Project Life: Making it Work For Me: Jan 2011

Making it work for you. That's the topic of today. I thought I would share one of the ongoing projects I'm working on.

It's my 2011 Project Life. I started in 2009 doing a photo a day and lasted three weeks. I didn't have a core kit, plastics, binder, any of that. I did a few digital pages and that was it. 

Enter 2011 and I was trying to come up with a system to capture my photos, story and memorabilia. Maggie was growing so quickly I wanted to do something. I thought I would try doing Project Life on a weekly basis like I had seen so many people do. I set up the binder and put in a title card for each week. The monthly dividers were cool so I used those. I even did a few journaling cards here and there. My struggle was keeping up, printing photos, etc. My computer at the time was on its last legs. I had a very old printer. Essentially it turned into a memorabilia binder. 

Enter 2012. I say to myself, "No way. Have you looked at your 2011? It's a mess!" But then a few things changed. I got a new computer and printer. I came up with a system that could work for me: see my blog post about that here. And so far it's going much better than 2011, although in no way shape or form am I "caught up." 

Honestly I have quite a few unfinished projects. I just recently put some in a plastic bin to put in the garage until inspiration strikes. But this 2011 Project Life kept coming to the surface. Recently I have been able to finish some of those unfinished projects. For me, sometimes it takes a new product or a new plan or design scheme to spark a new interest in me to finish. Take for example my 2011 Week in the Life. I initially started it in a old Franklin Covey planner, but it just didn't feel right. So I left it unfinished. Then I found the Martha Stewart mini-binder and the wheels started turning. I love that project.

So what was that magical thing that sparked me to re-work my 2011 Project Life? These monthly mini bingo cards by Jenni Bowlin. I got them as part of my Twelve class at BPC (Big Picture Classes). She had originally had intended us to use them for something else, but when I saw them I was like "ah-ha!" Do it monthly!

So I rearranged the plastic divided page protectors, moved things around and came up with a plan.

• Each month has 2 "spreads" (a spread is as if you are looking at the book and there is a left side and a right side).
• Each month has an 8 1/2 x11 divided baseball card page with that monthly bingo card.
• I can add several "inserts" or other smaller divided page protectors as needed.
• I think there will be two volumes and each will have a large envelope page at the back to store larger memorabilia.
• There is a title page and introduction spread in Vol. 1.

So far I love it! In December last year I ordered a bunch of 4x4 Instagrams from the company Postal Pix. I am excited to be able to use them in the new inserts by Becky Higgins available on Amazon for 4x4 photos. They should arrive this week. You can check them out here and here.

I also got some photos printed recently from both Persnickety Prints and Shutterfly. Working on a bigger project like this, it is easier for me to just have a bunch of my favorite photos ready to go.

As I was photographing the album to share, my daughter was excited about it. I thought it was so cute that I decided to use those photos to share what my album looks like right now. I've also got some pictures I took today of my first opening page of January 2011 that I finished today to give you an idea of how it is hopefully going to turn out. So here we go!

A look at my binder. As I've been adding things I think there will be two volumes. For more detail on the binder scroll to the end of the post.

Love that she wanted to look at the book! She was so excited to see herself and mommy and daddy.

As you can see I still have some work to do!

These pages are big! But I have a lot of photos + stuff = need for big pages!

This makes me want to keep adding memorabilia and little bits and pieces of life.

Love this perspective.

Above that is December. I have the photos for January and December so far. Will gradually work on adding the rest.

Below is one way I have tried keeping track of memorabilia. I got this from Office Max. It has three slots for different sized stuff. Works great.

 And below here is January after I added the photos and before I added the journaling.

Below you can see where I added some journaling.

I used a journaling card from Archivers instead of the full color intro card. With this many photos I wanted a place for a monthly overview instead of just a solid color 4x6 pocket for the month. (I stamped and embossed the Jan to the card).

Here is the first spread. Two of the Design A page protectors + the inserts.

I am using the Turquoise kit mainly for this but will likely add in my own cards and also ones from the Clementine kit. If these are not available I recommend grabbing some of the grid card packs or also some plain white cards. These should be available soon. Also, manufacturers are starting to get the message that this type of memory keeping is catching on and lots of different companies are starting to produce similar products.

I like adding just a few touches of embellishments. The flair badge is from Ormolu.

The stamps are from Ali Edwards with Technique Tuesday. It's a set from the Studio AE, a monthly stamp club. No longer available but I see there is a set similar to this coming out this year. Check that out here and here. Note that if anyone wants to get me that for Christmas I would love it...hint hint Sam!

So there it is! I am loving this project. I love that Maggie is already wanting to look at it even though it's not finished. I love seeing the changes in her from just a year ago. It's amazing. I am so thankful to be doing it and know it's worth it.

