Project Life

These 2 pics are some of my all-time favorite ones of the girls. I saw an episode on HGTV where they took pictures and turned them all black/white and had them made into square canvases. This is on my project list "to-do." I would really love to have pictures of our family all over our house.



I love to scrapbook. But, the really sad thing is I hardly have any "scrapbooks." I have a huge box of pages that are done, but no completed books. I finally did go through all my pictures from 0-marriage and put them chronologically in just plain acid-free photo albums. That was a huge load off, because I finally feel like they are protected. But, there is no story associated with them........yet. I have some big ideas, but who knows when I'll actually get around to doing them. I thought I was going to "catch-up" this winter, but with this Air Force/civilian life roller coaster ride my husband has taken me on, I haven't scheduled time to do these projects. In writing this, it makes me a little frustrated that there are so many memories that I have yet to tell. I really am not doing it for my kids (although I do hope they at least appreciate looking through them one day), I do them for me. I would love to have a bookcase one day of all our life's pictures and memories to go through.

So about 2 years ago, I came across this really great scrapbook "kit" that covers an entire year-all the supplies you need (except your own photos)-in 1 box! It is called Project Life. The basic idea is that you take a picture a day and write on one 2X3 card the story behind it. Some days it might be that breakfast at IHOP (yesterday's) or a more exciting event like Disney world (coming in just a few weeks-yes!). This is my new way to scrapbook and so far I am LOVING it! Avery's first year album (the larger one pictured above) is made by using the contents of the kit. The other smaller album, I just picked up at Target and use cardstock I already had in my stash to make 4X6 journaling cards. This is Kate's 2-yr album. Since Kate doesn't have-as many-milestones and changes this last year, I simply put a journaling card and picture above it, or in this case a piece of paper that she drew with her name on it. (That's how she wrote her name;) Anyway, hope that all makes sense.

Here are 2 links that might explain it a bit better (if ya really want to know.....)
Becky Higgins-the creator of this kit and concept
Ali Edwards (here and here)-a scrapbooker/designer who is also doing the Project Life

Since I'm so OCD, here are some things that have worked for me:
1. Instead of doing this every single day, I just simply take as many pictures as can throughout the day or week as moments come up. (Keeping in mind that ideally I would like 1 picture a day) It helps that I have my iphone camera (thank you Santa) and one camera on the main floor and one upstairs, always handy.

2. Since our main family room was too small to house our ginormous dining room table, we put it in one of the bedrooms and use it as my project table. So far, so good. I love that I can just keep this project out all the time. I am definitely an "out of sight, out of mind" person.

3. I keep 2 "inboxes" that I go through weekly. They hold scraps of paper that might contain a thought OR a receipt OR a coloring page, etc. (Avery's is green and Kate's is yellow-top right corner of pic)

4. The other 3 baskets are: BLUE-Kate's journaling cards, PINK-basic supplies that I need like tape or scratch paper and GREEN-little items I need to put away in this room.

5. I actually "schedule" time now to work on this project. I know some people do this daily, but that never worked out for me, something always came up. So now, every Sunday (thank you early church), after naps and dinner, I retreat to my "studio" and catch up on the previous week. I edit and choose the pictures that I want to use. Then I dump them into a folder on the desktop of my computer. I sort through the little papers and memos I've made throughout the week. Then I plug in the cards with their journaling-and viola!-the week is done.

6. I have learned by doing this, that I'm not so much a "creative" being as I thought I was. I must be organized first or I cannot function! That is why I LOVE this set and idea-it's already organized and has a cute creative side, too. I just get to plug in the pictures and stories.

7. EVERNOTE is my new favorite app. I have this on my iphone and when I have an idea, I just simply jot it down in this app. I "tag" it with the name "project life" and then simply go through my phone on Sunday to see if I had any moments/ideas to record.

*At least with this, I am telling the story of now. And I have learned a huge lesson by doing this: to be grateful for the great life I currently have and live in the moment. It has once again re-affirmed the idea that life is about all the tiny little moments that lead us to great decisions and things. I guess kind of like how people do a gratitude journal, this helps me be grateful for these moments.