In 2014, I decided to try Project Life. When I say “Project Life” I mean documenting my life’s events in chronological order, as well as using Becky Higgins’ pocket page protectors and insert cards. Lord knows I had enough cards to document everyone’s life, so I might as well put them to use.
I didn’t want to get too overwhelmed, so I chose to do monthly spreads recapping whatever was meaningful to me that month. I used a combination of the pocket page protectors in various designs and sizes, as well as some full 12 x 12 layouts, since I enjoy doing those the most and I didn’t want to give them up. I didn’t limit myself to any set number of pages or particular design of pocket page. I worked on it whenever I had the opportunity, and I never really got too far behind.
I used photos from my phone as well as my DSLR and I printed them on my Canon Selphy. I used the Heyday app to fill in the gaps when I wasn’t sure about dates and such, and it generally worked out pretty well. I managed to document all of what I wanted to remember and still do 12 x 12 pages when I felt the desire. My family and I really loved being able to look back and see everything we did throughout the year.
(12x12 layout with a Design A pocket page using Echo Park Winter Wishes)
The downside…
After a full year of layouts and pocket pages, I had two 12 x 12 three ring binder albums bursting at the seams, as well as a whole 12 x 12 album I completed about our trip to Las Vegas for our best friends’ wedding. That was three large albums in just one year. As much as I love looking at them, they were cumbersome, and how many years could I keep that up and still have room in my house for anything else? It wasn’t a practical solution.
I also found that I really hate the look of rounded corners. Sorry, Becky…love the cards, love the designs, HATE the corners. I found myself trimming most of the cards and mounting them on other pattern paper or card stock, or just punching or cutting out the the design. I also really hated trying to figure out how to configure my layout to fit in the existing pockets. And I found it especially difficult to plan ahead what was going on the back side of the cards leading into the next page. I know some of those decisions could have been eliminated if I maybe stuck to one type of design or used more filler cards, but I guess I just don’t scrap like that.
So, I didn’t like using the pocketed sheet protectors, didn’t like the cards and the resulting albums were too numerous to be practical. But I really LOVED having a documentation of our life and I still wanted to scrapbook. I also really liked the new Project Life App that was released for the iPhone later in the year. I was loving how I could collage my photos and add the beautifully designed cards right from my phone, then print them out for my album. And it gave me the ability to select either rounded or square corners, which made the round-corner hater in me happy. The second half of the year I used the app quite a bit and loved the price point of the card kits.
Another factor in my decision making process was my entry into the digital scrapping world. I had been dabbling with the Project Life app and was loving the ease of use when I got a membership with Debbie Hodge and Get It Scrapped. I started listening to some podcasts on digital scrapbooking and watching Debbie’s wonderful videos, and I was hooked. I started playing with Photoshop Elements, a program I already had, then upgraded to the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription when I realized digital scrapping just might be my cup of tea. I was like a kid in a candy store when I discovered all the wonderful digital projects out there and how I could buy whatever I wanted, use it over and over again and not take up any space (other than on my hard drive, which is still pretty plentiful).
(Digital layout created using template from Get It Scrapped
and Echo Park Reflections Fall Digital Kit)
So I made the decision to combine everything that I loved. For my life documentation, I would use the Becky Higgins Project Life App on my phone. Since most of my pictures are taken there, it is easy to to pop them into the digital pockets and easily keep record. I love the freedom and flexibility of being able to work on my phone whenever I get the chance. I document weekly, and use a single spread per week. If I have more photos one week than another, I use a template with more spaces, or create collages to fit in the spaces. If I have less photos, I add filler cards or do more journaling, but each week gets only a one page recap. At the end of the year, I’ll have 52 digital pages.
For the more special moments or the bigger stories I want to tell, I make digital scrapbook pages in Photoshop. That allows me to have more artistic freedom to play and more room to tell my stories. By the end of the year, I’ll probably have about 50 more pages, and I will have them printed in a digital book. That solves my space issue, as a single digital book has a much slimmer profile than three 12 x 12 binders.
As much as I do love digital, however, I still love the look and feel of a paper layout and the satisfaction I get from working with actual supplies. I also still had a ton of printed photos from before the digital age, that I had yet to get into albums. So I made the decision to continue to paper scrap all the photos already printed and digitally scrap all the photos I take from this point forward.
(12x12 paper layout using Shimelle from American Crafts)
This gives the best of both worlds and a concise plan of how to deal with all my photos and memory keeping needs. Being able to scrap digitally helps me keep current and gives me more time to catch up on paper scrapping all my older photos. I think I’ve finally found a good balance and plan of action.
Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!
~Patrice
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