Project Life by Becky Higgins is a set of cool divided page protectors, kits and more to help capture our photos and stories in an easy to use format. It can be whatever you want it to be. Check out her site to learn more. I also recommend checking out the Design Team. They totally rock. And also there is a free Project Life Community at Big Picture Classes. 

Other supplies used:

12x12 We R Memory Keepers Album in grey. You can get one at Amazon here. Or the grey is exclusive to Archivers. You can get it here.

note: I am a member of Amazon Associates. Some links are part of that program and I get a small commission but it doesn't cost you anything more. I only share and pick products I love myself and no one to this point has given me anything free. If that changes I will be sure to let you know!

Week in the Life 2012: The Plan

Here we go! Week in the Life starts tomorrow. Some have already started and others will start Monday. Yet others will do a totally different week and that is cool too. It's awesome to see the #weekinthelife hashtag start heating up on Twitter and Instagram. Just awesome to see different approaches and the excitement with it all. I think it really helps me personally to maintain the level of excitement I need to be able to document so much for the full week. 

I wanted to share some of my preparations I did today. Since I actually finished my project from 2011 (even if it was last week!), I decided I wanted to keep it simple and repeat the recipe. I also like having at least a few matching albums to put on a shelf. You can find the link to my project here. 

Here is the Martha Stewart with Avery album for 2012. I like to add a few filler pages just to get a feel for the direction I am headed. I'm going with a little bit calmer feel hopefully. Not that the week is looking any calmer to say the least!

I also like to gather my supplies that I might use. Almost looks like a little Week in the Life kit. Stacy Julian calls these "Materials Files" and I like doing this because it keeps things together and helps me get an idea of where I'm headed. 

Some of the supplies I am probably going to use are these journaling cards from Bananafish Studio. I am also using her daily cards and am hoping to use some of her stamps or other items. These are actually a digital file called Simple Sayings that I just printed and trimmed to fit the size of pockets I'm using. What's cool is that with the digital files you can customize them too. I'm kind of excited to play around with these this year. You can get the link to the daily cards here.

And I'm hoping to work in some of these really cool wood veneer cameras, arrows, cars, and hearts from Studio Calico. Maybe add a little Shine too. I'm also loving the flair and other bits and pieces. Not sure it will all make it into the album but it's fun to look at and be inspired by it!

As for the patterned papers, I am using mostly Studio Calico from either the Take Note collection or the Classic Calico Collection Volume 2, some transparencies and paper from Hambly, and some other things like corrugated cardboard, cork board and even a shopping bag from the Container Store. See that cool blue paper? Totally cut up a shopping bag!

A few letter stickers is always fun. The cardboard is from Pebbles, and the smaller stickers are from Studio Calico Abroad collection.

Also wanted to note that the silver bookplates from Martha Steward/Avery are sold separately from the binder. Here you can see them on the paper they come on. I will just use one of those on the spine and add my title to it.

As for the interior pages, I am mixing it up just a bit. I fell in love with Ali's new Daily Banners, so I am going to use them on the first page of each daily spread with a full size photo (my pages are 5.7 x 8.5). On the right side of the layout I am probably going to use the 2010 Ali Edwards template that I resized for 2011. I got the updated sentiment tabs, and that template design gives me a chance to add in some patterned paper, which I love. Here is a little mock up of what it might look like.

Between the left and right sides for each day is a trimmed down baseball card protector page. It has four pockets per side, each is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Here I will have the transparency and the flair for each day, plus  photos, journaling cards, ephemera, etc. And the awesome days of the week flair I am using this year are from Shelley Haganman on Etsy. You can find these here.

I'm sure I will try to work in some stamps too. These are from Ali Edwards Studio AE from Technique Tuesday, and some from Studio Calico (they were the exclusive Project Life sets--I hear they are making new ones too) and Bananafish Studio. I also like the little label stamps from Jenni Bowlin, and the little banners and camera are from Dear Lizzy.

Okay! So there we go. I really need to go clean up now and finish getting ready. Here are some items on my checklist or some tips that might help:

• Charge the camera and iPhone. Upload and delete photos from the SD card and the iPhone.
• Print the daily sheets from Ali Edwards. Really great resource for documenting the week. You can find those here.
• Clean the house just a bit. Reality is one thing, total sloth is another!
• Brush my teeth and get to bed. I really need some sleep.
• Relax and have fun.

I'll try to be posting some during the week but not sure I can with my work schedule. Will most likely be posting on Instagram. You can find that here or follow me on Instagram: annetteharing

Thanks for looking! I had fun pulling product and making a few preparations. Now ready to say Hello to Week in the Life 2012 and Hello Routines! Here we go!