24 Olive Street

Project Life 2013 // week 24&26

I thought I'd share a few Project Life pages from this summer when we were first out for summer vacation. I deviated a little bit on these pages using a PL kit from Noel Mignon this time. The colors worked perfectly with my photos, not to mention also matching with the title card used for week 24 (from the Seafoam kit).

Goes to show you can mix & match with your pages from different kits (as I sometimes do).

I also added some journaling & Ali Edwards brushes to my photos.

Week 24

I used pocket page design A on the left, design F on the right.

Week 26

This is another one of those weeks where I added an extra insert for our Silverwood photos. Left side is design A, right side is actually an American Crafts page protector that's similar to design C that I simply cut in half lengthwise (so I would have 3 photo sleeves instead of 6).

Left side has design A with that insert on top, right side is also design A.

Project Life 2013 // week 23 (june 3-9)

Most of my Project Life layouts are the typical 2 page layouts. I may switch up what pocket pages I use from time to time but for the most part I stick to just 2 pages. If I have too many photos for a week I will usually edit them into a 4x6 photo collage (like mentioned in this post).

But then there's a few weeks out of the year that just need more than a 2 page layout. This week was one of those weeks...baseball playoffs, soccer games and a certain little girl's 2nd birthday. So in this instance I actually added 2 extra pages into my album for that week.

Left side is design A and on the right (I know it's hard to tell from a photo) but I've added in design G & design H pocket pages as well.

The design G pocket page allowed me to add more photos of my son's baseball playoffs. The design H page I used to hold my daughter's 2nd birthday photos along with one of the folding journal cards.

You can also see how I used design F pocket page to hold birthday photos in my daughter's album in this post.

Above - design H on the left, design G on the right. You can also see the full sized pages peaking through.

And the last layout of the week - design G on the left, design A on the right.

Like I said, I usually like to keep each week to just a 2 page spread but every once in a while you just have more to share :) But since I still do traditional scrapbook layouts of big events I like to keep my PL album fairly simple & embellishments to a minimum (esp the bulky ones) so that I can keep it to 1 album per year.

scrapbook retreat & catching up on project life

Last weekend I headed up to Colville for a scrapbook retreat hosted by Forget Me Not. But before I could even get there my daughter's guinea pig Bugsy decided that his time with us was coming to an end.

One of my favorite layouts of Olivia & Bugsy I did back in 2010 :)

Poor guy. I had really hoped that when this day came it would happen in the night. But no, my daughter had to watch for hours while he took his last breaths. {sigh} Life with animals, right?!

So after dealing with that I headed up to the retreat. The drive up there is always so pretty.

Mountains. Pretty trees turning colors. Cows. Horses. Goats. Farms. Beautiful :)

I keep saying I need to bring my good camera on a drive up there & just stop along the way & capture the scenery. One day...

I went by myself & ended up sitting next to 2 great people who I got to know & chatted with all weekend (and managed to get an awesome cinnamon roll recipe, too!). I didn't get to spend as much time there as I'd hoped (between Bugsy & the govt shutdown my weekend was doomed from the start!). But next retreat you can bet I'm going & spending every second there that I can!

My main goal was to catch up on my 2013 Project Life album. I wasn't too far behind...caught up through June. Although, there were many pages that I needed to fill in some journaling.

And I'm happy to say that it is now almost up to date! And the only reason that's it's not is because I ran out of printer ink (and in typical "Michelle" fashion, didn't order prints in time for the retreat). So the few weeks that are missing will be finished up in no time.

I can't tell you what it feels like to look at my album & see this:

And my kids have already looked through it multiple times :)

Here's a few of my favorite pages...

A few notes:

For this album I'm using the Seafoam core kit along with other kits from Studio Calico & Noel Mignon.

I like to add journaling directly on my photos in Photoshop. I mostly do this to save time. And quite frankly, most of my photos don't need much of an explanation. I find it's much easier to just jot a few things down directly on the photos and that way I can just slip it into the page protector and bam, the journaling's done!

I also include photos from my iphone (usually edited in the Rhonna Farrer app). Again, I print those with the journaling on them to save time. And I like how they look in my album.

I use 4x6 Photo Collages No.1 by the Lilypad (in Photoshop). They're great when you have multiple photos of an event/etc but don't want to bulk up your album by adding extra photos or pocket pages. I use them all the time. I also use them when I want 2-3x4 photos to put in the smaller journal pockets. I use these spaces more often for photos than journaling cards.

I also sometimes use different page protectors based on my photos & layout. The last 2 layouts are for just 1 week (so 4 pages total). I normally don't have that may photos for a week but that week I did and wanted to include all of them. So I used design A pocket pages along with design G.

this is why...

I shared this photo the other day on facebook.

This is why I scrapbook. Why I document history. Why I preserve memories.

Ultimately it's all for them. My kids. My grandkids.

