Catching up with Project Life

Okay, get ready. Grab a snack and your favorite drink, settle in. This is a long post. :-)

I have been scrapbooking since 2000 when my first little baby boy was born. I didn't really scrapbook before then, but I had always kept a diary. Putting words to paper was a way of dealing with so many emotions and thoughts I obviously did not want to share with the world. From my first crush, to my first heartache. I may not have been scrapbooking, but I have always been a memory keeper. My love for memory-keeping, scrapbooking, telling stories, has only gotten stronger through the years with the birth of my kids. I have a strong urge to want to share our family history, our stories, the funny ones, the sad ones, the stories behind the pictures, the stories no one would ever know if they weren't recorded.

My very first scrapbook was a baby calendar scrapbook that was given to me, from my obstetricians wife, after my first son was born.

It was simple. It was easy. I put no expectations on myself that it needed to be "perfect". It was fun, there was no stress, no pressure and I loved it.

Since then I have collected what is sure to be thousands of dollars worth of paper, stickers, adhesives, albums, tools, etc trying to  keep up with printing photos and scrapbooking them. The more stuff I collected the less room I had to store all of this stuff, and the more stuff I had, the more difficult I found it to find what I needed for a scrapbook page. The more I collected, the more I felt bogged down, I was feeling like I  was unable to find the creativity to make a page. I would end up spending my precious time organizing over and over and over again, instead of actually memory keeping.  I was becoming a scrapbooking hoarder rather than a memory keeper. Raise your hand if that sounds familiar.

Back in 2009, I started "Project 365" when Becky Higgins released her first kit.

I started slipping my photos into pockets and journaling on preprinted cards. Before I knew it, my first ever, yearly family scrapbook was done! I had never actually finished an entire scrapbook before.

I tried making a digital book as well when she had her project 365 kits on ziblio.com. I ended up making 4 copies. One for each of my kids and one for us. I tried making another one, but never did end up finishing it. 

I was finding that the slip in method was working for me. I continued with what then became a Project 52 kit. I loved the ease of photos, pockets, cards, and pen.

Over the years, my scrapbooking started sliding back again. We were in the process of a HUGE move from one state to another and taking on an enormous project (taking down and rebuilding our post-n-beam home - that will be for another post... or many more posts). ;-)

In the process, I started packing up 17 years worth of stuff we had accumulated. Not until I started going through my creative space did I realize just how much I had collected over the years. It was overwhelming. It was outdated. Yet, I couldn't seem to let any of it go. I had spent money on it. I came to the realization that if I hadn't used most of the products, it was unlikely that I would. It was weighing me down.

I had sold, given away, and packed up what was left of my scrapbook products. It would be three years before I unpacked the same products I ended up keeping.

During this busy time, Becky came out with the Project Life App.  I had been stalking her social media accounts waiting to hear about the release date! (September 17, 2014)

It. Was. A. Match. Made. In. Heaven. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. What a game changer this was for me! I had my iPhone, I had my photos, I had the project life app. THIS IS ALL THAT I NEEDED TO KEEP UP WITH MY MEMORY KEEPING.  I was adding photos in on a daily basis and journaling. I was memory keeping while making our drive across the state. At the airport. IN my car. While waiting at the doctor's office, in bed, etc. I could do this anywhere. Did I mention it was Life-changing?

The Project Life App was only available for apple phones, in the beginning, but is now available for android phones as well! The app has evolved quite a bit. You can edit your photos in the app either directly or with 'PicTapGo'.  Awesome.  You can now also print photos, pages (4x6, 6x8, 8x8, or 12x12) from the app! Awesome-sauce.

I have not given up all of my traditional products (my kids could use it for homework assignments/school projects, etc.) I still have papers, some stickers, glue, pens, and punches, but I see myself letting go of a lot of that as soon as I get settled into our "new" old home.

I am now in the process of getting back to scrapbooking my kids albums. I'll share that process with you as I go along.  Bottom line is: I am able to EASILY keep up with our yearly family album, which leaves me time to "catch-up" on my kids school albums! I'm feeling pretty excited and motivated to start on that. I'll be sharing that with you as I go along.

