Project Life | February

Let's talk about Project Life!  As some of you know I began Digital Project Life in January.  My first few weeks went well with Project Life...  it was new and exciting.  Then, I found that I kept forgetting to take photos & I was getting behind in my weekly creations.  One of the reasons I had not started Project Life sooner, was because I couldn't figure out how to work it into my life...  then digital project life came along!!!  I've found a few things (the hard way!) that might make it easier for you as you work on your own PL albums...

1. organize your photos:  there are many ways to organize by name, by theme, by activity, or by date.  We chose to organize by date, so all of my photos are labeled with the year-month and dumped into folders for each month...  even my scanned photos (from before digital) are labeled this way.  Once I catalogue my photos this way, when I am ready to create my PL weekly layout, I can easily pull the 5 - 10 photos for the week into my Photoshop double-page templates.   
2. plan your products: Do you have a particular theme or color scheme that you would like to stick to?  Are there certain designers that you prefer?  I find some really fun freebies on Pinterest, but often these are just a launching pad for my digital purchases.  I purchased two digital CORE kits from Becky Higgins, but I also have bits and pieces from other designers.
3. remember to take photos of the everyday things:  crying babies, school lunches, date night with your husband, favorite new shoes, a fun shopping day, a funny face full of ice cream, etc...  You can also have theme weeks or maybe you show all of the kids art that week.
4. find your rhythm...give yourself a few weeks to find what works best for you...  One of the things that helps me organize AND helped me find my 'rhythm' with Project Life was Instagram.  I love that you can share some of your photos with others from your phone!  Since my iPhone is usually with me however crazy my day, I find that ALOT (probably 85%) of my photos that I use for PL are from my iPhone.  These photos are date stamped and catalogued for me so I can load them on my computer and insert them into my templates when I get ready to create my week.
5. schedule time to create:  if I keep a regular time (this weekend I'll create for the previous week, etc...), I am much more likely to sit down and create.  Sometimes I miss the 'planned' time, but I don't stress about it - just pick it up when I can.  Maybe you only have one morning, once a month - then plan accordingly and get organized to maximize your time!!! 

Looking back on the photos, the journaling, and the memories captured in this everyday glimpse of life for 2013 will be so much fun!  I am so excited to continue and hope you'll join me - something I found in the blogosphere is:  Success Strategies for Project Life.  It is a fantastic post over at Simple Scrapper that gives a good idea of what to think about as you begin your own Project Life journey.

In the meantime, check out February captured for our family!

Week 6

 Week 7

Week 8 

Week 9