I remember you blogged that you bought some Williams-Sonoma kitchen towels a couple years ago. How are those holding up?

Hands down, these are my favorite kitchen towels that we’ve ever had. I am so pleased with the towels, and they’re holding up beautifully.

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What is your opinion of the Nikon 1 J1 Camera?

Honestly, I’ve never heard of that one. I like the Nikon D90 that we’ve had for the past few years and am not currently in the market for another one, so I’m pretty clueless about the latest & greatest dSLR models. But have you checked out dpreview.com? Anyone in the market for a new camera should check out this review site.

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How did you choose the new designs of Photo Pocket Pages and Page Protectors? Like, were they what you needed as you put together your kids’ scrapbooks?

The whole Project Life concept came about because I had a problem and I wanted to create a system that would solve the problem. So – yes, many product ideas come from my personal experience and my desire to bring out the practical side of an otherwise “creative” hobby. But this is just one factor. Another key element that plays into our decision for what products to make? Your voice. Your feedback. Your suggestions.

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Do you think you will keep designing page protectors and coming up with new designs like you used to come up with new sketches?

It’s pretty much looking that way, isn’t it? Interesting for you to bring that up. In my season of sharing sketches, I really was trying to take the guesswork out of scrapbooking. That’s why people loved them. Funny how things have evolved. Now I look at sketches and think – If that is made of actual pockets, THEN we’re really solving the problem! What’s easier than slipping pictures into pockets? Pretty much nothing. Easiest scrapbooking ever. So – yes. We will continue to grow our line of plastics because they are creating solutions. Mine and yours.

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Are you doing the 12×12 or 8.5×11 inch size for your family’s albums? Is the physical Project Life binder 12×12 in size?

Yes, the Project Life Binder is the classic, standard 12×12 size. I’ve done a lot of 8.5×11 albums, then transitioned to 12×12 in 2001. Now, with 43 volumes of these albums in our home (ouch), I do 8.5×11 Project Life photo books on Shutterfly for our family memories. I am carrying on with the 12×12 size for the kids’ individuals albums. I show & talk about this in the very beginning of my video featured here.

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Do you ever show your own pages?

I sprinkle my personal pages in once in a blue moon, but no – not very often. I’ve been in this industry for 16 years. I have shared plenty. But I have become much more protective of our personal memories, stories, pictures as we’re raising our little family. That is the only reason I don’t share more often, and why I am very strategic in what I do share from our personal scrapbooks.

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I was wondering what you do with photos that others send you, like family? My family will periodically send me few photos of their vacation or other events. I’m never sure what to do with them in Project Life. The images aren’t part of our story, but I still like it when they send them. Thoughts or ideas?

I really had to think about this one for a minute, because I can’t remember the last time someone randomly sent me a physical print. So much is shared electronically these days. If you like to hang on to the pictures sent your way, it seems easy enough to just slip them into Photo Pocket Pages and perhaps, since they don’t really “go” with your own life story, you could put that page (or those pages) at the very end of the album.

I’ll share another thought with you. A couple years ago I came across many years’ worth of Christmas cards that I had collected. I had an epiphany that I am not the keeper of other people’s memories. That doesn’t have to be my responsibility. I’m recording my own family’s story and that is plenty. Why was I hanging on to all these Christmas card pictures when we honestly never even went back and looked at them? I love our family & friends, but I tossed those pictures with no regret. In fact, I felt like a weight was lifted with that simple decision. Just something to consider. Perhaps you have a few recent photos on your fridge for a few months or a year, but eventually – it’s okay to toss the pictures that aren’t super significant.

The significant and sentimental pictures? Absolutely you should keep those.

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I am looking for ways to document my pregnancy on weekly basis. Ideas would be greatly appreciated!

You could certainly use any edition of Project Life if you wanted. They are theme-less and versatile for so many topics. Your life is your life – married or single, pregnant or not, working or at home. Just photograph the little details of your journey – no matter what it looks like.

Speaking of babies and those who want to do a baby album … well, let’s put it this way: I pretty much haven’t done much with Crew’s baby album. He’s three. And I’m pretty much not going to do it until our Project Life: Baby Edition products come out. Because they’re going to make my life soooo much easier and his album will look completely amazing. I’m unbelievably stoked about what we’ve been cooking up for you guys. I don’t have a release date yet, but at least you know the wait won’t be years since we’ve already been working on it.  ; )

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For your kids’ personal books, the way I take it from reading your blog, you combine personal activities and school stuff in the same book. How do you separate? Do you have a “school section” by grade or is it all just chronological and mixed in with the personal stuff? What do you do– what works for you?

