Thoughts on Project Life Design
I’ve spent a lot of time stalking Ali Edward’s Project Life Albums, and others I like (see new Project Life category links in the sidebar.)
I tried to look at the things about those pages that make them stand out to me, in case I choose to aim for beautiful (sometimes just getting it done has to be enough!)
- Compelling Photos that draw the eye in, lots of color, or balanced color on the page
- Inserts of life “stuff” mixed in (wrappers, receipts), instead of all journaling cards/ and photos instead of cards at times.
- Only use colors and style pre-formatted cards that coordinate (do not use too many journaling cards on one page–boring/cluttered)
- Use Overlays/Partial pages to extend the story (also breaks up the linear format some)
- Do not use redundant photos, unless baby photos…can’t get enough of the baby faces in my albums!
- Not a lot of pastels (unless baby photos, the pages just seem to look washed out with too much pastel to me).
- Insert Long Journaling Inserts with typewriten stories/various authors for journaling
- Make the Photographed subjects shine…do a mix of full body and close up shots
- Use brightly processed photos…dull pages make, well, dull pages
- Use typewriter on tabs, cool effect (tabs also help indicate where to grab a short page to turn)
- Lines/grids around journaling (Ali Edward’s, Designer Digitals + PSE)
- Instax camera, still not sure how much I like this, but unique. I’m matting my 3.5X5 pre-printed photos for this same effect.
- My observation, watching my guys look at an album. Unless their is journaling ON the photos, they don’t like to dig for the information. They will just ask me instead. So…I’m using label stickers on top of the transparencies a lot. I’ll insert a photo here soon to show this.
I recommend going to the Project Life Gallery (requires free membership) to see how others are approaching this style, and see what stands out to you and what you don’t care for as much visually. I may just decide that the “style” isn’t as important as the story, or getting it done, which is fine. But, it’s fun to see other’s work and get ideas.
I have bought both kits, and am not sure how I will use them , but felt the “Amber” edition would work great with my daughter and the “Turquise”, more graphic reminded me more of my sons. I may mix and match the sets, using them both for family albums. That is the current plan. We’ll see how that idea materializes. Anyway, I could not decide, kept going back and forth, and finally decided the page protectors and journaling inserts were worth the cost of the books and just ordered them both. I may regret that, but that’s what I did. I just really wanted to get started and can see this new approach propelling me forward in a much needed way with the family albums.
SO FAR:
Last week, I used divided We R Memory Keepers page protectors to finish my “happy Mom book” of duplicates (pics of that to come). I have a FULL (overflowing) album totally together in just a few days, ready for finishing touches with my Cricut or journaling or titles! I’ll work on the finishing details as time allows. But, for now, the photos clutter is GONE! Yay!
Earlier this week, I took all my personal 38-year-old preschool pics out of the OLD acidic magnetic pages and put them in the 4X4 divided We R Memory keepers page protectors. I made a journaling tasb to slide between the ones I wanted to journal about. It’s simple, but the photos are somewhat organized and safe. I may go back and work with it some more in years to come to make it beautiful, but as long asall this is taking even with this level of simplicity, I’m just glad for progress and a few notes on the photos for now.
This week, I have a shoe-box full of photos to decide how to archive of my children’s toddler photos (photos soon to come). I hope to knock that out in some form, even if it’s just the beginnings of organization, grouping them in divided page protectors. I have done some of these photos in their own books, but need to go through and figure out what I’ve scrapped and what I still need to scrap. Most of those are film photos, so I need to do some major organization/deciding making. AFTER I get that done, I’ll consider some Project Life.
That’s the way I’m rolling. Get organized, reward myself! Go me!
SVG Sets
So, as you know, I do a lot of cutting with my Cricut + Sure Cuts a Lot program.
I cut SVG files, but they are hard to find in sets and not available in stores. I found a couple companies online and one is having a sale today: Lettering Delights (see sidebar for link).
