Tuesday, January 25, 2011

my cheeks still hurt from so much laughter

The 2011 Project Life Kick Off certainly did not disappoint! Lots of creativity, lots of inspiration, lots of laughs, LOTS of excitement about Project Life, lots of "ahha!" moments, and lots of productivity. We had a fantastic time celebrating the beginning of Project Life for this year. I can't wait to get together again next month! Here is everyone with our Project Life albums.

There is a nice mixture of different Project Life editions. Some from the 2010 edition, the 2011 Turquoise edition, and the 2011 Amber edition. (A couple of ladies in the photo are waiting to order their kits when Amazon has more in stock, so they were celebrating with us at the Kick Off, but didn't have their albums quite yet...) Some of us have scrapbooked for years and others have never scrapbooked. I am the only one out of this group who has done a Project Life album before, so this is a new scrapbooking concept for most everyone in our Project Life group. Some of us had been working on our 2011 Project Life albums since January 1 and some of us were scared to even open up the Project Life box! It was awesome to get everyone's albums set up and ready to go, start adding their photos, and to see each person "get" how to complete their albums this year. I so believe in this scrapbook concept. Especially for those who think they are creatively challenged, don't have time to scrapbook, or are just intimidated by the word 'scrapbooking'. I'm SO GLAD this group of women has committed to document the everyday stories and lives of their families for 2011. I think they will whole-heartedly treasure this album once it is completed. And, hopefully, have a little fun in the process!

Here are some views of my first two weeks of layouts from my PL album this year.

Week 1, right side of the layout. Photos along the top and bottom, journaling cards in the middle. This is how every layout will look like throughout the year.


Week 2. I took a bunch of photos that I wanted to include in my album this week. So, in addition to the photo per day in the page protectors that came with the PL kit, I added a 12 x 12 divided page protector right in the middle of this week's layout. This page protector is divided up into 4 x 4 inch squares. Its one of my favorite page protector styles! I included a few extra photos from our everyday lives from this week and also a few other things. A business card from the doctor's office, a note that Matt wrote to Jack and put in his lunch one day that week, part of a birthday card I made for Matt, and some extra fun patterned paper with a little extra journaling. I won't add extra pages EVERY week, but loved filling in this week's layout with some extra goodies.


Sometimes my journaling is just a simple story from something that happened that day, like this:


And sometimes my journaling is a list of things, like this:


Other days my journaling is just a quote from something the kids said that day, a to-do list, or just documenting what we did that particular day. I'll also be sure to add receipts, tags from clothes, artwork by the kids, etc, throughout the year.

This project can be tailored to whatever works for you! And its oh-so-fun!

16 comments:

Amanda said...

I loved your post about PL! I think that we are going to have so much fun this year encouraging each other through the process. I was thinking that we should extend invitation to Becky! That's Becky Higgins! I am on a first name basis with her. Sorry. Anyway, thanks for hosting!!!!

Sara said...

I am a religious stalker...er...follower of Becky's blog and saw her post featuring your story and your awesome PL recruiting and "training" :) What an awesome story! I've convinced two people to jump on the bandwagon this year and felt pretty proud, but fourteen?!? You go girl.

This process, this album, this idea has changed the way I approach scrapbooking and I am beyond thrilled with my 2010 album!

Thank you for sharing your passion :)

Angela said...

Wow, how wonderful that you got so many ladies on board, this is my first year and I'm LOVING it! Can't wait to read how all of your years go.

Angela

Unknown said...

fabulous!!!!! what a fabulous inspiration you are to your friends!!!

The Blackburn Buzz said...

LOVE your energy.

I am a first time visitor and also a big scrapbooker. I am doing PL this year, and concentrating on the small moments with our family.

What a fun post! Enjoy your time with your friends and PL. It will be fun to follow you this year.

Eric Dunaway said...

Just wanted to mention that my wife is one of those ladies at the table... and would love for you to check out my blog: eOffTheRecord.BlogSpot.com

Rebekah said...

This is wonderful. Congrats on being noticed by Becky!! What an honor! Your group sounds wonderful. A DF and I are blogging (private though, although I do talk about mine on my regular crafting blog!) together to keep each other inspired.

Matt Beers said...

Betsy, all of us here at the 200lb Man (www.matthewdbeers.blogspot.com) would just like you to know how proud we are of you and how much we love scrapbooking. In fact, a post is planned for later today that is ALL about scrapbooking. I think it's definitely the kind of thing you'll want to check out.

Matt

Lindsay said...

Betsy, I found your blog from Becky's post on her blog today. Just wanted to say hi and that I am eagerly awaiting two project life kits so I can get started! Also, I am an adoptive mother of one amazing little boy and I am so excited when I find other people with adoption connections! We are hoping to adopt again! There is an awesome woman who has a blog you should check out! www.therhouse.blogspot.com She is an adoptive mother, adoption advocate and her blog is full of adoption resources! Can't wait to share this PL journey with you and hopefully we'll both have adoption stories to share soon! Lindsay

marilyn said...

Hi! I discovered your blog through Becky. I think you and your group of friends are wonderful! I love your page protector with the 4 X 4 slots. What brand is it, and where dod you get them? thanks so much!

Matt Beers said...

My scrapbooking post is up. I think you'll find it very illuminating.

www.matthewdbeers.blogspot.com

Betsy Beers said...

Thanks for all the kind words!
Marilyn, the 4 x 4 divided page protector is from We R Memory Keepers and I got it at Archivers. That brand sells a whole line of divided page protectors and I LOVE them!

Sonya said...

This is such a fantastic idea! I love Project Life! I don't think I'll ever scrapbook traditionally again unless it's for something special!

Kelsey said...

congrats on making it on the Becky Higgins blog!! you are famous, and all of you ladies are super cute with your albums! can't wait to see your progress. :)

Anonymous said...

imagine my surprise to read Becky's blog and discover that someone "kind of local" was featured. I'm from Angola,IN and this is my 2nd year doing Project Life.

Shannon said...

Cheers to Project Life! I found you through Becky's blog but am a fellow Fort Wayner. I do Project Life Mondays on my blog... Stop by and check it out sometime! Take care and KEEP WARM!! :o)