Thoughts from a project life newb.

Starting Project Life has been an interesting journey. I remember being completely immersed in the idea of documenting everyday life by putting things in small pockets and making it all pretty. I had supplies gathered and told myself I would not buy anything special or add to my stash. I wouldn’t make a mess and I would keep it simple.
Then came January and I was like what the !@*& do I do with all this stuff I’ve collected? I wasn’t into what I had done at all but I wasn’t going to quit right off the bat. I like the idea of Project Life. It’s quite genius really. I thought that maybe I was the one that was making this much more complicated than it is. I can’t be the only one bogged down by this. I know I’m not actually. I know it sits on your desk, taunting you like mine does. Mine actually straight up bullies me. But after a good conversation with Jamaica about my PL woes, I knew that I had to just do it. (That’s so damn cliche but true) You have to just dig in, start where ever you feel comfortable starting and make that PL your…you know what. Because really this thing, this beast of a scrapbook is going to be so worth it in the end. It really is. I can see having a collection of these and looking back 10 years from now. That makes it worth it.

So here a few random thoughts from a Project Life newb.

*You have to stay somewhat organized. I’m trying, I really am. I know that I want to keep specific PL things like 3×4 cards and date stamps in it’s own area. I had purchased a big box to keep my album in but that idea quickly got out of hand.

*I’m starting to date photos after editing them. Also dating other items with post it notes. This has helped a lot. I found a big reason for not staying current is because I would forget dates and specifics.

*I also keep a desk calendar and write down a list of events. I also make note of any photos I’d taken.

*For me, having photos already printed is key. I scrap in my dining room and I have to bring my printer in from the garage, find an uncovered surface and plot out photos so I can get the most out expensive photograph paper. Half the time, I’m out of ink. So now I just do a big run at Costco. I get most everything printed on 4×6 sheets, even instagrams. I’m cheap, they’re cheap. It’s a win win for all.

*I’ve paired down the papers I want to use quite a bit. At first, I went through my whole paper stash and grabbed every paper from the last 5 years that I liked. Bad decision. I know I like neutrals, grays especially. The new Classic Calico and Take Note line from Studio Calico is my go to right now.

*I can take up to a dozen photos easily in a day. I tried to fit all of these photos in but I just can’t. Then all my pages would be just photos and I didn’t like that. So now I choose one specific photo that I thought summed up that day or if I didn’t like the photo at all, I nixed it.

*Keeping it as simple as possible is the only way for me. I cannot be bogged down with too many choices. Here are the things that I’m keeping by my PL album.

Washi tape is a must/Smash date stamp/favorite letter stamps/SC journaling spots/Thickers/Hello Forever speech bubbles/post its/letterpress from jed/
Digital items I love for PL are Splendid Fiins 4×6 Halvsies + I just printed off a bunch of Paislee Press cards to have on hand.

And now for my PL pages so far. As you can see, there’s still some bare spots and January is pretty much a fail but I’m going to try and salvage it.

Pretty much caught up. I want to make it a goal to not get too far behind like I did in the beginning. I also want to enjoy the process, not be bullied into it.

Happy weekend.