project life year one...

when i decided to take on the

project of project life,

i was becoming burnt out with

one of my most favorite hobbies.

i was at a place where i was rarely

scrapbooking but wanting so 

desperately to spend time

in my scrap room making stuff.

after seeing project life on

all of my favorite scrappers' blogs,

i decided to go for it.

i didn't really know what i was doing.

it is a completely different way

of scrapping than i was used to.

i jumped in and just did what

i wanted.

i blogged more about

the beginning stages

here.

going into this project,

i kept thinking about the things

that were important to me to document.

i think it's important that, 

if you are doing project life,

you really think about what are

the things that you want to document.

for me,

i thoroughly enjoy looking back

on photos of my parents, myself,

and brothers when we were younger.

the pictures that i enjoy most

are the ones of the everyday.

i love seeing us playing school

in the living room. 

i love seeing pictures of my

parents making out in bumper

cars at a fair.

the little moments,

not the posed studio photography

type shots.

i love peeking into my parents'

relationship before kids.

i looooove looking at

old pictures of my mom.

her outfits,

her hair,

what her room looked like.

i love seeing pictures of our homes.

how my mom decorated.

our furniture.

so, for me,

those are the types of things

i wanted to document in my 

project life album.

here are some things I'm glad

i did and will be doing again:

used a variety of page protectors.

i have read where some

scrappers use the same page protector

style the whole time. 

i used which ever one i wanted

and fit the photos i was trying to include

each week.

12x12 album and page size.

i really feel like this is the size for me.

i've seen others that

are using smaller album sizes.

however, i enjoy the large 12x12 

and will def be doing that size, 

for the most part, again.

using small size page protectors for 

smaller weeks or extra photos.

when i had some not so eventful

weeks, or big weeks that didn't quite

merit two 12x12 protectors,

i added pages of a smaller

size that held the photos needed.

love the flexibility of these

and the interest/variety it adds to the

complete album.

here are some things i did but

that i want to do more of:

printing my fave photos in a large size

and placing those in their own protector.

i only enlarged a few photos this year

and did this with them.

it is something i plan on doing a whole

lot more of for my 2015 album.

i like the way it highlights

my favorites and focuses on those.

i also like the variety of sizes stuck in

my album.

enlarging photos and breaking them

apart inside the 12x12 page.

it seems like on the pages where i did this,

i loved them the most.

this just adds some visual

interest and variety.

i know i know

i've already said variety too much.

but hey, i like it.

more prints from social media.

we live in the age of social media.

i want to document that.

i think it's something shane and i 

will enjoy looking back at,

as well as our kiddos.

it will be interesting to see past posts

on Facebook, instagram, and pinterest.

i also want to make sure

to include posts of others that

were my faves.

envelopes with snippets of life.

in the album for 2014,

i only have 3 envelopes.

i want to add more for next year

and fill them with all of the paper

stuff that are reminders

of the everyday.

the three in this album were for

my birthday, new york, and christmas.

my birthday one has cards and pictures

that my kiddos drew me.

the new york one has brochures, 

maps, and other random things from

our trip that i wanted to remember.

the christmas one has christmas cards

and receipts from christmas shopping.

the four 6x6 squares.

this is, by far, my favorite

 page protector style.

i want lots more of them

in my next album.

i love that the pics are large

and the embellishing part is more simple.

more traditional layouts.

so the question i get asked most is,

do you still do regular layouts.

the answer is yes, but not really.

this year, i only scrapped two regular layouts.

i put them in page protectors and

added them to my album.

i really really want to 

do more traditional layouts 

in next year's album.

some photos just need

their own layout.

so with all that being said,

here's a few more thoughts as far as planning:

print from home.

i would, most definitely, not have

completed this project if i would not

have been able to print at home. 

with my printer,

i was able to determine

the size of my photos on the spot.

i was able to plan my pages

right before doing them.

plan ahead.

here's something i really want to 

try next year.

i want to, once a week or once every

few weeks,

print out my photos and slide them

in page protectors for that page.

i think this would help me to not feel

so overwhelmed with falling behind.

i also think this would help

to motivate me to work on

embellishing, 

if even just for an hour or so.

for example, if i only had

30 mins and wanted to head

to my scrap room i could just work

on a few little pieces

in that time instead of printing.

i already spend some time each week

placing my photos in folders for 

each week that way i can just click

that folder and print when ready

without having to search for

what to include each week.

save more paper stuff

from the everyday.

remember how i said i wanted to include

more of those envelopes.

i need to make sure

i'm keeping those things

that i need to put in those.

write down events.

i find this most helpful.

in your planner, or calendar on your phone,

for those of you that enjoy technology,

write a little blurp about

what goes on each day.

this helps so very much with journaling

and printing, especially when you

start to fall behind.

i have nothing but great things

to say about this project.

i'm thrilled i completed one whole year.

it had me spending way more time

creating this year.

i never felt overwhelmed or stressed.

i love love love it.

i'm 8 weeks behind for 2015.

but, that's okay.

i am going to print for all 8 weeks tonite

and re-organize my stash.

i will try and post focusing

on organization of product

 once i have things

refreshed.

thanks for reading,

now go document your life.

ash...