Just wanna talk about Project Life for a moment.....

I use Design A this year to simplify. Which orientation do you like??

It does take longer than one would think!

Several people I know print out the same photos in 4x6 & 3x4 so when they get ready to go - they have options. It is more $ but they don't have to worry & take the time to figure it out before hand.

I had that experience at first too... I think there's such an assumption that it's simple and easy because that's how it's marketed - everything you need, you just add photos, doesn't take time away from life... A lot of people seem to be changing up how they use PL... So not doing it weekly, but maybe doing it monthly, or doing a binder for each season... I wanted to do PL because I wanted a timeline/chronology, sort of like a journal but in a scrappy way... I ended up on doing a two page spread for each month, and adding in a two page spread for special events or outings... For the monthly spread, I don't worry if the horizontal picture that fits in the pocket first was actually taken after the vertical picture next to it... Because that whole spread is about the month I don't worry about the chronology within the month (I date each photo/the ones where dates are important)... My opinion about PL is that you have to make sacrifices for the 'convenience' or format... I chose to let go of the exact chronology as long as everything on the two pages was within the same month... Other people sacrifice time each day/week to organize and plan where their pictures will go... I think it's just finding the sacrifice that you're willing to make...

Some things that helped me simplify were choosing one main pocket page style, and one alternate... I use the popular two 4x6 horizontals, four 4x3 verticals, and two 4x6 horizontals (Design A?) as my main layout... Glancing through my photos I saw that I took a lot of vertically oriented photos, and I knew I wanted wanted my pages to be photo heavy... I print the majority of my photos as 4x3s and fill up the 4x3 pockets (8), and can put two in each of the 4x6 pockets... So I can fit 24 photos into that style of spread... I will use at least one 4x6 for a title and journalling card, but even then I can include 22 photos... That's almost a photo a day... I do print my 4x3s slightly smaller than 4x3 - it lets me attach them to cards/paper, and give me room to add embellishments around them... 

Another thing that helped me was to break my photos into sections... I'm doing a two month long trip in separate PL albums and spend time organizing my photos for that... I divided them into months, then weeks, then days, and then into any highlight/featured activity that I knew I'd want to devote more space too... Once I had the photos broken down into groups like that, it really wasn't bad to figure out how many photos I'd be using, if they were mostly vertical or horizontal, if there were any I wanted larger (4x6 or 8x6 then cut to fit multiple pockets), or if there was any memorabilia I wanted to add into that section... I didn't divide each section, but you could make a 12x12 LO to act as a divider, or introduction to the next section... If you end with a one page spread, use the 12x12 to end that section on one side and another 12x12 to start the next section... If you end with a two page spread, make one 12x12 LO and either glue, staple, or sew that 12x12 pp to the back of the last page of the PL spread... 

When it came time to actually start with the photos and printing, I'd edit one section at a time... I'd either print up that section when I was done so that it was ready for when I was in the mood to scrap and not in the mood to do the prep work, or I'd save up a couple sections and get them printed at once... I got too worn out trying to sit and edit all of them at one time - it felt never ending... 

As far as making sure the next month's photos fit into the format at the back of the page, you could always switch to a different pocket design and glue/sew the two together... Or you could use that back page for some miscellaneous journalling - nothing specific to the pictures necessarily, but things like the little everyday moments that you remember... Or write a 'looking back now' type of journalling - habits or quirks you saw in that first year that ten years on you still see in him... 

I saw a video a long time ago, maybe when PL style things were just starting out, and the woman would arrange the cards in the pockets before picking photos or anything else... She sort of filled everything in and I remember how 'done' it looked just by doing that... When I get stuck I'll do that... Create an arrangement of cards that I think look good together and then figure out which photos could be added/swapped out for cards... It's definitely a mind trick - you feel like the pockets are full and that it's halfway done even though it's not...lol Maybe doing a couple of spreads that way, and then printing up a month of photos and just seeing how you like to fit the photos in will help you learn how photo heavy you like your spreads, if you want to change how you've sectioned things, if other pocket page designs would suit the project better... It's overwhelming to have a bunch of photos and cards and empty pockets... 