To enjoy now, tomorrow and years down the road.

My albums are not all up high for no one to look at .

Well, ok, some of them are...but only out of necessity :) But whenever someone asks to pull them down, the answer is always yes.

I would much rather the edges get worn & have fingerprints on the pages from too much love then have them sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

Yep, this is why I scrapbook :)

**********

Side note: I am 'officially' caught up on this year's Project Life album with the exception of the last week or 2. Holy cow, that's a first!!! But it's so great. My kids got a kick out of looking through the album & seeing all we've done in the first half of the year.

If you're a Project Lifer & behind, check out this post for tips on how I get caught up.

catching up with Project Life

I'm about 3 months behind on Project Life. And from what I read around the web it's a common 'issue' with Project Life...falling behind. It's easy to do...life gets busy and before you know it several weeks have gone by. And that's when some people give up. But I think PL is such a great way of recording memories that it's worthwhile to continue.

So here's what I do to catch up.

Photo editing & organizing

This, to me, is by far the most time consuming part of PL. I know there's some people have such beautiful, professional looking photos in their albums. And that's great for them. For me, I simply want them to look good. They don't have to be perfect and, in fact, sometimes I use photos that are maybe out of focus or too dark because they convey the story that I'm trying to tell by using that photo.

Bottom line...I don't stress over the editing part.

What I do like to do when I'm behind on PL is to add journaling directly on the photos in Photoshop.

This saves time when I'm putting the photos in my album & I'm not stressed about 'dressing up' my pages. To me, getting the photos in the album is more important that all of the extras like embellishments.

I organize my PL photos by month and week on my computer. Again, this helps me organize the photos for my album. I also rename the photos by the date when I save them in that folder. That way, when you get your photos back from the printer it will again help in organizing the photos for your album. Then I just stack them by week so I can add them to my page protectors.

Planning your layouts

This is not something I always do if I'm just doing a week or 2 of PL. But when I'm behind I find this to be a big help.

Some people sketch it out in Photoshop. That seems alittle time consuming to me. Not to mention, I have a bit of carpal tunnel so the less I can do on my computer the better for my wrist :) I've also seen some people download sketches but I just draw them out on my own because sometimes I'm going back & forth between different size page protectors depending on the photos I have for that week.

When I got my photos back from the printer I simply organized them by week & slipped them into the page protectors. Having most of the weeks already sketched out helped tremendously!

Keep track

Another tool that helps me is jotting down events & things I want to remember in my calendar.

When I'm going through my photos & sorting them week by week it helps to have my notes of what happened that week & what I want to remember such as soccer & baseball games & practices, movies we went to, company in town, places we went, etc. I will forget this stuff if I don't write it down. Especially if I'm going back 3 months.

This is also helpful in keeping track of what my little one is doing/saying/learning. Again, as much as I don't want to I will forget if it's not written down.

Focus on what's important

Finally, as I said earlier, when I'm behind on PL I don't worry about all the 'extras'. My main goal is to get these photos in the album. All of the extra embellishing can come later...or it may not come at all. And that's ok.

When my kids look through my scrapbooks, they're not commenting on what kind of ribbon I used, or the embellishments. They're looking at the photos & the stories they tell.

For now I simply have them organized in the album and I used my date stamp for each week. I got mine in the first edition of PL but you could easily get one at an office supply store.

When I go back to fill in the pages with journaling/etc I may decide to change out the title page, I may not.

Bottom line

Getting caught up is not as daunting as it seems if you simplify the process.

--> I took 2-3 days to photo edit, organize my photos on my computer, upload them to be printed, & draw sketches of my page layouts.

--> When the photos came in the mail, I took one night to organize them & pull out my album, core kit, stamp pad & date stamp, pen & page protectors.

--> I took one night to sit & put all of my photos in my album.

--> And over the next few nights I'll sit & fill out some journaling cards for the pages.

Most of this was done at night after my kids went to bed so I could spread out on the kitchen table without anyone bugging me. And I got caught up in less than a week!

So it doesn't matter how far behind you are. Believe me, I'm behind on the last 2 years of PL, not to mention my little one's baby album :) But you can get caught up, just find what works for you. Maybe weekly layouts don't work for you...then do a month at a glance. Maybe the 12x12 size doesn't work...do what my friend Virginia is doing and create a smaller album. Or you could even jump around & just do a week here, a week there. No one says your album has to contain every.single.week of the year!

Point is, we shouldn't get so caught up how we're going to record memories to the point that we don't at all!

Project life 2013 // weeks 6&7 (feb 4-17)

I have some more Project Life layouts to share! Can you tell I'm excited that I'm all caught up?? Never fear, there's plenty of time this year for me to get behind again :)

Week 6

this week: school birthday treats & a dentist appt for my son, decorating for Valentine's day, playing with chalk, doing some much needed cleaning in the girls' room, & heading out for a walk.

