All the Memories | 5 ways to start memory keeping

19 January 2015

Last week, I shared my reasons for why you should be a memory keeper. With those reasons in mind, the next question you might ask is, How do I to get started?

If you do a quick search for “scrapbooking” or “memory keeping” on Google or Pinterest, it’s easy to soon get lost in all the many possibilities and options available to memory keepers nowadays.

To help you sort through the options, I’ve put together a quick list of my go-to strategies for how you can get started in memory keeping.

So enough talk, it’s time to get started!

Are you ready?

5 ways to start on your 2015 memory keeping:

#1: Take photos.

A lot of my memories are often captured in photos, which become the basis for my memory keeping. If you’re not sure where or how to start, just taking photos of the big and small moments of every day is a good place to begin.

#2: Write down memories.

Even when you don’t have pictures, capturing memories in words is a great way of memory keeping. So just write stuff down.

#3: Choose one way to document those memories.

Since there are so options available, just decide on one memory keeping method and experiment with that. Will you go digital? Or use the ever-popular pocket page scrapbooking? Or are you inclined to mini albums and layouts? Start with one way and figure out if it works for you.

#4: Remember to keep things simple.

Like point #3, while the options are plenty, choose to keep things simple and don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Start small and expand your options later, if you need/want to.

#5: Have fun!

The memory keeping process shouldn’t be stressful. So pick a method that you enjoy. Once one way starts becoming too stressful, stop and choose another memory keeping method instead.

With these five reasons, just pick one way first and start the memory keeping! Like many things, there is no “right” way of starting, just the way that works for you.

Let me know in the comments what other tips you have for memory keeping!

P.S. This post and this post also have some great tips on beginning memory keeping.

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!

Project Life 2014 | week 16

8 December 2014

Continuing with the pages I promised to share, here is week 16 with all the details!

Week of: 14 to 20 April, 2014

What happened this week: A girls’ day out, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

Left-hand side

I layered one of One Little Bird’s Hopscotch cards over a Project Life card and used a paper clip to attach a receipt.

Techniques: Again, nothing particularly new or fancy here because I just want to get caught up! So I’m keeping things simple as much as possible, and going to back to things I’ve tried and know I love.

That includes using vellum over screenshots of Whatsapp conversations, email messages, and tweets, Roundabout days tags from Paislee Press and that “Today I am Thankful” sticker from MAMBI, which I stuck on a piece of vellum before laying it over my screenshots. (I also used these similar techniques here in Week 10).

Right-hand side

Thoughts: Compared to Week 15, I had darker colors and photos this week. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed including memorabilia from our week, like that Shrove Tuesday name card and receipt.

Another week in the books!

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 15

2 December 2014

As promised, I’m sharing more of the Project Life spreads that I managed to finish over the last weekend.

Oh, these weeks seem like such a long, long time ago. And rightly so, because they happened in April earlier this year and we’re already in December.

Anyhow, I skipped week 14 because I have almost no photos for that week and I’m still trying to figure out how I am going to fill up the 12×12 spreads.

Week of: 7 to 13 April

What happened this week: A new blog layout, dinners with friends, and some happy mail.

Left-hand side

This pocket is also a flip card, which I used to add more food photos underneath.

Right-hand side

The yellow tag is a printable from Studio Calico, and the stamps are from Heidi Swapp and Kelly Purkey.

Definitely can’t get enough of those gold stickers from MAMBI!

Techniques: Nothing particularly new, besides using cards from Dear Lizzy’s Daydreamer kit, which tied everything together nicely. Plus, I loved including the printable from Olya in this week’s spread.

Thoughts: I especially loved the color scheme this week – colorful, bright, and happy. It was a good week.

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 9

7 August 2014

I’m finally back on this Project Life wagon and working hard to get all caught up!

Week of: 24 February to 2 March 2014

What happened this week: This was a fairly busy week for our family, including wisdom teeth extractions (not mine though), attending a wedding, and participating in a run.

Techniques: Not real “techniques”, but I used a couple of black and white photos, as well as Liz’s Roundabout Days bundle to tie this whole week together.

Left-hand side

The Kelly Purkey Bon Appetit stamp set is making a regular occurrence in this album, for sure.

Right-hand side

Thoughts: First off, it feels so good to be documenting memories again. This week was quite a mish-mash of photos, but I like how the Day of the Week labels helped to tie everything together. I kept everything else simple with a couple of Amy Tangerine Plus One Project Life cards, my favorite Studio Calico wood veneers, and printable labels (also from Studio Calico).

And I’m happy to call this week done.

