Project Life 2012

In quite a few forums I frequent there has been discussions on Project Life. More so now than before. I think this is because of all the recent announcements from Becky Higgins. For those of you who don't know I'm a little Project Life obsessed. I think it is such a fantastic way to document your day to day life or get a little bit creative with a fairly simple scrapbook or a let's say a more extravagant photo album. I was always the person whose photo albums didn't need any explanations. They always had notations next to or below the photos so for me scrapbooking and Project Life are just an extension of that.

The kids just adore looking at the photos. I also include a lot of photos the kids have taken.  While the photos aren't always good it is also part of our life story. I try to include a note in the journaling when the kids have taken a photo so we know for future reference. I also like that the photo taking involves them in the Project Life experience.

I found this blog last year and was inspired to create my kids albums using the project life kits. I wanted somewhere to put all those extra photos you take, and are good, and have meaning but you don't have time to scrap. I found the answer. Well I think I've found the answer. The answer is a Project Life kit. One of the problems I have with traditional scrapbooking is that you create all these wonderful pages with very few photos on them and where do you put the other photos of your life or the life of your kids? A few years ago I started putting these excess photos into a traditional photo album but when I got around to wanting to scrapbook them I ended up printing another set OR I left a blank spot in the album where I pulled them out. Now I combine my fancy photo album (Project Life) with my scrapbooking albums and I don't have photos sitting around in boxes, except the photos in boxes from previous years.

This is from Hannah's album She likes to scrapbook too so I include her pages in the album too. This one is about her love of puzzles next to one of my pages for her about her Godfather, Josh.

I have used the patterned paper which matches the Project Life kit to add a background to this sheep Hannah  made at Playgroup.

Often I don't add any embellishments. Here I have added some twine to a journaling card and some doodling to a filler card. 

More artwork with a journaling card attached with washi tape. 

This year I am completing 5 Project Life albums! Yes, that's right 5! I am doing one for each of the kids, except Kevin because I want to work out what I want to do with regards to a baby album for him, and a family album. Call me crazy or call me super smart but either way I've found a system which works for me. I am still able to scrapbook traditionally. These are included directly into the Project Life album and I have somewhere to store all the other photos and stories until I can scrapbook them or I have a perfectly recorded story and the photos and stories won't be lost.

I've added photos from my phone as well as my DSLR. Sometimes I cut the photos down. Sometimes if I have time I will re-size them to print but I'm all about no fuss so I don't want a system which requires me to edit and resize. I don't really have a problem with having to slot a portrait photo into a landscape slot sometimes, or like here often.

I have since converted my sister-in-law who hasn't scrapped in years and was wondering where to start and how she was possibly ever able to catch up. Well I tell you what. I'm caught up. She is now up to date in her daughter's album for her 3rd year and is starting to go back and get photos documented from further back. It is a win-win situation. I love the fact that I don't feel behind. It doesn't take long to write out the cards for the months' photos. I often just grab a card and write a funny little story of the kids which doesn't have a photo to go with it but it was worth documenting. I don't like my handwriting but I use it all the time. I haven't printed any journaling yet. I only hand write which to me saves a lot of time as I can do it on the go. I don't require a computer or a printer. I just love Project Life. I can't praise this system enough.

This is another page in Hannah's album. I added some journaling to explain why I chose this picture to include in her album. This was the first time she had drawn a picture of people with their mouths instead of just an arch for their mouths. She has also distinguished various members of the family by their size and different colours and styles of their hair. These are the Bomber members of the family. (For those of you outside Australia the Bombers are a football team which all other members of the family, except Hannah and I, follow. We are Lions in case you were wondering.) You can see this is where the album ends for the time being. You can see some journaling cards sticking out from the picture. They have already been journaled on and are waiting for photos to be printed.

With my traditional Project Life I have adopted a no-stress approach. I am not caught up on it being a photo a day. I am using the weekly method. Often I have more than 7 photos for the week but sometimes I don't. Sometimes life is too busy and I don't get around to taking out my camera. Sometimes not much happens. On those weeks I just make a shorter spread or print numerous photos from the same event. Of course more often than not I am unable to pick just one photo for the event so it ends up being a larger spread with extra inserts. I have attempted to use a variety of the page protectors but have found it adds to the stress. I don't like having to think about the configuration on the back side so I tend to just stick to design A. I frequently add 6x12 page protectors though, both divided and undivided, as they allow me to add extra photos easily or a school project or an invitation or any other memorabilia.

