Laura Vegas

geez. i havn't blogged since last year. lol! hope everyone had a great new year's. we had a quiet one here at home. we're already two days into the new year, and i'm feeling so on top of things. even ahead of the game on things too. we'll see how long that lasts.

i'm so glad to hear that many of you will be taking on project life this year. sounds like many of you already have your kits, and sounds like i talked some of you into ordering kits. which i love! there were some questions brought up in comments, and some thinking-out-loud comments as well. i do respond to all my comments, one on one. but thought it would be a good idea to come and touch on a few of those here as well, in case it helps anyone else in the process.

 

you've seen this photo before in my last post. but wanted to mention that it's also serving as my day one photo for my album. no, i did not take this on january 1st. but that's ok. it's the perfect shot for my opening photo.

 

and here's my day two photo. i spend the good part of today, working on scrapping assignments. and this was just a shot of my desk, at one point during the day. and yes, thats a sewing machine. after 4+ years, i took it off the shelf it landed on after i purchased it. and i'm using it on my layouts. most of which, i can't share yet. sorry.

first up, i wanted to share some links and info that i think are worth sharing. 

                 

about 2 minutes ago, i saw becky mention on facebook that the extra page protectors and journaling cards are at amazon and available for purchase! i'm really excited about the divided page protectors, since i think they'll make a great addition to my regular scrapbooks.

HERE is a video, by becky herself, walking you through the process of setting up your album. her ideas are a lot like how i set my album up too.

on this post HERE, scroll down a ways, and you'll see another video. this was from a reader of becky's blog, maryann. i am in some serious L-O-V-E with her album she shared. i did include some memborabilia in my 2009 album. but i just love how much additional stuff she added to her album. all the extra page protectors, in all different sizes. extra photos, enlargements, papers, all sorts of things. gave me a lot of ideas. she mentioned that since she added so much extra stuff, that her album became a two album project for the year. that's when the extra albums that are available this year, would come in really handy ;) 

        

HERE are some additional ideas of what you could use this project life kit for. love the "all about me" idea for a teenager to work on. or the "baby's first year" for a new baby in the house. the "weekly/monthly themes" would be fun. i know a friend of mine is going to incorporate some weekly themes within her album.

another way to try this project, is to do the digital version of the kit. the info is HERE. some might find it easier to keep up with this project, by adding photos and journaling on the computer.

 

 

those are totally random photos, that have nothing to do with what we're talking about. lol! but this post was getting very text heavy. i thought tossing a few cute kiddos on here, would break it up a bit. that's  haley up above. she was back here for the two holiday weeks, while her preschool was closed. and then zachary, just a few days after his first birthday 🙂

i'm going to very randomly answer a few Q&A's, or respond to comments made about this project. i'm doing this as a photo-a-day project. which is how i'll be referring to it. keep in mind, this kit can be used in SO many other ways, that don't require taking a photo every day. if that's not what you're up too this year.

 

not sure what day to start your album on? this year, the first day of the year fell on a saturday. most of us view our weeks as sunday thru saturday. so you'll have to figure out what to do with that one extra day. you could switch it up, and do your weeks as saturday thru friday. or you could just ignore january 1st, and start with the second day of the year. or you can simply stick that first day's photo in the title page, like i'm doing. last year, i had two photos on my title page. the year before (shown above), i had three photos on my title page. if you want a definate, defined title page, then you'll have to come up with a plan for that first day.

don't live close to anywhere that prints photos and don't print at home? need tips for those that print in BIG bunches and then forget what was what? i would really recommend finding an online photo printing site. there are tons of them out there. shutterfly, winkflash, scrapbook pictures, even costco (membership required). if you can upload and order your prints every other week, at least, that would really make this project easier. if you wait every 2-3 months to do an order, that's a huge amount to catch up on. if this is the only option you have, i would recommend you at least take the time each day to fill out your journaling cards and slip them in the album. and when you upload your photos to your computer, save them as you usually do. but then save each photo again, in a folder for "project life" or "project 365" for each month. rename the photos, with the date the photo is for. most labs will print the image name on the back of your prints. so then you'll have the photo date right there, to refer back too. and if you're journaling cards are filled out, that will also help match them up.

how do you figure out which picture to take? when i did my 2009 album, i really focused on getting photos of all the "stuff" that made up our lives. stuff around the house, home decor items, piles on the counters, things in the girls room, etc. just all the little things, that seem like nothing important. but that make up our day-to-day lives. HERE is a list of 365 photo ideas, that was put together by creating keepsakes, when the originaly project 365 was put out. it's got a ton of ideas that maybe we wouldn't think of on our own. 

is there room for more than one shot that day? there are spots for seven photos a week. but that doesn't mean you can't add more. i have taken two photos, cropped them to 3×4 each, and put them together onto a 4×6 canvas to print. there's an example of this in my 2009 page shown above. an easy way to get two photos in one spot. but you could also add in extra page protectors, if you wanted to include more photos.

do you write it from your perspective or that of your family? personally, i write from my own perspective. since i'm the one making the layouts, and telling the stories, i write it from my own view. but including family members in this project is a fantastic idea. i have heard from several people, that are making this a family project. leaving the album out, where the entire family can be involved in it.

worried that your regular scrapping will suffer, as you work on this project? this wasn't really a question, but a comment made by my friend megan. i can see how this could happen. some people might find that this project is ALL they want to scrapbook this year. some will do this project, and then fill in with layouts about all the other stuff that goes on. for me, i loved that it allowed me to document SO much of our day-to-day life. i knew that things were touched on, and in the books. and if i wanted to take photos from this project and scrap them on an additonal layout, than more power to me. it takes away the pressure to scrap every photo from the year, and lets you focus on scrapping the ones that you really want to take the time to scrap. does this make sense?

have you completed this project the past year or two years, and feel like you need a break from it? that's actually how i felt last year, after doing the 2009 album. but i found that i took less photos this past year. and i feel like i don't have that much to remember 2010. i have the big moments, the events. but not the little stuff. i miss that. but this project doesn't have to be a photo-a-day project. if that's how you've done it previous years, switch it up. instead of an entire week on a 2 page spread, do an entire month. choose your favorite photos each month, add them in, and journal about them. you could even mix regular layouts right in between the pages.

        

i think that's it for now. that was a lot of typing, and i've sort of lost track of what i chatted about and what i didn't. if there's anything else you're curious about, or want my thoughts on, feel free to ask.