ainoko
Shy Member
Posts: 28 
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Post by ainoko on Oct 19, 2015 17:59:21 GMT
As a background, I started doing daily-life scrapping with December daily in 2013, and have monthly PL from January 2014 to early September 2015. I'm in a bit of a slump right now but I'm planning to complete this year and I would love to keep up with PL next year. As a childless couple in our early thirties, I feel there is not such obvious changes to be expected next year from the years I have recorded (compared to the milestones kids reach). I love the act of putting PL albums together, but currently I'm not inspired to take and develop photos. I know many of you have been doing PL type of memory keeping for much longer time than for two years. How do you keep it fresh? Do you have plans to change something next year, or have you changed something this year to make it interesting again? Has anyone used different prompts or themes for different weeks? What's working? What's not? I would love to hear what you are planning and thinking  |
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Post by bethquiroz on Oct 19, 2015 18:09:34 GMT
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. My kids are grown and out of the house, so my PL seems to be redundant week after week. I'm considering doing it monthly, so that I can blend light weeks with those that have more photos. Or maybe I'll take a year off and just do Week In The Life when it comes back around in the spring. I have tons of PL supplies, so I'd feel somewhat guilty if I just let it go totally. That probably didn't answer your question, did it? LOL  |
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Post by ScrappyGlue on Oct 19, 2015 18:43:29 GMT
I have no desire to ever do project life again.
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ainoko
Shy Member
Posts: 28
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Post by ainoko on Oct 19, 2015 18:44:15 GMT
Good to hear I'm not the only one struggling  |
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Post by lovinlife on Oct 19, 2015 18:57:32 GMT
I have done Project Life for 4 years and agree it's not near as much fun as it had been. I think next year if I decide to do Project Life I am going to make a general theme for each month. Maybe one month will be my favorite quotes or books etc. I will use those as filler for the days that do not have photos. Otherwise will convert to monthly instead of daily.
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Post by scrappinmyadventures on Oct 19, 2015 19:04:57 GMT
I do it monthly, and more of an in review style, inspired by Katie's monthly round ups (not sure if she is still posting to her blog). I add everyday photos, and then have several categories that I keep track of (what we ate / saw / read / bought, etc). It usually ends up being one or two spreads, and is a great way to incorporate little bits of memorabilia that I wouldn't make a full scrapbook page on. I've been doing this since before the Project Life popularity, but what is great now is that there are so many more everyday journaling and photo prompts to add to it! (And of course I have a few card sets too ...) I call the albums "Everyday Moments" and they are among my favorites!
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Post by mehardy on Oct 19, 2015 19:37:07 GMT
I really enjoy doing project life. The past two years I did mine monthly and plan to do the same for 2016. Even though it's just my husband and I I'm surprised by how much there is to include.
Even though there are some things that the same from year to year, there's always something a little bit different. I like it because it forces me to be more creative with the photos and the angles. To journal those things or moments I'll try to go into more detail about one specific part or put down why we put this decoration up, or where it came from or other detail and just spend more time on that part of the story.
Knowing that I want to document and take photos has inspired us to plan other activities. Last year we went to a Pumpkin Patch took pictures and had a blast! We might take a day trip somewhere.
This year I've tried too to document some of things we are into. This spring I really documented the my team's run through the NCAA basketball tournament. I pulled photos off web, kept the scores of each round, fun memes and other social media stuff, our pre-game traditions, all kinds of stuff.
I'm also planning to do a version of Ali Edwards' Day or week in the life. While a lot of things about our life don't change, a lot more seems to change than i would think at first glance.
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Post by carolynhasacat on Oct 19, 2015 19:52:41 GMT
I want to add more journaling next year. This year has ended up very photo heavy, almost a fancy photo album. It's uninspiring to me. I am also looking for a different format for 2016. Maybe more of a journal with occasional photos, which is what I did when DS was a baby/toddler. I started looking for journals at kikki-K. They have some beautiful ones. I might go that route. I will not use a 12x12 (2011-2014) or 9x12 (2015) binder again.
You know what I would love? If Snapfish or a service like that had a journal-style bound book where you could add to it through the year and print out at the end that contained some great chunks of journaling and different sized photos in a bound book in an easy-to-use template that is pre-dated for you. Does anyone know a company that does that? Where you could add throughout the year and they would host your content for the year before printing?
