How I Project Life Now

     Here's a quick little break down of how I make my Project Life pages. Well, how I've been making them lately. ;)

First up, I pull up all my photos from that week in Lightroom and then quickly run through them all starring the ones I think are PL candidates.
 

Then, I select just those that I just starred by choosing "rated" under the filter section. After that I weed out a few based on how much space I have and which stories I really want to tell. I've come to realize that I don't have to put every...single...moment...that I capture in my PL album. I don't know why it took me so long to realize that. I mean, I've never felt obligated to scrap every photo before, not sure why I felt this way. 

Anyway, once I have them nice and narrowed down, it looks something like this.

Much better. I export all of these to Photoshop and then print them. The Instagram pics get printed at 3" square, two to a 6"x4" sheet, the horizontal photos from my big camera get printed at 6"x4" and the vertical big camera pics and other iPhone pics get printed at 3"x4" on a 6"x4" sheet.

I used to print them out onto regular printer paper as drafts and then get them all printed at Costco and swap them out. But, I fell behind very easily this way and I've really not been happy with the quality of the prints at Costco so now I print at home. I like it much better this way and I've started printing my regular scrapping photos at home, too.

Once I've got my photos printed out, I lay them out on two 12x12 sheets of white cardstock that I've drawn the pocket lines on. I first saw this idea on a process video by Mercy Tiara here. She does it so she doesn't have to drag out her album to work on her pages and doesn't have to keep pulling items in and out of pockets. It works sooooo well for me. 

This week, I had so much from Audrey's first day of school that I realized I was going to need an insert. So, I cut a sheet of 12x12 white cardstock in half and made a template for my insert as well.  Here are all of my photos and memorabilia laid out on my templates. I cut down two of my 3"x4" photos to 1 1/2"x3". Mainly because I couldn't decide between the two and wanted to keep both of them. 

Next, I chose the paper line I wanted to use. I picked Yes, Please by Amy Tan. Mainly because I was lured into buying a paper pad of it when I found it on sale for $6 at Marshall's and after hearing Noell Hymann rave about it on PRT. So, I had it and I knew I darn well better use it!

After getting my papers situated, I used one of the cut apart sheets and added some flat embellishment and glued everything down.

 

Then I finally rounded all the corners. I used to do that to my photos ahead of time and would wind up moving something so that I'd need to redo it. Then, I did it at the very, very end only to realize that it messed up some embellishing. So, now I do it after gluing, before embellishing. (Probably more info than you needed here.)

The last step is to do my journaling, embellish everything and create my title card. I like to create it last so that if I need another pop of a certain color I can add it there without worrying if it goes with a photo or not.

So, here's the finished pages, all set up in their page protectors. Mickey lost another tooth, I had my first PTO meeting, and he did his first homework as a first grader. I also included a few things that Aud and I did while he was away.

Here's my big man waiting for the bus by himself for the first time, while I watched from the window.

The insert is all about Audrey starting her second year of preschool. She had her Open House on Wednesday and her first day was actually a Friday! She was glad to see the guinea pig, Callie, was still there because she switched to the am class and it's a whole new group of kids. 

 

The last page is some everyday stuff, a collage of pics from the 50th birthday we attended and just really photo heavy.

 I used part of a Nordstrom's bag as the background for this pocket. Aud and I went shopping with my mom and ran into my sister-in-law Theresa, my two nieces and their aunt from their dad's side. It was pretty funny because my mom and I always seem to run into Theresa everywhere!

So, that's my current process for Project Life. It's interesting to see how my approach has changed over time. If you are a Project Lifer, has your process changed or stayed the same?

Project Life 9/2-9/8

Just sharing another week of Project Life. 

Mickey's first week of school. He loved every minute. I missed him like crazy!

Love that little leaf that Audrey painted on with metallic watercolors. 

I some of her other painting as the background for these selfies of us.

Making my own little journaling cards. I'm enjoying that. :)

I took some pics of my process for my next week and I'll share them on Wednesday. 

Catching Up With Project Life

I've been scrapping my little tuckus off, getting caught up on my Project Life album. Oh, how I love this project! I didn't work on it at all while I was working and yet, it's sooooo easy to go back and do. Right now, I'm starting with the current week and working backwards. So, that's the way I'll share them with you. 

*This is actually two weeks ago, I just finished last weeks last night and there's no light here at 10:00 pm!

This was our last week of summer vacation before Mickey started school. We FINALLY got a new dryer and I was FINALLY able to get the kids to the beach. Heavenly!

This week also had us sorting through clothes, meeting his teacher and helping at back to school night. Oh, and some lost another tooth!!!

