Project Life - Recording the every day.

So,  12 months ago I embarked on a project of a slightly different nature to that which I was used to in my day job!  I had seen a lot of references on t'Interweb to something called 'Project Life' ... it kept popping up in various blogs I was reading and on Pinterest ... and I didn't really understand what it was all about.  More about that in a minute ...

I have been what I would call a 'traditional' scrapbooker for the last 12 years, mainly in 12x12 albums, and would describe my style as being quite simple, preferring to focus on the photos and telling the story **those who know me will not be surprised by that bit! ** rather than creating very detailed layouts with lots of patterned papers and embellishments and maybe just one or two photos.   My problem though, was keeping up to date and whilst I got quite efficient at scrapping holiday photos not long after we got back, I found that all the 'in between' photos that were taken of the everyday stuff were getting neglected, not just due to the sheer number of them **it is not just about those on the camera these days, but photos on my iPhone, iPad, my husbands phone, iPad etc. etc.!** but also the lack of time available to dedicate to getting them done.  I think the last time I looked, I was still completing 2008!!  I began to feel that that I could never catch up and what had started as a relaxing and pleasurable activity, began to stress me out and I found I was rushing to just 'get it done' rather than enjoying the process.  This is where Project Life comes in ...

After some further research, I determined that it was really just a much simpler, back to basics way of scrapbooking that would still allow me to capture the everyday and tell the story but best of all ..... it was QUICK!!  Photos & memorabilia just slot into the plastic pockets - no scissors or glue required - write your journalling on one of the predesigned cards & slot that in a pocket as well and hey presto, you're done!   Of course you can absolutely add additional embellishments and be more creative with the cards you slot into the pockets if you want to and have more time, but for me this seemed like the perfect solution.

So,  just under a year ago I decided I would give it a try for 12 months and see how I got on.  I decided I would do a double page layout per week (although this could be fortnightly, or even monthly if you don't tend to take that many photos) and whilst I know that some people do use Project Life as a true daily record and take one photo every day (conveniently, there are 8 large slots per double page - one title card and 7 photos), I haven't been quite that structured and I tend to just use it as a weekly summary.  If it has been a quiet week and I only have one or two photos, I take a couple of photos from around the house that capture the REAL everyday such as the contents of my skincare/make up cupboard; **Mr Crafty Cow would argue that that could easily take up a double page on it's own!**... doing the laundry; shopping at the supermarket; a piece of Youngest's school work, etc.  You are probably all yawning at this point and thinking I have gone quite mad,  but I often think how cool it would have been if my great-grandmother had been able to leave me a similar record of her life over 100 years ago?  I would have LOVED to have that today!   **Btw, if either of my boys are reading this, I WILL come back and haunt you if you even think of throwing any of my albums away!**

To make it simple, I tend to take all my photos on my iPhone and then, via Photostream, open and print them off from my computer each week.

Here's an example of one of my pages: 

A lovely weekend spent with friends in Dorset

 (which constituted the whole layout for that particular week) 

... a closer look

So, I am almost at the end of my year's experiment now and what is the verdict?  I love, love, LOVE it!  I can print off my 7 photos, complete my journalling and slot it all in my album within about half an hour on a Saturday morning.  Boom!  No stress, no agonising over which paper goes with which or how I should design my page.

I still plan to stick to my 'traditional' scrapbook albums for those special events and holidays where I might have lots of photos to scrapbook, but for recording everyday life, this is the perfect solution for me and I will definitely be continuing to record our story using 'Project Life'.

If you would like read more about Project Life,  hop over to Becky Higgins  site for more info and inspiration.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by ... see you next time.

TTFN

Bev x