This year I am doing Project Life, a concept started by Becky Higgins. It started out as a paper album, but there is a digital version too. You can use it for whatever you wish, but the common use is to document the everyday life. It consists of a binder with plastic page protectors with inserts of different size, in which you can slip a photo or a journaling card. For the past year or so, I’ve seen several examples of Project Life (one name for all: Ali Edwards) but I wasn’t in love. Then one of my favorite digi designers, Lili of Designs by Lili, was chosen to design one of the two new kits, and I started paying closer attention to the PL world. I soon realized that making a physical album had one great advantage over a digital P365: you can include memorabilia. So I decided to jump on the PL wagon this year. I bought a bunch of goodies: the Clementine kit and binder (designed by Lili), the big variety pack of plastic page protectors, a pack of G design, a pack of 6″x12″ protectors, a pack of big envelopes, and a pack of blank journaling cards. I plan to treat it pretty much as I did my digital P365 album – a day to day storytelling. When I first got my binder and the big protector pages, I was a bit a lot  scared at the size of the thing – I am so NOT used to 12″x12″! But then I decided that instead of being afraid to fill this album, I will treat it as the opportunity to stretch my creativity and try something new. Having the small inserts instead of a big 12×12 canvas is also going to help me a lot. There is so much inspiration out there (thank you, Pinterest!), and I am excited to embark on this journey!

I have done my title page. Since I do my weeks Monday through Sunday, and this year started on a Sunday, I decided to use my Jan. 1st picture as part of the title page. Other than that, I used cards from the Clementine kit, paper tape, and some letters cut out with the Silhouette. Very simple.

Taking a picture of the spread was not an easy task – the reflections from the plastic were so annoying! I can see this as being a major nuisance throughout the year.

Oh, by the way, have you ever wondered what happens if you print on the wrong side of photo paper? This!

This is what happens when you’re too lazy to check which side your photo tray wants up. 😉 I was scared when I pulled the top picture out of the printer, but then I realized what had happened and had a good laugh! 🙂

So far I have not done any planning ahead for the project, but I am eager to start. I am waiting to gather the first few days of pictures to plan my weekly spread. Since I bought a variety of protector designs, it will take a bit more planning to figure it out, but I think it’ll be fun to do. In the meantime, I have played a bit with my mists and the blank journaling cards:

I have also printed out some goodies that are coming out this Friday in the January BYOC at The Lilypad, so if you’re considering Project Life/P365/P52 this year – be it digi or hybrid – keep an eye out for the new releases!

I will come back and share my progress with my album as soon as I have something! 🙂