Project Life with Paislee Press & One Little Bird

11 April 201614 April 2016

This past month has been super productive on the Project Life catch up front, especially thanks to the opportunity I got to have as a guest on the Paislee Press creative team! I’m a little sad that the month is over because it was such a fun month!

Project Life 2014 week 44 used the Paislee Press My Tribe kit . Going with the “tribe” theme, I focused on the community I have with people in my life.

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Moving ahead to week 49 of 2014, I used the Paislee Press Bright Ideas kit. The pops of red and blue worked beautifully with the photos, while still keeping them the focus. I also love how the red alluded to the nearing Christmas season!

Project Life | Creating a spread within one hour

4 February 2016

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As much as I’d like to spend all my time documenting (and then creating more!) memories, the reality is that I have way more documenting to do than I have time for (at this point).

So while I am tempted to spend hours on a spread to make things perfect, I am often much better off at least documenting my memories in a quick and simple way, than waiting to make the “perfect” layout and never getting it done.

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In this month’s post for the One Little Bird blog, I shared how I challenged myself and created a Project Life spread within one hour, all with four simple steps.

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I loved how this challenge forced me embrace imperfection, that “done is better than perfect” (in this case), and to make quick decisions.

Be sure to check it out here.

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Welcome to February, friends.

Let’s roll.

Project Life | Organizing memorabilia

17 September 20156 October 2015

I talk about memorabilia a lot on this blog because it such an integral part of my memory keeping.

If you remember, I shared 10 types of memorabilia that you can include in Project Life back in May. And earlier this year, I also chatted about including memorabilia in my Project Life album in my post for the Life Documented Manila blog.

Today, I decided to bring it altogether with a detailed look at how I organize all my memorabilia until I’m ready to scrapbook or include them in my albums.

My system is neither novel nor complicated. But it’s simple and easy enough to help me keep track of all the memorabilia I tend to hoard collect, even when I’m weeks behind on Project Life.

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Here’s how I do it:

Set up your Project Life.

I’ve got my pockets for the entire year laid out and labeled. The biggest thing about this system is setting up my Project Life album for the entire year. (You can see how I set mine up in this post.)

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Slip memorabilia into your Project Life pockets.

When you collect any memorabilia, slip them into the Project Life pockets for the corresponding week so you don’t lose those precious collections of paper! I like to slot in my memorabilia in the corresponding week of Project Life right after I get home so I don’t get confused as to where it should go.
For bigger trips where I collect a thicker stack of memorabilia, I stick everything I’ve collected into a manila folder, label it with the trip name and dates, and hold it together with a rubber band. Because my album is stored lying down, paper that doesn’t fit into the album just lies between the page protectors

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You could totally adapt this system to work for your Project Life album if you do yours on a monthly or event-basis. Either way, this system ensures that all the memorabilia are easily accessible when I’m ready to document.

Now it’s your turn – how do you organize and keep track of all the memorabilia you collect for your albums and projects?

One Little Bird Nosh collection + vellum elements

15 September 201517 September 2015

I have a new monthly post on the One Little Bird blog this week sharing my Project Life pages using the Nosh journaling cards and elements. I tried something different for this spread by using only one collection, handwriting my journaling, and printing the elements on vellum instead of regular cardstock.

I had so much fun working on this spread and I absolutely love how it turned out!

Hop over to read more and see all the details!

Project Life 2014 | week 21

9 September 201510 September 2015

My 2014 Project Life album is slowly but surely coming together and I’m so glad I decided to persevere with this project. There is truly a sense of accomplishment getting to see everything being documented.

Week of: 19 to 24 May, 2014

What happened this week: We got donuts, celebrated a birthday and spent time outside.

Left Side

Techniques used: Nothing mind-blowing this week, just the usual stamping on photos and the weekly journaling card. I still love using the white space on photos to add tiny details.

Right side

Thoughts: Mostly focused on photos this week. I also included a note from Olya which I got in the mail. Going simple with the embellishments with just some stickers, wood veneer and stamping.

I can’t wait to share more spreads with you guys as I add the finishing details to the upcoming weeks.

Stay tuned!

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life | Collecting memorabilia

13 May 2015

Admittedly, I am quite a pack rat and I love collecting memorabilia, whether it’s while traveling overseas or going on adventures even in my own city.

Collecting memorabilia is definitely one of my favorite parts about going anywhere.

I used to just end up with piles of paper with no where to put them. But now, I love that Project Life gives me a place for all the paper I collect (and a legit reason to keep collecting too, because they’re part of the memories!).

So naturally, I’m always looking out for different things I can include in my albums.

Right now, I’ve amassed quite a few favorites that I love to collect and include.

10 types of memorabilia to include in Project Life:

1. Postcards
2. Movie/concert tickets
3. Ticket stubs from trains/planes/buses
4. Coasters
5. Name cards/business cards
6. Maps
7. Brochures
8. Receipts
9. Price tags
10. Handwritten notes/cards

Most of the memorabilia I collect is free or pretty easy to come by. When I go on vacation, I sometimes end up paying a small amount to purchase a postcard or some sort of souvenir.

Sometimes I end up with tons of paper (yay!). Other times, uhm, not so much.

Next time you visit a place, look out for memorabilia you can take along with you, and save a piece of that experience in your scrapbook.

Do you like collecting memorabilia? What are your favorite types to collect? Share with me in the comments!