You should absolutely do what works best and makes the most sense for your situation. Since you asked about my system, I am all about telling the LIFE story. School is not a separate thing in my children’s lives. School is an integral part in their story, and who they are – just as much as other activities, sports, friends, extended family, travel, hobbies, and mundane stuff at home. So for me? I tell my kids’ story chronologically by year. I am not concerned about the order of pictures and pages and stories within that year. But if I want to know all about my child when they were in, say first grade? I can quickly identify that section (thanks to the Scrapbook Dividers – one of my absolute favorite products that I think every scrapbooker should have) … and enjoy the pictures & memories from that time in their life.

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What do you do with all of the photos that don’t make it into the album?

I don’t print pictures that I’m not going to put into an album or a frame or use in a project. So all the pictures I don’t use are in the same place that most of you store your pictures: On the computer (and of course backed up). I refer to them often, share them electronically, work them into an iMovie, etc.

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I’m wondering if you have any advice on how to catch up when you’re behind on Project Life! Has anyone addressed this?

It sounds to me that you’re locking yourself into an expectation that you will document the year with a picture every day, or a layout every week. Do not make this more complicated than it needs to be. It doesn’t need to be hard. In fact, Project Life is designed to SIMPLIFY the process of memory-keeping. So if you’re getting stressed about “keeping up” … get that phrase out of your mind. It’s not about keeping up. It’s about having a convenient place to slip your photos and memories into a book – no matter when or how often.

Now. Raise your hand if you’re thinking, “But that’s not like me. I have to stay on-track with my goals to document life they way I started this thing.” Truth be told, that’s totally my personality type. All or nothing, right? So let’s be real. If you really, really, really have to follow your own rules, then this is what I suggest: Let’s say you want to keep up with a picture-a-day. Very ambitious, but certainly rewarding. I did that a few years in a row and am not much more relaxed about that in 2012. I use a handful of pictures per week but it’s certainly not a picture for each day.

But anyway – to “catch up” on a couple weeks worth, simply walk around your house with the camera. Take pictures of the little details of everyday life until you have enough pictures to fill in your gaps. That’s it. Take pictures of things that were the same a couple weeks ago, like where you store your makeup or the kitchen sink full of dishes, or what’s on your iPod, your pet’s favorite place to chill, or whatever.

Need inspiration? We have a whole list worth of great ideas to get the wheels in your head turning!

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Becky I know you are working on your new school products but could we have a little idea of what it is? Is the school kit like Project Life with a school theme or something completely different? I know you have said that it will be out this year. Does that mean next couple of months? Summer? Fall? Christmas??? A ball park idea would be wonderful! Thanks for all you do!

Short answer: Summer 2012 (that means Winter for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere). This is what I can tell you right now: The childhood/school products that we’ve been working on will help you tremendously in documenting ALL of childhood. Not just school. The designs are remarkably awesome. I am itching to put this stuff to good use in my kids’ books – and even my own childhood stuff – and David’s. I want so badly to share the details of these products but it’s a little premature. The good news is that it won’t be long before I can share more and you’ll be totally clear on what to expect. Get excited.

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I have a scrapbook room full of pictures, paper, embellishments, etc. that I have planned on scrapbooking for a long time now. Is it even reasonable to think about using Project Life for all of these past photos or should I continue to use traditional scrapbooking for those and use Project Life for now? My kids are 20, 19 and 15 already! I am a procrastinating scrapbooker who needs some help … sigh.

Keep your chin up. Do yourself a favor and simplify. You could go back and do all those years in traditional scrapbooks by designing full pages. Absolutely. If you have the TIME + the DESIRE to get creative, go for it! If that thought overwhelms you however, I promise you that the EASE of Project Life is going to be a huge weight lifted from your shoulders. No more mom guilt. This is precisely why I designed Project Life to be what it is. It solves problems! It saves time! It’s easier to involve your family so that it can even become a TOGETHER project instead of Mom tucked away in her scrappy corner.

