I Couldn't Stop Myself

I'm not making any specific promises one way or another, but I'm here to tell you today that I still love the structure of weekly Project Life® spreads. 

I thought I could let them go and have a more go-with-the-flow approach this year (thanks for cheering me on with that plan by the way - you are rad), but when it came time to actually do something all I wanted to do was stick my words and photos into Design A page protectors

So that's what I did and I'm so, so happy. 

Even though I haven't been doing it regularly for months, I found myself missing the structure because, less face it, I'm that kind of person. I also realized the following: 

  • I actually really, really love the week-at-a-glance format. I thought I could let it go but it feels like home to me now. And you know what? Sometimes home is boring and it needs a face-lift or a reconnect or it needs to be purged or something to remind you that it's something special - that it's yours. That became pretty darn clear to me yesterday. 
  • I love printing my photos and this format allows me to pick the highlights that comprise our week and tell the awesome bits & pieces stories of our lives. 
  • The Story Kit™ and Story Stamps™ layouts I'm creating for the classroom content are really allowing me to fill my need for longer stories. I did five layouts for the theme this month and I might even do more. Maybe they will still be kept in this album and maybe not. Time will tell as I create more pages in the coming months. 

Instead of a full-on plan of this or that or this vs. that (which was never really my plan anyway), I'm going to just have fun and enjoy myself and do it the way I want to do it when I want to do it with whatever feels good at the time. 

Because really, isn't that the point?

Here's a look at Week One: 

Sigh. I'm happy.

This week at least. Ha. 

Nothing earth shattering in the creativity department here, just a glance at a few stories and bits from our life. I didn't even add any embellishments besides stamping and one sticker.  

The white heart was punched from cardstock using this heart punch and added on top of a recent Studio Calico Project Life® kit card. 

The "collect moments" card is from my Gatherings Story Kit™. Remember This speech bubble is from this digital set: Story Bubbles.

I'm planning on putting more of Anna's artwork to good use. 

The "Yes to" card is from an older Studio Calico Project Life® kit

"Together is the best time" card is from my Gatherings Story Kit™

"Today" stamp is from my Week In The Life™ kit. We have some kits without albums available if you are looking at wanting any of the products that were included. You can check out my archives on that project here

Hope you guys have an awesome week! 

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46 thoughts

  1. Ballfieldmom says…
    01/19/2015

    This sounds like a perfect plan and one I can definitely follow. I have had trouble setting up a "plan" when this is all supposed to be fun. The plan wasn't helping me tell my story and I couldn't tell the story because of the plan. Now it's on to telling the stories... The new stories, the old stories, the weird stories, their stories, my stories. However I feel like, wherever they end up going. Thanks Ali!!
    (BTW.... Since I have so many old photos to do something with, I have taken a line from my favorite tv show, Parenthood, as a theme for the year. "I Remember This Day". Look at the photo the way they were doing on the show and tell the story I feel about what was going on. Seems like an easy approach without all the planning and organizing that I hate.)

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. StaceyH03 says…
      01/19/2015

      I love your "I remember this day" idea!!! Thank you for sharing. It has sparked an idea for me!! I have tons of random pics laying around that span decades. I am now hoping to make an album of them, simply telling the story of that pic!!

    2. hlgray73 says…
      01/19/2015

      Love this idea, and loved that episode:)

  2. delia says…
    01/19/2015

    Love it and know exactly what you mean in this post. Enjoy it.

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Evi13 says…
    01/19/2015

    Having fun with your memory keeping is the most important !!! Whatever the system !!

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. thecraftytokyoite says…
    01/19/2015

    I did the EXACT SAME THING. I even wrote out a blogpost saying I wasn't going to do the weekly thing but I'm stuck. It's funny how something you feel like might be restricting you is exactly what you turn to when push comes to shove haha

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. mtercha says…
    01/19/2015

    I just finished my WITL (um...yeah), and I so loved that process. I don't do Project Life but loving the WITL project I can understand wanting to do Project Life. I don't think I can make PL work for me, though I am thinking about it. Anyway, I love your photos, awesome. And your stories, wonderful. Michelle t

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. prueger6 says…
    01/19/2015

    I've missed your PL posts! They give me so much inspiration.

