Project Life finished album 2014

It's here. The best happy mail there is. A year in book form.
Holding so many photos and stories and memories in my hands is magical and really doesn't get old.

When my book arrived I took an hour out and sat on my bed and just read it cover to cover. There are some pages that make me laugh, there are pages that are sweet and there are stories that make me cry.

The book starts with a simple sentiment.

I then wrote a brief blurb about my year of memory keeping before launching into the weekly pages.

I love that on each page there is a lot to see. This is partly because the pages are so big. It really does feel like a coffee table book.

I pondered for a while about what to do with the covers this year. There were plenty of photos I wanted to include so the most sensible option was to do a grid. It is totally over the top but wonderful at the same time!

Just like last year I ordered my book through blurb. I think they are a great company, the delivery was speedy for such a large book and they offer a book making program that you download to your computer. This made creating my PL book so quick and easy as I could plug in my pages when I had five minutes to spare.

I used a page template that blurb offer. It is essentially one big photo with a white border. I then just uploaded my pages as jpegs and popped in one per page.
From experience, blurb books don't lie flat, hence why I like the white boarder. It means that nothing gets lost down the 'gutter' of the spine.

This book is big. I went for a 12x12 hardcover. I think any smaller would make the text inside very hard to read.
As some weeks I only did a single page, the book is slightly smaller than last years by about twenty pages. It still feels substantial though!

Last year I had a slight qualm about the colours of some of the photos in my book but either my computer is more accurate or blurb have upped their game because the colours are just gorgeous this year. Very true to life/sceen and the picture quality is fab.

Project life as a craft is very cheap for me as I rarely buy new supplies and I don't print anything throughout the year. When buying my book I tend to therefore pay a bit more to have nicer quality. I chose the matt lustre pages this year and they feel lovely and thick.

I can't begin to describe what it feels like to have two years documented in this form. When project life feels heavy, I come back to the books to remind myself why I do it.

Memory keeping. It's just the best.

Project Life- looking ahead

I have a confession to make.
Project Life is becoming more of a chore for me. I don't know whether this is because we are rounding up the year or because I have been doing this project for two years now.

I am aware after two years that project life won't be a creative buzz every week. I know that it really does ebb and flow.
It's got me thinking though. Do I want to keep this project going?

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is this:

I have nearly two years of my university life documented now. It feels right to continue documenting my third year of university in this way. Whether that means I stop at graduation I don't know. My gut instinct is that I want to make an album for all of 2015.

I take a huge number of photos. Like hundreds per month. I don't have a great deal of disposable income or wall space to print these and display them and it makes me sad to think that they will just sit on my hardrive. PL has ensured that two years worth of photos (the big events and the every day moments) get displayed in a physical format. I like that.

The big picture of this project is rad. Yesterday I sat down and started to plug all my finished layouts into blurb. When I see all of those layouts coming together to make up a year it is exciting. I am thankful I took the time to record that conversation, thankful that that photo of a cup of coffee is included.
There is no way that those things would ever be remembered if I hadn't made that page.

For now, PL is my creative outlet. I don't have time or space at uni to do paper craft or sew. I don't have to clear up PL on my computer, I can save when I want and I can craft on the go.

Where do I see this project going in 2015?

I toyed for a long time with going monthly on project life. After a lot of thought though I am going to keep to the weekly layouts. They tie in with the last two years and I am conscious that saving all my photos to the end of the month will just make for a very very long task.
I like that doing PL weekly ensures that the little moments have their place.

I am changing up template design again this year and going for three different options, all using the same sized squares.

I really love how my style has developed this year and plan on keeping it super simple using phrases, pretty paper and journalling.

Again, i'm setting a no pressure mentality. If there aren't enough photos for a double page spread, it's just going to be one page. I'm also not too worried about falling 'behind' with this project. Some weeks are busier than others and I plan to take it as it comes.

At the end of this year I started setting aside a morning a week to specifically work on PL. It has worked well so far and I plan on continuing that.

So let's chat. Are you doing project life this year? Are you starting for the first time? What craft's are you taking up or putting down?

Project Life weeks 43 & 44

The weeks are merrily rolling by and I am playing catch up with this project. As is always the way with PL, weeks with lots of photos seem to come together really easily, although I do enjoy the challenge of making a page out of not a lot! 

Things I am loving this week: I found a lovely collection of new and free journaling cards to use on week forty three. I particularly loved that 'makers gonna make' wood veneer card. The sentiment was just perfect for the photos I wanted to use. I got the cards from this site. There are lots of wonderful freebies to choose from.