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | my plan for catching up

19 June 2014

As of this week, I’m currently behind on more than fifteen weeks of Project Life. FIFTEEN WEEKS, you guys!! That is no joke. That’s almost four months’ worth of photos and 105 days of memories.

Okay, so maybe I’m making this sound a lot worse than it really is. But I’ll be honest and tell you that I started stressing out ~~a little~~ a lot when I found out that I had ten weeks’ worth of spreads to catch up on. Then I decided to hit pause, breathe, and come up with a plan of action to get all caught up.

With how busy school is, and actually living life, Project Life isn’t always my priority. But since I failed once, I’m determined to try harder and smarter this time.

When I lay out my options, I could either skip the weeks, work backwards, or pick up where I left off. So while I don’t have any Project Life spreads to share with you today, I do have a plan of how I’m hoping to get all caught up with Project Life (if there’s even such a thing as being “caught up”!).

But here’s the plan I’ve come up with:

Work in batches. I don’t remember where I first heard about batch processing – but I like the sound of it, and I think it will really work with how much I have to tackle. This means selecting all the pictures at once, editing at once, printing at once, etc.

Set aside 10 to 15 minutes every day. Ideally, I’d like to find an afternoon (or a few days) to get it all done. But with my schedule, I reckon that’s hard to come by. So I’m breaking it all down into manageable portions that I can do a little at a time. And I think maybe spending just 15 minutes working on it every day will help.

Do what you can. Right now, I’ve decided to pick up where I’ve left off (which is week 9). I might change my mind later and decide to work backwards. We’ll see. But for now, I’m working with what I have and making the most of it. Even if some weeks end up just being photos + words (sans embellishments), I’ll still make do with it.

Don’t stress. The process needs to be enjoyable. If it isn’t fun, I’m less inclined to work on it.

Within the time I set aside each day, I can choose to accomplish any one of these things:

Journaling. Since Project Life is all about the every day and each day passes so quickly, I regularly try to write down all the things that need to go into my Project Life album into a planner as the days happen. Sometimes, I attach a sticky note to the spread if there are any “extras” I want to include so I don’t forget once I get round to working on the spread. This makes it easy for me to go back and check dates or events if (when) I forget.
Choosing + editing photos. This is probably one of the most dreaded parts for me (am I allowed to say that?). My only solution for this is to upload my photos each week and choose the photos I want to use in my spreads straightaway. I usually edit my photos on my phone with VSCO, which also allows me to edit on the go.
Printing photos. This is probably the easiest part because I hardly have to do any work. Once the photos are edited, I’ll drop them off at my local printer who gets them done in one hour, with reasonable quality.
Completing the spreads. This part could possibly end up being the most time-consuming. But also the most fun. It’s ~~probabl~~y definitely my favorite part of the whole process – actually being creative and documenting the memories.

In between doing extra classes this summer and living life, I’ll really need to make time for this Project Life business. But I’m counting on you guys to keep me accountable and get this all done. Deal?

What tips do you have for catching up on Project Life?

Project Life 2014 | week 6

8 May 2014

Week of: 3 February to 9 February 2014

What happened this week: Ran several errands this week, sent a friend off to National Service, and attended the Air Force Family Day.

Techniques: Besides including instax photos, I tried several “new” things – including a trimmed Project Life Design C page protector as an insert for all my extra 4×6 photos, stamping on my photos with Brilliance ink, and saving memorabilia in the form of our Family Day passes.

Here’s the full spread with the front of the insert:

And the back of the insert:

I used grey washi tape to seal the pocket with our passes so they wouldn’t slip out, and used my Tiny Attacher to staple an October Afternoon die cut label to the insert.

Thoughts: I was a little nervous about stamping on my photos at first because I was afraid the ink would smear. But Brilliance ink did a really nice job. Just give everything a little bit of time to dry. Since it worked, I actually really love the look of stamping on my photos and will definitely do it again. It fills up the white space in photos very nicely.

I also used quite a bit of kraft (from Maya Road) on several pockets to bring the whole spread altogether. Again, I love using coordinating papers from one collection to help the spread come together in a snap!

This was such a fun week and I’m so glad that I have memories recorded!

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Supplies: Studio Calico woodgrain geotags, Studio Calico wood veneer, Maya Road kraft tags, Amy Tangerine Draft clear stamps, October Afternoon Travel Girl tidbits, Dear Lizzy Daydreamer Project Life mini kit, Project Life Midnight edition core kit, washi tape, Doodlebug enamel dots, Studio Calico Atlantic 6×6 paper pad, Studio G clear stamps

Tools: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, Becky Higgins Project Life Design C page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, American Crafts 2-inch scallop punch, Tsukineko Brilliance ink in gold and black

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 5

30 April 2014

Week of: 27 January to 2 February 2014

What happened this week: The big thing this week was the traditional Chinese New Year in Singapore – lots of food, family, and friends.

