Project Life

Have you heard of Project Life?  It is a concept designed by Becky Higgins to document your everyday life.  I had heard of it a few years ago, about the same time I attempted and failed miserably at Project 365 (one photo a day).  I guess I viewed Project Life as a way of scrapbooking your P365 photos and therefore didn't think twice about it. 

But then I heard about it again, and again and thought that maybe it was something I would like to try but honestly, I was a bit hesitant.  I have this hang up with going outside the box and that is what I considered Project Life to be. (My whole fear of Journal Your Christmas/December Daily which I also failed miserably at last year is a whole other post...let's us just say it started and ended with panic attacks over album size!)  I was a traditional scrapbooker afterall.  I enjoyed the creative process.  I love the embellishments and the pretty paper.  I wasn't too sure Project Life was for me.  

Truth be told.  I wasn't actually a traditional scrapbooker either.  I wanted to be.  I used to be.  I still consider myself one but I haven't been able to sit down and complete a layout in a longer time than I wish to admit.  I miss the creative process.  I miss the pretty paper.  I miss documenting my family's life.  All that missing makes me sad.

Earlier this year (May I think), I got it in my head that I would start Project Life.  I was following Ali Edwards' take on it and swooning each and every time she posted.  I was still torn but decided I would take the jump.  So I started collecting bits and pieces.  I started taking more pictures of the everyday things and not just the special occasions.  I ordered an album to house it all and some photo sleeves.  I scoured the web for inspiration and that was it.  It sat. 

I can't explain why.  I think I was hung up on it being May and I really wanted to keep a whole year together (that out of the box hang up again).  Going back to the beginning seemed overwhelming to me and I didn't want this process to be overwhelming, but...I wanted to do Project Life.  I want to do Project Life and so I finally am.

I spent the last week or two going through my pictures from January through now.  I organized my favorites, or those from the events I want to document, into weeks.  Not approaching my picture taking for Project life from the beginning left me with quite a few weeks where there were no pictures or only a few.  For those weeks I will be doing two weeks together or in some cases (like January) I plan on doing a month in review.  The great thing that I have learned about Project Life is that there are no rules, you approach it how you need to and make it work for you. 

I am (im)patiently waiting for my pictures to arrive (so happy I was able to take advantage of a great print sale on Snapfish).  I plan on going through and doing the easy weeks first.  Those that I have all my everyday filler items all ready to go.  Then start with the present and work backwards.  I think organization is going to be the key.  I think working in chunks of time, one week at a time and not getting overwhelmed with finishing it all at one sitting is going to be the perfect mindset. I have already starting cutting bits of leftover patterned paper to use, and journaling cards as well as pulling out flat embellishments from my stash.  I am ready to go and have a solution to my hang up about not having a year in one book. 

I am excited to start and will document my weeks here as I go along.  Just please bear in mind that they will be all over the place.  My only goal for completion is to be done with this album and ready to go from the beginning for 2012.  I think that is doable.  Although I am using what I have in my stash for my 2011 album (with the exception of the photo sleeves and album) I am seriously considering ordering the Clementine Project Life kit when it is available on Amazon...we'll see.

I am working on pulling together a list of blogs that I frequently drool over when they post their PL updates.  These are my main source of PL inspiration and the reason I have decided to take the plunge....or stop wishing (gawking) and just do it.  Stay tuned this week for a post with that list.

Wish me luck. 

and on a side note...my Week in the Life album is almost done and one of the main reasons I fell back in love with the Project Life concept.  I will share soon. Oh and the JYC/DD fiasco I mentioned above?  Well, I might have conquered my fear on that too...I will be trying again this year...more on that to come soon as well.