sleepymom
Junior Member
Posts: 87
Jul 12, 2014 15:09:42 GMT
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Post by sleepymom on Jul 11, 2019 18:15:47 GMT
I have a question for you all about Project Life, but a little background first. I’m mostly a cardmaker, have scrapped in the past when my son was a baby and plan to eventually get back in to it later. I have heard about and seen PL here and there over the years. I saw something on a thread here about the PL app, and started researching it because it would be great to get back in to scrapping my photos. Since I usually research things obsessively, I Recently I got sucked in to reading the most recent posts for “all things Becky Higgins” thread. That was quite entertaining. So back to my original question... Can someone just summarize what the deal with original PL was- what went wrong, any tips I need for starting, and how it’s different now? To me, it seems like pretty much using pocket pages and they produced the cards in collections. Now you can do it online and print them out. Makes it easy to do pages because layout is just a matter of you choosing where the cards go in the pockets. From what I’ve read, it seems like it was great at beginning, not marketed correctly, the co. Didn’t respond to customer wants/ requests, it started going downhill, now new physical products won’t be produced, digital content will continue, she’s on a lifestyle influencer path now and won’t say what’s ahead other than that. Anything else I need to know about how it works? I mean things that you won’t see or hear in a YouTube video-the real deal. I hope this makes sense.😬
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,090
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jul 11, 2019 20:17:55 GMT
First, a disclaimer: I’m not a Project Life scrapper, but I did take a look at the system because I am way behind due to renovations, house sale, major move, and unexpected family challenges.
It’s just pocket pages. You can so easily do that on your own. I watched as they first sold kits that had multiples of the same cards. Unless you are creating identical multiple albums for a family of several kids, why would you do that? So people seemed to be doing swaps or something. It changed, I think, but I didn’t keep up with the changes. I think the kits may have had varieties of cards later. Essentially, you put photos in some pockets, plus journaling and other stuff like the decorative cards in some of the other pockets. People wanted something a little less plain, so they added the tool called The Fuse to seal the tops of pockets so you could have fun shakers, or lumpier ephemera that might fall out of a pocket that isn’t fused.
One aspect of the concept was to record the daily little things, not just the major stuff like vacations and holidays.
If you want to try it, you can buy a bunch of the pockets, kits, etc. at some Tuesday Morning stores right now for a lot cheaper than what the original cost was. Stuff tends to fly off the shelves pretty quick, though, so you may want to get over there to check it out a.s.a.p.
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Post by infochick on Jul 11, 2019 21:51:49 GMT
I think scrapnnana has outlined the basics. Being someone who has bought a lot of cards, I would say to buy a variety of divided page protectors that suit your photos, and then look at your favourite scrapbook collections for cut apart sheets and use those for cards. It’s economical and you won’t end up with a ton of leftovers. Even though I have a huge selection of PL cards, I find them hard to use. More often than not I just make my own with cut apart sheets, stickers, and patterned paper.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 28, 2024 8:36:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2019 23:25:39 GMT
I don't use PL pages, but I do love the cards for regular scrapbooking and tags, etc...I love the multiples as I can use one for scrapbooking and one for a tag or a card.
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,412
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Jul 11, 2019 23:46:40 GMT
If you are going to do app scrapping I highly recommend the Simply Project Life and the App Scrappers-Project Life and Beyond Facebooks groups. They have some amazing tips and tricks for using the app to it's fullest.
