried to upload a vertical image and it's looking stretched or otherwise not right when you go to add it to your book ... the fine folks at Ziblio have figured out what has happened and they are fixing that as I write this. So expect that to be straightened out soon.

3. PHOTOS GETTING CUT OFF. If you are dragging your portrait images into the square frames and some of the image area is off the frame, this is how you fix that: Click on the image, go to edit photo and pan (move) the image into the center viewing area. You can also zoom the image in this feature.

NOTE: If you haven't played around with the "edit photo" button, you should. It's kind of hidden in the toolbox, but once you know about it, it's so simple to use and you'll want to use it all the time.

4. CROP TOOL. Do you want to re-shape the image frame? This can be done by placing an image that is larger than the frame and using the crop tool to re-shape it.

5. ENLARGING YOUR VIEW. When working on your digital PL book, you'll notice the "big screen" icon in the top right corner of the window. Looks like this.



Click on that. If it still happens to not work, there are a couple of things you can try: 1) Increase the resolution on your monitor (like 1440 x 900) and then choose the big screen option in the book or 2) Choose full screen in your browser (F11) to see if that helps.

[ ordering multiple copies of your digital book ]

Q: Is there a discount if I order multiple books?

A: Yes. If you would like to order 3 or more books, you receive 10% your total order. If you pay before March 31, 2010 this 10% discount is in addition to the current 20% off promotion. That's 30% off your entire order with the purchase of 3 or more books. Contact Ziblio (support@ziblio.com or 877.209.1560) and they will help you with your order.

FYI: Digital printing is different than offset printing in that we do not receive quantity discounts with additional copies from the printer. All books are at the same cost, no matter how many copies are ordered per order. This is because with digital printing and on-demand book making, every order is treated as individual items.

answering your questions.

The digital Project Life is new and exciting and different. And so you're going to have a few questions. And that's great!

May I suggest ... no ... May I strongly recommend that you please take a few minutes to do 2 important things? If you watch the instructional video and read through the FAQs, you will get all sorts of information and answers. This goldmine of information is found right HERE.

PS - I do believe I need to do another give-away here on the old blog. Has it been a while? Have I really been that busy? Well then, we will just need to do something about that.

Stay tuned. That's coming up! : )

DIGITAL Project Life - It's finally here!

Yay!

Go check it out HERE. You'll see a reorganized Project Life section of my website with fun new content and more thorough information, FAQs, etc.

This is a great time to share Project Life with friends & family who may benefit from knowing about this, especially with two versions now available: kit & digital.

Enough of this blog post. Go check it out!

say what?

So ... Amazon called us. Our contact there had us get online and look at Amazon.com's list of Bestsellers. See where this is going? I'm really not sure what to think ... it's crazy.



Project Life is the #1 Bestseller in the Home & Garden category of Amazon.com right now. Move over fancy cutting boards! There's a Project Lifer in the house.

I'm quite certain this guy isn't super familiar with the passionate side of us scrapbookers. So he was baffled at the sales today. And even though he couldn't verify for sure, he said he wouldn't be surprised if we were only outsold by the Kindletoday.



So that was only his guess. It's not fact. But just for kicks -- let's pretend it's true. : ) How fun is that!?

So thank you, guys. I've said it already, but I'll say it again. Thank you for your support as we start up this little company of ours and pursue a little dream. Thank you for joining me as we all strive to tell our story and our family's story. Thank you for catching the vision that Project Life truly can enrich our ability to recognize the blessings in our life.

Thank you for riding this ride with us.

Coming up next: FAQs about the digital Project Life.

Project Life: comparing digital vs. scrapbooking kit

This video is a brief compare/contrast look at the two Project Life offerings: The scrapbooking kit (which thousands of you are already using and some of you are waiting for it to become available on Amazon.com this week) and the digital/online photo book which will be launching later this week as well.

This video does not answer all the questions about the digital Project Life. I'm working on the FAQs so that you're as informed as you possibly can be. That list of FAQs is coming soon. You've asked really great questions, thank you!

[ PS - In the original video my head is not cut off. Who knows why that happened when I got it up on YouTube. ]

project life is going digital

In the coming week, we are planning to launch the site for Project Life | digital version. I have all the information coming. Frequently asked questions, details about how it works (so, so, so easy!), and all that good stuff. So many of you have been patiently waiting for this (thank you, oh loyal people).

I just got my sample book so I wanted to at least share pictures of this little beauty. This is the end product -- the final result -- of what you get after you create a Project Life book online.











Oh, and I want to tell you this one more thing: Everyone -- ANYone -- will be able to build a book online and play around with it for FREE. No obligation.

Did you catch that? Free.

Should you choose to print a book, then you can pay for that. But if you get in there and play around and decide it's not for you, there's nothing to lose. You just don't follow-through with printing. And you pay nothing at all. Do you love that?

Go ahead -- ask your questions (in the Comments section here). Go for it. We're working on compiling all the FAQ now, so now is the perfect time.