Did you know that I still scrapbook? It's true. I no longer make the big 12x12 scrapbook pages, but I do try my best to keep up with Project Life aka pocket scrapbooking. I've been a Project Life participant since 2012! (You can read my very first Project Life post here.)
After 7 years, I still love my Project Life albums. They're super fun to flip through because they're packed full of memories. It will not surprise you to know that I approach my Project Life albums slightly differently than other people do. Today I thought I'd share some recent pages and how they align with my personal memory keeping philosophy.
These albums are about me. 100% unapologetically about me and my life.
This means the pages are filled with photos of me. Yes, there are photos of other people, but I don't really tell their stories. I think sometimes -- women in particular -- end up trying to be the memory keepers for everyone. Not me. This is my album, from my perspective, about my life.
I make no effort to coordinate anything -- colors, patterns, style, etc.
For me, these albums are about recording memories with ease. Part of what makes pocket scrapbooking appealing to me is that it consists of lots of little separate canvases. I don't have to coordinate a big overall canvas. That would make this project way too stressful for me.
Related: I make no effort to make the pages "pretty." If they look good, that's great, but it's not my goal.
I often choose odd or ugly photos because they represent a memory or story I want to tell.
I write all over my photos.
I use two Sakura pens which work on slick surfaces to do this: (white) (black).
Or I use a label:
I do about 80% of the work in Photoshop and then 20% in my craft room.
I outlined my process in this video and blog post from 2015 and it's the process I still use today!
Sometimes I print the journaling right onto the photo and then just add stickers/embellishments...
...and sometimes I just add the journaling by hand after it's all been printed.
I include bits and pieces from my digital life -- screenshots of texts and instagram posts and everything in between.
I fill my album with pictures of the art I've made.
Making art is such a big part of my life. I can't imagine telling my story without the art.
I do one two-page spread for every week. If I have more photos than will fit in two-pages, I use an insert.
Sometimes the inserts are little.
Sometimes the inserts are major.
It's the journaling that makes this better than a photo album. So, I tend to say something about most photos.
It doesn't matter if you don't have a photo. There's still a way to capture that memory!
Download it from the internet -- as in this movie poster.
Write a card. Who says your album has to be all about the photos?
I'm still working my way through my 2017 and 2018 albums, and while the completist in me says that I should finish these albums in chronological order, I've decided not to. Memory keeping is so different when you do it close to the memory vs. far. In that vein, I am almost up to date in my 2019 album and will continue to slowly back slog through 2017 and 2018 while keeping up to date on 2019.
Are you a scrapbooker/memory keeper? Would you like to see more posts about Project Life? Let me know!
Thanks for stopping by!
