jumping on the project life bandwagon

I have mentioned Project Life a few times here and there. And if you browse any scrapbooking/crafty blogs out there, I'm quite certain you've heard of it. My first attempt at the whole Project Life thing was last year around May... my mom bought the set for my birthday... and while my intentions were good... I couldn't quite keep up. And I had this weird thing about starting in the middle of the year... kind of freaked me out. I am really, really good at saving memorabilia.... but really, really bad at printing pictures.

So... I kept thinking about it... and since I already had pretty much all of the supplies, I figured I would give it another go. I needed a new plan of attack this go around though...

1) Print photos monthly.

Printing photos is key to making this project work. Quite a few Project Lifers print their photos at home. This is an option for me, but not really that realistic. I decided to start sorting my photos by month in iPhoto, which makes it incredibly easy when I get ready to order. I usually order my personal prints directly from iPhoto... the quality is good and it's super easy... I don't have to upload photos to another site.

2) Write stuff down weekly.

I started jotting down a list of our weekly activities and events in a simple little notebook. This has been super helpful when I'm trying to sort photos by week and attempting to remember what we did a month ago. My blog posts and planner have been extremely helpful for this project as well... all serve as great memory joggers.

3) Maintain a workspace. {photo source}

Okay... so I haven't quite figured out where this should be for me yet (because that photo is definitely NOT my workspace... I wish). But I do believe that this project should be left out in plain sight somewhere. This is a project that ideally you should be able to work on anytime throughout your day. Ali Edwards is a great example of this... she keeps the majority of her Project Life supplies out on her kitchen counter... then when one of her kids says something funny, she grabs a little card right then and there and jots it down... she talks a lot about her process in this post.

4) Create a spot to corral all of your stuff.

Like I said earlier... I am really, really good at keeping stuff. You know... the ticket stubs, business cards, pretty packaging, mail from friends... stuff. I very well might be a closet hoarder. Previously, I was just keeping piles and piles of this stuff everywhere. I finally decided to use a little wire basket that I already had as a "landing pad" for stuff. So far, it's working out quite nicely.

5) Get over perfection.

This is probably the hardest part for me in regards to any kind of scrapbooking-type project. Especially when you read other scrapbooking blogs and see how absolutely amazing their Project Life album is. But this project isn't about making things beautiful... it's about making memories... and keeping them. Sure, you can pretty up the pages a bit here and there... but for me, the point of this project is to simply get the pages done.

So. There you have it. I finally gave in to the Project Life craze. And I really, really hope I can make it a habit. I'll try to post pictures of my album progress every so often.

Interested in seeing more about Project Life? Here are a few of my favorite spots for inspiration...

Becky Higgins ...the creator of Project Life herself.

Ali Edwards ...always, always a fan of pretty much anything she does.

Elise Blaha ...she just jumped on the Project Life bandwagon too, and I love her take on it... as I do anything Elise whips up with paper and scissors.

Cathy Zielske ...a long time scrapbooker... but fairly new to Project Life... Cathy's a witty one and many of her posts will make you pee in your pants with her honest humor.

Michelle Wooderson ...she is a 4 year Project Lifer... serious, I tell ya. She has a great post explaining her workspace and Project Life process here... be prepared to get a little (or a lot) jealous of her amazing craft space.

What about you? Do you participate in Project Life? Have you even heard of it? Interested in trying it maybe? Come on... you know you want to...