Here are two of my favorite sets for spring they have on sale (were $5, now $2) called “Spring is Bliss” and “Peeps”. I don’t really enjoy intricate paper piecing for cuts as in “Peeps”, but I think it would look totally adorable as a print N cut. LOVE these colors!
I also use a lot of their $1 fonts and their free fonts–their prices are really cheap compared to some font sites which charge hundreds of dollars for one font. Hope this helps!
Project Life is Here!
My “big white boxes” arrived in the mail today. I am so excited. My cousin, Rhonda, was here. We unpacked them together. So fun to have someone to share my happy moment! She even took my picture…
I have pulled out the designated “first” and “last” cards to place. Not sure if I’ll leave them how I’ve got them, but at least I won’t use them elsewhere until I know. All the little boxes the cards came in or cute, I really needed them more visually accessible, so I used the first first page protectors of my books to carefully stick the cards and stickers. After I get familiar with the content, I may be able to pile them.
I LOVE the colors of the Turquoise kit.
I also like the Amber kit once it’s together when I’ve seen it used online, but all together, the various shades of green/turquise are throwing me off. I found the title and end pages tricky. Perhaps once the colors are spread throughout the album, it will help spread out the hues where they don’t conflict as much as they do back to back.
I can’t wait to start on this project, though I’m not positively absolute as to my intentions.
Options:
- do older photos I do NOT want to put tape on
- do the amber for my daughter and the turqouise for my sons
- mix and match them to catch up family photos for the last few years
- wait until I’m inspired
In any case, I’m way thankful to Becky Higgins for this novel approach, hybrid method, and genius packaging. She rocks. This is one of those ideas I thought of five years ago– wish I’d had her business sense to pull together. Why don’t I think like a business person? I have no idea how Becky pulls it all together, but she does it well.
As a bonus, this was in my package:
Is it…
- a secret message from Becky Higgins to let me know my order is free, if only I discover this “golden ticket” within the shipment?
- Becky Higgins had her hands full and was writing down a phone number when she dropped it into one of the many boxes going out. My giving her the number back will be life saving?
- a stock boy was keeping count of the number of these babies he’d boxed up?
Lol.
The Hub is taking me to Mexican, so all for now!
Free Label Shaped SVG Cutting Files for Cutting Machines
I just posted some free label svgs I made up for my use combining basic patterns. Enjoy!
Click HERE for files.
You have permission to use these for personal use or in crafting projects you sell. You may not share, transfer, sell, or duplicate as your own work.
If you do not have software for cutting with a Cricut, better buy now as there is a lawsuit against the company which could potentially render the software unavailable for the Cricut cutting machine. Click “Sure Cuts A Lot” button on sidebar for more info.
Here are some rounded rectangle SVGs for Ali’s journaling overlays if anyone needs them. I also made a half size for the Project Life bulk in case you want to make your own rounded rectangles. I don’t have my Project Life books from the mail yet, so cut one and make sure it fits your spot before cutting a thousand. 🙂
Here’s the link if you can use the files.
Enjoy!
PS:
If you don’t have SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot) and want it, better grab it while it’s available. There is currently a lawsuit going on that may make it obsolete
for the Cricut. We’ll know within the next few weeks. What we do know if that the “Make the Cut” a similar second party software already got hit with it about 10 days ago, and support for the cricut is no longer offeredon their website.) Best money I’ve ever spent on a crafting supply if you enjoy cutting. Love cutting the fonts I like and use, mats for cards, embies, jpgs for the kid’s class posters.
Scrapbooking “Project Life” Style
I found this album at a yard sale last spring. $10 for the whole kit!
To view photo details, click the photo of interest.
I put these pages together in just one focused week using the “Project Life” format. My scrapbooking life was changed when I found divided page protectors last week. These are ideal for photos you don’t want to tape. We R Memory Keepers is the thickest, though I ordered a few from American Crafts as well. RitzCamera was the cheapest place I’ve found them. With a $100 order, you get free shipping. My scrapgroup went together to get some things we all wanted there to enjoy the free shipping.
