A Day in the Life

I've been a scrapbooker going way back. For me, it's about preserving memories. I don't have my childhood photos, so I don't want that to happen to the little man. I want him to have a record of everything, whether or not as a teen he appreciates it right now.

The struggle I have right now is the lack of time to scrap. Pulling supplies, designing layouts, finding the right pictures-all this takes time. Now that my kiddo is a special Olympian, we are on the go a lot more. I tend to focus more on portable projects, like crocheting, that can come with me at practices and other events.

One of my scrapping idols has been Becky Higgins, going back to her days at Creating Keepsakes magazine. She's a very inspirational and creative scrapper, and while I'm not quite in her league, I enjoy her designs. Several years ago, she  came out with project life, which is a new way of scrapping.

I was excited to try it, but I struggled with it. The pockets and cards and pictures combo were all overwhelming to me. Too many decisions, not enough time. Not that long ago, she released an app for Project Life.

Game changer.

I can  now scrap on the go. I can scrap at practices, in real time. I can scrap in the pick up lane at school. It's super easy. There are limited selections for pages, which is exactly what I need. You can buy "card" sets, which add pop and flair to your pages. 

Most of all, I can do a page in a few minutes versus hours spent on layouts. Kiddo loves looking at what I've scrapped (even though he doesn't like his picture being taken), and I love sharing.

What's the story (morning glory)?

I have been a scrapbooker going back to 1997. My sister, the Princess, has amazingly intricate albums detailing her life up to age 14 (when I got married, I slowly transitioned to telling our story). Unfortunately for the Little Man, he does not have that.
Yes, I scrap still. I don't have the time to put in all the bells and whistles in his album. It breaks my heart that this is the case, but it's the truth. Actually I have the time, it's a lack of focus and patience.
My main driving force behind scrapping has always been telling the story. I am a writer, first and foremost. It's all about the 5 w's-who, what, where, why & how-in that picture. I have albums of old family photos and have no clue who any of these people are! Since my Grama passed away, these are just pictures. Even looking at photo albums from my childhood-there are pictures that I have no clue about why that picture was taken.
Going way back, I've been a huge Becky Higgins fan. In the scrapbook world, she is a rock star. Her work for Creating Keepsakes was super motivating, and inspired me to plan my pages better. I also love her philosophy of cultivating a good life, and she too is a proponent of following your bliss (have you read my book on that? http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bliss-dee-dimemmo/1108232043).
That philosophy has been encouraging to me, and encouraged me to continue plugging along with scrapping. Several years ago, Higgins introduced the Project Life line, which is a new way of scrapping. I have been resistant until now, because I have so many supplies and tools and Doo dads.
But...I also have a lot of incomplete pages and pictures. The to be scrapped pile is much bigger than the done pile. The worst part? I haven't been journaling my pages.
I have not been telling my story, which is what led me to scrapping in the first place.
I've heard so much on twitter and in the blogosphere about Project Life, so I decided to dig a little deeper. On the website, there is a great slideshow outlining how the system works. http://www.beckyhiggins.com/products/getting-started.php. Oh my heck this is so easy and so simple! I love the idea of the story being front and center. It's like it was designed just for me!
I like the fact that it's completely portable too. I can take it to work, and scrap on my lunch hour! And not have a gazillion things to transport-love this concept.
The system is simple:
Photo sleeves
Cards to fill in and journal on
Binder
The downsides? There isn't a complete kit, and the price. To buy the whole system from Amazon (the only place) which is the Core Kit ($25), the binder ($20), and the pages ($20), you have invested over $60!
But...will it encourage me to tell our story more than I currently am? It might be worth it then.
Time will tell, because I have a story to share.