Edit on 12/30/10: Yay! I read your posts and am so glad that a few more of you are joining project life. And you're right...it's as simple or detailed as you want to make it. I am excited to share a little of my Project Life 2011 with you all. Stay tuned for some ideas on how to set up your Project Life * work area* to make it work the best for you. I'll also take some photos of how I assemble my album when I first get it. It should be here January 3rd. Woohoo! Such a great way to scrapbook and document those precious memories. Especially for those of you that say *I can't scrapbook*....or *I don't have time to scrapbook*. You can do it!
It's coming soon. My 2011 Project Life Kit.
Haven't heard of Project Life. It's from one of my favorite scrapbookers of all time....Becky Higgins. It's fabulous. I can't wait for my box to arrive. You'll be seeing LOTS more scrapbooking here on the blog in 2011. Stay tuned. :)
Check out this video that Mary Ann created for Becky. It shows a real view to some completed Project Life pages.....and how to add more mixy matchy pages to the album. It's fully what I intend to do with my album this year. So excited.
Here's just one sample from my blog of how I integrated some regular scrapbook pages into my Project Life album.
So tell me....are you a Project Life user? Are you a wanna be? Let me know your thoughts. :)
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21 comments:
Hi Michelle...I have been looking at Project 12 since last year's edition and am still undecided. When I started scrap booking 15 years ago I found it too daunting of a task as I felt I had to include every photo. I now only scrap page one special photo ever so often and display it in the front hall. They then go into an album....but 2011 is a stellar year for our family. Both our sons are getting married and I know I will take thousands of photos!
What is your opinion on how I can best document this year? Scrap book each wedding in their separate albums (which sounds like a 10 year project to me!!) and/or a Project 12 that would include the weekly/monthy preparations leading up to and after the weddings? I looked at the video and it seems you can make it simply but use extra pages for those special additions. Hmmm?
Mine is coming too. I did 365 from June 2008 to July 2009, but did not begin again last year. I am looking forward to starting Jan 1 or as as soon as my kit arrives. It is estimated as a Monday delivery. Yeah!
Hi Michelle,
I use Project Life, yes! I bought last year's kit, but this year I've just bought the refills (the new style with the vertical photo slots) and the blank journalling cards.
I scrap chronologically - I'm happiest when I do it that way. I've also done mini-albums (stacks of them) and other typical 12 x 12 pages, plus theme albums. All of it was good at the time, but now I'm back to just scrapping our regular photos chronologically.
A year ago I was so behind (didn't want to be, know all the theories about scrapping out of order etc) and I was frustrated. I wanted to scrap, but it was all too much.
Decided to try Project Life and it's revolutionised everything! And you know what? I don't take a picture a day.
Here's how I use the system:
I scrap chronologically using the photos I take, when I take them. This includes anything and everything.
I don't take a picture a day. I would like to do this for one month next year though.
I make my own little decorative cards to fit in the little journalling pockets. I'm loving that. Particularly if the paper I'm using is from October Afternoon!
I don't use a lot of Becky's bits and pieces right now. I was planning to when I bought it because I wanted a scrapping solution, but I found myself enjoying it so much I pulled out my scraps and started making my own.
I will use all her bits and pieces when I need to get through things more quickly in the future.
I add different brands of page protectors - all sizes too. I'd say Becky's are my favourite though because of the little pockets.
I have just done a flick around of the house and found lots of odd photos - ones that have come out of photo frames, large ones from my childhood etc and I'm doing a few pages of them too. I love being able to stick anything in there and talk about it (gotta express how I feel about cheese on toast because it was a staple in our house growing up) without doing a full on page about it, ya know?
That's about it.
The kicker for me was when I saw a photo on Ali's blog and she had her Project Life out on a cabinet top in her room, so she could access it easily.
All of a sudden everything made sense when I saw that photo - I knew I needed my stuff to be more accessible and doable.
I bought Project Life, I moved my scrapping to a cabinet at the living room (I stand up and scrap now) and it's all just working for me. I can leave it out on the cabinet and do a few minutes here and there (it's amazing how much you can get done when you're waiting for the jug to boil) when I can. I also scrap while cooking tea!
Anyway, I love Project Life although I don't use it the way it was originally intended. I use it how it works for me and have bought a kit for my sister-in-law who is not a crafter at all. She wanted something that was contained, coordinated without her having to coordinate it, easy to put together.
And get this - I had a look at her album at the table after dinner one night and it sparked a conversation between us all and she told us stories about her uni days that none of us had heard before and she's been in the family for 12 years! Don't you love it? I told her that's what getting your photos sorted (I don't call it scrapbooking in front of her) is all about.
:o)
Okay, loooong comment! Hope you got this far!
Bye now,
Debra in Australia
Hi again Michelle,
My loooong post went up twice, so I deleted one - sorry about that.
Debra :o)
Hi Michelle,
i am a wanna be. I do not scrapbook regularly - more of a confidence issue than time. What do I record, how do I record it.... I bought the kit last year but never started b/c it arrived late. i plan to do it this year and it would be great , if you shared some of your pages on your blog. ill be watching for sure!
Shirlann!
Go Project Life!! It's so easy! You take your photos, write on the journalling cards that Becky provides and slip 'em in! So easy! And yes, you can buy different types of page protectors for the other different bits you might like to include.
Oh, do it, do it, you don't want to do two 10 year wedding album projects now, do you?? No way! Wedding albums are a lot of work because we usually put ourselves under all the "this must be perfect" pressure because it's a wedding album. Wedding albums have that reputation :o)
Choosing a simple scrapbooking process doesn't mean you don't care about your photos and your memories! Go simple, you'll love it.