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Post by freeatlast on Oct 19, 2015 20:18:30 GMT
I had several starts at PL over a several year period but finished 2014. I started 2015 by taking pictures and keeping detailed notes but when it came down to making spreads, I just couldn't do it. My life is not all that interesting or different on a weekly basis. So I quit weekly PL.
I did WITL in August and enjoyed it. I'm planning to do another WITL around Christmas. I don't do enough to support a full month of DD but I can capture the week. I will make a 12 x 12 pocket page on a specific topic as the need arises. I've done one and have one more I want to do. That's likely it until December.
Next year, I'll follow along with Ali's WITL in the spring and likely do another in the fall. In between, if something happens in my life that is noteworthy, I'll record it. I'll also likely complete a few more prompts from 31 Things/More Things and tackle a few in-depth stories from the Story Kits.
Instead of having a whole album for 2016, I'll likely have under 20 pages.
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Post by mom on Oct 19, 2015 20:59:37 GMT
This is my 3rd year for PL. I am doing it monthly - usually 2-3 spreads max each month. I just couldn't handle the stress of weekly layouts.
I plan on doing the same thing for 2016. I would like to include more journaling and incorporate more stamping in my pages next year.
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Oct 19, 2015 21:09:52 GMT
I want to add more journaling next year. This year has ended up very photo heavy, almost a fancy photo album. It's uninspiring to me. I am also looking for a different format for 2016. Maybe more of a journal with occasional photos, which is what I did when DS was a baby/toddler. I started looking for journals at kikki-K. They have some beautiful ones. I might go that route. I will not use a 12x12 (2011-2014) or 9x12 (2015) binder again. You know what I would love? If Snapfish or a service like that had a journal-style bound book where you could add to it through the year and print out at the end that contained some great chunks of journaling and different sized photos in a bound book in an easy-to-use template that is pre-dated for you. Does anyone know a company that does that? Where you could add throughout the year and they would host your content for the year before printing? hmm not sure if this is what you are looking for but I remember seeing on someone's youtube video how they made up books to supplement their PL albums and I believe the app was chat books?? |
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Oct 19, 2015 21:32:29 GMT
As a background, I started doing daily-life scrapping with December daily in 2013, and have monthly PL from January 2014 to early September 2015. I'm in a bit of a slump right now but I'm planning to complete this year and I would love to keep up with PL next year. As a childless couple in our early thirties, I feel there is not such obvious changes to be expected next year from the years I have recorded (compared to the milestones kids reach). I love the act of putting PL albums together, but currently I'm not inspired to take and develop photos. I know many of you have been doing PL type of memory keeping for much longer time than for two years. How do you keep it fresh? Do you have plans to change something next year, or have you changed something this year to make it interesting again? Has anyone used different prompts or themes for different weeks? What's working? What's not? I would love to hear what you are planning and thinking I have only done one year of PL that was 2013 and I did monthly spreads and I am still trying to finish it ugh! I have Aug- Dec to do I have all the photos printed, and have all the photos and cards in pockets up to mid November. I didn't do PL in 2014 or 2015 because I felt the weight of not completing 2013 weighing me down.
I plan on getting 2013 done before the end of the year so I can do 2016.
I think some of the reasons I wasn't successful were: I didn't have my photos organized properly
I didn't make an effort to print them when I went to the city every 2 weeks so I got behind early I had my cards organized by kit and I think it slowed me down
I struggled finding things to take photos of. Yes I have kids at home but they are older, they hate getting their photos taken and they aren't really into extra curricular stuff at school.
I struggled with keeping the ephemera from the month etc organized.
To be successful for 2016 I plan to do some work ahead of time: I am going to make up folders in my photo editing program ahead of time for each month so I will know where to put them and hopefully not have to search endless badly named folders to find them.
I hope to buy a selphy printer so I can print some at home and also set a bit of time each week to edit and size photos if I decide to print them in the city and make sure I have a card ready to go with me when I leave for the city.
I organized my cards by color now so that will make finding cards much easier I think
I have a ton of photo prompts on pinterest saved so I want to go thru them and make a list for each month in my cheap planner/calendar I got at Michaels and put prompts thru out the month so when I struggle for photos I will have ideas of what to possibly take a photo of.
