project life 2014 // january & february.

last year was my first attempt at project life.  i didn't know much about this project when i began- only that it seemed like a cool way to document our life over the course of the year.  so i dove in head first, bought everything i needed on amazon, & began the 52 week process.

and very briefly, here's what i learned: i really enjoy project life.  the simple, turn-key process took the fun (but sometimes daunting) task of scrapbooking & turned it on it's head.  & i love that.  however, this was also a much bigger commitment than i was prepared for.  52 weeks of documenting is hard work.  i won't lie, my motivation definitely wained & by september i almost thought i would give up.  but then, i flipped to the front of the book, strolled through the rhythm of our life and knew that a project like this was too cool not to complete.

fast forward to today.  as i wrapped up my 2013 book (i didn't share any of the books progress online- mostly because i fell behind on blogging all together, not because i didn't want to) i knew i wanted to keep project-life'ing'.  i also knew i didn't have the enthusiasm or bandwidth to commit to another 52-week project.  and i was okay with that.  i have other things i'm passionate about and chose to spend some time exploring those avenues instead.  that said, i still love capturing the everyday small stuff (that ends up being the big stuff) in our lives and decided to complete another project life album this year as well- only on a monthly basis.

it's so refreshing and i'm having a lot of fun with this format.  i'm finding time to be more creative, play with paper and paint and embellishments.  i spend more time looking for inspiration and don't worry about documenting everything.  while i'm sure it will seem a bit more abridged compared to our 2013 album, it still tells the story of us, vibrantly, honestly and with lots of love.

this time around i'm sticking with a format that's more me.  i'm not a fan of 12x12 spreads.  personally, i think the binders are too big (they actually don't fit on any of our bookcases) & it takes a lot for me to find inspiration without a lot of embellishments.  so i opted for an 8.5x11 binder and since there aren't too many pocket options for this size book available for project life, i chose to use the ever-classic baseball card sleeves.  the only downside to this format is that you have to cut everything since the precut project life cards don't fit into the sleeves.

right now my intention is to keep using these pages throughout the year- maybe with a few modifications, of course- and share each layout the following month.  i'm finding inspiration through some of my favorite project life designers all who have embraced their style and made this project work for them.  i love the diversity of project life; it's a keeper.