Category Archives: Project Life

Project Life | Hybrid process update

What you need to know about the entire hybrid memory keeping process

Since writing this post, I’ve been really into hybrid scrapbooking and using digital elements on my photos before printing them out.

Because of that, my documenting process has changed slightly as I adapt to my new found love of photo templates and digital elements.

Here’s a quick recap of what I used to do before:

Traditional Project Life process

1. Upload photos to your computer.

2. Sort photos into respective folders on your computer.

3. Use a Project Life sketch template.

4. Decide on photos.

5. Edit photos in your software of choice.

6. Print photos.

7. Scrapbook photos.

8. Add journaling.

And here’s what I do now:

Hybrid process

1. Upload photos to your computer.

2. Sort photos into respective folders on your computer.

3. Decide on photos.

Choose which photos you want to include for that week and copy them into a separate folder. I like to pick my favorites. Or I use a sketch template to help me decide.

4. Edit photos in your software of choice.

5. Add digital elements to photos.

This part of the process requires a bit more visualizing to see how everything fits than the traditional process does but I love playing with the different options.

Using a kit from One Little Bird and Paislee Press helps everything to co-ordinate beautifully. I love using these products on my projects – they are some of my favorites! There are also plenty of other good ones out there.

6. Print photos.

7. Add photos and journaling cards to the pocket spread.

My updated hybrid process is not completely different from what I used to do. I just spend more time on my computer than I do with the other process.

Overall, this process is a little more time consuming in the beginning, since I need more time to add photos and elements to the templates.

But it is much less time-consuming after the photos are printed. All that’s left to do is to slip them into pockets, add journaling cards and quick embellishments – and it’s done!

The beauty of the hybrid process is that I get to keep the paper element of documenting by still printing photos and journaling cards, while having the simplicity and ease of digital products. I also add various embellishments as finishing touches when I need to, but these have been fairly reduced since.

I love this process now  and I can’t wait to continue using it in my memory keeping.

Project Life 2015 | week 2 & 10 with One Little Bird

I love that I’m making progress (no matter how slowly!) on my Project Life albums and we’re already moving into 2015! Because progress is progress.

The One Little Bird kits have helped me to create some of my favorite Project Life spreads lately – I’m really enjoying experimenting with this new style of balanced color and white space.

My Project Life 2015 week 2 spread uses the Cheri journaling cards – I love all that color!

Capture celebrations with the Cheri kit from One Little Bird | by Amelia Ng

Capture celebrations with the Cheri kit from One Little Bird | by Amelia Ng

And for Project Life 2015 week 10, I’m slowly expanding my “scrapbooking tool kit” by using a hybrid style, combining digital products with physical elements – and loving it!

Learn about experimenting with hybrid digital scrapbooking! | Scoop kit from One Little Bird, spread by Amelia Ng

Learn about experimenting with hybrid digital scrapbooking! | Scoop kit from One Little Bird, spread by Amelia Ng

All the details are on the One Little Bird blog – see you there!

Project Life | 6 reasons to use sketch templates

6 reasons why you should use Project Life sketch templates to help you document (and a free sketch printable!)

Project Life catch up is underway and it’s a potentially ginormous task. While I would’ve panicked and felt overwhelmed previously, adding the step of Project Life sketches to my process has completely turned that overwhelm into steady “You can do it” encouragement.

Like I mentioned in this Project Life process overview post, a big part of my Project Life process is using a template to help me document.

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Project Life with Paislee Press & One Little Bird

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!

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Project Life | my process overview

8 steps to complete your Project Life spread - the start to finish process

As I’m working on catching up with my Project Life albums, I’ve settled into a process that works pretty well for me.

I’ve come to realize that the more I keep things simple, the easier it is for me to get things done quickly. And since the aim of the game is to get it done, simple is definitely the way to go here.

As you might remember me mentioning previously, I work in batches to complete my Project Life pages. This method continues to work really well for me and helps to keep me sane amidst all the catching up I need to do.

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Project Life | Creating a spread within one hour

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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.

2016 Memory Keeping Plans

Ideas for memory keeping in 2016

Can you believe we’re already more than halfway through January?

It’s easy to let the days slip by, and before you know it, we’ve circled the sun yet another time and stand at the beginning of another brand-new year.

Before that happens again, I knew I wanted to capture the memories and moments of 2016 and document them somehow (in addition to the work-in-progress albums from 2014 and 2015). But I also truly wanted to make this year the one where I hold a complete album at the end of 2016.

I loved reading about different plans that fellow bloggers had for documenting 2016  – from notebooks, to photobooks and stories, to sticking to good ol’ Project Life whether in 6×12, 9×12 or 12×12 size.

After contemplating various ideas, I eventually came up with my memory-keeping plan for 2016.

Here we go!

  1. Stick with 12×12 and Design A page protectors.

    Originally, I contemplated downsizing my Project Life album for 2016. But since I am hoping to use up my stash instead of getting new supplies, I decided to stick with the 12×12 size, of which I have plenty of supplies for.

  2. Document weekly with one page a week (for a start).

    I contemplated going monthly, but I truly enjoy the structure that weekly documenting gives me. So I’m sticking with weekly 12×12 spreads and using one side per page instead.  This removes the stress of having to complete two whole 12×12 spreads and reduces bulk (I have limited real estate to store my albums!). Since I started working this year, I anticipate my everyday not being super exciting, so I think one 12×12 spread per week will be good enough. If I need to, I’ll include inserts for times that need it.

  3. Go with the flow.

    This is a big part of my plan since I don’t have anything mind-blowing or innovative in my 2016 plan.

  4. Consistently document and prepare photos for printing.

Most of my memory keeping plan this year is similar to what I did last year, which I shared in much more detail here.

This is just the plan so far, because honestly, I’m not sure if I have enough oomph or excitement to keep up with this project. But since I want to have some sort of structure, coupled with flexibility, in my memory-keeping, I’m sticking with Project Life in the hopes of helping me to actually get it done..

I’m totally open to switching things up along the way this year if I need to, especially if I eventually come up with something better as the year progresses. And with the Project Life app for Android finally being released next month, my memory keeping method may be completely revolutionized this year, you never know.

But for now, I’m ready to document 2016.

How are you approaching memory-keeping in 2016?

P.S. Unsure where to even start documenting your year? Check out my All the Memories series and other memory keeping posts here.

Project Life | Organizing memorabilia

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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.

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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:

  1. 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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  1. 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.

  2. 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

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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!