That shot of my son is a bit blurry & off color cause I took it with my camera phone...I was trying to be sneaky :)

In looking at these photos, about 1/2 of them were taken with my camera phone. I don't bother trying to edit them, I keep them as is. I've found that if I spend too much time editing photos then I'm losing the whole point of Project Life, which for me is simply documenting the every day. And the every day isn't perfect!

Week 7

Valentine's Day was this week. So I deviated from my core kit & opted for the papers in Lasting Love kit from Noel Mignon.

I love that little chipboard pennant banner that was in the kit & I added the pink twine. I also used that wonderful printed paper as a journaling card 'filler' since I really didn't have much journaling for this week.

And that picture of Addie...seriously, Cheerios on the floor are an everyday occurance in my house!

I love that 'Be my Valentine' card from the backside of one of the patterned papers in the kit. I should also add that my daughter was mildy mortified that I added the picture of her holding her Valentine's gift from her 'boyfriend'. hehe Preteens are so funny sometimes. Sorry honey, everything is fair game :)

Edited to add: After I was cleaning up I came across the kids Valentines. So I decided to use one of the Small Envelope Pages to hold them all. I'm not so much keeping them because they're 'important' but because I think it'd be fun to look back on these years from now and see what kind of Valentines kids handed out 'back then'.

I tried to arrange them in the envelope so it wasn't too thick. And maybe halfway through the year I'll decide they're taking up too much space and get rid of them. But for now they'll stay put :)

Project life 2013 // weeks 3-5 (jan/feb)

Has another week gone by already?? Man, I can't believe it's March already. I was just telling the kids they only had 3 1/2 months left of school and they were shocked!

We have this discussion every year...in the fall after they get over the newness of the year they're complaining about how long school is. And I tell them every year 'just wait, before you know it it'll be the end of the year!" And it's getting closer and closer!

I've been home with a sick little one so on Sunday I uploaded several weeks of Project Life photos to Costco. If I'm just working on one week I'll print them at home but if I can I try & send them out for printing to save wear & tear on my printer...not to mention the cost of ink!

The last couple days I spent a little bit of time each day adding the photos & journaling. And I'm happy to report that, for the first time in history, I am officially caught up!! Woot woot!!!

Of course, I'm still behind on the last 2 years and Addie's albums. Shhhh...don't tell anyone!!

So here goes...

Week 3

this week: flu shots, Back to the Future at the dollar flick, sick boy, foggy mornings.

On a few of the photos I added some journaling in Photoshop...sometimes that's just easier!

Week 4

Not much happening this week. Honestly, I only had enough photos for one side of a layout. Sometimes that's just how the week goes. But I had taken some 'scenery' pics around town so that worked out perfect for the right side.

I used Design G for the right side which worked out perfectly for the photos I had (and the fact that I didn't need any space for journaling cards for these pics).

Week 5

Again, the left side is Design G (backside of week 4). This was another week where I didn't have a ton of photos. So the right side is all from my son's birthday.

You may or may not have noticed that the top photo sleeve is meant for 2 - 3x4 photos or journaling cards but on both sides I simply cut a 4x6 photo in half & cropped it to fit.

You know what the best part of getting caught up is? My kids were already grabbing the book & flipping through the pages :) And as I've said before, that's the main reason I do this.

Project life 2013 // weeks 1&2 (jan 1-13)

Here we are, another year of Project Life!

I have to tell ya, I had a hard time picking which edition I wanted to get. I ended up settling on the Seafoam kit despite the fact that the Olive kit was calling my name. Ultimately, I picked the Seafoam based on the colors & how it would look with my photos.

But I still really love the Olive :)

I'm still tweaking my cover so I'll share that later. Still can't quite get it the way I want it.

Week 1

I used my Silhouette cutter to make a few accents for this layout like the 'week 1' and 'happy new year'. I haven't used it in at least a year and a half and it was so fun to play with it again :) Although, I realized I'm in desperate need of a new cutting mat!

This week was my oldest daughter's birthday so the majority of the left side is devoted to her :)

I had to put in that picture of Jean-Luc that I saw on facebook...yes, I love Star Trek :)

Week 2

I didn't mention a ton about my daughter's birthday party because I'll be doing a layout for her scrapbook and I already made the mini-book for her. Don't need to overdo it.

This year I'm taking a much simpler approach to Project Life and sticking mainly with the kit, adding a few extras like stamping, washi, a few stickers, etc.Last year, for some reason, I felt the need to add so much to it and I can tell you that's exactly why I ended up behind. And in the end, all that extra fluff is nice but it's just not the most important. The most important thing about this whole project is documenting our life. And simplifying the process has made it much easier & less stressful for sure.

One other change is that I'm doing my weeks M-Sun. Last year I did Sun-Sat and I found that my pages had the weekends split in half and I didn't like that.

So you won't see too many fancy Project Life pages from me. Keeping it simple this year!