Project Life Update

I've just officially finished my Project Life album.  It's been getting full for a while and I wanted it to cover eighteen months before I start a new one. 

I'm still really loving this project.  I'm only sorry that I took such a long break in between and didn't document Isabella's early days in the same way.  Who knows, maybe I will go back and cover that at some point.

This album runs from Joshua's early days in January 2017 until the end of this month and it makes me very emotional looking through it as it is such a good record of his development, and ours as a family.

Some weeks are more photo heavy and some are more writing heavy but that's just part of the flow.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to photograph more since I now video every day but I'm getting better at that balance. 

My process is weekly with this project.  I print out the photos, place them and work around that with cards, writing and the layout in general.  I try to keep it simple with the colours and not mix it up too much so that the photos really speak for themselves.

I've invested in a new album and will be starting that next week.  My aim with the next album is to focus on the embellishments a little bit more to give it a slightly more finished look.

I hope that we'll look back on these albums with the kids and maybe even their kids one day and remember how busy we were but also how much fun and love we have in our lives right now.

Project Life

 This week I finally got back into Project Life. I used this means of memory keeping for over two years until Isabella was about six months old. I don't remember why I stopped two years ago but I wish I hadn't.

 I completed weekly spreads for January all in one go and plan to continue on a weekly basis. I'm using the Moonlight kit and I love it so far.

 I've held back on the photos as I don't like to show the children on the blog but you get the idea - my life is all about kids and crafts at the moment.

Feels great to be memory keeping again.

January Project Life

 Our first family portrait of the year (and second ever) was perfect to enlarge and start the new year of project life. I love this photo from the christening - one of the few with a smile on Isabella's face.

 I stuck to the plan of focusing on the stories. This month was our family dinner on New Year's Day and Isabella's christening.

There's a nice balance of photos and journaling and extras include the hymn sheet and some project life cards. I really like this spread.

Project Life - December

 This month was very photo heavy. With that in mind, and running out of the usual page protectors, I decided to do another month of mini squares.

There's no journaling this month - most of the photos explain themselves. I also got some xmas paper and the December calendar in there.

I'm looking forward to this project in the new year but I'm  planning on changing up focus a little to 'tell the story' more. I'd like to get back to a good mix of photos and journaling telling the stories that make up life, and getting our family portraits in too.

Project Life - November

 Finally getting caught up with this. November was actually pretty short but sweet. Isabella started to be more mobile and we packed, got our keys and started renovating.

I'm actually almost out of my usual page protectors but I liked trying new formats. I like the photo heavy balance. I like that Isabella takes centre stage for this spread too and the colours tie in nicely.

October Project Life

I really enjoyed this project again this month. We were pretty busy so it is quite photo heavy.

This month, instead of printing all the photos I like and trying to fit them in, I planned out the spread and cropped some photos to make them fit. Unfortunately, this meant that some quality was lost but it did mean I could experiment with filters too.

At the end, I added a square insert for our Harz trip and I love the look. Embelishments from the Seafoam kit and tourist information.

Project Life - September

A fairly short spread this month. It was a quiet one as we found our routine again. There are lots of pictures of our babies.

I used the seafoam kit again and tied in the beige theme. There are also some cafting photos in there.

Short but sweet this time.

Project Life - August

 This month had lots in common with July - I used the Seafoam kit and it was very photo heavy. I also included the usual typed journaling and calendar card.

 August was much busier though so there are more pages, lots of people photos and some new kinds of hand written journaling from the new kit. I love the what, where, who... card.

 I also love the colours this month. The blues are really light and summery. Really excited to be back on top of this project again!

Project Life - July

Clearly, I was a little behind on this project and have been playing catch up this month but I am still really pleased with the results.

July was a quiet month so there isn't too much going on but I did manage to get a nice mix of photos and journalling in there.

New this month and next is the seafoam Project Life kit which I finally managed to get my hands on (it had sold out when I started this album). I love the colours.

July was mainly our early adventures with Isabella, getting back to crafts, and Mum's flying visit.

June Project Life

As predicted, this took me a little longer this month. That was partly because everything is taking a bit longer at the moment but also because there was so much to include this month.

I started with the usual text journaling and covering what happened 'before Isabella'. I love the yellow section on the right above which recaps our last baby preparations.

The main new thing in this spread is the large family photo on the right above. I hope to get lots more of these in.

The rest of the spread was full of Isabella, and grandad's first visit. The project is finally full with people!

I love these photos and that being a daddy has gotten Nico back into photography. You can see the quality of his photos. This is also the first spread with a good mix of tablet camera photos and the Pentax.

Project Life - May

 I really enjoyed this project again this month. It broke down quite nicely into sections and even though it felt like a quiet month, there's a lot in there. 

Above is the first page with the usual typed journaling and calendar card. I like the colours on this page and used it to add some other little bits in like an update on my 30 things list and a note on Nico's tomatoes.

 It turns out we do a lot of eating, cooking and baking around here. I managed to get a whole page out of our culinary creations from the last month. 

I also put in an extra square spread about my creative endeavours in May. You can see it on the right above and the left below.

