One of my goals for 2012 was get back to the basics of scrapbooking - to rediscover the joy that I initially found in this hobby. I've always gravitated toward documenting the smaller moments in our lives - the funny quips...the tender moments...the simple pleasures. For me, they are more fun to scrapbook than the bigger events like birthdays or holidays, simply because there is no preconceived idea as to how these smaller (though no less significant) milestones should be scrapped. I don't feel limited to certain products or techniques and it's on these pages that I find myself being more creative, and innovative. And - bonus! - I am ultimately more satisfied with the pages that I create.
Which is why I think Project Life will be a great fit for me. It's all about documenting the simple, everyday things that make up our lives. It's the photos, the memorabilia, the to-do lists, the homework...the receipts, the tickets, the love notes, the random doodles. Even before I started scrapbooking, I was collecting these items - sometimes gluing them into photo albums and sometimes just storing them in shoeboxes to reminisce over one day. But now, I'll be able to collect them in one album that highlights each week of the year.
To keep my project as flexible as possible, I'm planning on using a variety of We R Memory Keepers divided page protectors (in both 12 x 12 and 8.5 x 11 sizes) and will house them in an American Crafts Modern Album to match the rest of the albums already in my arsenal. I'm not limiting myself to any particular line of products, but rather hope to put a slight dent in my stash by using anything and everything that I already have.
I've put together a title page for the album, using an enlarged 6 x 12 photo for the center and filling the other squares with patterned paper and die cuts I created on my Silhouette. The Jack Kerouac quote "Be in love with your life" that I've included is sort of my mantra for 2012 and I love that I'll see it every time I work on this album.
S U P P L I E S :
I'll likely be posting my progress on this project on the weekends, and hope to keep myself accountable for its completion that way. If you are particpating in Project Life too, please share your album link - I'd love to see your take and hear your thoughts!
And with that, I'm off to create my first weekly spread for the project. There's a fire in the fireplace, it's beginning to snow, and I can't think of better way to spend rest of this Saturday!