This is the day my son was born so naturally it required a lot of photos. This is a double page spread of 4x6 slots to  fit in lots of extra photos.

This post lists my top 10 tips for using Project Life and staying up-to-date. Pretty much Project Life can be what ever you want it to be. I don't think you should get bogged down by what the rules are. You make the rules. This is a simple, easy and quick way to scrapbook. Enjoy it.

Shimelle's starting points

I'm sure by now everyone knows I'm in love with Shimelle's style, her cute voice, her nails, her dedication to scrapbooking and most importantly to me, her dedication to writing down the stories and like me writing a lot. Shimelle has taught me a lot. I am no longer scared of writing on my layouts. My writing isn't as neat or as arty as her BUT I've written down the stories and the memories will live on.

When Shimelle has her starting points on her blog I usually participate but very rarely do I add my linky to her page. If the truth be told I'm just slack. I find her starting points an inspiration. A jumping off point. I'm quickly able to get a page done whereas if I sat down and started to scrap I'd often not be able to start quickly. What's a starting point? It's just the starting layers of a layout, without the photos or any other items. you use the starting points to build your layout and add your embellishments. I love them.

This page was make using the scraps from a Scenic Route kit I have had for years. Most of these pieces I didn't even trim but just added them according to the design of the starting point. 

Here I stamped the June using Technique Tuesday stamp set Twenty Eleven. I like the subtle effect of tone on tone here. Each layer was inked in distress ink. I have only started using the coloured distress inks for edges. Usually it's just brown.

This layout, Nanny, is very special to me. I'm not very happy with the end result but I am happy with the story. I miss my Nanny and am so glad I had the opportunity in her later life to spend so much time with her when she didn't have many family members around her. 

I find these papers, ones with large designs/scenes, very difficult to work with. I just don't know what to do with them. How do you incorporate these designs into your pages? I find I buy them and then don't know how to use them. On this one I added extra strips around the sun using the same paper line.

 This is another special layout to me. It is about my sister and I growing up and how we have maintained our wonderful friendship even though we have had rough times in the relationship and even though we live on opposite sides of the world. It also mentions that I wish this kind of relationship for my daughters. 

This layout only uses 4 different patterned papers. All of the embellishments came in the same Scenic Route collection. 

I have had this layout completed for a very long time. The journaling hasn't been done though. It was such an important story. The story of how I snagged my husband. I didn't want to get it wrong.

Essentially this is only 2 pieces of patterned paper and a few stamps, stickers, chipboard sign and a tag. Very simple but also it is a masculine page so I didn't want to over do it. My darling husband still says there is too much on the layout.

I'm quite happy with this layout. Often I'm not good at mixing collections but I did manage ok here. This is a layout about my Mum starting this street performance group. 

It is another very simple design with the twine, string and washi tape adding most of the embellishment. I think it turned out well. 

Thanks Shimelle for the starting points. It really got me going. I appreciate it. What gets your mojo going? Do you use youtube videos, starting points, sketches, classes to get your mojo going?

Christmas Pages using Kaisercraft

These are using the new Kaisercraft Christmas range. I really like this range because it uses traditional colours which I prefer for Christmas. 

The first layout is called Collier Christmas memories. It is the only Christmas I remember having with my Nanny and all the cousins. This picture is special to me too because I don't have many pictures of my Mum and her brother and sister. It's their birthday day today too so Happy Birthday Uncle Brian and Auntie Carole.

This layout includes the only photo of Christmas I have from that year. The family Christmas celebrations were held at my cousins house. 

I love how goofy we are being. 

It is my aim to get a few more layouts up this week. I'm very slack at uploading my finished work. Well if the truth be told, I'm actually slack at photographing them. Once I photograph them I usually upload them. It's just scheduling the photography I find difficult. I'll blame the kids.