Project Life 2015 Plans

I have seen a lot of the blogs that I follow (religiously!) posting lately about their 2015 Project Life plans, which has got me thinking about my own plans of how I want to tackle my Project Life album this year. So here goes: 

Weekly vs. Monthly

I did a weekly album in 2012 for my first year. Since David was born in December of 2011, it was a great way to document his first year and I really, really, REALLY appreciate having details of watching him grow week by week. It is also what really made me fall in love the Project Life documenting process. But I have no idea how I actually finished that album, especially with a newborn in tow! I also missed having some traditional layouts and did not feel the PL album was the place to house these, like a lot of others do. 

So in 2013, I switched to a monthly format and loved it! It is not overwhelming trying to complete, and I still get some of those details documented in at least a snapshot format. I am getting photos of our life in an album that I never would have scrapped before, or even if I wanted to do a traditional layout for, may have never found the time to. I continued this in 2014, though I am still working on getting that year together. What I find missing from this format is that I go back and try and complete these later. I can remember some of the who, what, when, where, why details, but what I can’t remember is the cute things David said, or what he is currently learning, or what struggles and joys we went through during that month. I know when I look back on these, I will appreciate the photos but will miss the little details. 

So my plan for 2015 is to continue with the monthly format, adding inserts as needed, and make sure to journal stories as soon as they pop in my head. My phone is pretty much always with me, so I am still trying to find a good app that encompasses what I need. Right now, I am using Momento, but the jury is still out on what will work best for me. 

Documenting

Along the documenting lines, I want to get not only more David stories, but more extended family stories, and more current events. I feel like I miss a lot of what is going on outside our home as well as what is currently happening inside our home if I don’t have it in photos. I made a playlist on my new iPhone a couple of weeks ago of my top 50 all-time favorite songs and I thought how cool would this be to include that list in this month’s layout? I bet if I look back in 10 years, my tip 50 might change. I remember those lists my sister and I used to make as kids about who we had a crush on, who our favorite bad was, our favorite food, etc. We would hide them in our closet with a “Don’t Open for 20 Years” warning on the envelope. Of course, we always opened them a year after we wrote them and laughed at how much had changed in that time. I want more of that kind of nostalgia in my album, for our whole family.

I am using the monthly round ups as a basis but have been doing some searching for other prompts lately. My favorites have included documenting current events in the news and ones that ask about each of our favorites.   

Where Does the Time Go?

Part of my issue with my hobby is that I leave so much unfinished. I feel like I need to have dedicated, like a crop, to get away and really hunker down to get stuff done. But the truth is, I got my 2012 album done, documenting every week of that year, with only one or two crops that year. So how did I do that? It's much simpler than I make it out to be once I really think about how I got away with that. I never had a while chunk of time to sit down and do much of anything, with a newborn/infant, a hubby, a full-time job, and a household to run. So I made my time work for me whenever I could. That may have meant I only got 10-15 minutes a day or even 10-15 minutes in a week, but I made sure to be aware of opportunities to get on the computer or site at the desk for a few minutes after David went to bed, or a few minutes before I went to bed myself. I need to remember in the times when I am sitting around watching TV or playing games on my phone, that it wouldn't be that hard to re-focus some of that time toward my hobby. Scrapbooking brings me lots of joy and I need to remember that more often and make time for it, even if it is for only 15 minutes.

Workspace

Part of my struggle was a lack of workspace in our new home. Not so new anymore since we have been here two years. And not for lack of space, I have my own craft room, after all. But for lack of communal space, I don't often get into my craft room, because David gets too bored or there is way too much in there for him to hurt himself on. So I rarely ever go in there. I am looking forward to the day WAY down the line when I can actually get in there on a regular basis. So in the meantime, what do I do? Hubby and I started brainstorming about how we could outfit a little space in our living room. So far, nothing has been ideal, but we came up with a temporary solution at least. We put the leaf in our dining table to extend it and set up a large mat for me to work on at one end of the table. My own little space that will allow me to craft or be on the computer and still be around and involved with the family.

My Approach

I have approached PL the same way since I started and it definitely works for me. I am not a fan of my writing, so I already know I want typed out journaling cards. Digi kits have been my go to, but I also love the aesthetic appeal of the dimensional elements. I am also pretty handy and quick with Photoshop. Not to mention, I am VERY fickle and change my mind a lot, so the flexibility of digi kits of finding what cards work with that layout, has been a huge plus for me.  So my process of getting a layout done has always consisted of the same steps. I will go through the steps of how I get it all done in a later post. But for now, my 15 minutes are up!