2013 Project Life 365: Week 3 {Why do I love this project?}

Another week and I still love this project! I have read quite a few blogs recently that declare their love for this project each and every week.

But why do we love this project?

I think it is because it gives us an excuse for playing with and spending time with our photos & memories each & every week! It breaks it up into small digestible bites and pieces that can be finished in a short period of time which allows us to feel a sense of accomplishment with a small amount of effort & time.

I'd love to hear why you love this project. Tell me in the comments.

This week I used a lot of the homemade stamps I talked about in last week's Project Life post.

After I finished it, I still needed to add an insert to include the invitation I made for my son's 8th Birthday Party (a post coming soon with more details - it is one of my 24 Projects in 12).

It made more sense then to change out the photo of the invitation in process (bottom right photo of left side of layout) for a different photo. I chose to add the one of my son below since I love how he is so intently concentating on getting his homework done.

This is actually two photos one atop the other.

I had been having difficulty fitting all the photos I wanted into my layout, so I ended up cutting my son out of one photo and placing it on top of a photo of his homework assignment (the colorful map).

I think it turned out kind of cool. He looks almost super-imposed over the map. It helps that the photo of him was blurry to begin with. That makes it kind of pop off the page.

I thought the photo of the invitations in process made more sense above the actual finished invitation. That background paper is made from a pattern of one of the stamps I made. Go to this post to read more about the ten craft foam stamps I made (Super Fun & Super Easy) and to see the lotus root stamp that I used. I'm not sure I love how the paper turned out. But I'm glad I've started to experiment. I envision making a lovely pattern with the lotus root stamps. I'm sure I'll find something I like eventually. 

Here is the other side of the insert with the invitation. I printed out entries from my Oh Life account. (Oh Life is a free service you sign up for. They send you an automated email once a day and you email back anything you'd like to remember about the day. SIMPLE!) This is the first time I have used any of my entries and I've been keeping an Oh Life journal (of sorts) since May 2011. I plan to do it more often since it was so easy to do.

The row of cameras are also another stamp that I made. Surprised?! Ha! Again, I don't love how they turned out. A little too messy. And I think I would have liked them in black or grey. 
Here is a journaling card I made from a photo I took of footprints in the sand. It didn't turn out as good as I thought it would. You can't tell from this photo, but the writing is actually very difficult to read atop the footprints. (Much like the writing over the Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches.) I may try it again and lighten the details of the photo. I also want to re-write the journaling since I think it looks too messy - but that is another story!! I rarely re-do things so I may not get around to it, but I sure am tempted because I was so excited about this idea.

Here is a Project Life Core Kit - Clementine Edition journaling card. I added a "coffee cup to-go" image from another one of those stamps I made that I keep mentioning. Again I wish I could position the writing differently than I did, but I don't want to waste my journaling cards, and the sentiment is exactly right, so I will leave this one.

Another card that uses another one of my new homemade stamps. This is a starburst stamp the same size as a 3" x 4" Journaling Card with Grid Design. I was inspired by an image in the Seafoam Core Kit.  I hope to try it again in a different color. I'm not sure I love it in black. I had fun with this card by messing around with my son's water colors and adding a little circle sticker in the center.

EDITED TO ADD: This journaling card. I don't know how I missed including this one when I originally published this post. I love creating stuff like this with my kids. So fun!

And the last card I will highlight uses yet another stamp that I made. Notice the city skyline at the bottom of the card. I drew the moon on after the fact and colored in the windows and moon using more of my son's water colors. 

I had a more difficult time this week finishing up my layout. I am going to try and finish it a little earlier in the week this time. We have a busy weekend ahead and I'm afraid if I don't do it by Friday, it isn't going to get done. I'm still finding my rhythm this year.

I also want to post about my Project Life photo workflow, but again that will have to wait for another week.

I have a Ninjago mini-fig cake to make, Ninjago cupcakes and a party to finalize. So lots more fun stuff to share on the blog coming up soon but also many busy days ahead!

EDITED TO ADD: If you would like to see how I made the stamps in my Project Life layout this week, please visit this post here.

I'm linking up at The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday. Don't know what Project Life is? Go to Becky's blog for more information.

EDITED TO ADD: And a fun Proeject Life freebie card I found here. It's a 5 Faves Right Now card. A great addition to any Project Life layout.

Comments

[Rebekah]

Fun, fun, fun! I'm loving it too and loving digital even more now! It's allowing me to be so much more creative with my photo use and Instagrams which I've gotten into taking more and more of! Love your starburst and cityscape! I'm also working on finishing up 2012 PL and I'm just loving revisiting all the everyday moments that we captured!! A summer day of thunderstorms, garden bounty, family trips, etc!

[Sue]

Your pages are so creative and I love all the handmade touches you include! To answer your question - I love PL because it allows me to capture our week in very little time. This is the ONLY scrapbooking I do and I am so glad that the little things that happen every day are being recorded for posterity.

[sew~amy]

I Love PL because I've always loved taking photos and documenting life. I had my photos in boxes and documented life in a journal. Now I can put them together. Easy Peasy and quick! Regular scarp-booking seemed too time consuming and too much work so I never tried it. When I saw PL for the first time... It was like BingO, that's it!

[Andrea]

Wow! All your homemade stamps are so neat. You used them well on your pages too. Great week!

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thank you for the compliment. And thanks for answering. I love hearing what other people enjoy.

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

That is so awesome you are able to include so much more in your album using digi. I need to finish up my 2012 as well - I just have not had the time recently. Soon! I plan to do it soon! :)

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

That's awesome! Have you gotten a lot of old photos in albums now?

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Thanks so much, Andrea. I had so much fun making them. If I could only find the time to make a few more.

[eek!]

Great stamps! You are inspiring me to get mine out and use them more. I am super impressed that you made them yourself!

I love this project because I love the simplicity of the whole thing. And you can make it as complicated or easy as you want it to be.

[Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie]

Stamps are definitely fun. I couldnt believe how simple easy they were to make and the resulting image was much nicer than I expected.

[Cerise]

I just love how artistic your pages are. They really look wonderful...love all the handmade stamps. I love that PL forces me to print my pictures...they were just sitting on my computer otherwise.

[Heather]

I love how you are using your homemade stamps! The starburst one is absolutely amazing - definitely inspiring!

[Prentzess]

Wow! So simple and so customized. But best of all, so inexpensive! Thanks for the inspiration!