Techniques I have tried: I experimented a lot with opacity on week forty four. I really like how the 'you' turned out on the photo of the boy and me. I also experimented with using a smaller photo on a journalling card space. I did this with the photo of us having tea on the right hand spread of week forty four. I love how that turned our with the white matt on the flowery background.

Photos Documented:
Two weeks with quite a few photos. Week forty three documents the everyday stuff of that week which included a sewing bee with a sweet friend, gifts in the post and a birthday party. Week forty four basically documents two events. A day trip with the boy and a walk with friends. I love this about project life. The weeks can look so different but all those big moments and mundane things sit side by side.

Thoughts on the project:
I am really enjoying seeing my style develop this year. I think I have gone for a cleaner approach and I like it. I am ready to wrap this year up though. 2014 you have been great, but let's bring on the third project life album!

How to make a transparency layer in photoshop. video tutorial

The other day I shared my recent Project Life pages and the sweet Deb asked how I made a transparency like this:

It is super easy in photoshop and I figured if Deb had asked, a few others would probably want the answer too! So for your pleasure/enjoyment/amusement, here is a little video of me on photoshop doing my thing!

The video is slightly blurred if made full screen so to see it bigger, click on the title on the video to watch in vimeo. 



If you happen to watch it, I would love some feedback. Was the video clear and easy to follow? Do I go too fast? Anything that needs clarifying?! Thank you! 

Project Life weeks 39 & 41

This is real life friends! You may have noticed by the post title that this is weeks 39 and 41 of PL. I didn't do week 40 as there simply weren't photos for it.
Why sweat the small stuff! I simply and joyfully left it out!

This what the last few weeks have looked like:

Things I am loving this week:
It is no secret that I am a big fan of anything paislee press create. I love their minimalist designs and gorgeous kits. I treated myself to a new kit this month called 'heirloom' and love the papers and colours in it. Think navy, bright green and creams.

Techniques I have tried:
I made a simple mask for my birthday photo. I knew I wanted 22 to feature so just used a transparency to get the effect.

Photos documented:
Of course a fun birthday photo had to make its way into there. I also used a lot of photos of my room from my last blog post. I did this with my student house last academic year and am so pleased I will have recorded both places in my PL album.
We went to a wedding this Saturday so that makes up most of one page. My old housemates and I also treated ourselves to a meal out at Chiquitos and had to get some photos wearing the sombrero!

Thoughts on the project:
I feel much more relaxed now I have caught up. I have set aside Saturday mornings to work on the project and like that I have a dedicated time to enjoy PL.
I can't believe we are up to week 41! Where has the year gone...

Project life weeks 37 and 38

Project life. It's a constant game of catch up around here! 

Part of me loves the catching up process because I can sit with a cup of tea in hand and quietly re-live some of the best bits of the last month. The other half of me is overwhelmed working out photos, and words and when different things occurred! 

This was what weeks 37 and 38 looked like: 

Things I am loving this week: 
The font courier new. Its clean and light and fun and I am using it for most of my journalling. I am also loving using lots of white space with dashes of patterned paper. Definitely the predominant style through this years album and it is making me happy.

Techniques I have tried: 
Nothing too new here. I really wanted to include that square photo booth style print of me and my friend but was struggling to fit it in. I ended up cropping out one side and moving it across the page with the journalling in the middle. I am really pleased with how this turned out.

I also included all of that blog post about my long distance relationship. Although the post wasn't written that week it felt right to pair it with the photos of my time in Oxford with the boy. I don't usually include blog posts but I like that it is a strong focal point on the page.

Photos documented: 
These two weeks really are the best of a project life mix. There were some big moments like my dear friends 21st birthday tea party and meeting up with some lovely faces at the bloggers weekend. There were also some everyday moments to record like painting our bathroom and making a new dress.

Thoughts on the project:
PL can sometimes be a chore for me. I'm happy to admit that. But once I have those memories down I am so grateful that I do. This project is worth so much more than the time it takes to complete each page. Already I am itching to see this year in book form! Not long now...

I am heading back to uni this weekend so the blog may stay quiet while I adjust to being back up North. See you on the other side. 

Project life- holiday version

Thank you for your sweet comments on my last post. It was a hard one to write but your words of encouragement and kindness put a smile on my face. 

Despite what it might appear like on the blog, I am still doing project life and am reasonably well caught up! Posting the layouts has been a different matter all together. 

I am going to kickstart posting them again by sharing some holiday spreads. 

I always struggle with holiday photos in the project life format. Project life is a gem for documenting the everyday but I find it a challenge to document a week of lots of photos and lots of stories. 

