Yesterday I talked about how if you want to see change online, you really have to start changing the way you do things on your own platforms. I’ve been wanting to share my Project Life books with y’all, and throughout summer I’ve grown more and more tired of the many, many advice posts floating around the web. In an attempt to bring more personal posts to my community, I decided to start sharing my Project Life spreads. I don’t know how often I’ll do it, but I hope it inspires you to take a look at your editorial calendar and add more posts about you to it.
Earlier this summer I talked about a new hobby that I was starting: Project Life. In all honesty, when I was getting started I had no idea what I would include. One of the main things that’s held me back from scrapbooking or doing Project Life has been the lack of things that go on with us. I work all day, D has school or work (now) all day, we don’t have kids, we don’t go a lot of places, and I didn’t take a lot of pictures. When it came down to it, though, I was tired of admiring from afar. I really enjoyed seeing everyone else’s projects, and I was ready to dive in.
After creating a few pages after I bought everything, it all sat neatly on my shelves untouched. I was either working, reading, or spending time with D, which meant I never really spent time on the album. It wasn’t until sometime in the last month when I recommitted myself to spending more time on non-work activities that I really got back into it – and at full force.
When I first saw the Heidi Swapp 4×4 binders for Project Life I knew I had to have the rainbow stripped one. I didn’t know what exactly I was going to do with it, until I did. I ultimately decided to use the mini platform to create a whole special binder just for living in SC. The photos in this post are of what I’ve done so far in this album. I didn’t capture every page, but I wanted to share how I’ve been playing around with Project Life, the mini size, and just having fun.
Throughout my main 6×8 album as well as this one, I’m using a pretty wide variety of products. I know a lot of people grab one of the main 616 card kits, a binder, and some page protectors and go from there, but I’m following so many really awesome people (mostly on Instagram) who are doing some really fun things with embellishments and extra pieces. So while I’ve been keeping my eyes on the Project Life kits, I’ve really been focusing on stickers / embellishments while at the craft stores. I grabbed a ton of neat stuff while back home a couple of weeks ago; in fact, I’m basically to the point where I’m challenging myself to actually play around and use the supplies instead of getting more! (Yes, I’m already at that point.)
There are three things that I’m really loving about doing Project Life. First, it’s challenging me to take more pictures. Although I have a DSLR and my phone is basically attached at the hip, I’m not one for taking a lot of photos. I’m not really sure why, but I’ve found that I usually enjoy just experiencing the moments rather than trying to get the perfect pictures. The problem with that is that I have trouble remembering exactly what happened or what things looked like. Knowing that I want to mark things like exploring a new place or living here in SC has really driven me to be more intentional about snapping photos while we’re doing things. Even if it’s just taking a picture while I’m walking Zoey, chopping up vegetables for dinner, or going out for lunch with D, I’m taking way more pictures now that I’ve started Project Life.
The other thing that I love about Project Life is that it’s challenging me to see the little things for more worthwhile memories. We all walk our dogs, head to the grocery store, or have a daily routine. It’s not always about marking major things in our books, but also about noting the little things like our daily routines (right now, I drink a caramel cappichino every morning). I love the idea of looking back in 10 or even just 5 years and seeing how things have changed. I also love that I have about a million photos of Zoey to remember her being a puppy and just all of the silly things she does. Seeing the little things as memories worth noting has really helped me feel like I have more than I thought to add to my Project Life book.
The last thing is that it’s challenging my creativity. I’ve always felt creative, but at times I feel like I just don’t have the same creativity as everyone else. I never thought I had what it took to create really awesome, in depth scrapbook pages. One thing I’ve been that’s so great about Project life is you can really make your books as simple or as complex as you want. I’ve kept my 6×8 book pretty simple, mostly just using cards, photos, and embellishments. However, after watching so many of Stephanie’s album videos on Youtube, I really wanted to push my creativity in this mini album. That’s why you see more embellishments, photos put straight in the binder, staples, paper clips, and even a full page photo.
I’ve had so much fun playing around with this album and even just adding to my main 6×8 album. If you’ve been thinking about memory keeping in one way or another, I really recommend Project Life.
If you also do Project Life, I’d love to see your spreads! I’m always looking for inspiration for my own books!