Live A Great Life...

I write this post with a heavy, broken heart.

Last weekend we woke up on a typical Sunday morning. We slept in. The kids slowly meandered downstairs and joined us for breakfast. I got a phone call from a friend asking if I had heard any news of an accident that had occurred in the wee hours of the morning. We hadn't heard anything. She proceeded to tell me there was a horrible, tragic accident involving 5 teenagers who were killed while driving back from a concert in South Burlington, an hour away. A man driving north in the southbound lane hit the teenagers head-on killing them all. At this point, we did not yet know who those kids were. No one knew. My 16 year old, Alex, had asked to go to that concert. I didn't let him go. We started to panic knowing many of his friends had gone to this concert.

As the news trickled in there were unconfirmed rumors that there were kids we knew in the accident. They were not from our hometown, but a neighboring town. Vermont is a small state, small communities that are very close, a state where there is usually only one degree of separation among people. Five of those teenagers were all from the same neighboring towns. Four from the same school and one, who went to a private school, was just home for the long weekend. This has left all the communities in Vermont devastated with this horrible, tragedy. We are all numb. We are in shock. I try my best to protect my children from hurt, from harm, but this week I have not been able to protect my son from this unbelievable pain.

Those five teenagers were Eli Brookens (16), Cyrus Zschau (16), Liam Hale (16), Mary Harris (16) (students at Harwood Union Highschool) and Janie Cozzi (15) (student at Kimball Union Academy).

Our whole community has been dealing with this horrible, tragic, unfathomable loss.

We attended a candle light vigil where several people spoke, but one speech that really left a mark on my heart was from Mary Harris' uncle, Darryl Mays:

"This is a beautiful day. We live in a beautiful place," he said as he warned against feelings of negativity — even toward the suspected killer. He thanked the emergency responders.

"Be thankful for your friends. Be blessed that you got to live today. Do your best. Live a great life. That's what you can do for your friends who died," Mays said to the students, many of whom wept in response.

I loved his words. A reminder and a message to not just adults, but especially to the kids... to be thankful, to count our blessings, to do our best, to leave a positive mark on this life, to live a great life. Like Becky Higgins' motto, "Live a good life, and record it." I think it's so important to take those photos, share your memories, share your stories for in times like this, those photos, those memories, those stories may be the only things we have left to help us remember those who have come before us, to help us remember those we have lost much, much too early.

This is the message that I want my son to take away from this. To live a great life, to enjoy all the blessings we have around us, to be thankful for our life today, to do our best, to LIVE A GREAT LIFE.

XO, Rosa

Project Real Life

Project Real Life started yesterday over at Big Picture Classes. I've been following Becky Higgins for years now for inspiration with regards to home making/keeping, scrapbooking, organizing, and her Project Life. I started out with her very first Project Life Kit, now named the Cherry Edition. I absolutely loved the idea of just slipping photos in and journaling and being done with it. I still love the idea. I also made digital Project Life books through ziblio.com when that was still offered.

I made 4 copies of the same book. One for my husband and I and one for each of our boys. I love them because they are not super-duper thick and don't take up much shelf space. A bonus when our shelves are already packed to the brim and I don't have an inch of space left to put in my narrow creative space. ;)

As a registered Project Real Lifer we all got some HAPPY mail! Love them! We will be using these cards with our Project Life throughout this class for the next 12 weeks. Persnickity Prints does such an amazing job with their prints.

I'm so stinking excited to see what Becky has in store for us! I have a very busy last quarter with all the classes I've signed up for. Here's hoping to finishing them all!

Jessica Sprague's Invitations and Announcements class also started this week! If you've never checked her site out... it's a MUST. Whether you or a seasoned digital scrapper or just dipping your toes into digital... THAT is the place you must start. Her classes and videos are so easy to follow and digest. That is where I got  my start with digital scrapbooking, photography learning, photoshopping, videography, organizing, you name it. It's all there. Becky Higgins' digital project life is offered at this site too!!! It's a win-win! Get over there!