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Post by joblackford on Jul 12, 2019 0:52:07 GMT
In the beginning... there was a kit and an album and some page protectors and a photo a day project. The idea was to fill one spread with a title card for the week, 7 photos (4x6s you can print at home or get printed at the store), and 8 little 3x4 cards in the middle could be for journaling about the photos or for decoration (what we think of as the PL cards). BH showed the album open on her kitchen counter and she'd grab a pen and write a quick everyday life story down on a 3x4 card and then print a photo and pop it into the pp, one per day ideally. And a year later you'd have a simple (gigantic) album full of the stuff of your everyday life - the stuff that would never get scrapbooked normally. Pretty cool idea! I think BH even kept caught up in her albums for the first year or two. The kit and album cost about $60 for the year, pretty cheap, there was no need for anything else except a pen and a way to get photos printed. There was only one kit, then there were a couple, and then the kit choices exploded exponentially because it turns out crafters don't want simple and easy, they want colorful and complex and they want to collect all the things! Business boomed! People collected box after box after box of kits that had, wait, how many copies of each card??! Ugh. A lot. And most people couldn't or didn't want to take a photo a day, so they came up with other ways to use the products. And after a few years many people got burned out on documenting their lives in such detail. Or their bookshelves collapsed from the weight of those massive albums, lol. And people wanted stickers and other things to add to their photos and cards, but BH didn't much want to sell those to people. She did some great little alpha stickers but only in disgusting tan colors - what? But plenty of other companies were willing to fill the void! Monthly pocket kits sprung up all over, and they included lovely pretty things to make the pages fun and interesting (and you only got one of each card, thank goodness!). And people asked for square corners that they could round *if* they liked that look, but BH didn't really want to give them that either. We're probably up to the point you read about in the great thread of Becky's nonsense by now. Other than that, as everyone has said, do your own thing. Make your own cards if you want, buy some at Tues Morn, or ask on the for sale board here. Fill a page or a spread a week or a month. Only document events or focus on whatever you care about. Do it for a year, do it forever. Be crazy artistic about it (check out some of the older posts on JFF Balzer's blog - project life tag) or keep it super simple. All photos or lots of PL cards. You never know how yours will look until you make one. It's best not to overthink it. Just start filling pockets and see how it looks in a few months. You might decide you love the PL cards or (like me) you might realize you have too many photos and don't have the space for "filler" cards.
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sleepymom
Junior Member
Posts: 87
Jul 12, 2014 15:09:42 GMT
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Post by sleepymom on Jul 12, 2019 2:27:58 GMT
Thanks everyone. Great tips and now I understand how it has evolved. It is a pretty cool concept with the pocket pages. The original concept is nice, too, but I cannot imagine doing that every day for a year, much less more than one. I can see how it captures every day memories you wouldn’t remember to document, though. I appreciate all the suggestions. I will check them out. I knew I came to the right place to ask!😬
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theshyone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,396
Jun 26, 2014 12:50:12 GMT
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Post by theshyone on Jul 12, 2019 3:19:12 GMT
Thanks everyone. Great tips and now I understand how it has evolved. It is a pretty cool concept with the pocket pages. The original concept is nice, too, but I cannot imagine doing that every day for a year, much less more than one. I can see how it captures every day memories you wouldn’t remember to document, though. I appreciate all the suggestions. I will check them out. I knew I came to the right place to ask!😬 I did it that way at the very very very beginning, before Becky was even on her own, then about 7-5 years ago. The books, I did digital are like the most expensive diaries ever.
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Post by mom on Jul 12, 2019 3:43:56 GMT
I originally used BH PL cards but after the first year, I went to Studio Calico's cards. I used them exclusively til they messed up their kits and now I will pick up a kit every now and then but usually I just cut down 6x6 paper pads that I like or already have. I document monthly (and have for probably 5-6 years) and only document the highlights of the month. Very few random, everyday photos of food, etc. Now that my boys are moved to college I will be using a 6x8 album starting in 2020 (or at least that is what I am thinking of using).
My main supplies are: alphabet stickers, cut down paper, enamel dots and some chipboard stickers. Not too bulky, not too flat.
