Project Life® 2018 | Week Sixteen

Lately I've been thinking a lot about which parts of the Project Life® memory keeping process bring me the most joy.

• Getting things done. The way I get things done is by keeping it simple and "good enough." I am often more motivated to finish a spread vs. spending more time adding embellishments. Adding more embellishments doesn't usually bring me joy. I want a few that feel like they "make sense" for the overall design and that's it. This means I say "no" to a lot of extra stuff.

• Printing the photos. Yep, this process brings me joy. I think part of that is because I've simplified that process too. I use PhotoStream so all my photos are uploaded directly from my phone via wifi without me having to do anything. When I open Aperture my PhotoStream folder for the month is right there so I know right where to look when it's time to print. In addition to that folder I have one other folder for each month that includes any photos I take with any other cameras. I also really like the rhythm I have of printing my photos in batches. When I have 20-30 minutes I'll sit at my computer and print out photos for Project Life® and slip them into the pockets. Then when I have time to finish up the spreads I'm focusing on the rest of the process vs. spending any time editing/printing photos. I have more about this topic in my Lens Of Joy workshop if you are interested in a deeper dive into my overall photo process.

• Repetition of the embellishments that I do use. In the case of this spread I've used some wood veneer, some light pink label stickers, and some 1/2 circles. That was good enough for me. Also, remembering that I absolutely don't have to do something different on every card or photo.

• Copying + pasting stories from Instagram. This is by far the easiest way for me to add words/stories to this project. I get to write in the moment (which uses different storytelling muscles compared with trying to remember - that said there is definitely beauty in the perspective that comes from the passage of time and how that informs how we tell the story) and then use that as content in this album months or years later.

Think about which parts of your own memory keeping processes are bringing you joy - feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. How can you do more of that and less of what doesn't bring you joy?

Here's a look at my Week 16 of 2018:

This was a Story Camp week which usually means most of my focus is going in that direction as we welcome 40 people to our town.

For my main journaling this week I copied and pasted text from a couple instagram posts and used my Prompts Digital Set for the titles on the journal cards.To mix it up a bit I used a grey background with dark grey type. It was a great reminder to me how simple it is to use Instagram as a holding place for stories and then just copy and paste them into my album.

The pink label stickers can be found in the Summer/Everyday Life Variety Sticker Bundle. The half-circle stickers were leftover from another project where I used the other halves. I had tucked the 1/2 circles into one of the photos in this spread to help me remember to use them.

I love the combination of a bit longer journaling on the 3x4 cards paired with a bit of handwritten journaling on the 1/2 circles.

If I remember right the wood veneer words were from the Fabric Story Kit™ (or Add On's).

Heart Die Cut (sold out) and the "bring on the" journal card are both from the Summer/Everyday Life release.

WEEK 16 PROCESS VIDEO

Music in my video is from Soundstripe.

SUPPLIES

• Design A Project Life® Page Protectors

• StazOn Ink

• Rolling Date Stamp

• Epson PictureMate PM400 Printer

• Summer/Everyday Life Journal Cards

• Summer/Everyday Life Sticker Bundle

• Prompts Digital Story Stamp™

• Stories By The Month™ April 2018 (subscriptions now available)

• Past Story Kit™ + Stories By The Month™ Kit Add Ons

You can see all my past Project Life® blog posts here. For more information about my overall process make sure to check out my self-paced Storytelling With Project Life® workshop.