I used Simple Stories products for this week. I just felt inspired by them and wanted to use something other than the Project Life branded products I had on hand. This little card has two pieces of the same photo on it. I cut it up so that I could journal in between the images and so that cute little tab would show!

My first catch up week! This was the first week I did that wasn't immediately after that week ended. It really isn't that hard to do. 

I worked on my scrap room, had a sick kiddo and got my very first layout back from being pubbed in Creating Keepsakes!!! Woot!!! 

This was also Andrew's birthday week and since he was at work so much and even out of town the night before his birthday, I didn't get a single picture of him. The one of him and the one of his present from his mom were taken while I was working on this page. (Years from now, no one's going to care or even know!)

I didn't have anything to go in this space as the week was so picture light, so I made this cute little filler card. I used my beloved Project Life Core Kit in Clementine for this week.

Another catch up week. Since I was doing them pretty much one a day, I decided to use some of my scrapbooking collections. I made myself use the first set of papers/stickers that worked and didn't dig through looking for "the best" set that worked. This week, that was Lilybee's Sweet Shoppe.

This was our week right after we got home from Hawaii and boy did we keep busy! My friend Joscie and her family stayed with us Monday night and we showed them around Canby. (I snagged the Lego heads pic and the selfie of us from her Instagram feed. Thanks, Joscie!)

The last half of the week involved our county fair which is held in our hometown and I had season passes to. We also had a party at our house for Andrew's work. It was such a crazy week!

I used some super cute custom Bossy Joscie flair on my page. Hand delivered from Miss Joscie herself. (Yeah, I feel cool. Hee!)

Well, that's as far into the past as I've gotten. I should get another week or two done this week so I can share that as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life & A Look at Work!

One thing I noticed about my Project Life this week, Andrew is absent!  Yikes!  I told him last night to prepare to get some pics taken of him.  I also think I need to make sure to get pics of him with the kids.  Aleida's Challenge is just as important for Dads as it is for Moms.

 

 

 I wasn't sure what to do about the title with the overlap of months, but I think I'm okay with how it is now.  If I figure out something better, I'll change it up and let you know.  That's the nice thing about Project Life, changing up the title is a lot easier than changing a title on a traditional layout!

 

Aud missed school on Thursday (lost car keys!) so she requested Play-doh for a Friday morning activity.  It's one of her favorite things.  At Wednesday lunch with the Gran, Mickey had his first Taco pizza and he loved it!  He also started teaching Audrey to ride a bike this week.  I had two job interviews at Hot Off the Press and got hired as their new Project Designer!  I like calling myself a professional scrapbooker, though.  It's more fun!

 

We had the neighbors over Friday afternoon for a few hours and it was great.  The kids played while Brenda and I relaxed and chatted in the sun.  This week I also got happy scrappy mail..twice!  Adorable new flair from the lovely Bossy Joscie and my prize from being one of three winners in Paper Crafts January Gallery Challenge.  Sunday was my niece Rachel's bridal shower and I snapped a pic of myself and another niece, Claire, just to prove I'd been there.  I also got a pic of Mickey playing basketball in the evening.  He loves going outside and shooting hoops and will stay out until he can hardly see!

 

Here's a peek at my new desk at work!  Wednesday was my first day, kind of a learn about where everything is and get settled in day before I officially start on Monday.  It went really well and I got a card completed, approved and written up.  So exciting!

 

 

I can't wait to decorate my space!  It is in desperate need of pictures of my kids and a good dose of aqua!  ;)

Project Life and Some News



 Still going strong on Project Life 2013!  Hopefully, this continues.  I've tried to make it easier on myself by avoiding adding inserts.  I'm sure I'll need to during busier weeks but for now, it's simpler to just edit the number of photos I use and choose which stories I want to tell.

 

This week I captured Mickey's librarian, his new hair cut and a school project.  There was a lunch with family, teaching Audrey to sew and introducing the kids to The Princess Bride.

 

 

Also included this week, a photo for Aleida's challenge, Audrey and her babies, our little guy Grayson and my candy addiction.  I also went for a run with friends on Sunday and Audrey packed me a snack of plastic ice cream and then fell asleep on me afterwards. 

 

 All in all, a pretty good week.  One other thing happened last week.  I got a call from a friend asking if I was looking for work.  Nope, not really.  Then she proceeded to tell me that the scrapbooking company in Canby (my town!) was hiring a project designer.  OMG!  I could get paid, hourly, to create layouts and cards.  Heaven! 

 

My only concern is my kids.  I cannot give up all my time with them.  I had a job interview and we discussed my time constraints.  I was sent home with a designer test and dropped it off the next morning.  Hopefully, things fall into place and I can work there.  If not, at least I've got my foot in the door and introduced myself to them.  Wish me luck!

