Sunday, February 19, 2012

Scrap Sunday - Project Life in its most basic form.

Welcome to the first Scrap Sunday.  Every Sunday I'll be posting what I'm doing in scrapbooking... or what scrappy quilt I'm working on.  If you are working on Project Life, scrapbooking, or a scrappy quilt please link up at the end of this post.



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Today's post is about Project Life in the most simple & basic way.  If you don't know anything about Project Life I suggest checking out this slide show.

Project Life is a simple & yet brilliant way of memory keeping developed by Becky Higgins.  The key is that you don't need scissors, glue, papers or anything that you need with traditional scrapbooking.  That doesn't mean you can't incorporate the two... but for those of us {like me} who are super busy it gives us the chance to have a beautiful way of capturing memories without the mess and the stress.

cultivate a good life by Becky Higgins

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This box is all the "supplies" I have for my Project Life kit.
It holds a date stamper, one ink pad & a bunch of assorted pens and journaling cards.


So how does it work?
Simple.
Print a photo, write a journaling card & put them in a page protector.
Repeat over & over all year long.
I found the KEY to success for me was to work on 1-2 weeks at a time.  This way I didn't feel overwhelmed that I had to "catch up" on months and months at a time.  {Of course the move made this a bit crazy at times... but you get the point.}

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I was motivated to make a Project Life binder last year for one simple reason. I LOVE my blog, but often I'm working on something months before I can show you.  I decided that my Project Life binder would be a way for me to document what I was working on when I was doing it... along with my thoughts.  Below I have 7 of my layouts from last year.  I included progress photos of quilts, photos of my studio, my family, my house... just about everything.  Below each is a bit of a description for some of the elements of the page.


I didn't reveal Off the Rail until March last year, but I was working on it in January.  I had just finished Raspberry Dessert in January but couldn't show it until March 29th.


I didn't release Come What May until October last year but I actually was working on it in January!  I was also finishing bee blocks & making chocolate.

I love having the everyday things documented.
Photo outtakes... projects that didn't work out... my messy studio!

I was finishing up Fast Forward in January even though I didn't show it until March.  It's also funny to look back and see all the snow & ice on my car... none of that in California now!

See that photo in the top right.. I love that I have a snapshot from when Candi & Tricia came over in February to help me get my patterns done in time.  We were working on Firecracker & Unwind.  {The blurry stuff in the bottom is just things that haven't been finished yet!}

This week I was working on Hugs & Kisses and Carnival.

This week I went to a Philly Modern Quilt Guild meeting & finished Carnival and Plaid Parade.  I also attempted to get a pattern cover for Firecracker.

By the middle of the year the book ended up being less about quilting and more about moving.  If I hadn't been working on Project Life I don't think I would have been so aware of capturing moments like this one above.  It's me in my room with the last of my things.  I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor & sewing on a card table.

This was the inside of the POD storage unit I used to move across the country.

This photo is a snapshot of the first time I got to visit the new house.

I have LOTS of different Project Life binders for various things.  Next week I'll tell you how I'm using Project Life to catch up on scrapbooking.



Products used {Note last year I used the Amber collection but since that sold out already I'm giving you the links to the colors currently in stock.  I'll warn you that things sell out fast.  I won't remove links of sold out items so that you can bookmark them if you want for when they are back in stock.}

Design A Page Protectors
Core Kit - Clementine Core Kit - Cobalt
Photo Pocket Pages
Designs A & D
Clementine Binder
Cobalt Binder
Big Variety Pack of
Photo Pocket Pages
 
Scrapbook Dividers Ali Edwards 365 Days Photo & Journal Overlays


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Here's a button for you!




jaybirdquilts

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© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

8 comments:

mascanlon said...

I just knew it....you're going to hook me on something else too! Off to shop I go!

Crissy said...

This looks amazing! I love this idea. Thanks so much for sharing.

Nicole said...

Julie, you're so organized! I'm so behind in scrapbooking. I'm open to suggestions for getting caught up.

Tammy said...

Thanks for sharing...I just started mine this year, but actually last night did my first page. I am waiting for my plastics to come and my shipping says it will be delivered tomorrow...whohoo.

Jennifer Thomas said...

Wow! I just love the Project Life idea. I need to get started on that. It does look do-able, even in my hectic life. Have a super day!

Ellen said...

That is a pretty cool system. I love the idea of scrapbooking & I actually have a ton of supplies, but I never feel like I have enough time to make my pages 'good enough.' This is a simple & effective way to document and maybe add a pretty embellishment here and there. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I haven't scrapbooked in along time but this looks like fun.

stephmabry said...

Not really related to this post at all - I just wanted to let you know that I pinned your tutorials page on Pinterest...and it's been repinned (just from my pinning along) 548 times! It blows up my inbox pretty much every day, lol. I can't wait to get started on the projects, and I wanted to say thank you for providing such great tutorials to the quilting-blog-o-sphere! :)