Project Life January 2015

*Disclamer: this post is rather lengthy as I explain my process.

Project Life 

[my approach] 

As many know, project life is a system designed by Becky Higgins.  I've attempted this on and off for a few years but I successfully completed my 2014 album. I usually get started strong and then stop but being here has definitely made me feel the need to keep up. Our tour here is not long so I want to make sure I commit to documenting everything.  There are times when I like my layouts/pics and then I'll turn around and hate them but the point is to just document. There's no way that we are going to live overseas and not have it documented right?! I'm still not 100% sure on how I want it to look/feel but I do know that I'm going to just do it and worry about a style/look and feel later. 

[photos] 

I'm a working momma M-F from 8 to 5 so I don't have the opportunity to take out my DSLR and take photos throughout the week so I rely heavily on my iphone. I found the collectphotoapp thru Annette Haring on Instagram and fell in love with the ease of capturing a photo, journal my thoughts, save it to the app and then print it thru Persnickety Prints. It's perfect for those who like the 3x4 photos. I can add my journaling right on the photo in the app and have the date captured without the fuss. Simple enough for me. 

[weekly vs monthly] 

I decided to take the stress off myself by doing PL monthly instead of weekly. As I said, I work M-F so I don't capture much until the weekends but even then it can be limited so doing it this way really takes the pressure off from trying to capture enough photos for the week or feeling stressed because I don't have enough. Project Life is intended to be easy not stressful so I had to simplify things. 

[12x12] 

I thought at the beginning of the year that I was going to use a Studio Calico Handbook and go with the 6x8 size but quickly decided against it after feeling like it wasn't enough to cover all that I wanted. I think I'll save that size for mini albums or December Daily if I decide to do one. I am using Design F page protectors from Becky Higgins which can hold 10 3x4 photos and a 4x6 photo that is good as a title card or I can add 2 additional 3x4 cards for a total of 12. There are days throughout the month that I may miss a photo or take multiple photos so having these pockets makes it easy to use one page protector for 24 photos. I won't be using Design F exclusively as there may be a month where I take more photos with my DSLR vs my iphone or the combination of both and I want to be able to switch things up. I have a ton of Design A page protectors that I intend to use up. 

[style] 

I don't have one. I've tried it a few different ways and I don't know just yet what is going to work. I love the feeling that I get when I see Pink Ronnie's PL, I love the look and feel of how Liz Tamanaha does her PL and I've recently loved looking at Wilna's approach to PL or pocket scrapbooking and I adore all her cut files. They are amazingly beautiful. 

[album] 

Currently right now I'm using the Becky Higgins Midnight PL 12x12 album.