Project Life and Some Fun News!

I entered Paper Crafts Magazine's January Gallery Challenge earlier this month with this card...and I was one of the three winners chosen! 

 

 

The challenge was to create a card celebrating a milestone birthday.  I chose 15 as it's a huge deal in the Hispanic community and I thought it would be fun to create a card for that.  Too bad I didn't make this a few years ago, then I could have given it to my niece for her Quinceanera! ;)

 

And, here's my latest Project Life spread.  I actually did this Monday night while watching The Bachelor with my husband.  (It's our dirty little secret.)  And, again, I totally spaced taking a picture of it the next day.

 

We've got Mickey at school, a BLT with the B made just the way I like it by Andrew, game night, my FIL's birthday, and a trip to the car wash!

 

 

The second page has Mickey reading to his sister (love!!!), Aud at the neighbor's, my iPhone shopping list (am I the only one who takes pics of things I need to get?) and a visit from a Great Dane puppy.  His name is Spartacus and he's the latest addition to my nephew and his girlfriend's house. 

I'm currently using graph paper with washi tape to decorate my pages.  I really like the ease of this and I'm using up my stash of Scenic Route grid paper that I've had for years!  Boo-yah!!!

Project Life

Keeping it simple and loving printing my preview photos at home!

 

 

I do have two "real" photos in this one.  Ordered my 100 free photos at the beginning of the week.  :)  We've got back to school, back to lunches with The Gran and an Audrey requested self portrait.

 

 

Then, there was me finally getting to see The Hobbit, Daddy making waffles, Lilly getting her second bath, some kid cleaning and a football party with the neighbors.

 

 

The only thing I was behind on for this week was getting a picture of the actual layout.  Tuesday and Wednesday were busy!  LOL!

Project Life 2013 & The New Printing Plan!

Project Life 2012 was awesome.  It's also not finished.  LOL!  I've got about six months to catch up on.  I'm not terribly worried about it as thanks to my handy-dandy computer and Facebook I'll be able to complete it.  I'm slowly working on getting the photos edited, resized and printed so that I can have a marathon PL scrappy weekend in Sunriver and get 'er done!

 

That said, I'm revamping my printing process for both Project Life 2013 and my scrapbooking in general.

 

Here's my first page for 2013.  (Not a lot of pics this week so I combined the intro page and week one into one page.)  The photos are printed directly from my computer onto regular printer paper.

 

 

Yep, thin, crappy printer paper!  My plan is to print out the photos I want to use in the sizes I want at home so I can get started creating and then order those same sized prints from Costco.  When they are ready and I have time, I'll pick them up and then replace them in my projects.  Once I remove the printer paper photos, I'll hand them over to my kids to play with.

 

I've already done this with a mini album I created for Punky Sprouts.  (Which I just realized I haven't shared here yet!)  I'm thinking this will really increase the amount of layouts I make.  2012 wasn't my most productive layout year, I think I only made about 30 layouts.

 

So, any changes with your Project Life process this year?  Are you still doing it?

Project Life-Week 9!

I know it's Thursday, but this week's layout came together really quickly as I only picked up my photos yesterday and finished it last night! I'm getting much faster. I don't dilly-dally quite so much with the journaling. My goal is to just get the info down and not worry that I don't sound as cool as Ali Edwards or as heartfelt as Stephanie Howell. I'm me and that's good enough for my family!
This week consisted of some pretty unique things. Along with our normal preschool and the kids playing school, we got to head back to our neighbor's house and the kids got to bottle feed their two bummer lambs! We have the best neighbors!

This week also included a ride on the Canby Ferry! Cody and I had gotten a gift card from our dad and so we took Audrey and Cody's boyfriend, Justin along with us. They hadn't ridden the ferry before so it was a real treat! Then we have Mickey helping Andrew do yard work, and help me scrap and help Daddy put up stuff in my scrap room. He was quite the helper! He also got to go to another birthday party this weekend. Andrew took him and they stayed for hours. Kinda wore Andrew out. Heh! Aud was styling a unique hat and I took Lilly for a walk where we watched one of the neighbor's practice landings and take off. Again, we have the coolest neighbors! On the last page is some of Aud's artwork, eating dessert first for Leap Day, walking to the neighbor's and playing with our goat afterwards and a Lego creation of Mickey's. There's also another picture of Mickey and Aud playing school and the story of how Audrey picked Strawberry Shortcake as the theme for her party next month.

I'm pretty proud of myself this week because not only did I get 'er done quickly, I also included a lot of ephemera! I'd kind of gotten out of the habit of keeping little things because I always intended to scrap them but never got around to it. Now, I am. Go, me!