Techniques: I ran an Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste 3×4 card through the printer for my week in review, trimmed down a the gold ang pao packet with the horse motif and included it in my spread, since it was Chinese New Year. I used the Becky Higgins nested die set to make my own 4×6 cards with patterned paper from the Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection. I also purchased a Tim Holtz tiny attacher this week and happily stapled all the embellishments in sight.

Thoughts: Since Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival, I thought of flowers and chose to use the Basic Grey Fresh Cut patterned papers for all the pretty floral prints, which coordinated nicely with the occasion. I’ve found that using paper from one collection for one spread helps everything to coordinate easily.

I bought the new Studio Calico Essentials gold chipboard and sequins, as well as the Tim Holtz tiny attacher this week. As you can see, they feature heavily on this week’s spread because I was just so excited over them.

And surprise! No enamel dots this week – just lots of gold and attaching with staples.

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Supplies: Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection, Amy Tangerine Remarks stickers, washi tape, Studio Calico Essentials gold sequins, Studio Calico Essentials gold chipboard hearts, stars and geotags, American Crafts thickers, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Plus One mini kit, Becky Higgins Project Life Sunshine edition 4×6 textured cardstock, Kaiser Craft clear stamp, Amy Tangerine roller date stamp, Project Life Midnight edition, Studio G clear stamps, October Afternoon alphabet stickers

Tools: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock, Becky Higgins nested metal die set, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, EK Success 1-inch circle punch

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 4

24 April 2014

Week of: 20 January to 26 January 2014

What happened this week: Spent time with family and friends this week, received happy mail from my pen pals, and tried several new recipes.

Techniques used: I included a couple of Instax photos. And still had the regular weekly title cards, and week in review cards.

Thoughts: I had quite a few photos this week, which filled up all the pockets on right side. I also kept my embellishments super simple with enamel dots, wood veneers, and washi tape. I still naturally gravitate towards them for my embellishments and love how easily it all comes together.

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Supplies used: Basic Grey candy buttons, Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Remarks stickers, washi tape, Studio Calico Sundrifter wood veneers, Midnight edition core kit, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Today roller date stamp, Jillibean Soup alpha stickers, Maya Road kraft tags

Tools used: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 3

10 April 2014

Week of: 13 January to 19 January 2014

What happened this week: I started Spring term this week, fell sick, got better, and went to my brother’s commissioning parade. That was the highlight of the week, so these photos are all exclusively from the weekend.

Techniques used: The weekly title cards remain the same. I ended up using lots of filler cards this week because of my lack of photos. But I loved being able to use up my growing stash of filler cards! Without planning to, yellow, grey and aqua/teal were the main colors of this week’s spread.

Thoughts: I loved the color scheme of this week’s spread. And I’m still keeping things simple because I need to catch up!

I’ll be back soon. More spreads in the making.

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Supplies used: Pebbles Family phrase cards, Basic Grey candy buttons, Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Remarks stickers, washi tape, Studio Calico Sundrifter wood veneers, Studio Calico Letterpress labels, Midnight edition core kit, Amy Tangerine Yes Please Remarks alpha stickers, Amy Tangerine Today roller date stamp

Tools used: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 2

2 April 2014

Week of: 6 January to 12 January 2014

What happened this week: We spent the week on vacation in Hanoi. I hung out with my friends at the River Safari, and we ate good food (again).

Left-hand side:

Techniques used: The same weekly title cards as last week. I ran my journaling cards through the printer again. Instant photos from my Instax mini 25. And I also used more neutrals, with pops of color this week.

Side note: I’m planning to make a mini album of all the photos from our trip, so I just included a couple of my favorite photos for the weekly spread.

Right-hand side:

Can we just pause for a bit and talk about how much I love this card above? The water color effect is my favorite. (The 4×6 card is from Amy Tan’s latest Plus One collection mini kit.)

Thoughts: I’m loving the clean and simple look of the weekly title cards. It provides some resting space for the eyes, while keeping everything consistent across the weeks. I especially love that it’s one less card for me to have to think about/fuss over.

Plus, enamel dots and wood veneers are definitely my go-tos. Enough said.

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Supplies used: Amy Tangerine paper leaves, Studio Calico Snippets and Sundrifter wood veneers, washi tape, Crate Paper Storyteller 6×6 paper pad, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Plus One mini kit, Doodlebug enamel dots, Studio Calico Wanderlust roller phrase stamp, Amy Tangerine Yes Please Remarks alpha stickers, Amy Tangerine clear stamps, October Afternoon Mini Market alpha stickers

Tools used: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.