It's definitely hard until you get into a workflow that feels natural... It actually reminded me of trying to learn anything Apple where it's supposed to be intuitive but it's just sometimes absolutely not intuitive...lol 

I've tried the divided page style and it wasn't for me, I didn't find it any easier. But I've seen a really nice solution to the "photos not fitting on the back side" dilemma. Make a regular page but do it in the PL style. You still use the PL products (or whatever breed you choose or DIY), and lay them onto a sheet of c\s. It goes into a normal page protector. Looks like 'the real thing' and you get to use any combo of photos you have.

I don't think I would enjoy it as much if I didn't print my photos at home. That way I decide what photos I want in what size and then print them right then. Sometimes if I have a large number of pictures (like a vacation) I will preplan the whole thing and send them to Target or Walmart.

I kind of ran into the same problem... Unless you take all your pics 4x6 horizontal, you kind of have to plan and figure out. I'm just starting my first PL album too, but my plan is to crop what I can to fit, I bought pages of a variety of designs, and I'll probably mix in some 12x12 layouts also. So I'll see how it goes. I probably wouldn't have done PL but I won a kit at CKC and then bought some stuff to go with it, and I thought the cards, ect. are cute. So we'll see how it goes. I've been staring at all the stuff layed out on my desk for two weeks trying to figure out how to get started.

I am SO GLAD to know I'm not the only one whose kid doesn't have a baby book finished!! My DD is 5--I bought the PL girl core kit two years ago. I ought to get started.

Anyway, I am doing a PL yearly album. I don't stress about weekly/monthly, I just put in the photos I have that work. I decided to only use one kind of format--the two horizontal 4x6 at the top and bottom with the 4 3x4 vertical in the middle. I try really really hard to take photos on the horizontal. That said, I do use my selphy to print my photos and the 3x4 photos, too.

The most time consuming for me is printing my photos and then getting them into the pockets. once that is done, I choose my filler or journal cards. I do sort of embellish the filler cards, but I don't go "all out", only washi or a stamp, sticker, something like that. I don't have time to make gorgeous embellished cards, it's more important *to me* that I spend my time filling out the journaling and getting photos printed, etc.

It is a little harder than they market it, but so far, this style of scrapping (pocket pages) has re-energized my scrapping.

Good luck!

I haven't read all of the posts yet, but I'm late as well. I started trying last year and never made it - and now I'm trying again this year. I agree with you that it still seems to take me awhile to get through a layout LOL...

I am kind of sort of doing some paper scrapping this summer (after a six-year break) and bought some PL-style pocket pages and a few different kinds of cards and embellishments. I also cut down some paper from my old stash into 4x6 and 3x2 cards

I don't know; I'm kind of liking the puzzle of making my photos work in the page layouts instead of printing with a plan in mind. Sometimes it forces me to group my photos more creatively - instead of strictly chronological or event-based, I've got some pages where the photos are related only by the people in them or a theme like "LOL Moments." It's fun and easy because no extensive pre-planning involved. But you do have to give up some of the idea of perfectly executed pages and just let it sort of happen.

Yes, it absolutely can be time consuming! I am in my 6th year of project life. I have gone through phases...simplifying, embellishing, overthinking, getting behind, staying caught up. I think it depends on your style. PL has the potential to be incredibly quick and easy. Just print pics, don't over plan and edit, and get them in. However, if you want to get creative and plan it all out, it can be time consuming. However, I am a slow scrapper. So, even on my most time consuming PL layouts, I am still getting it done more quickly than traditional scrapping. I have found that I have had to adapt my style to my season in life. When I have more time, I have fun with it; when time is limited, I simplify and don't let myself over complicate the process.