Project Life 2014 | week 19

9 April 2015

Week of: 5 May to 11 May, 2014

What happened this week: Not much happened during the week, but we celebrated Mother’s Day and had a steak dinner over the weekend. That was definitely a good way to end the week.

Left-hand side

Used some MAMBI cards, stamps from Kelly Purkey and my friend Kellie (can you spot something from her upcoming April release?), and included a sticker from Shimelle’s first line.

Right-hand side

More MAMBI cards and stickers. Plus enamel dots and gold chipboard from Studio Calico.

Techniques used: Super simple this week – stamping, tiny attach everything and stickers! And I love it when I get to include memorabilia too, like that name card from a café we visited.

Thoughts: This is one of those spreads where the yellow and red color scheme didn’t really feel like my “style”, since I picked up those colors from the photos. Maybe I was just having a hard time with the color tone of the photos in general. But I worked with what I had and made the most of it by adding all my favorites (like gold and stamping on photos).

This spread is one of those weeks that I don’t super love but that’s okay because I’m embracing it anyway. Who knows, this spread just might grow on me in the end.

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

All the Memories | what I’ve learned from memory keeping

16 March 2015

Interestingly, intentionally documenting through Project Life has given me a new perspective on life and how I see the every day.

And I daresay these are some lessons that don’t just apply to Project Life or memory keeping, but really just to life in general.

5 things I’ve learned from memory keeping and Project Life:

1. Cherish every moment.

Time passes quickly. And Project Life helps me realize that even more, especially when I document in the weekly format and have to regularly work on new spreads. But at least I’m able to document the moments and can look back and see all that I’ve accomplished over time. Now the question of ‘Where did time go?’ is finally answered and no longer a mystery.

2. Document the little, seemingly unimportant things.

I’m still working on this one. But I’m trying to document even all the ‘routine boring’ days because I need to remember that my life will probably look very different in five years, two years, or even one year from now. When the time comes, it will be interesting to see the similarities and differences between then and now.

3. Be present.

Instead of spending time being glued to a gadget, or having my mind occupied with other things when I’m supposed to be making memories, I’ve discovered the importance of being fully present in every moment. There’s a time and place to be connected, but sometimes it’s perfectly acceptable to disconnect and actually soak in and absorb all the moments of life. They may not end up being (well) captured by the camera, but I can always include journaling if necessary and the memories get documented.

4. Embrace imperfection.

My photos won’t be perfect. My spreads won’t be perfect. But life isn’t perfect. So I’m capturing all its imperfections in my albums.

5. Your loved ones appreciate what you do.

I love seeing how their faces light up when they look through the albums and reminisce all the captured memories. And the truth is, even if they don’t, you will – 10 years down the road when the daily routine is just a fuzzy memory, I know I will appreciate all the documentation I did today.

What has memory keeping taught you? I’d love to hear it in the comments!

Missed the other posts in this series? You can catch up on them here:

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!

Project Life 2014 | week 14

4 March 2015

Week of: March 31 – April 6, 2014

What happened this week: Nothing much, really. I actually struggled putting this week together because I was sorely lacking on the photo-front.

Here’s a little secret about this spread: I actually printed the printables wrongly, so they ended up being smaller than a true 3×4. Because I didn’t want to waste perfectly good printables (and ink!), I just added a border of patterned paper/cardstock to the filler cards. I actually like how it pulls the whole spread together and gives it a different look from the usual.

Yay for another one of those mistakes that worked out pretty well after all (:

Left-hand side

I also punched out some elements from the original 3×4 cards to fit my spread, like that “One for the album” circle and scallop shape in the top right corner, as well as the “2014” circle and scallop in the bottom right corner on the right-hand side.

Right-hand side

Techniques used: Not having enough pictures ended up letting me use lots of One Little Bird designs in this spread. Completely serendipitous and I love it.

Thoughts: While I initially struggled to put this week together, I ended up being able to play around with lots of paper which was so much fun to do.

Pressing on with 2014 and so grateful to still be able to document things from almost a year ago.

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 17

5 February 2015

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Lo and behold, it’s a Project Life post!

Trust me, I haven’t fallen off the Project Life bandwagon. I’ve just been a little bit slow in putting them together.

I actually have all my photos until September 2014 printed out. Now I just need to sort through photos for the remaining months of 2014 and pick cards for the spreads. Easy, right?

I just need to carve out time to get down to it, womp. And I will soon.

Excuses aside, I finally found time to finish and photograph this spread and I’m glad it’s finally done and in the books. Now moving on to the thirty other spreads I need to do…

Week of: April 21 to 27, 2014

What happened this week: It was a relatively fun/busy week since we got USS passes, went out for dinner, and visited the Tulip Festival.

Because I had quite a few photos from the Tulip Festival, I made an insert to include all the extra photos and memorabilia. This is how the spread looks like with the insert flipped.

For the insert, I trimmed off the last section of a Project Life Design D page protector. I actually like the vertical 4×6 pockets, which don’t happen very often.

Left side (without the insert)

Right side (without the insert)

Other details from the insert:

I pulled some enamel dots, Amy Tangerine Remarks stickers, Dear Lizzy Project Life cards, and Pebbles journaling cards from my stash to help the insert come together and look a little more cohesive.

Techniques used: I used my Instax camera a fair amount this week, so I included all of those polaroid photos.

Thoughts: This week ended up being a nice mix of pastel and bolder colors, which surprisingly worked. And since this week seems like such a long time ago, I’m glad I got all the activities documented.

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.