about Project Life (but only sort-of-kind-of)

During January and February of this year, I made 41 scrapbook layouts.

Partly I did so many because of different assignments I had. I did my Teen Week at Write. Click. Scrapbook. I also wrote this eZine article for Ella Publishing about two-page layouts. I did my usual Write Saturdays, too.

Another reason for that high page count was that I wanted to get Christmas 2011 scrapped, and I did.

But despite all that scrapbooking I got done, I felt a little bit out of touch with the scrapbooking world in general, and this is because of a thing called Project Life. This is a process developed by Becky Higgins wherein you create a sort-of scrapbook layout for each week of the year. I say "sort-of" because instead of putting everything down on a layout, your photos and memorabilia and journaling pieces slide into divided page protectors. This week, in fact,is dedicated to Project Life at WCS.

It's a great idea, really. It lets you get all of the elements of scrapbooking (photos, journaling, embellishments, ephemera) into their simplest forms so that you can get a lot of memories documented in not a lot of time.

But for some reason—a reason I can't yet clearly articulate, hence this post—I haven't jumped on the bandwagon. Of course, some part of it is my own quirk of not wanting to do something when everyone else is doing it. And it does seem like everyone else is doing Project Life. Go to nearly any scrapbooking blog and you'll find posts on it, and every new scrapbooking line has products for Project Life. It's everywhere, which means I am nowhere.

It's more than wanting to swim upstream, however. A large part of my resistence goes to the idea of the weekly layout. 41 layouts in two months notwithstanding, I don't have a set time for scrapbooking. I sort of squeeze it in when I can. What if I bought all the sheet protectors and the stuffand then I didn't make time to actually make the weekly layouts? And then there's also this fear: would I even have enough stuff to make a two-page spread for every. single. week? Would the fairly-regular blah-ness of my life be made completely visible by a Project-Life style album?

The funny thing about my resistance is that I really do need to figure out a way to make my scrapbooking affection less a part of my life. Which is an odd thing for a person who really, really loves scrapbooking to say. But it stops me from doing other things—namely writing—because it is an easy and pleasant way to be creative. "Scrapbook" has been the answer to the "what will I do with this free time?" question for the past 15 years. It's my way to de-stress and feel creative and feel like I'm doing something that matters. I don't encounter Resistance when I sit down to make a scrapbook page; it's just fun and it makes me happy. Writing also makes me happy, but it is much harder and I fight the Resistance with everything I have and then I toss it because it's not very good and then I start daydreaming about new green alphabet stickers.

I want to find my writing niche.

But scrapbooking feels important too. I like knowing that stuff is recorded. Stories matched up with photos. Experiences put down somewhere they're harder to lose. It makes me happy to look through scrapbooks with my kids, reliving moments. It could consume every single second I could pour into it and I would still never, ever be anywhere close to having told all the stories I want to tell. 

And that is one thing the Project Life approach promises: less time scrapbooking with more stuff actually scrapbooked. So why am I resisting it?

I still don't know. What I do know is this: during March and April of this year, I made a grand total of ten layouts. I did write more. Mostly, though, I just sat around and thought about things. About finding balance and being productive and living joyfully. About not squandering my time, and about what has value and meaning for me. About how I want my life to be and yes, about where scrapbooking fits in that. Maybe all of this pondering also seems like a waste of time, but I don't think so. My gut tells me I am in the middle of a necessary project, even if it doesn't look like much is happening. The change is happening inside me first. And I can't really commit to anything until it works its way to the surface.

Just curious: if you  are a scrapbooker, how do you feel about Project Life?

and if you are not  a scrapbooker, tell me how you manage your photos and stories?

Comments

[Vickie]

Project Life irritates me. I don't really know why. I'm not a prolific scrapper but when I do put a page together I like it to mean something. It might be interesting to see a week in my life occasionally. But not constantly.