Introducing Childhood products for Project Life

I have been waiting for this childhood edition mini kits from Becky Higgins, designed by the very talented Lori Whitlock. I absolutely LOVE the colors in the kits (of which there are three).

1. Wellington (neutral)
2. Bridgeport (boyish)
3. Mayfield (girlish)

Here are some photos of each kit.

Wellington Edition:

Bridgeport Edition:

Mayfield Edition:

Lori Whitlock is giving away a free Childhood Mini Kit of your choice! Head on over to her blog at LoriWhitlock.com/blog and find out more about this talented designer!

Ok. So I've been a little delinquent, to put it mildly, in blogging. The summer is super-duper busy around here with my three boys and not a whole lot of time to do much else. So, now the kiddos are back in school I have a bit more "down time".

I'm hopping on today because I'm so excited about Becky Higgins' new Baby Edition Project Life!! If you haven't been following her blog... you must. She has just announced the new Baby Edition Kits that should be available towards the end of November. There is a Baby Boy, Baby Girl, and a plain old Baby Edition (neutral). They are gorgeous and she has thought of every little detail! If you haven't made a baby album for your little one... whether they are just born, not born, or even if they're 25, it doesn't matter. This is an easy solution to quickly and easily make a very memorable album.

Here is the Baby Edition for Him (gorgeous - eeek!)

Here is the Baby Edition for Her (so wish I had a little girl- sigh)

And the Baby Edition:

Here is a link to her youtube video showing you how she has started to put together her now, 4 year old son, Crew's, baby album.
I don't know about you, but I can't wait to get my hands on those kits!

Introducing the Baby Editions of Project Life

Photo Pocket Pages by Becky Higgins

I am soooo excited! After having my bi-weekly yoga session and lunch date with my friend, I came home to my lovely amazon box of yumminess of Becky Higgins Photo Pocket Pages! Yay! Did I mention I was excited? I have so much to catch up on! I have plans for these pocket pages and realize that I have not ordered nearly as many as I should have. I am excited to catch up on my childhood photos and memories as well as my kids.

Okay, I realize my photo is upside down, but you can see the pocket pages. Such a variety! I LOVe it!

I also got my goodies from JessicaSprague.com the upcoming class with Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague of Mouse, Paper, Scissors, Give. Also very excited about this class. I've taken the other variety of Mouse, Paper, Scissors classes and have loved each and every one of them. It's great if you're up for a great hybrid project. The top photo is a shot of all the goodies that were included to  make the project and the bottom photo is a shot of all the goodies I got for being one of the first 200 to sign up for the class! (a Jessica Sprague bag, a cozy to hold my mountain-dew, a mouse pad with Jessica's wise words, and a Jessica Sprague "grow your skills" pin. Woot-woot!

And a photo of one of the first Mouse Paper Scissors class. I was going to give this little one away, but decided I just couldn't part with it. So cute, don't you think?

AND these are the goodies I got last week from Whippy Cake! LOVE them! So worth the money and the cuteness factor is priceless.

Blessings and have a wonderful day!

Project Life

I was just viewing Becky Higgins blog today and read a letter by a 56 year old woman named Karen,  whose children are now grown. She came across some old letters from her father from back in the day. Reading her letter made me stop and think about my future.

What do I want my children to remember. What questions might my kids want to know about? What answers can I provide for them now? What would they want to know about? My history. Where I came from. Who I was. What my personality was like. Where I grew up. What my house looked like. What I enjoyed doing with them. What did our bedrooms look like? What did that shed outside look like? What were my parents like? I have old letters from my father too and envelopes and letters that I have saved from my mother and father. I like that I can see what their handwriting looked like. I am sometimes afraid that my history will be lost if I don't record it. If someone doesn't record it. That is where Becky Higgin's Project Life comes into play here. I have done a digital version, am currently working on another digital version as well as the traditional paper version.

On the days I feel like I am "falling behind" with Project Life, I remind myself that it is not about falling behind... it's about recording life. Any amount of recording of my life is important. Falling behind doesn't leave behind parts of my history... nor does stressing over it... just recording any part of it...does.

Note to self: Don't stress. Just do it when you have the time.