4 Years of Project Life 365 {A Look Back & A Look Forward}

To See all of my blog posts on PROJECT LIFE go here.

I typically publish a new layout on Sundays.

LOOKING BACK at my past FOUR years of Project Life albums:

First I should note that all albums are full of photos - one+ for everyday of the year. While I didn't take a photo every single day, I have more than 365 photo included. This year I am determined & committed to take at least one meaningful photo (that I would want to use in my album) EVERYDAY! For me this is a 365 Photo project AND a way to document our lives.

2010 - All photos entered into the album, very few journaling cards complete - no memorabilia added

2011 - 19 Layouts Complete - surprisingly - including bits of memorabilia.

2012 - 18 Layouts complete by year's end; now 21 + 5 or so more than half way finished layouts (I thought for sure I had more layouts in 2012 than 2011, but I was wrong.)

2013 - 1 layout complete! HURRAY! I'll share that next week sometime between Sunday & Tuesday

Today for Project Life Tuesday, I'll share some layouts that I have recently completed for 2012.

I am also going to personalize my title page this year and I want to do a wrap up spread for 2012, but that is low on my priority list so it may not get done.

To stay accountable I am going to blog about my pages, even though I find it tedious to do each week. What I am changing is the detail I share. It will be one simple photo of the whole spread and that's it.

Not being able to print photos easily can make a 365 project really difficult to keep up with. I had that problem while living in China. I would wait until I had a 100 prints so I could get free delivery. That delivery, however, was a little inconsistent. All this meant, updating my album weekly was near impossible. I tried printing out photos in B&W on normal paper and slipping them into my pockets for a few weeks. It was a great idea, but works best as a temporary fix rather than a weekly habit.

I am starting this year off by printing each weeks photos immediately (once a week) and picking up at Costco. So far, so good. I also plan to finish each layout that week no matter what. For me, it will be the only way I can truly do this project the way I want.

There is something to be said for journaling when the moments are fresh in your mind.

Also keeping it simple - no pressure to do inserts and include every photo. That doesn't mean I won't include extra photos, & inserts but I'm trying to relieve the internal pressure I put on myself so that I can keep moving on this project and meet my weekly deadlines.

I like this project as a 365 Photo A Day project, so I am challenging myself this year to come up with compelling topics to photograph even on the days when nothing is inspiring me to pick up my camera. My guiding force on these days will be my word GRATITUDE. So far, it is working well.

In fact I have completed 2013 Project Life 365 Week 1 already. I will share it here on the blog sometime between Sunday & Tuesday, so please check back.

Oh and I have decided to throw a HUGE celebration once I reach 26 weeks straight of completing Project Life layouts. That is exactly half-way through the year and more layouts that I have ever managed complete in the past three years of this project.

If you have never heard of Project Life and want to learn more about it, go here to Becky's blog or here to Amazon where you can buy all needed supplies to get started.

Some new products are now available on Amazon:

Project Life Core Kit - Olive Edition (so pretty!)

EDITED TO ADD this link below JUST RELEASED TODAY at Amazon (1/9):

Project Life Core Kit - Seafoam Edition (I love its fresh crisp look; designed by Elise Blaha Cripe whose blog I've recently started reading - good stuff!)

 

Here are some old favorites too:

Project Life Core Kit - Clementine Edition (this is one of the kits that I use - it's my fav, not counting the latest ones anounced this week that are not yet available)

Project Life Core Kit - Cherry Edition (I used this during my first year of Project Life in 2010. They've recently brought it back from being out of print.)

Project Life Core Kit - Amber Edition (this is the other kit that I use)

I will need to add to my collection eventually. I'm shopping the new collections showcased today on Becky's blog. I'm sure by the time they are released in Spring, I'll be ready to add more supplies to my PL stash. As you may have guessed I am not averse to mixing and matching my kits!

Oh, before you go, link me to your Project Life layouts on your blog, even if they aren't totally current. If you have a Project Life category on your blog, link me to that! I love the inspiration.

Now back to watching the Season 3 Premiere of Downton Abby. We've hooked up my husband's trusty laptop to the TV and are streaming it from PBS.org. Technology is amazing, isn't it? Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

I'm linking up at The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday. To See all of my blog posts on PROJECT LIFE go here.