Project Life 2014: Week 3

Week 3 complete!

While including stories of life, I included one of my grandma and her forgetfulness. It's not a pretty story because it makes me sad, but it's part of life. So I figure how I feel about it and a forgetfull detail it needs to be documented. 

As I've looked over the last year, I have a mix of pictures here and there that I want to keep but don't want to do a whole scrapbook layout for. So I've been wondering how I could do Project Life even with last year's photos. I won't have as many stories (maybe I still will), but I think it may be easier to scrapbook last year doing it PL style as much as a I can. We'll see! I'm really loving this project!

Brandon's Run

I was scrolling through pictures last night to put on disc and came upon some running photos. So today I chose to scrap these from 2011. And...I used some Project Life templates. This two page spread came together FAST since it was just photos and storytelling - not many elements. It allows the photos and story to be the star. I love simple. 

Project Life 2014: Week 2

Week 2 is already complete! I love working on this project! I am only two weeks in and I'm really thankful for what I have so far - the pictures, the stories, the life lessons.

I drop photos and text in throughout the week. Maybe someday I'll get it down to 30 minutes per spread, but right now, that's not happening. Oh well, at least I'm enjoying the process. And that's the whole point!

One thing that I noticed is that this week doesn't have a calendar card. I had it as part of my layout early in the week, but more pictures got added and then I forgot about it until I had this layout done. I was trying to think of ways to work it in, but for now, the layout is staying put. I included the dates in the "Week Two" card. And you can kind of see the dates on the second page where I took a picture of my new calendar. I'm learning to be flexible, letting things flow, and moving on without being so rigid.

What will next week bring?!

Project Life 2014: Week 1

I decided to do Project Life this year! Yay! I wanted to do it last year, but thought I had too much catching up to do to really do PL. But this year I decided to do it for a few reasons.

1. I noticed I wasn't taking everyday life pictures like I was when the kids were little. You know, like stuff they do on a day to day basis. I don't want to miss out on those details.

2. At the end of the year, I'll have the 2014 highlights scrapped! That's a WHOLE YEAR! 

I figure that once I get the hang of how I want my pages to look, the pages will come together quickly. Then on days when I'm not working on my PL pages, I can work on other scrapbooking that I need and want to catch up on.

So far, I'm really enjoying it. I'm happy to be capturing every day life. I purchased an app called Day One. It allows for journaling on my phone. It reminds me a couple of times a day, and if I want or need to add some details, I enter it on my phone and then refer back later when documenting my week.

So while I don't want to be attached to my phone, I do have it handy when I don't have my big camera with me. I like my big camera way better than my phone, so ideally, I want to use my big one more often. I have to work on that in the weeks to come.

I really enjoy Cathy Zielske's blog. I bought a handful of her products and really enjoy her simplistic style.

It's also fun to look at Christina's pages because you can see a huge difference in her daughter over a year's time. It's cool to see the slow progression, but then look at the stark contrast of week 1 and the last weeks. I think it's awesome!

I found this site - Pixels & Company - from Cathy's blog. Check it out! It has some great $1 deals and other kits. I love finding new sites to get product from.

I saw some people do a cover page for their Project Life books. I liked that idea. Here's mine. 

I'm sure I'll be tweaking things as I move forward, but for now, this is what I have. I'm not "in love" with this spread. Not every week may have as many "stories". I know there are no rules as for how much journaling one can or should do. I seem to fit the high end right now. Ha! But I like the stories and I believe when I look back, I'll be glad I include as much as I do.

I'm not sure how I plan to print my pages. I really like the 3-ring scrapbooks, but I know some others make a photo book. With the photo books, you can make numerous copies for less money and save them for your kids. I like that idea. But actually, I could do both: a 3-ring for me and a photo book for the kids. We shall see!

(I keep changing things, so if you come back in the near future, you may be seeing something different.)

Christmas Ornaments

I haven't done too well in blogging on my family blog lately. I'm trying to think how to move forward with that. I use it as a point of reference when I scrapbook. It helps me remember things that happened and things that were said. I'm about three months behind. I'm hoping to get caught up soon. But I also wonder if I should keep an online journal (like an email draft) in case I'm unable to get to blogging as soon as I like. That way, not much will be forgotten.

Today I decided to scrap these two photos from this Christmas. I really like the new digital kit I bought called Christmas Dearest. I've had my eye on this kit and today I saw that it was 40% off. I love its vintage feel.