Project Life Review

So, for me, the investment in starting Project Life was my first and foremost concern when I started seeing how much popularity it was gaining and how many people were doing it. Being on a budget, I was concerned that it would cost me too much for the initial start up and to do it on a weekly basis. But when Nov 2011 came around, and I couldn't take the not participating in it any longer, I found that I could get started for less then a $100 investment, and really, one trip to the local scrapbooking store can easily cost that much if you are not careful.

So I ordered my Clementine Core kit from Becky Higgins blog (there is a link to each country of origin to make it easier to get it in with minimal shipping and custom charges). And my purchase consisted of one Album, the core kit, 12 x 12 cardstock and the variety pack of page inserts (and no shipping charges on my purchase of over $85 which was an added bonus.

When it arrived the 2nd week of December, I couldn't wait to the New Year to get here so I could dive into the process and join the thousands already enjoying the simple idea for memory keeping that Becky Higgins had come up with. Simple, easy and no right or wrong way to approach it.

Fast forward 9 months, although currently I am 5 weeks behind in my album, and I would like to share some of the things I've learned about Project Life and myself in 2012, via my Project Life experience.

First off, one album is not enough to hold a whole years worth of Project Life, and I am not a user of thick
or heavy elements, I just use the basics that came with the core kit with extras like stamping, photo collages, and keepsake items like pamphlets, brouchers and maps.Rarely are there more then just the two page spread for the week.

In July I realized just how cramped and overflowing my album was and had to splurge and get another album sent to me, (to save money on shipping, I decided to order next years Cherry Edition, with 2 albums at the same time, so I am now set for 2013 as well). Being currently behind, I decided that I would reorganize my album and start the new album with July and then move forward in the second album from this point forward.

When I first got my Project Life, I went to Becky's website and watched her getting started video, as I was
feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the journaling cards and extra's that came with the core kit. After watching the video, I pretty much followed her advice to a tee, and set up the whole album by weeks, inserting the journaling cards in what I thought would be a good working order for me. And at the beginning of the year and for a few months, this worked really well for me, but as I evolved and learned to trust my instincts with what I wanted to create, I found that I was changing not only the cards out but also changing up the order of the page inserts to suite the photos and stories I wanted to tell for the week. Thus, today, I decided to take what inserts were left for the year, organize them into style, pull out all the cards and just wing it as I have been doing for the past 4 or so months, and I tell you, I almost feel a bit of a weight off my shoulders for just doing that.

 One the left hand side is how I had all the pages organized before following the advice of Becky, and after I pulled out all the cards, I realized I also had favorite inserts I used more then others, and one in particular I just don't care for that much, it being the 6 x6 one. I also realize that certain journaling cards are used more and that there are still so very many left :)

I then sat down and spread all of the cards out and reorganized them into colors (this kit has black, blue, orange and red) and got them nicely put back into the boxes in the core kit. I work so much better when I am completely organized and this will help once I finally get my photos printed out and get back into my weekly process of completing my previous week on the Sunday of the new week. Summer time is so erratic and with no set schedule that it just ran away from me this past month or so. One thing I am looking forward to once fall hits is our normal daily routines.

                        

It was quite the process as I cataloged each color and then individual card to it's own box, and those 6 x 12 inserts in the left hand photo above are used at the end of each month to capture extra photos, usually my favorites from Instagra, or bday cards or bits and pieces of the month on one side and a typed summery of the month on the other. I was good at doing this until May, but then just stopped, so I am going to have to take some time to go back and reflect on those months soon before it's too far gone from my very short memory recall. But all in all, I LOVE this project, and am so thankful the Becky decided that making an easy no fail project for us was worth all of her and her hubby's efforts. Thank you Becky.