And now I sound like an infomercial. But wait. There’s more!

All those supplies that have been collecting? They’re fun. They’re gorgeous. And they were expensive. You don’t have to waste all that. Put them to good use in the Project Life pages if you want. Or … pass it all onto your kids to use, or donate to your local school or children’s shelter or another great cause. Plenty of people will appreciate your generosity.

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Do you journal as you go along before you print your pictures?

Sometimes, yes. For example – because my kids’ albums are physical scrapbooks and I’m using the Project Life system, I always have the 3×4 Journaling Cards handy to write down things they say, etc. Some things need to be written while they’re absolutely fresh in your mind. I love the 3×4 cards for this reason, and then I can slip them into the Photo Pocket Pages whenever I want.

For our family yearbooks, which I mentioned that I do on Shutterfly … my ideal routine (sometimes I get behind) is to do a layout per week. Each Sunday (again, this is ideal) I gather the pictures I want to include in last week’s layout, and add my journaling at the same time. It’s all on the computer. I print nothing. When I get a few weeks behind, it is super fast to catch up. I keep things simple and I couldn’t be happier.

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What do you do for months (i.e. summer or during Christmas or vacations) when you take lots of photos? That is my biggest issue with Project Life. I feel limited for these situations that I can’t include them all. But I guess my book would be huge if I included everything.

That’s it. You nailed it. If you included every picture you took, you’d have a ridiculous amount of albums. I’ve living proof of that from my earlier scrapbooking days. I am so into consolidating memories. You can tell a very rich story just as well with fewer pictures. In fact, if you include “too” many, that could just water everything down. Make sense? Case in point: We went on a big trip for our Spring Break. Guess what? That entire trip is on ONE layout in our family yearbook. That trip was no more important than life at home. It was simply part of our story, part of our life’s journey. But it didn’t define who we are any more than our everyday happenings in our everyday life.

I can’t say this enough: Project Life is what you want it to be. If you want 20 layouts from Christmas, then why wouldn’t you do that? Don’t listen to me or anyone else. Taking in suggestions is great, but go with your gut. Prioritize the real estate inside your album based on what matters most to you. Period.

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What tense do you write in? Are you writing to your kids? To a general audience? To yourself? I can’t decide which one I would like yet.

Personal choice. For me, I write to my kids in their individual albums. I never put words in their mouth. And I absolutely quote them or have them write their own journaling as much as possible. For our family yearbooks, I write to a general audience because while we are the ones enjoying these books right now, eventually they’ll end up in the hands of grandchildren or extended family. They are my general audience.

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I’m trying to get all my old photos out of those albums we used back in the 70s that had sticky pages with a plastic film overlay. What size pocket pages will work for those little square pictures?

I’d have to know the measurements of your pictures. There were a lot of interesting sizes over the years! I have plans to continue growing our plastics family (as mentioned above) so anyone who wants to put in a vote for what size pockets you’d like to see, especially when it comes to old pictures – let’s hear it.

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If ever there was a product I’d like to sell to my friends and family… THIS IS IT!!! Any chance you will be opening up to use individuals as sales reps in a Mary Kay, Scentsy, etc. party type program?

That is not at all in our plans right now, and yes – we did consider that. Again + again + again: We love you, loyal customers, and we are very grateful any time you spread the Project Life love and share this with your friends. Thank you a million times over!

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{ i’m blusing. }

From Beth: I had an epiphany today. Project Life is impacting our *quality of life*!!! What I realized is that Project Life motivates me to get off the couch and do things! It makes for a more interesting album, and a more interesting life. So on weekends or special days, I’m constantly thinking about what we could do in our home or community that will make me look back and say… “Wow, we did a lot of things.” It makes my kids more rounded and healthy, and it makes me feel like a better mom. Project Life motivates me to get out of a rut and really live. Thanks, Becky!

From Kiley: I just wanted to say thank you. My family loves this project! I also just completed a digital version on Shutterfly and made smaller versions of last year for my kids to have their own copy they love them so much. It took two hours. I love love love this project. I know it won’t be long before all of my years of collecting the bits and pieces of life will find their way to a book to be displayed the way they should be. I’ve been a fan since CK days. Thank you for creating this, sharing with all of us and for constantly keeping us up to date, for listening to feedback and adding more and more to project life!! Thank you!!