Project Life 2013

As you know this year I am trying to do Project Life.  Project Life is a product designed by Becky Higgins, if you want to find out more check out her website.

Today I finally finished the title page ... well I think it's finished!  I printed the pic of Lyndon and I and then realised it was a bit short, so have just put it on a mat.  Not 100% happy with it, but it will do for now!  :-)

On Sunday I took a photo of Maddison and then used the self timer to get a picture of Lyndon and I.  Usually I let Aaron take pics of us, but more often than not they are a bit blurry or have bits cut off, so this time I used the timer.  With the photos of the kids I really wanted to capture what their personalities were like now, what they are into etc.  My plan is that I do an end page at the end of the year and take pics of them doing what they are into then.  Will be fun to see the change. Aaron is really really really into Pokemon, Maddison loves colouring (and posing!  hahaa) and Samuel is very active running about, climbing this and that.  Hopefully the photos show that.

I bought the Cherry Edition of Project Life (from Scrappin Studio), including two binders!  I also got a 3x4 pack of white cards and a 3x4 pack of grid cards.  I'm using all sorts of page protectors, most are from Becky Higgins' range, but I do have several other brands I use as well.

I checked out a few places that had tips about keeping up with Project Life throughout the year.  I found these two sites here and here which were helpful.  I ended up using the planner from here and then creating my own PL Layout Plan that only includes the page protectors I actually have (not shown sorry).  A lot of other blogs said that keeping a notebook or journal in your bag was really helpful too.

There's 2 things I am finding hard about this project :-)  Number 1 ... for me it's difficult to narrow it down to ONE photo a day.  Some weeks (like week 1) I don't even bother because it's impossible  but even the quiet weeks sometimes I find it hard!  I'm not wanting to "limit" myself to a photo a day, but then at the same time I don't want to have 4-5 albums for the year!  (I only have two matching ones, so that's it! hehee)  Number 2 ... the journalling!  I jot down the notes about each day, but when it comes to actually writing up the journalling for the album I put it off!  For example - it's week 8 this week, I have only just completed the journalling for week 4 today.  My handwriting isn't the neatest, but I want to hand write because it's quicker than me setting it up to run through the printer.  It just seems to take me ages.  I study my notes, then write it out in draft, check it, check the spelling, check it again, see if it will fit within the space I have to journal ... yeah .... it's something I put off doing!  (I will try to do better!)

For me the week starts on a Sunday and finishes on a Saturday, so our 2013 album actually has a couple of days from 2012 in it :-)  So here is Week 1.  It was a very full on week, so it got 4 spreads :-)  We did a trip to the KLCC Aquarium, Times Square Theme Park and the Science Centre.  At the Science Centre we got a folder with the photos taken from the Star Trek exhibition, so I just cut it apart and put them into a 12x12 pocket.  Maybe some time down the track I will remove the pages and do proper LO's with them (but maybe not)!!  :-)

Week 2

 Week 3

 Week 4

I've decided the only extra bits I am going to add to the kit I've got are staples (to attach things), rub-ons and stickers that I have in my stash that desperately need used, and things gathered from trips/holidays/events.  That's the plan anyway. :-)

Loved the idea from Ali Edwards about cutting the journalling cards and attaching them to the photo.  I've used that quite a bit already ... very handy idea :-)

I'm enjoying it (apart from mucking about over the journalling) and I love seeing the kids looking at it and Maddison asking Aaron to read it to her :-)  (it's especially funny when he can't read my writing hehehee)  ;-)

Thanks for visiting.  Hopefully I'll be back soon with the next 4 weeks to share.  :-)