[heidikins]

I don't scrap, haven't in almost 15 years. I keep a journal, and a blog and a harddrive full of photos. Is it the best way? Probably not, but it works for me. So far. :)

xox

[karen]

i would tell you all about it, except my thoughts are coming up tomorrow so you'll have to just wait and read wcs :) as far as i am concerned tho, any which way stories are told and memories are remembered is good :)

[Mimi]

I've been doing Project Life - my way. I like doing a page for each week (not at two-page layout) as it helps me to remember the little things.
However, I'm woefully behind :)

[Angie]

I've been a traditional scrapbooker for about 15 years. I'm currently "behind" by several years. I like to scrapbook chronologically and I'm not concerned with being behind. I am doing Project Life this year and loving it for several reasons. First, it allows me to see my daily life scrapbooked in real time. Even though I don't care that I'm behind in my scrapbooking, it is also nice to say I'm caught up on this year's scrapbook. Second, this is the first year that all of my 3 kids are living their adult lives, meaning fewer photos and stories are being told about them. My husband and I are actually appearing in our scrapbook on a weekly basis. Our stories probably wouldn't have made an appearance in my traditional pages because they wouldn't have seemed as important to me to get scrapbooked. Lastly, my husband has become involved in the day-to-day storytelling. Although he's always been supportive of my scrapbooking and loves looking at the finished books, he is now doing things like taking pictures (usually with his phone) and calling to tell me to save a spot for a horizontal or vertical picture. He's even taken to bringing home "stuff" to put in the book, like brochures, business cards, etc. It's kind of fun to have a partner-in-crime in keeping memories. So, that's my two cents about Project Life!

[Margot/NZ]

In 2010 I took a photo a day and created an album using Shimelle Lane's guidelines from the ukscrappers site. Each month I had one page with ephemera (I love that word) from the month and a pocket for photos - the ones not used on the subsequent pages for the month; one pocket page holding 6 pictures each side, so 12 pictures in total; and one layout, with one-five photos from the month that illustrated a story I wanted to tell. I really love that album.

I didn't do a photo a day project in 2011. I took fewer photos and events were the focus of most, rather than every day stuff. I don't think that's 'better' or 'worse' than what I did in 2010, just different.

For 2012 I decided I was ready to do a photo-a-day project again, and I'm using the Project Life system to hold it all. Once again I am capturing more of the everyday stuff of my life with my camera - as well as significant events. I am enjoying the discipline of taking a picture every day; I am up to date with photo printing (I just printed a month's worth), and a little behind in journalling. This is pretty much how it went in 2010 as well.

I am especially enjoying comparing the photos from 2010 with those from this year. It's so interesting to see what has changed and what hasn't.

I think it's important to remember that PL is really just a set of supplies that you can use however you want. I have seen those using it as I am (photo a day), lots of those posting on the web are creating a weekly spread, but there are also those who are using it to make a monthly spread (their supplies will last four years!). I have a scrapping friend who is just using the PL stuff for an on-going album, putting photos and journalling down as events happen - her album is just as much fun to look through as anyone's.

Will I do a photo-a-day in 2013? Not sure. If I did, would I use PL supplies for the project? Maybe, maybe not.

[Kary in Colorado]

I love to scrapbook--a perfect combination of my training (BFA in graphic design & certified genealogist/family historian) and outlet for creativity. I make traditional pages and digital photobooks and, for the past 4 years, Project Life. The first year I did a photo-a-day, but it has morphed into a 2-page spread per week, using whichever photos from that week that appeal to me. Actually, what PL really is is an old fashioned SCRAP book. It collects random photos, snippets of conversations and text messages, and everything from newspaper clippings, programs and tickets to bits of patterned paper or a quote that appeals to me. Few of these things would likely end up on a scrapbook page, but I love having a place to put them and my kids (ages 15, 17, 21 & 29) LOVE looking at those books. I choose & print the week's photos every Saturday, put them in the book and journal/play on Sunday. Takes about an hour--easy and very satisfying!

[Wendy]

Not a scrapbooker - no patience or flair - but will say that I made much more strides in my writing after I tackled Nanowrimo and discovered the gift of writing without your inner editor constantly nagging in your ear. Go ahead, write the bad stuff - it can always be edited into better stuff and sometimes writing the bad stuff gets us to the very best stuff, I think. Would love to read your short story and have often toyed with the idea of asking you to read one of my novels. Alas, it is so much like presenting one's child and hoping someone doesn't find them annoying or less than presentable.

[Wendy]

See - as I reread my comment, I notice a horrible construction. Strike that to say, "I made greater strides". Ha!

[MMarie]

Hello Amy,
I jumped into Project Life in 2010. I think that was the first year Becky offered the binder, coordinating papers, etc. I completed it through the end of April, then used it for vacations in July and October and for Thanksgiving. In December I set up the pages to be used for a December Daily and have photos for 23 of the 31 pages but no journaling! I did not re-order for 2011 or 2012. When I read all the hype about it now, I feel like I've already been there, done that and find it interesting how popular Project Life is this year (and I'm really over it right now!!!)