I used supplies I already had for this book, and plan to morph this “style” to get some past years scrapbooks together quickly without feeling so overwhelmed with the traditional “full page layout” approach. I am also ordering both of the Becky Higgins sets, feeling this style really works for me at this stage in the game. Keeping up with three kids albums, family vacation albums, and cards for family members isn’t easy, so I wanted ways to simplify my process in ways I could still enjoy things.
I had one heck of a mess in my guest room, but it was only for one week!
All of the digital pages were already done and printed, but no HOME. Now, they do! Most of the photos were extras from my kids books I’d thrown in a pile to save. I love being able to mix page sizes! That totally freed me up. Special thanks to Ali Edwards for that idea. It really breaks up “grid” books to keep them from seeing “too” linear. Yet, I still love the graphic/linear style best throughout an album.
My “Project Life” kits are coming Friday, they say. I think they may hold PAST photos from some early marriage 4X6 film prints we have that I just wasn’t comfortable taping.
I can’t wait to clear some more piles this week! GET ‘R DONE!
I got away for a girl day. 
It was good. I loved going to scrapbook convention with all my “homies”, and especially my 12 yr old daughter’s excitement about going with me. My daughter and I did every possible “make and take”! I love the she was counting down the days to go with me. We went two years ago and just enjoyed spending the day together. You know if this country girl is willing to battle Louisville traffic on a day when they have the flea market, volleyball tournaments, and cheerleading convention…well, it must be fun. I spent my budget money at “Our Daily Bread” designs stamp company.
- Great company
- Great designs
- Great samples
- Allowed phtography for ideas
- Very cool make and take, free, with instruction from Angie, who does some of their “how to” videos on their blog site. She gave great tips and was mentally into what she was doing.
I bought a bird egg in the nest set, and a couple scripture sets. They are GORGEOUS. I will get to creating cards soon. But, this week, a break from cards to work on photos. After the convention we hit Cheesecake Factory, something my daughter was really looking forward to. I was really thankful to these ladies for agreeing to go there with us again. 
Cindy, Britany, Cathy, Theresa, Trish, Me, and Carmen 
This is my salmon dish at Cheesecake Factory. It was to die for. What’s your favorite dish? Unfortunately, I was too full for dessert. I need a new plan. Afterward, we headed to our second annual destination: Archiver’s at the mall. There, I was on the hunt for some divided page protectors. I bought several and am already ordering more of these. (The first at Archiver’s were $6/10. At RitzCamera.com, with free shipping, they are $4–free shipping with $1oo order. With our group placing an order together, that wasn’t too difficult to reach.) I made serious strides on my personal “mom” book this week. I had the entire album just about finished. All the pages are not 100%, but I have photos in page protectors to finish them up during crops. I think I can easily grab this book with some coordinating pictures. I am excited about moving FAST. I used mainly photos I’ve kept stuck here and there, seconds, wrong sized prints, tickets, flyers, happy cards…and now I’m going to work fast to get myself a “happy book” put together. It will not necessarily be sorted by person or date, but will be focused on whatever I have ready to stick in it in a way that is meaningful to me. I am not putting the book in order necessarily by event, though some pages are. I want to use various size page protectors to give the book some size variety. I am buying up page protectors left and right to have enough vertical and horizontal slots for photos. Thank you, Lord, for some vertical page protectors on the market …FINALLY! I researched Becky Higgin’s “Project Life” format extensively this week and am excited about it for various reasons.
- It does move quick!
- It will hold all my mementos, ticket stubs, and notes without destructive tape.
- There is minimal paper, tape, gluing
I truly love it. Will likely order Have ordered an official two official kits. I’m enjoying ideas from the Project Life, Becky Higgins online gallery, Ali Edward’s blog, and a blog I found today called “Simply Autumn” with a style very similar to Ali’s. At Archiver’s, I also bought my first echo park kit: “For the Record“. Love the colors and style! I am incorporating many of these elements into my Project Life pages.