I started off by accepting this was not going to look like my other pages. My main focus was to use my favourite photos and tell the stories of each day. 

I therefore gave myself a bit of slack with the normal two page spread week. I used four pages instead and kept it super simple with a layout of just 4x6's. 

I love the look of white boarders so used a template to create this each time and then added more or less photos depending on the stories to be told. 

I also created a 'date tag' to keep track of what day of the holiday we were on! Useful to look back on next year when it has all blurred into one! 

Most weeks my pages have a fair number of photos however on holiday I typically come away with hundreds. It was such a mission to try and pare that down so I used lots of collage type spreads and tried to keep each 4 x 6 block simple. 

I stuck to a simple colour palette of red, blue and neutrals to tie in with the american theme. I wanted these colours to be subtle though so picked them out of the patterned paper. 

Overall i'm pleased with the spreads. To me they don't feel too overwhelming which was my main concern. I am excited to get back to my normal PL weekly spreads though. There is something calm and satisfying about documenting the everyday! 

How do you scrapbook your holidays? 

A spot of guest designing. Saying yes.

I have been keeping something in the pipeline these last few weeks...
I am thrilled to announce that I am guest designing this month with Cocoa Daisy.

The story behind this is a funny one.
A while back I was checking my blog stats like I normally do. ( I like to try and get a picture of where my traffic is coming from and who is reading. I'm going to post more about this soon.)
One of the referring sites was Cocoa Daisy.

The name struck a chord with me and I hopped over to check them out.
Cocoa Daisy are a scrapbooking kit company who create gorgeous monthly kits using a range of supplies, some exclusive to them. There are two kits each month and one is a 'day in the life' project life kit. After seeing such beautiful products and pages I was pretty flattered that they had found my blog to be honest!

I wandered around the site and came across the forum where I signed up to become a member. I created an account and waited for it to be verified. No sooner had I done this than a sweet email came in from the lovely Emily. She had noticed my name pop up and realised I had stumbled across the site from my own blog. She told me, wonder of wonders, that the design team had been looking at my blog and wondered if I would consider being a guest designer for them!

At this point I genuinely thought she had found the wrong person. I mean, I haven't paper scrapbooked in a very long time. Goodness, I have never even touched paper project life. I explained this to Emily and she very graciously said they would still love to have me.

Now this is the point it would have been easy to back out. To be content with the fact that I had put paper to one side and carry on my merry way with digital PL.
But I wanted to be brave. An opportunity had been handed to me. I wanted to say 'yes'.
I took a deep breath and agreed. I would be designing with the August kit, I would be on my holidays and I had plenty of photos to work with. Everything was lined up.

And that's where I am today. A week ago a big box of scrapbook things arrived on my doorstep. I was so nervous and so excited to open that box. The kit this month is called 'modern and vintage' and it is beautiful. Strong colours, pretty patterns and totally me.

I sat down with photos in front of me, a box of supplies on my desk, took a deep breath and began. I didn't know where to start but just went with what I do normally. Telling the story. I gave myself regular pep talks like, "just because I have done digitally, doesn't mean I can't do paper."
And you know what? I remembered totally, why I got into scrapbooking in the first place. I remembered why I have stuck paper with glue for so long.
The pages came together easily, mostly because the supplies were so lovely.

After making my PL spreads, I sat back and pulled out that 12 x 12 sheet. It sat on my desk all day.
PL is my comfort zone. 12 x 12 scrapbooking isn't any more.
But I was determined to be brave. That evening I carefully grabbed some of my favourite parts of the kit and began.
I am shocked and delighted by how the page turned out. It was a step for me and I'm so glad I said yes.

Thank you Cocoa Daisy for asking me to guest design, thank you for trusting in me and sending me such a gorgeous kit to play with.
If you want to see the finished results, my pages will be up in the gallery on the site from the evening of the 28th of July! And if you want a kit, I couldn't recommend them more.

five ways i have made project life work for me. Half way review

We are half way through the year and didn't it just fly by! 

During my first year of Project Life I wrote my thoughts at the halfway stage. This year I want to share a few ways I feel I have found my groove in this project.

If you are a project lifer perhaps these will help, if you are not, I think most of these apply to all types of memory keeping so feel free to meander through! 

1. Dropping the guilt. 

This project feels far less pressured, far easier and a far gentler craft than it did last year. Last year I was intent on making perfect pages, filling a double spread and carving out my style. 

I've let that go this year. Being behind is ok, only making one page is just perfect and my style? I'm not forcing it. It happens. 