 The rest of the above page covers the quilt and preparing for the baby. I also put a bit of material from the quilt in there.

Finally, I added a spread about mum's visit and our trips out. Again, I love the way the colours work together and I had the chance to use some new cardstock.

The next month may be a little longer in the making but I will be keeping up to it at some point.

Project Life: April

 I'm sooo excited about this project this month. It took me a while to get around to it because I knew what I wanted to do but wasn't sure how to make it work. Yesterday was Nico's day off and he was kind enough to help me.

One of the reasons I really wanted a tablet was to jump on the instagram bandwagon. I knew I would use the opportunity to take more photos and I loved some of the effects I have seen others use.

This month I took advantage of the instagram format to put together a square collage you can see above and below. On the left I used the usual format with the calendar and lots of journaling. 

For the collage I grouped the photos into similar themed rows (knitting, baking, Dad's visit...). Then I got creative with some of my other crafting resources. I used the letter stickers and washy tape to complete the front and another new stamp to complete the back.

I don't plan to do this every time but I do love the effect and plan to incorporate more square photos into future spreads.

Project Life - March

This month there is nothing really new in the spreads. I still used the rounded corners, the new kit and the new stamps and I'm pleased with this month's spread too.

A lot happened this month so the spreads are quite photo heavy which I like. I also managed to get more of Nico in there which is important to me too.

I really love this new monthly approach to the project. It's more intensive but it means I can theme the pages better, for example having all my crafting together as you can see above.

Project Life: February

 It took me a while to put this month's spread together but I am still really enjoying the monthly spreads rather than weekly.  It gives me more time to be creative and really tell the stories that happened that month.

 Some of the techniques I kept the same such as the monthly review typed journalling and some different sized inserts.  Each page really tells a different story from the month and I like that.

 I also tried some new things this month - my stamps from Elise's online shop arrived so I went a little bit crazy with those but I love the effect and am really looking forward to using the rest over the next months.  I also remembered that I ordered her calendar which can be incorporated into Project Life and enjoyed using that too.

I managed to get more pictures of Nico in there this month and am planning on keeping that up.  I am also still enjoying playing with colours and I love the coral kit.  Looking forward to journalling what this month brings!

Project Life - January

Here it is!  The first month of the new Project Life.  I am so excited about this project again.  This month I have got some new techniques going on and I am soo pleased with the spread for January.

First off I love the colour scheme in the coral kit.  Waiting and putting a spread together at the end of month was so much more relaxed and productive.  It's no longer about quantity - cramming in enough journalling or photos to fill two pages - but quality and it works much better.

I used some different inserts for the spread and will be continuing to do that as it allows me to play with the photo sizes and change the look of the spreads from month to month.

I also used the 'month in review' card which was a free dowload from the Project Life Course I took last year.  I really like the effect of having some typed journalling in there as well as the handwritten words.

Talking about journalling, it felt much less forced this month and the overall effect is much more balanced.

I finally figured out how to use some of my new kit - the corner cutter.  I love the rounded corners on the photos - it ties them into the cards better and makes it all look a little more professional.

Also, using a new kit was very refreshing.  I found card stock which tied into my life and projects really well that were missing from the kits I used up until now.

I'm really looking forward to continuing this project next month.  My target is to get pictures of Nico in there - this is to be a project about our family this year so I want all of us to be in there.

Project Life - Front Page

I was soo ready to get cracking on this new Project Life album for 2014.  I stocked up on kits over Christmas and I love the new coral kit.  The colours are vibrant yet calming.

Each kit provides its own recommended first page and I really love using them as recommended.  This one worked especially well for me and this time I really personalised it with our name and the year - making my first use of stamps in the project.

I'm really looking forward to trying new things in this album - the break has done me good.

Project Life

It's been a while as I have been playing catch up following the holidays but my 2013 album is now officially finished. 

Unfortunately I hardly took any photos in the penultimate week of the year so I ended up printing out lots from our week in England and filling both weeks with that.  There's a little bit of journalling and a brief look back.

I am so excited to be carrying this project on into 2014 but I have decided to make some changes.  The big change for me will be to update every month instead of week.  It's just a fact that some weeks are quieter around here and I don't like the look of too much journalling so I hope to give myself the space to be more creative with the spreads and to really produce something that I will enjoy looking back on.

Also, this year will be much more about us as a family - I want to get more of Nico and Pete in there and obviously the baby when it arrives.

So here is to a fantastic new year - look out for the first 2014 Project Life post from me in early February.

Project Life - Week 37

This week was a nice mix of photos and journalling.  It was a busy week with Mum and Doug's visit so there is a lot in there.  I like that the colours match even though they are not very Christmassy.  Overall I am more pleased with this week's spread.

Project Life - Week 36

Another quiet week on the photo front as you can see from all the journalling.  Luckily there was plenty to write about in this busy week.  I tried to tie the colours in but I am looking forward to using a new kit in the new year as the Christmas reds don't always work well with the lovely hot pinks in this kit.

Looking forward to having more photos next week and then it's not long until I start a new 2014 album.  I started this album when I turned 28 and planned to continue it for a year but it is getting quite packed and I think the new year will be a good crossover point.