Photo Finish

Recently, I had an epiphany... okay, another epiphany!  I tend to have these often. 

When the kids were younger, I had wonderful intentions of creating individual scrapbooks of all their momentous occasions. I also wanted to create a family vacation scrapbook. With this plan in mind, I would print duplicates of pictures (yes, I print pictures) so I could make sure each child would have their "events" documented.  

A few weeks ago I realized now that they are about to turn 11 & 8 that I would not be able to make these individual scrapbooks a reality. I don't have the time although I admit, sadly, I probably do have the supplies. Even though the "dream" of individual scrapbooks dimmed with time, my purchasing of scrapbook supplies did not.

I've decided to change the style of my scrapbooking to Project Life. Basically, over a two page scrapbook spread you document the events of a whole week using photos and journaling cards. I've "tested" this style in the past and I find it more doable. What make this style nice is that if there is a special event like a birthday or vacation I can choose to scrapbook more than two pages. 

Knowing I would be following this plan, I realized the amount of duplicate photos I had in my organized photo chaos was overwhelming. In order to start this new project, I needed to put my photos in chronological order and weed out the duplicates. Behold the mess you see above! Now don't worry, I didn't waste trees and toss the extra photos. I have them set aside for the kids to go through and make their own scrapbooks during their summer vacation. 

The above photo containers are filled with photos in chronological order starting with January 2006. I have them going from most recent to latest so I can work on them in either order. 

These smaller bins hold the most recent photos so that I can experience the accomplishment of completing some more  recent events. Also, I have been taken photos with the Project Life format in mind so these will go a little more quickly than the older photos.

One major plus from this whole photo reorganization, which took almost a week,  was I went through a few drawers looking for extra pictures put in "incorrect" places. There it was right in the middle of the drawer under a few layers of "stuff" the Cricut Straight from the Nest cartridge I misplaced quite a few months ago. Now if only I could find my engagement/wedding ring that I "misplaced" almost 2 years ago. The finding of this cartridge has renewed my hope in the possibility that some day my ring will be found. 

Project Life Begins

Scrapbooking has begun again here at the Wessel home.

I opened the packet of Project Life materials and started by putting together the happenings of last week's Winter Break. It was a little difficult. There is a limit of how many pictures you can use and then there is the "limit" of how the pages are set up for vertical and horizontal pictures. Also, my digital photos are not the typical 4x6 size they are a little smaller so I had to make up for that "lost" space. The nice thing is I am able to use the paper and embellishments I am already well supplied with. My lack of scrapbooking these last few years sadly didn't stop my purchasing of materials when my "creative effort" was on hiatus.

Doing this layout will make me more deliberate with my photo taking. I will definitely be doing an equal amount of vertical & horizontal photos - I've noticed I like to take most pictures horizontally. Also, I will take more day to day photos too.

The best part is that I was able to get it all completed, journaling included, in one day.

I do plan on working forward and backward at the same time.....should be interesting but it has to get done. Glad to be back in the groove.

Project Life

I've really missed scrapbooking. With all my craft projects, it has taken the back burner but is always in the back of my mind. I love the premise of documenting the kids lives. Maybe it is a result or should I say "scarring" of having so few pages in my family album - love you mom!!!

Lately, I've seen a new way of scrapbooking called Project Life. Basically the ideas is scrapping each week on a two page format. What drew me to it was how it simplifies scrapbooking. It isn't necessary to take a slew of pictures at an event unless you want to do a two page format of that event - like a birthday or vacation. Another plus about it is that I can still use the paper and embellishments that I already have in abundance. The thing that has always tripped me up with traditional scrapbooking wasn't making the layout but taking the time to journal. I could never keep it simple. Project Life has you journaling on cards the size of a baseball card so getting a full layout done can be accomplished. Yesterday I downloaded to order the pictures I have taken since the first of the year. Picked them up today, so some time this week Project Life will begin. I'll post what it looks like after I get a few layouts done. I am excited to get back into scrapbooking!!!