2. Looking at the bigger picture. 

I have always created. I have always journalled or taken photos, or written stories or made things from paper and glue. I have come to realise that just because I don't feel motivated for several weeks with project life does not mean this project is going down the drain. I am naturally a memory keeper. I will always come back to it. 

Similarly, this is one creative outlet. I think there is a danger with PL that it becomes the idealised memory keeping system of the moment. It isn't. It works for me, it works for many people but it doesn't for others. It may not work for me next year, who knows! I'm soaking the system in while I can. 

3. Buying digital papers rather than specific PL cards. 

When I was finding my feet with PL last year I relied on specific PL cards. This year, I am more a fan of buying papers and suiting them to my needs in photoshop. I think it has given me more scope and it is certainly the cheaper option. 

4. Using two different templates. 

I use the template designs Q and D. I like that they can be used together, that they give the pages different feels. I like that I haven't got bored of a page template yet. I would highly recommend switching the templates up. It was one of the best decisions I made with the project this year. 

5. Being 'me'. 

I am not a big name scrapper. My pages won't look like theirs because I am not them. I want my pages to look like Abi. 

This has taken 18 months to really grasp. For me there is a fine line between looking at others work for inspiration and feeling downcast that my pages aren't as 'good' as theirs. 

Comparison is rubbish. Project life is working for me this year because I am creating to record memories, not to create a page that is magazine/blog worthy. 

As Ali Edwards has said in a recent post, "I am memory keeping for the long haul." 

I want to enjoy telling the stories, recording the memories and sharing the past. That's the bigger picture and that is what holds all of project life together. 

Ali wrote a fab post on a similar topic here and the lovely Amy followed it up in a blog post here. They are both worth a read whether you are a project lifer or not. 

Project Life week 23

Catching up with this project. This is what my week 23 looked like:

Things I am loving this week: 
Having happy sunny photos. This week marked the end of exams so there was more to write about and more to document.
I am also really enjoying that collage sequence in the bottom left of the first page. It gives a chance for more photos and I like that is simple and linear.

Techniques I have tried: 
I got the graphics tablet out again to write across that photo of the library. I like the idea of journalling about the end of exams in my own handwriting.
I also tried something different with that series of photos of the boy and me. I wanted to keep them simple with just the dates so therefore stretched them across the top two pockets. I think it makes quite an impact.

Photos I have documented: 
This week was the end of exams for me, the end of a degree for the boy and a final visit to his uni house. We enjoyed a few outings whilst I was there so I recorded those. I also wanted to record the spontaneous photo that seems to happen each year. I love that it is becoming a tradition to get the 'selfie'. You can read more about it here.

Thoughts on this project: 
I am behind as usual but I have a summer to take this project at my own pace and I am excited by that. I am also looking out for some more digital supplies so if you happen to come across anything pretty do ping it my way!

On photographing a week in the life. Project Life week 19

Last Monday I saw the hashtag, 'week in the life' on one of my friends photos on instagram. It was a total whim but I decided to join in with capturing my week and am so glad I did. I kept it simple and tried to take on average three photos a day with a brief description.  Here is what I learnt...

Everything is worth recording.
Because I was following the meme for the week I thought about the photos I could take rather than the photo worthy moments.
I live in such a beautiful city and there are so many things to capture on a regular basis. This little challenge forced me to see the ordinary little details, every single day.

Thinking outside the box.
Whilst there are lots of fun details in my day there is a lot of repetitiveness too. I wanted to record a normal week but that meant thinking up new ways to frame a photo. I loved the challenge of this and definitely got more inventive as the week progressed. There are only so many ways you can photograph porridge for breakfast!

It was the best cure for a week that was dull and ordinary.
I am so glad I did this challenge at this point in term. The days are so dull at the moment because everyone is doing the same thing; sitting in the library and revising! Following the meme made me realise that there is a lot more to my days than just sitting with my books. It was also the perfect cure for mid year blues with project life. Nothing like a ton of photos to get fresh looking pages!

Do you follow any photo challenges? I know some people have done 'day in the life' which I think sounds fun. How do you like to challenge yourself with photography?

Notes on PL:
I had so many photos I kept it simple this week. I just made a simple stamp in photoshop with the day and the time and added it to each photo. On some photos I added a bit of journalling if a story needed to be told.

Life update: 
It is dreaded exam season around here so I am busy writing notes with coloured pens rather than writing/visiting and commenting on your blogs. You can imagine which I would rather be doing! Nevertheless the blog posts on here will keep coming however will be slightly less regular until exam season is over. If you pray, I would love your prayers for what can be a pressured time. Thank you!