Project Life: The Back Story

In an attempt to appease (some) of my guilt, I have embarked on the 365+1 project for 2012. Basically, I have committed to taking a picture a day for a year.

Now that we have two children, I have noticed a dramatic decline in the number of times I reach for my camera to document the quickly changing development of my youngest child. Being the sixth of seven children, I have always resented the fact that there are so few pictures of me from my childhood. Vowing that of course I can do better than my parents (ha!), I needed an impetus to not only *take* more pictures, but actually *do* something with them. Thus the birth of this project.

Problem one addressed? Check. Now, what to do with all these photos?

I have discovered (late to the game again!) that Becky Higgins has developed a simple system to help with the odious task of the "do" part of the problem. She has developed a scrapbooking system called Project Life. It is a no pressure, make-it-what-you-wish documenting system that can help you keep track of life as it happens. It includes an album, pre-designed page protectors with pockets for 4x6 photos and journaling cards, and the actual journal cards, title cards and "decorative" elements of the album.

This is where I stumble.

I love to create, and have been an avid paper crafter for the past two years. However,  I have not developed my scrapbooking skills. I tend to get overwhelmed and dragged down by the little details, which has resulted in me not scrapbooking one image from my children's lives. Despicable? Yes. I want things to be perfect; a reflection of my style and an homage to my adorable children. How can I live up to the pressure? Self-inflicted, I know, but real to me and a huge barrier to completing a scrapbook.

As soon as I saw the Project Life kit, I automatically found myself wanting to customize it, and spent hours looking at how others have made theirs beautiful, simple and much, much, much more than I could ever hope to do in the few hours I might be able to find a week to put my project together. Never mind that it could become a monster project as I learn how to master Photoshop, Lightroom, become an expert photographer, digital designer *and* have an endless supply of cash to purchase all the tools that I want to embellish my project. Oh, and what about that personal photo printer? And a vintage typewriter. Yup, I wanted it all. Right. Now.

Enter common sense. (BB, of course!)

What did I hope to accomplish with this project?

Simple. Take pictures of my kids, and journal their stories.

So, my Project Life kit is on its way, pre-made journaling cards and all. Maybe I will get inspired (sucked in) and make some layouts myself. Maybe I will add a page here and there to catch a moment in our lives that goes beyond the photo a day parameter. Maybe I will become an expert digital designer in the process. Maybe I will get overwhelmed, but I will try and remember the point: Take pictures of my kids, and journal their stories.

(I should really print that out and put it up above my PL workstation. And embellish it. And make it really pretty. And blog about it. And start an Etsy shop so I can sell it.)

Now, for the blog.

Despite requests from friends and family, I have avoided starting a blog for the same reasons I don't scrapbook. I am not what I would call "A Writer", and of course, I want my blog to be simple, beautiful, inspiring and witty. Did you hear that crash in the background? That is the sound of me lowering my expectations. The point? I want to share my journey with PL with my friends and family. I suspect these people are not really concerned about the layout, design elements and writing. They just want to see pictures of my stinking cute kids. Hence, the blog.

I plan on updating it weekly with photos and some journaling. The bar is low here, people! I welcome your comments, and hope to connect (given my facebook-less status) with you, my friends and family.

[For those of you who are not aware why I am not on fb: In 2011, BB and I decided to unplug a little. We no longer have a cable tv subscription, and I deleted my fb account. Nothing like going cold turkey! So many more hours now in the week for Pinterest!]

Happy New Year!