A Project Life newbie

As you'd know, Becky Higgins' Project Life has been sweeping through the scrapbooking world like wild fire for quite some time. Now I'll be the first to admit that sometimes I can be a little slow on the uptake of new trends but in this instance I have to confess, I wasn't really sure I was all that interested in Project Life, despite the hype that was everywhere I turned. Honestly? My life is a fairly quiet and simple one and all I could foresee were pages after pages looking almost identical and overall entirely boring! Plus where was all the messy, fun stuff?? However as time went on I began to see the potential in the Project Life style of scrapping as a way to clear the backlog of photos from years gone by, and for instances where I had multiple photos I really wanted to scrap (remember I'm not really into doing doubles) or a large volume of say travel photos. So I decided to dip my toes in and see where it led.

First things first I started collecting all the cool things I 'needed'. I bought lots of different page protectors, a few quarter kits, a few mini kits, and a few things in between. Then I just let it all sit and gather dust. A lot of dust. As they gathered dust I collected some more. Because that's what you do. Its really quite addictive this Project Life 'stuff' you know.

Then one day I made the mistake of giving a double page spread a go. "Mistake?" you ask. I must have played with my photos and kits and cards and 'stuff' for a week or more. It was too easy. Well once I'd figured out the complicated puzzle that was the arrangement of my photos which, incidentally, took forever. Slot this photo in there, pop that card in there, add a title here and some journaling just over there and its done. That's it? I mean seriously? Where is the embellishing? Where is the messy stuff? Where is the fun? Sure its quick but surely there must be more to it than just that. So I started having a look see at some Project Life groups on FaceBook to see how others were approaching their pages and I got scared. Really scared. There were some brilliant pages being shared with so much detail. Pages that looked just, well, fun. How on earth did they do it? So it was back to the drawing board.

In the end I started doing some of my more 'regular' scrapping in between fiddling (over and over and over again) with my Project Life pages. It was driving me crazy. Seriously crazy. Crazy as in can't sleep, can't think, stark raving mad crazy. Then it clicked. I was trying to make the Project Life cards from the kits I had work with my photos when really, they just didn't. It was time to pull out some 12x12 papers and collections and see what else I could come up with. That's when it all started to come together and eventually, this is what I ended up with.

Fun Day

Notice the extra insert on the right? I thought myself pretty clever for doing that LOL! Here's a photo showing the insert fully extended and its reverse ..

Hmm. Okay great. I've done my first double page spread. Now to figure out what to do with the reverse of the pages. This was turning into something of a headache. It was time consuming. I thought Project Life was supposed to simplify things!! Surprisingly though, once I found I had some photos that would work, and I didn't muck around with trying to find the perfect Project Life cards (although they worked perfectly for one of the pages) the reverse pages came together really well and I actually enjoyed the process.

Love love love

Kong Lovin'

So, after all that is Project Life for me? When I want to scrap an occasion or event of which I have lots of photos, most definitely. For my travel albums, absolutely. For getting all (there's thousands of them, quite literally) the photos I've taken over the last 30 years into some semblance of order, you can bet on it. For every day life and goings on? No. I'd much rather get my grunge on with some messy stuff. Although this is a great way to record the memories, my scrapping these days is more about creating art.

Umm .. have I stopped 'collecting' Project Life products? Umm .. no. I told you. It's addictive!!!   ;)

PS: Two things I would have liked to know before I started .. put your photos and paper and cards etc on top of the pockets, not in the pockets, as you're mapping your page and, put the bulky stuff on the outside of the pocket .. it makes sense you know!   ;)