I am going to get a binder with 12 of those 8.5x11 page protectors in it and label them Jan-Dec to put all the ephemera pertaining to the month in it.
I am going to do more prep work for the month by drawing out a sketch of the pocket page I am using and what I want to put in the slots and even if I don't have the photos printed try to put cards in the pockets where needed. For 2013 I used all different orientations of pockets but I think I will stick to just one or 2 for 2016 and see if that helps me at all with staying on top of it.
I didn't use an organizer in 2013 but I think if I use one in 2016 to jot down what went on that day etc it will help me to stay organized and help with the journaling.
I didn't have a smart phone in 2013 so I think I didn't take as many photos because it was a pain to haul out my camera a canon rebel.
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Post by icequeen on Oct 19, 2015 21:46:05 GMT
I've been doing monthly for this year, but lost steam in the summer. I'm switching to a themed based approach and use the month Story Kit's from AE instead to drive my PL album. This way I can scrap current or older pics that I'm inspired to use versus forcing myself to photograph something or anything just to fill out enough pockets. Now if life would just slow down so I had time to get this set up, I'd be off to the races.
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jookie
Junior Member
Posts: 54
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Post by jookie on Oct 20, 2015 0:55:02 GMT
I started PL last year and lasted a few months, but eventually just gave up on it. I think I stopped it around the time December Daily began. I have a very young daughter so content is not hard to come by, it is just so time consuming to keep up with. I did WITL this year for the first time and looove that album. I think I would rather have one week of our life documented fully than a PL type album for the entire year. I also love 6x8 size compared to 12x12.
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Post by carolynhasacat on Oct 20, 2015 1:07:51 GMT
I want to add more journaling next year. This year has ended up very photo heavy, almost a fancy photo album. It's uninspiring to me. I am also looking for a different format for 2016. Maybe more of a journal with occasional photos, which is what I did when DS was a baby/toddler. I started looking for journals at kikki-K. They have some beautiful ones. I might go that route. I will not use a 12x12 (2011-2014) or 9x12 (2015) binder again. You know what I would love? If Snapfish or a service like that had a journal-style bound book where you could add to it through the year and print out at the end that contained some great chunks of journaling and different sized photos in a bound book in an easy-to-use template that is pre-dated for you. Does anyone know a company that does that? Where you could add throughout the year and they would host your content for the year before printing? hmm not sure if this is what you are looking for but I remember seeing on someone's youtube video how they made up books to supplement their PL albums and I believe the app was chat books?? Thanks, I just watched a couple of youtube videos on chatbooks, and it looks cool (and inexpensive!) but more photo-heavy than what I had in mind. Essentially, I want a diary or journal with the option of adding photos. I can create this in Snapfish to some extent, but it takes FOREVER and I cannot keep a running book, if you know what I mean. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:40:25 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2015 1:40:42 GMT
I plan on not doing it next year. (Sorry I know it doesn't help you, but it might help someone else who's struggling like I was.) I loved looking back at my PL pages. My kids loved it, even dh enjoyed it. But it became "work" to me. It was more of a chore to always be catching up, rather than a fun creative outlet. I struggled trying to find my "style". And when I thought I found it, I became bored with it. Probably because it wasn't creative enough for me. So I've decided to scrapbook the important moments. Do layouts and use up all of my supplies and write out lots of journaling. I think that's something that was missing for me in my PL albums. The stories. The long involved stories where you can hear my voice. I miss those. And I don't have time to do both PL and layouts with lots of journaling. I only decided this last week. And I've already started my new approach. And now I'm more motivated, happier, creative and just overall satisfied with the change. I know it's not for everyone, but I just wanted to share in case there is someone out there feeling like I was this past year. |
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Post by awesomegabi on Oct 20, 2015 5:00:35 GMT
For 2016 I am keeping it simple, I did some things this year that helped me keep on track and make sure it stayed fun for me:
- I do 6x12. A smaller size with less layout options makes it easy to just print a photo, put it in and move on.
- Monthly works best for me, I don't try to do daily or even weekly. Some months I only have 1 layout because thats all I did. No need to force myself to take photos or journal if I don't want to, takes the fun out of it.
- Instead of trying to figure out what kinds of PL cards and embellishments to use, I am moving towards mostly photos with light embellishments. I started doing stamping to add something extra to my album. I basically went the Kelly Purkey route, her album this year was my inspiration and kept me interested in doing PL without falling behind.