Project Life: Easiest Scrapbooking in the World
This method avoids the gluing and creativity often associated with traditional scrapbooking. You simply slide the photos into various 12X12″ sleeves which have been partitioned to hold various size folders as horizontol or vertical orientation, or even some which are mixed (thank you!)
These are the 4X6 duplicate photos I’m scrapbooking using the Project Life approach of divided page protectors. These particular photo protectors are NOT the protectors that come with the kit.
I put in all the photos that could go together in some sort of general order in the sleeves, then am going back to fill in titles or journaling as there is space. I’ll continue to work on this task as I have time and patience, so some pages are more bland than others. A work in progress.
In some cases, I used my nestabilities to tape (4 Months) on the photos if there was no space to journal. I also used sticky labels on TOP of the plastic page protectors.
I plan to also add a few page tabs to indicate the passing of the first year.
If you are doing Purpose Life and are posting your photos with titles were I can find you or are on the gallery at Project Life, chances are, I’ve been visiting you!
Cutting a Gift Box with My Cricut and SCAL
This is a box I made today for my Mom’s birthday gift (a calendar that highlighted pictures of the family members birthdays who are each month.) I looked all over town and couldn’t find a good box for it, so I decided to get on the ball.
My son came in the room as I was cutting pieces and said, “Mom, what are you doing?”
I said, “Well, I’m trying to make a box for Mamaw’s birthday give, but I’m doubting that I can do it at the moment.”
He said, “Well, I’m doubting you can do it either!”
LOL.
He said to me later, “Well, Mom, I guess you can do it! I was wrong!” He’s so funny.
The medallion on the center of the box is from JustRite Stamper’s round 2″ Birthday on “nestability” dies.
The box was made using Sure Cuts a Lot and my Cricut with an SVG cut file from SVGcuts.com (“Big Boutique Boxes”). So glad I was able to download and use it immediately for my wrapping project. The way she has the files organized to fit on the mat, each cut will cut part of the lip of the lid, and one side of the box. Keep that in mind when choosing paper. It helps to use coordinated paper. That’s why two sides of my box are in one color, and the other side is different. Cute, though!
Even though the cut file cuts the top and bottom of the box, be prepared to do some trimming. I don’t think anyone is going to assembled the lip and sides and get it an exact square!
It was a new experience for me to take on a “paper building” project , but I look forward to trying more things with my new 12X12″ Cricut Expression. It can handle bigger boxes and projects than my Personal sized Cricut could in the past.
This project was vastly easier with the use of a score board, which happened to be a JustRite Challenge for this week. I would not advise a box/bag project without the use of some sort of scoring tool. There are many types of scoring tools you can use.
This is my beautiful mom tonight at the restaurant, opening her gift. We had such a nice evening with family, food, and laughter.
Details:
Paper: Amanda Blu
Medallion: Nestabilities Dies/JustRite Stamps/MS Red Embossing Powder
Tape: Dot Runner (Elmer’s)
Challenge: JRC_046
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Using My Score Board for Card-Making
This fun and whimsical card is for my Mom’s birthday today.
I cut out a fun hot air balloon from the SVG files at LetteringDelights.com (see sidebar for link) using my Cricut and SCAL software.
I embossed a JustRight Birthday Sentiment on the balloon with green MS embossing power and a heat set gun.
Tthe JustRight Challenge inspired me to get out my scoreboard and get creative. I used a score board to emboss a dimensional line around the white edge of the card, to create some fun grass, to create texture on the basket of the balloon (sanding both), and finally, on the inside of the card to create dimensional lines on the mat–I loved how it all turned out!
Other details:
The white mat was made with Labels 1 Nestabilities dies. The corners were cut from cuttlebug dies. Gems were loose from my stash. Paper: Cor’dinations. The MS bow was created using a bow-easy type tool–makes bow-making much more successful for me!
Thanks for stopping by!
[Record Keeper] 