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. spedsue says…
    01/19/2015

    Love it, Love it, LOVE IT! You make me feel so much better. There was a lot of discussion in my head if I wanted to do another year of PL. But....just looking back through 2014's book with my little 2 year old grandson who had asked to see the "Big Book"(PL) and the "Little Book"(Dec Daily), I knew that I wanted to continue. I think some entries will be on a weekly basis and others a more extended time basis. I may just put the starting date on the card and wait to see how far I go before starting a new section. Love the freedom of this. Love your work! (also love the fact that the pictures have a home and not sitting in boxes in the basement forgotten like so many years before I began this project!)

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. LaLa2012 says…
    01/19/2015

    I decided to do a pocket album for 2015 because I wanted that immediacy, and I think I've scrapbooked one story for 2014 so far. I realize I need to get the photo printer set up so that I can print as I go, rather than waiting for photos to come back from Persnickety. I like your attitude! Just do what you want. Loose and easy.

    And I really love that you are bringing "rad" back. :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. deniseweatherby says…
    01/19/2015

    I'm just glad to see someone else still has a Christmas tree up!!!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. scrappychick says…
    01/19/2015

    Love the pictures of Anna and Aaron. Also love #thankful #goodman. You deserve it Ali!

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Carolly says…
    01/19/2015

    Love the artwork incorporated

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. cathyzielske says…
    01/19/2015

    Well shit. You know, I just got my full year book back from Adorama Pix and it's so stinking cool (and BIG). I still think I'm doing the monthly, but I totally hear you on this.

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. terriporter says…
    01/19/2015

    I am so relieved to hear this! I have been struggling too and finally decided to go back to weekly layouts and Design A page protectors, but feeling guilty that I wasn't able to break out of the mold and so something different. I may change it up a bit here and there but for the most part I'm going with what has been working for me for several years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. AnnetteH says…
    01/19/2015

    yes and yes! I love that you are doing what makes you happy, regardless of what you planned or publicly announced. I haven't worked up a "plan for PL" blog post yet b/c I've still been tweaking things and just plain playing around. But I'm loving the weekly too. Haven't really fully embraced it in the past because I couldn't keep up. I needed the flexibility of a monthly approach. Either way though is awesome. And the story approach is great too.

    The way I look at it, if you can find an "easy" process for it, weekly or monthly can be an incredible source for those longer stories. It can be a home for the random, the bits and pieces, the everyday. It doesn't have to be "the album" to end all albums. It's just another piece in my story / memory keeping. Just like Week in the Life or December Daily. It's just a little bigger than those, yes, but it's still just another album. I think your "one story per day" idea of December Daily has really helped me with Project Life this year. I collect photos through the week but when I go to put it together I think, "what are the main stories/events this week?" if I can represent a few of those I am happy. Some weeks there aren't main stories so it is a sprinkling of the random everyday photos and the theme is "everyday life." I guess that's how I view the entire album--it's just our "things we do" album in my overall Library of Memories system. Anyways, it is working for me and I am loving it right now. I am also using the PL app which is really helping too! :) Have fun with it! I missed your PL pages :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. desilei says…
    01/19/2015

    Ali, it's okay to do whatever the heck you want. I know that you have a huge following that wants to see you do things one way or another, but you have to ENJOY it! If you don't enjoy it, it shows. And really I want to see stuff that you loved making because that's inspiring...to me :)

    This is my first year doing PL after about 1 year of collecting core kits and STUFF (seriously). So this weekend I tackled the first 2 weeks of January and it was HARD! I admire anyone who can keep up. So many decisions, so many concerns about making it look "pretty" and having the right color combination. I can now understand why people would begin to feel overwhelmed. So I will remind myself of why I'm doing it instead of stressing over making sure I picked the right card or if I embellished it enough. I will try.--Desiree

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. terihartman says…
    01/19/2015

    I'm in the same boat Ali. I haven't focused on taking photos over the past couple months and so PL has become...empty. But I miss it. Starting today I am re-dedicatin myself to the project. Yay!

