So, I jumped on the bandwagon.

With M beginning school last week, it seemed to be the perfect time to finally try out Project Life. I must be insane to put something else on my plate but I’d really like to document our lives and her first year of school, if possible. Let’s see how it goes – I think I’m already behind! Ha! 🙂

I’m going to let you know what I’ve done so far with regards to organizing and getting it all together, and I’d love to know what you do. Tell me what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t work for you! I need this to be as simple and quick as it can possibly be and, at this point, I don’t care if there are any embellishments in the finished  product or not!

My photos are already organized on my computer in a way that works well for me so I’ve left that alone. All photos go into yearly folders and are then sub-divided into monthly folders. When I view my photos, I always do it in the daily format so it’s super easy for me to see what days I need for the week and just look through those pics.

Once I’ve decided on the pictures I’m using, I drop them into a Project Life folder which again is then sub-divided into weekly folders. I choose my photos with my templates in front of me so I can decide how many to use, or if I need an insert for more. As I choose the photos, I write in the placement on the template.

From there I do (very little and probably terrible) editing in Photoshop, send them to be printed, pack up the kiddies, and go get them!

I cut and corner round them all, inserting into the slots as marked and then add the  Turquoise core kit items I want to use. And then basically, if I have no other time, I’m done. But this way I can just pick away at it when I get a minute here and there. No pressure, since the bulk is done and if nothing else gets added, I’m still ok with that.

Yes, it’s true. I’m ok with nothing but my pics and the dates. If I didn’t go into this with that mindset, I’d never keep it up!

The other thing I do during the week is an idea stolen from my friend Liz. This summer, since it was so busy, she kept a running Word document open and simply added to it each day. Genius! Journalling is the hardest and most hated part of this art form for me but this way it’s quick and easy and only takes a minute or two in the evening. I’m planning to simply print each week on cardstock and insert between the weekly pages.

Now, all that being said, I don’t have Week 1 finished yet:

…so we’re going to see if my big plans actually work in reality!

Wish me luck!

S.

P.S. It’s 12 on Twelve today – are you taking your pics and joining in the fun? 🙂