I started Project Life in 2013 with the birth of my youngest son. It was a lifesaver. I wanted to have scrapbooks for all three of my kids, but I just didn’t have the time to really sit down and create full page spreads from scratch. I needed some help. Enter Project Life. This scrapbooking system gives me the direction to create nice weekly spreads without a huge amount of time or brain power. I love it! Over the past two years, I have made four albums (family, Arthur, N, and A) filled with pictures, journaling, and embellishments.
As the year progressed, I have started to think about what works and what doesn’t. After taking some time off my spreads, I have come up with my 2016 plan…
What I’m keeping the same:
- Page Protector Size — I really love 12×12 size. It helps me get all the photos that I want in my spreads. I've been able to do a year's worth of family spreads in two volumes. Arthur's one album holds one year of his life. The twins' albums are holding 2-3 years in one. I love 12x12 albums!
- Daily Journaling — I am trying to once again keep a simple daily journal. A lovely friend Pam bought me a 5-year one line journal that I'm going to put to good use this coming year.
- Page Protector Design — I've stuck to mostly Design A page protectors. I do occasionally throw in a D or L or even a C, but I love that I can usually count of Design A to work for my spreads.
- Monthly instead of Weekly -- I really enjoyed focusing on Monthly pages instead of weekly pages. I love the freedom to have 2 spreads or 8 spreads depending on the month.
- Week in the Life in August -- I loved completing my first ever Week in the Life. Hoping to be as successful in 2016.
What I’m changing:
- Over-abundance of pictures vs. Stories -- Most of my spreads are full of pictures with maybe one journalling card. I would like to include more written out stories.
- Monthly Card Inserts — I used some Simple Stories monthly cards last year. It was nice, but I need a change. This year I am using some September Skies title cards for each month. It's much more feminine than my usual style, but I'm really digging it.
Aspects to work on:
- Using my supplies — I have so many Project Life cards. I do not need anymore! Instead, I really need to work in using things from my stash. I did a decent job in 2015, but I really need to amp it up next year.
- Day in the Life — I want to do this at least once a quarter.
- My random items -- I've started including my TBR piles and Currently cards as album ending pages. I want to include more of them.
- New ideas from Pinterest — I have an entire board of PL ideas and never use any of them. I want to challenge myself to start using these great ideas. Maybe a monthly challenge to myself. (Look familiar? I've copied this goal from last year as I need to keep working on it.)