    I'm really liking the look of non-rounded corners. I think I'll start switching to that.

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. sunray says…
    01/19/2015

    I came to the same conclusion last year. I tried the non-structured way and missed having the structure. Then life got crazy and PL was put on the back burner for a while. Six months later, I looked through my old albums and realized I really liked the week per spread format. It was simple and it makes sense to me. (Isn't that just it? You just have to do what makes sense to YOU.) I didn't even mind if I skip weeks or months. I just love that I even have something to look back on and that's enough. Yey for figuring it out and making adjustments as we go! :)

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. hesse_birgit says…
      01/19/2015

      YES! After seeing Elise Blaha's fun Project Life 2014 plan I wanted to do the same, no more weekly spreads, different page protectors, different documenting etc. - never really happened. So for 2015 I am back to the same "boring" Design A page protectors and weekly spreads: makes me so happy and it just fits and feels good :O)

  18. jstock17 says…
    01/19/2015

    Hi, Ali - I'm glad to see that you are going to continue with the weekly Project Life . . . whenever you feel like it. I have been inspired by your weekly layouts and was a little disappointed when you said you were going a different way. So, here's to Project Life, however we get it done!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. jchurch2 says…
    01/19/2015

    The most important sentence in your post, and the one I resonate with, is "I'm just going to have fun and enjoy myself and do it the way I want to do it when I want to do it". Great way to live life.

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Lize says…
    01/19/2015

    I LOVE these pages! So colourful and happy. Personally I don't think I can stop PL.

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. bearluvr says…
    01/19/2015

    I'm so happy to see you still doing weekly PL pages. I love your pages so much...the perfect mix of everything!

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. banninglane says…
    01/19/2015

    oh Ali this makes me so happy to see. After reading your first post about being more relaxed and go with the flow I thought a lot about my own approach because I really liked the look and feel of your idea. I was reading that so many people were taking this approach and I just thought maybe I should rethink what I was doing. (I am a design A weekly project lifer) I am happy that I questioned if what I was doing really worked for me, but in the end I decided to stick to my weekly pages using my design A because its just what I like to do... and after all, that is why I am doing this project in the first place.. because I like it. I loved looking at your week and I am happy that we will maybe see a few more of these pop up!! I do love your approach of "do it the way I want when I want to do it" and I think I could use a little more of that this year! Thanks for all the inspiration!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Murray says…
    01/19/2015

    Thank you for sharing more PL spreads! I am inspired every time you post one! I absolutely love the new product kits but plan to use them mostly in PL. It's nice to post and prepare without embellishments. Simple is the key for me. I too love the weekly documentation.

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. carlatte7 says…
    01/19/2015

    looking back on my incomplete PL from 2014...lots of pictures, not many details/stories. This year- stories first! I lead the most boring, normal, not large life imaginable. I have no great things to say- but it is the only chance i have to tell MY story. We all have something to say, no matter how we choose to say it.

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. Pinkpea14 says…
      01/19/2015

      Love that! That needs to be on a poster for all people that think we need to have this totally exciting and perfect life. Enjoy the little things...they are usually more important than the big things!

    2. carlatte7 says…
      01/19/2015

      I am a breast cancer survivor- it became so CLEAR to me 3 years ago that I had important stories to tell! Even if they are boring or similar to last month. :)

  25. Pinkpea14 says…
    01/19/2015

    I still don't have a plan. I am going with the flow. Need to purchase a new album for 2015. Still catching up with PL 2014, my Baby PL and December daily 2014. No stress, no worries...what ever goes goes. If it doesnt...that's fine, too. I want to be more creative and "out of the PL page protector box"...we will see what time and budget allows. :)
    Happy Monday to you!

    Reply 0 Replies

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