- I use a midori notebook traveler and 1 of my notebooks I use to draw out layouts when i'm on the go. So by the time I get home, I know what photos to print and where to put them. Also if I fall behind, I can reference these pages and knock out a month of layouts in no time.
- I'm doing more mini albums; i take too many photos and have a hard time deciding which ones to use so now with mini albums, I just print what I want and toss it in!
- My dropbox is organized by year, month, and event to help keep all of my photos organized.
- All of my embellishments are organized by type (wood, cork, rubber, sequins, vellum, etc.), all stickers, alphas, washi tape, ink and stamps are in their own individual small boxes
- I keep my PL cards organized by type. I have some that are for journaling, with lines and prompts on them that I keep separate for easy access. All others I keep my designer/company, I notice that I reach for certain ones more often so I have those within reach.
New for 2016.
- I am doing a small 6x8 personal album, instead of starting at the beginning of 2016, I am starting on my birthday to document my year at this age. It's going to be full of personal accomplishments and struggles, plus the random odd things I want to scrap but don't want to put in a larger album.
- I plan on using Ali Edwards story kits to tell a specific story every month in a small 6x8 album
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Post by megs78 on Oct 20, 2015 10:10:02 GMT
I have two different plans depending on how life turns out...if we don't have a baby this year, I will continue with random digital PL-style spreads periodically, including a "Me Right Now" spread each month. If we do have a baby, I would like to go to a more traditional weekly PL process (probably digital) to document the baby's first year.
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Post by nana2callie on Oct 21, 2015 13:39:54 GMT
To finally get started... every year my best of intentions goes by the way side. I really want to do the weekly, but am really concerned I'll get overwhelmed and quit.
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Kath
Full Member
Posts: 446
Jun 26, 2014 12:15:31 GMT
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Post by Kath on Oct 22, 2015 3:41:09 GMT
I know many of you have been doing PL type of memory keeping for much longer time than for two years. How do you keep it fresh? Do you have plans to change something next year, or have you changed something this year to make it interesting again? Has anyone used different prompts or themes for different weeks? What's working? What's not? I would love to hear what you are planning and thinking This is the third year of Project Life for me that has been successful. The first year I started, 4 years ago, I quit after about two months. I was using 4x6 pictures and later going back realized the pictures were too large and the look didn't appeal to me. I'm a small picture person for that sort of format. I plan on continuing with what has worked for me the past 3 years. This year I changed it up in that I went to 1-2 week page spreads instead of every-week spreads and didn't stress about amounts of pictures taken to have enough for each week, just went with what I would take normally.
Tips that have worked for me:
*All pictures are sorted according to dates the pictures were taken into monthly folders on my computer, example September 2015, October 2015, etc. This makes it easy to find what I need.
*All pictures are compiled into their respective folders every 3-5 weeks, including camera pictures and cell phone pictures. This is probably the most unenjoyable part about Project Life but I feel needs to be done to keep everything organized.
*Every 3-4 weeks on my one day off, in the morning I will make out sticky notes with the weeks I need with the dates on them (ex. one sticky note will have October 1-7, the next sticky note will have October 8-21, etc), photoshop the pictures I want to go with each of those sticky notes for that week or two weeks' period of time, and print on my selphy in 3x4 or 2x3 sizes.
*Design A is the only protector size I use other than an occasional 8-1/2 x 11 slipped in that holds memorabilia, kids' artwork, etc. I always know approximately the amount of pictures I'm going to need from experience with that design and I decide on my pictures and print accordingly to that number.
*All pictures are slipped into that week's 2-page spread and the sticky note with the date goes in the far left upper-hand 4x6 slot.
*Next, 4x6 and 3x4 cards are picked out according to a usual 2-3 coordinating color scheme according to the colors in the photos. Generally I stop there because I'm burnt out and pick it up on another day.
*When I come back on another day, I proceed to do the layout, glue down, place embellishments.
*On another day I come back and do journaling. Each 2-page spread takes approximately 3 hours from start to finish.
This year I'm pleased in that with the 2-week period of time 2-page spreads for some of the months instead of every single week 2-page spreads, I will only have 1 album instead of two, which I prefer.
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