What Is Project Life?

I have had several people mention that they are just getting started with Project Life, or they aren't sure what it's all about. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Ha! Gotta love The Princess Bride! Anyway...the original concept was to take a photo a day, use one journaling card per picture and a title card, slip them all into divided page protectors and was called Project 365. There was only one core kit and one page protector design. Then they came out with a few new core kits and page protectors and renamed it Project Life. Now there are around 22 different core kits, as well as mini kits, themed kits and value kits. You can read more about Project Life here and you can see products here and find retailers near you under 'support' at the bottom of the page. There are also lots of options for digital Project Life here.

There are several different ways you can use Project Life. You can go with the original concept of a picture a day to capture everyday moments-four 2 pg weekly layouts, or a week at a glance-weekly layouts, but not necessarily a picture a day, this is how I do our family album, or monthly-some months will have more layouts than others, this is how I do my son's album, or use it to document birthdays and holidays etc. Really, you can use it however it works for you. You can simply place journaling cards and your photos into the pocket pages or if you still want to get a little scrappy with it and add some embellishments you can do that too.

2014 cover page of our family album

When I first started using Project Life, I stuck to one core kit per album/year and did weekly layouts. Now with so many kits and other companies joining the pocket scrapbooking partay, I have a TON of cards and mix it up. So far I have been doing a family album and an album for my son, both weekly, until this year, I switched his album to monthly and kept our family album weekly. I'm debating whether I will continue with two albums next year.

In addition to the Becky Higgins Project Life brand products, there are several companies that offer monthly kit subscriptions. Studio Calico Citrus Twist Kits Gossamer Blue Cocoa Daisy Paper Camellia are just a few of the companies that offer pocket scrapbooking monthly kits. I've subbed to Studio Calico in the past and have had a sub to Citrus Twist Kits for over a year. I love my CTK! It's so fun getting happy mail from them every month! There are also several Project Life groups on Facebook as well as lots of Project Lifers to follow in Instagram!

So that's Project Life! I hope I covered the basics for you. If you have any questions I didn't answer, please leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer. I'm planning on doing more posts about my PL process, organization etc. so be on the look out for more info soon! Thanks for stopping by!

Come On Get Happy!

Last week I had the UH-MAZING opportunity to meet Becky Higgins and some of her team! When I saw the post on Becky's IG feed asking for help setting up the Project Life booth at Pinners Conference, I frantically called my neighbor. I'm sure I sounded like a crazy person! I quickly explained the situation and asked if she would be willing to watch my son so I could go help. She said yes (she's awesome like that) and I was on my way to meet Becky Higgins! Ahhhhhhhh!

We helped stuff and move swag bags for her class attendees, unloaded pallets of boxes and filled the booth with Project Life goodies! It was so fun seeing some new products, chatting with other Project Life fans, working with Becky's team and of course meeting Becky! Everyone was so sweet! I totally would have gone and helped just to meet them, but they sent us home with some PL swag!

Becky let us choose a few things to take home, which was so generous of her! Really just getting a picture with her would have been payment enough for me! I'm a little embarrassed to admit, I own A LOT of PL kits. So many in fact, it was difficult for me to pick one! Then I remembered that a few weeks ago I almost bought the Happy Edition at JoAnn, but I was so good and resisted! So I was 'happy' to snag one and had Becky sign it for me! And now I am so 'happy' to share some happiness with one of you! Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win some cards from the Project Life Happy Edition! This giveaway begins today and closes at 12:00 am MST November 17th. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Project Life Planning + Giveaway!

Since I started using Project Life in 2011, my system/process has been changing and evolving. Part of this evolution has been trying to find a way to organize photos and 'plan' my layouts. It became a little more complicated after joining a few PL Facebook groups, purchasing my first iPhone and joining Instagram. There are so many products out there now and so many possibilities! At first I just used a regular notebook to write down which pictures I wanted to print and sketch a quick layout to see where everything would go. Then I tried using a cheap day planner, so I wouldn't have to write the dates in my notebook. That worked ok, but it still wasn't ideal.

I started this year with the Project Life Planner in a 6x8 binder. I didn't love that either. Then I found these free PL planner pages from A Vegas Girl at Heart.

I love them! I've been using them for months now and up until recently, they've been working really well, but I've decided that I really want a day planner/Project Life planner all in one place. I've tried several calendar apps and none of them do everything I would like. I'm a planner and a list maker and I just really think I won't ever be able to fully convert to digital only anything! I love the smell and feel of paper and putting pen to it! So I set out to find a planner that had everything I wanted and of course, it doesn't exist. I even considered making my own planner or using printables and this system at Staples, but the initial investment was more than I wanted to spend right now. A friend let me hijack her Erin Condren planner (that was just sitting there not being used, gasp!) to see if it was worth all the hype and if it would work for me. I liked a lot of things about it, but I didn't like the way the days of the week were formatted and I still was left with nowhere to plan/sketch my PL layouts. I covered the 'night' section with washi tape and write down things I either took pics of or want to include in my journaling that week. I'm going to make it work for the rest of the year, but I THINK I have found the answer for next year!

Several people suggested Plum Paper Designs on Etsy so I decided to check them out. They are a little less than EC and they have several different types of planners as well as layout options: teacher, student, family, meal, fitness, wedding and regular. You can choose the month that your planner begins and they have several covers to choose from. You can even work with them on customizing the color! They also have the option to have 'notes' pages dispersed throughout the planner instead of all of them at the back. I really liked this option because I can use those pages to sketch my PL layouts! So I went ahead and ordered one! While I impatiently awaited its arrival, I joined yet another FB group (I know!) and now I have all sorts of ideas to add a little somethin' to my planner! Now, I've seen some people that go ALL OUT decorating their planners and they are uh-mazing, but I don't have the time or really the desire to get too crazy with it. I'll save that kind of stuff for my scrapbooks! But I do think it's fun to add a few accessories! 

That brings me to the GIVEAWAY!!! And you're like, FINALLY!!! Right? I've been collecting things here and there that I thought would be handy in my planer. I also have waaaaaaay more washi tape than I will ever use so I thought it would be fun to put together a little planner accessory goody bag! Just use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. It starts today and ends at 12:00 am MST November 3rd. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

a Rafflecopter giveaway