My Mega Catch Up Plan for Project Life

Hello everyone. In January, I started a mega project and I wanted to share with you my process. I've known Project Life since 2009 but felt in love with it all over again in 2019. Now, when we're in the third month of 2022, I can say, without a doubt, that I'm madly in love with this memory keeping project, that I decided to let go of all my other memory keeping projects and now I put most of my energy and time into catching up of years of unfinished project life albums. 

The idea behind this mega project came after YEARS of unfinished Project Life albums. I love Project Life so so so so much but never had finished an album. So 2022 was about to come and just before the end of 2021, I decided to try to finish as many albums as I possibly can through 2022. Three months have passed and I have a lot of insights about the process. I hope it is okay to share it here with you.

I start my weekly spreads with making 50 journaling cards. Why 50? Because I don't have time to make 1-2 journaling cards at a time. I'd rather cut them in advance and stamp them all with my date/ journaling stamps all at once. It is way easier to make 50 at once. I usually do it while watching Youtube videos about project life :) so much fun that way!

After finishing cutting and stamping the journaling cards, I put them aside and go through my stash of 4X6 cards. I cut these cards in advance from time to time from my stash of 12X12 pattern papers. I don't buy 4X6 (or 3X4) cards, I have such a big collection of pattern papers, I'd rather use what I already have. I store the 3X4 and 4X6 papers I've cut to size in a scrapbook.com container. It is very helpful. When the container gets empty, I go ahead and cut more papers from my stash.

After I put the 3X4 journaling cards and 4X6 pattern cards in their pockets, I go ahead and check my stash for embellishment. I don't have stickers left in my stash and I don't plan on buying new ones. I use what I have in my stash, mostly die cuts and stamps. I use the die cuts to make cards that have paper clusters on top of them (love that technique) and I use my stamps collection to create 3X4 cards and it is so much fun using what you already have in hand.

After finishing embellishments and journaling, I go ahead and open google photos and download the pictures of the weeks I'm working on. I usually work on a few weeks together and also on 3 albums at a time, but sometimes I work on 5-6 albums at a time, it depends.

I download all the pictures, edit them really quick with Photoshop (I'm a graphic designer in my old profession so it goes on really fast to edit them with a filter I created as an Action on Photoshop.) I just make sure the light is bright and everything looks okay. Sometimes I fix small imperfections but most of the time, I don't.

Then, I send all the pictures through Whatsapp Web from my computer to my local shop's Whatsapp and they print my pictures in one hour. I usually print many pictures at once (50 is the least amount I print in one time). I then pick the pictures up from my shop when I'm doing errands, usually on Friday morning. I don't even need to look for a parking lot, I just call them and they come out of the shop and give me my printed pictures in a well-secured envelope. I have a subscription there, I pay for 400 pictures around 120 US Dollars (400 NIS) and I get 500 pictures I can print whenever I want (I don't have a time limit, I can use it for years until it is finished). I prefer that way over home printing, even though I have 2 printers at home for photos (epson and fujifilm). I love the quality of the photo lab and the fact that I can just send them all the edited pictures at once through my computer (I'm not a smart-phone person, always prefer the computer over my phone). Sometimes, I use my Fujifilm Instax share SP-3 for printing polaroid pictures and add them to my 3X4 (they fit!) or 4X6 pattern cards. They add such a lovely texture to the layouts.

When the pictures are ready, I put them in pockets depending on the year they are. I have 3 albums per a year- One for myself (documenting my life as a mom, an artist and a university student), one for my son (8.5 y) and one for my daughter (4.5 y). I work on all albums at once. I put the pictures while having the google photos app over, just making sure the pictures are put inside the right week.

After all pockets are filled with cards and pictures, I look at the entire layout and try to figure out what is missing. Usually I have a stamp on top of a white cardstock and then cut it down to square or circle using a punch. It is so easy and the result is always clean and beautiful.

I always start with stories and always end with stories- when I go through the completed weekly layouts, I always think of what is missing- Is there another story to tell or another cute memory to capture? I have a whatsapp group with myself for Project Life and I write there specific memories throughout the week. That is the time for me to go through the whatsapp group and see that I have everything inside. My kids are at that age when they say hilarious things. I try to capture them all, but it is okay if I don't. At least I try.

I hope you enjoyed reading my process. I have started a new series on my Youtube channel, called "How to catch up on years of project life". Check out the link below-

http://www.youtube.com/reutdominits


Thanks for reading!

Reut

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