Project Life | My 2016 Approach

Friday, December 18, 2015


As 2016 approaches and I begin thinking about my fourth (!!!) year of documenting with Project Life, I'm really trying to look back and think about what worked and didn't work for me this year. I did a lot of experimenting these past eleven months, and as such I definitely have a much better idea of what I like and don't like. If you're interested, I've talked a little about what worked and didn't before. Actually, I've written about it more than once (see: here and here as well).

As life moves on and gets busier, I've definitely had to re-evaluate how I do things. It's all about getting things done well the first time around. As such, here are my plans for 2016:
  1. Format. This will be changing in 2016. I'm still going to work weekly, but I'm only going to do a half a spread per week. Meaning each spread will cover a two week period. This will help me to really focus on the highlights of the week and; it will keep printing costs down, and means I can fit the year into one album. This is important to me. Two albums a year just adds up too quickly.
  2. The size. I've been working in 12x12 since I first started project life, but I'm doing something a little different this time around. I will be working with this, (my favorite) 12x12 album, but I will be using 9x12 pages inside. I just think this is the best size for me.
  3. Dividers. I'm definitely sticking with these clear ones again; I still find the colorful ones too distracting.
  4. Printing at home. Yes, it is more expensive in the long run, but it's convenient and really the only way that I am able to stay as up to date as I do.
  5. Title cards. I jump back and forth a lot on this one, and honestly: I think that I will just go with whatever I feel like each week. However, now that I'm only using half a spread per week, I may incorporate the title card into a photo (either adding the dates digitally before printing or adding a stamp after the fact).
  6. Minimal embellishments. This won't change: I'll stick to things like wood veneers, stamps and the occasional little extras.
  7. Point of View. Oh my gosh. I say this every year but I really need to incorporate more of my husband in my album. Unfortunately I'm picky about how things look so I don't often ask my hubby to journal anything because it won't match with my writing. I'll have to work on a way to include him that satisfies this!
  8. Consistency. This is probably the biggest thing that I struggle with from week to week. There may be consistency within my weekly spreads, but they vary greatly from week to week. Of course a lot of this has to do with being inspired to try new things throughout the year, and I would never discourage trying new things! I do want to have at least one thing that I do the same every week; whether it's how I date my title cards or a journal prompt I include.
I've talked about this before, but it bears repeating: memory keeping is not meant to be a chore. It's not something meant to frustrate you or make you feel guilty. It is a gift that you are giving yourself, your family, and anyone else you share your albums with. Anyone can do it, I am not the exception to the rule. I simply have the right attitude: the memory keeping attitude.

I would love to hear how you're approaching Project Life in 2016, so please fill me in by commenting below, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away.

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17 comments

  1. GiadaDecember 18, 2015 at 6:04 AM

    I was waiting to read about your PL approach for 2016. I have been following your progress for a loooong time now, and I absolutely love your photos + the fact that you always try to incorporate more DSLR photos.

    For 2016 I will switch from 8x8 printed photobooks to a 6x8 album. I'll do almost everything digitally and then print the photos and slip them into page protectors :)
    But, since I live in Italy, my album is taking forever to arrive soooooo we'll see :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownDecember 18, 2015 at 8:53 AM

      Whatever works for you, right?! As long as it gets done :)

      Delete
  2. UnknownDecember 18, 2015 at 7:07 AM

    Even though I've stepped back from PL for now (I'm doing Chatbooks because I have NO TIME), I still love seeing your spreads and reading about your process! One thought I had was that if you start including your husband's handwriting more often, it will BECOME normal and consistent. I think you should go for it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kim OedekovenDecember 18, 2015 at 9:29 AM

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who has difficulty incorporating their husband in their layouts. One thing I started doing near the tail end of this year was asking to flip through his camera roll and pick out some of pictures that he is taken. Then when I journal I can write about what he sees in that moment in time. Sometimes it's just one picture. Other times I can get a whole week spread from his point of view.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownDecember 18, 2015 at 9:37 AM

      I LOVE that idea! Thanks for sharing, Kim.

      Delete
    2. Tracey CraftsDecember 29, 2015 at 12:35 PM

      I'm lucky as I've linked my husbands phone to my Dropbox folder so I see his photos automatically. Great idea from you to incorporate some of his photos. I'm going to try this!

      Delete
  4. AlyssaDecember 18, 2015 at 12:13 PM

    Love this! Are you sticking with the 8x10 pocket sizes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownDecember 23, 2015 at 6:55 AM

      Probably not. I will likely use a variety of 12x12 pages since I'm only doing one side per week.

      Delete
  5. NandaDecember 22, 2015 at 12:26 PM

    We love the same album! :D Well, my wishes for next year is to keep my color scheme, do more journaling, remember to take more pictures (sometimes I enjoy situations so much that I forget!), make more pages about my daily routine and be more bold in embellishments - I never use it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eleanor HarteDecember 23, 2015 at 6:47 AM

    I love reading about what your plans are. I'm writing a post right now about this so I might "borrow" your format for this. The consistency thing is something I really struggle with too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownDecember 23, 2015 at 12:41 PM

    Thanks for writing this! I've done PL for the (first and) last time in 2012 and I'm on the fence about doing it again next year.. While thinking about this I came across this blogpost.. I've been following your blog on bloglovin for a while now and I love your style.. Your last alinea speaks especially to me.. I'm always making to do lists, which I love but is a stress factor for me as well... I definately need to make sure that PL doesn't become a chore! Another challenge for me will be consistency in style... need to figure out how to do this... maybe with a selfie at the start of each week.. like KP does... Ah well... still enough to figure out before 2016 is here! ;-)

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  8. UnknownDecember 25, 2015 at 2:21 PM

    I love how you share your plans for the new year. I found you view your plans last year and have loved seeing your spreads.
    I do my memory keeping a little different, but you've definitely inspired me to think about how I plan on doing this and write it out!

    Love, Jenn
    www.thediaryofadreamer91.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. JKMarch 3, 2016 at 10:12 AM

    Its always awesome to read about what's worked for and not worked for different people.

    What alphabet stamp set is that? It looks familiar but I just cant place it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownMarch 3, 2016 at 10:16 AM

      Hi JK, it's an old Kellie Stamps set (Give a girl a blog). I believe she doesn't sell physical sets anymore though.

      Delete

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