Project Life . . . A Year In Review

Am I still keeping up with my Project Life albums?  You bet, but that's not what I'm sharing today.  For the past year my BFF Brandy and I have been working on her version of Project Life that she uses at Christmas gifts for relatives at the end of the year.  In 2012 we did it in a day and let's just say that was anything BUT  a pleasant day.  After I made it clear that I would NOT subject myself to that craziness again we tried a different approach.  Every month we made a point to sit down and work on a few pages.  Brandy's PL covers major events - birthdays, holidays, and vacations that occur through the year etc.  She uses SNAP albums and page protectors and generally that makes it go quicker and easier.  That said, we did not one, not two, but THREE of these albums this year (all the same).  So it was again a lot of work.  The end results were really awesome though.  I event took the time to cover the front and backs of the albums - paper is from DCWV's Vintage Collection and WRMK's Chalk something or other line.  Here they are!

Another labor of love with great results. Brandy was thrilled and I heard her Mamaw even cried when she received her book.  What more could you ever ask for?

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Project Life, Oh Where Have You Been?

Where did my Project Life updates go?  I'm sorry, it occurred to me today that I haven't posted anything about this since the end of January.  Project Life is still rocking along.  No big changes, I am still doing bi-weekly layouts using a ton of photo collages.  I am pretty much up to date, all pics have been printed, and I just have a bit of journaling to do for weeks 14-15.  So we're all good.  There are way too many pictures to show you so I'm going to choose my favorites from the last two months.

Love that my husband is journaling more!

  

Tons, I know!  Still in love with this project though.  I am linking up this week with The Mom Creative's Project Life Tuesday.  Stop by for a ton of Project Life inspiration.  I hope you have enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by today!

Project Life 2013 Begins!

This project was such a labor of love for me last year.  With the new year coming up, I knew I wanted to continue but I also know how much work went into those three jam packed albums, and I really wanted to figure out a way to scale it back some so I could get back a bit of my crafting time to well, craft other things. What I've decided to do is to do bi-weekly spreads.  Each 12 x 24 layout is going to cover two weeks instead of just one.  And so far, it's working.  I am still every bit of in love with Project Life as I was last year, only it doesn't feel all consuming any longer.    I really think this is going to work out well for us this year.

New monthly dividers!  I have too much fun making these to give them up!

 

Another thing I have started doing is using photo collages to get a bunch of pictures in one 6 x 4 space.  This normally would have been an insert of a beach trip we took at the beginning of the year, but I was able to cover it all in such a smaller space.  Underneath I've used a flip pocket to add a few more photos.  I heard about these little ingenious little things on the Two Peas board and quickly picked up some on Amazon.  They come in handy when you have just a few extra pictures you really want to use but don't want a full insert.

Lots of writing.  One of my goals for 2013 is to journal more and have my family journal more.  My mother in law did the journaling cards for the weekend the boys spent with her and their Auntie.  They took fabulous pictures too!

Go Falcons!  Okay, maybe next year.  They did win this game though!

 

Yes, I have quickly become a photo collage junky.  I'm trying to mix it up though.  You'll see color and black and white photos put together.  I've been playing a bit with different photoshop actions as well. 

And that's it.  The first four weeks of 2013 covered in four pages.  I LOVE it.  Totally caught up and not the least bit stressed about it.  I'm able to be a little more leisurely about taking pictures and putting it all together.  All in all I think 2013 is going to be a fabulous year!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Project Life - The End of 2012

And it's a wrap!  Really, it is.  Okay, if I'm being completely honest there are like 2 or 3 journaling cards that need to be filled in (by my husband no less) but other than that it really is DONE.  I have to say that I am super proud of myself for starting this massive project and sticking with it.  There were definitely times I wanted to quit, but after watching my son pull these albums out day after day, week after week I realized how very important this is for our family.  

I finished the year with 3 albums!  Barely.  And wouldn't you know it, the BH Clementine albums I bought actually started falling apart. (insert gasp and then pissed off face here) I had one album that basically wouldn't close with the loops lining up so I ended up replacing all three.  Why?  Uniformity of course!  WRMK is my new found love and joy and I will use these for all of my PL albums from here on out.  Aqua is the word of the day, or should I say, the word of 2012.  Without any further adieu, here is the final week of 2012.

 

 

My Mother in law is a Christmas baby so she always gets her very own special birthday cake after Christmas dinner.  

Brandy and I look good in this photo.  I might have to scrap this one!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Project Life - Where Have You Been?

I've been working on it.  Seriously.  I am actually almost 100% up to date in fact.  It just occured to me the other night, however, that I have not updated my blog with any recent Project Life layouts from since, well, before Thanksgiving. So, today we're going to play a little catch up.  I'm obviously not going to post every single photo, and I think I'll save Christmas week for next week, but I wanted to give you a quick shot of what the fall of 2012 looked like around here.

 

 

And there it is, everything up to right before Christmas and New Year's.  Lots of digital kit elements here and as I'm sure you've noticed, I've started experimenting with different photo effects in PSE.  My husband absolutely adores the sketch effect on my son's photos in the layout just above on your right.  PhotoShop Actions are also my new friend.  Watch out!

I am linking up today at The Mom Creative.  Stop by if you want to see a lot of different takes on Project Life.

Thanks for stopping by!