A suggestion for your wedding photos:
~ Project Life for all the photos you take during the year. You don't have to include every photo you take of course.
~ Scrap (or just enlarge) a couple for the front hall
~ Get a digital photo book made of your very special ones after the weddings have come and gone and display it on your coffee table. Family and friends can also order any digital photo books that are made from those sites like Shutterfly etc.
Hope that helps! Have a wonderful year - wowee, busy, busy!
I bought Project Life last January, was very excited about it. But working full time I realized a few months into the new year that when I had time to papercraft I wanted to do cards instead, so this Christmas I gifted it to one of my best friends who has two boys. She was sooooo excited. I go to Becky's blog most days and I love to see what people do with the kit. I will enjoy seeing what you do also. I love everything you do in papercrafting!
No I don't do Project Life. I think I have seen it once or twice (once being on your blog). Maybe I would. Right now I like what I'm doing and don't feel really behind. I think it might be something great for some people I know who like the idea of scrapping, but don't do it or have time for it.
I'm just like one of your other posters ... bought it last year, but haven't used it yet. We've been doing a very, very long reno on a craft room for me to work in and everything has been packed away since the summer. The last few things should be finished by the weekend, so I just might be able to get moving on my scrapbooking again! :)
Thanks for all the hints and tips on how to used this product and thanks Michelle for your FABULOUS blog.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
i am a wanna be. i think this year would be a great year to start as I think we are going to have lots of change. I just don't know if I can keep up with it. :)
I am a wanna-be!! I have been reading so much on blogs and message boards about Project Life that I just had to know more about it! Your video helped me understand the process and realize that it could be as daunting as I want it or as simple as I want it. Hmmmmm......still thinking about it......
PS: Google is not letting me sign-in so I have to go in under just my name. What's up with that?
Ok...I did it...I'm in! I ordered Project Life last night...amber edition, extra pages-vertical and the journalling cards so I can make them my own little creations!! It will be delivered next week!!
After reading Debra's posts here, it made perfect sense. My goal is to document our everyday year in Project Life, but to do digital albums for both the weddings so that I have a copy, friends and family can order one too. Each wedding will have one special scrap page I can create, frame, hang or display on an easel on the front hall table!
Michelle...looking forward to your upcoming ideas not only for Project Life but on all that you do! Like so many followers you have on your blog, yours is the first I check and enjoy with my morning coffee!
I'm still waiting on a book of all your Mish Mash sketches...you could make a fortune I tell ya!!
Happy New Year!
After I read your post I said OK I GIVE and convinced hubby on why I needed that kit :) SO Guess what is coming tomorrow (LOVE my Prime Member account $3.99 next day shipping) I can't wait till it gets here I am looking forward to scrapbooking 2011 I did a December Daily Album and now I can't stop. Guess that scrapbooker in me is back? Thanks for that extra Push!((HUGS))
I ordered the Amber edition for this year and am excited about it!! Often, I'm great at starting projects and not so good at finishing. But I figured this is a win/win situation. I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself, and I'm going to have fun with it and document what I can of my life. Even if it takes me two years instead of one to fill up the album--- every photo and memory I save will be worth it!! Can't wait to follow along with you!!
I haven't scrapbooked in a few years! It gets a bit overwhelming! I just saw this on your blog, went to Becky's site and watched the video, and BAM...one is now on it's way! I can't wait! Thanks so much for highlighting this! I'm REALLY looking forward to using it! :D
Hi Mish...Happy New Year!
I love project life. I started with the 365, I was one of the lucky few to get it and continued last year with PL. I am a huge scrapbooker but now that my kids are getting older and busier, PL has allowed me to do less scrapbooking but more efficient scrapbooking. I still complete the big moments in their lives but don;t feel like I need to do everything like before. Truly I said to myself, how many scrapbooks do they want to take with them when they leave! This year I did not take a picture everyday but focused more on moments during the month. I loved doing this. I think this year, i will take a picture daily but add to the album, as I have seen others do! I already have mine set up and ready to go!
Thanks for your continued inspiration! I can't wait to see what you come up with in 2011!
After watching Becky's kit contents video, I'll Project Life if you do, Mish! My kids are all over 12 years old, and it feels like nothing cherishable might happen, so why not document life and find those sweet moments.
Thank you for posting this. Somehow I never heard of project life. (how did that ever happen??) I am a huge scrapper, but I am slow and I love making cards and all other paper crafts and I have 2boys on top of doing daycare. I am so far behind I was getting overwhelemed and discouraged. When I read your post I went over to Becky's site watched the video and just like that it was in my amazon cart and I ordered it (thanks MIL for the Christmas money to buy this). I can't wait to get it and get started. Looking forward to see what you do with yours too.
I just bought it. I have become so overwhelmed by my scrapbook projects that I last left off in December 2005 when my youngest child was an infant. That's just not okay with me! I've spent the last two days going back through old digital files and uploading pictures to be printed. I love the idea that this coming year will be simple, simple, simple. I doesn't have to be so complicated! If I miss a day or have more from a really good day, so be it! Ahh... I feel better already. Thanks!
Thanks so much for posting about Project Life 2011. I love to scrapbook but just can't find the time. I make cards instead. However, once I saw the Project Life 2011 kit, I thought to myself, "Self, you can do this." I took the plunge and bought the kit. I can't wait for it to arrive. My husband and I have a 15 week old son and I am anxious to scrap his life in an easy way that allows me to spend all my time at home with him.
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