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Post by mikklynn on Jul 12, 2019 11:37:32 GMT
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Post by lasteve1 on Jul 12, 2019 12:49:42 GMT
I think everyone has already provided such a good overview. One thing I find important to mention is that people use the term "project life" to mean "pocket scrapbooking everyday life" not necessarily with the project life brand. Like how when people say "chapstick" they mean lip balm in general, not necessarily chapstick branded lip balm. Becky Higgins was the first to successfully market the idea of everyday life pocket scrapbooking, originally with the photo a day, but eventually it morphed into people doing weekly or monthly spreads. However, BH was unwilling to let her product evolve with the interests of scrapbookers who were using it and competing companies sprung up and did it better (as joblackford so entertainingly explained above). So now I think most people don't use the official Project Life branded products. I say I create project life because I do weekly pocket page spreads in a 12x12 pocket page binder that cover our everyday life of that week, but I use primarily products from studio calico and ali Edwards. Lots of companies out there have pocket page kits that are designed for this project, but they are called related named likes "pocket kit" "documenter kit" etc., because Becky Higgins owns the Project Life trademark. If you want to get into the style of documenting I would encourage you to look at what other people create, Ali Edwards & Kelly Purkey are two of my favorites to go to for inspiration, plus Amy Gretchen has wonderful project life process videos on youtube, to figure out the style you want to create. Then some other considerations before starting: Choose an album size. The most common are 12x12, 9x12, or 6x8... basically because cards are 4 inches tall and 3 or 6 inches wide you need an album size that divides evenly by those numbers, so 8 1/2 x 11 doesn't really work. Choose a "time frame" for your spreads. Weekly is the most common I believe, a few people still do the photo a day concept I'm sure, a lot of others do monthly spreads (which often turn into 1-3 spreads per month depending on number of photos) and others just do a "go with the flow" approach where they basically just add stuff in pockets until that spread is full and then turn the page. I think most people go chronologically in the album, but I'm sure you could do it however you wanted. I also mix traditional pages into my album with my weekly spreads, but I don't think that is as common. Choose your pocket pages. I think most people stick with 3x4 vertical slots and 4x6 horizontal slots, but there are practically unlimited configurations out there. If you are going with 12x12 I would suggest using the traditional Design A page protectors, at least to start, because it's easiest if you don't mix it up a ton. But you could get ideas from looking at other people's spreads to see what you like. I think page protectors is still one thing people commonly buy from the official Project Life brand. Design A is BH's designation, but other companies make the same layout. Choose your supplies. Like others said above, the PL branded kits are super repetitive, have rounded corners and are not as well designed or readily available as many others on the market. My favorite competing brands are studio calico and ali Edwards. There are a ton of companies that make supplies (some others to look at: Kelly purkey, citrus twist, felicity jane), mostly in monthly kit clubs, but many you can pick up as a one time purchase as well. You can also just cut down scrapbook paper/cardstock and decorate cards yourself with various embellishments/stamps and there are a ton of digital printable cards available as well. Another consideration I think was touched on above--there are 4 main "things" you can put in each pocket. A journal card (room for words), a filler card (pretty design just to add décor), a photo, or a title card (used most commonly to label the dates in the week but also can title the theme of the spread). I would take time to figure out what ones you would use most before buying a ton of supplies. Some people rarely, if ever, use filler cards so it's a waste to buy them (like joblackford said above). Others don't journal much so journal cards pile up. Many don't use title cards at all. Good luck and I hope you decide to try out project life!
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caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,412
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Jul 12, 2019 12:59:06 GMT
There is a good of PL hitting Tuesday Morning- albums, kits, page protectors etc. Worth a stop if you have one near by. It is a discount store so once it is gone it is gone.
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Post by hop2 on Jul 12, 2019 18:19:34 GMT
Joanne has their PL kits on clearance and there’s extra %25 off clearance til Saturday so while not TM prices - not too bad the mains kits were $12.98 at my store & the small 180 card mini kits were $5.98
I *just* got back into scrapbooking this spring after years & years off. I *just* did my first pocket album in April & May. While I still like full page scrapping I’m also liking the pockets so I’m mixing my pages. Some pockets some full pages
I’m having fun
I just bought my first PL cards yesterday.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jul 12, 2019 23:06:11 GMT
I buy and use the project life brand cards, studio calico cards, and all other brand cards I do 8 1/2 X 11 pages so I use the hobby lobby brand pages. I do refer to mine as project life just because people know what that means without additional explanation.
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sleepymom
Junior Member
Posts: 87
Jul 12, 2014 15:09:42 GMT
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Post by sleepymom on Jul 13, 2019 2:33:53 GMT
Gosh, you guys are giving the best info! I did check out Julie FF Balzer’s posts as suggested and I really like how she doesn’t bother to match the pages. She treats each pocket as a blank canvas. I realize this approach might make some scrappers crazy, but that is right up my alley. Now I just need to pick a size, buy the protectors and get going. I also like the idea that I can use different size albums if I change my mind. I have so much patterned paper, card stock, stamps, embellishments already just like most of us so I don’t think I will buy any cards yet. Great suggestions. I also like the idea of using the app because my photos are on my phone anyway and it’s a great thing to do on the go instead of mindlessly surfing the internet. I’m loving all these ideas for how you each do it your own way.
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Post by Scrapthology on Jul 24, 2019 18:08:11 GMT
I've never done traditional PL, but I love the PL app which I use loads. I make my own digital cards with the Wordificator app as well as using the kit cards available on the app and other online sources. Worth trying out as I think the app is free now.
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