Project Life Is Not for Me

There, I said it! While I am in awe of the time, creativity and diligence that goes into creating a Project Life album, it's just not a good fit for me at this stage of my life. Maybe it's because my kids are both in high school and shudder when I take the camera out. (At least my son does.) Maybe it's because I choose not to scrap about the piles of laundry that need to be put away or the faded supermarket receipts that need organization. Lord knows, I think about that stuff enough in real life, I don't want to think about it when I scrap. Or, maybe it's because I failed miserably at my two attempts to do Project 12. Both times, I made it through March. No further. If I can't do 12 layouts of this type, how can I commit to 52? Maybe it's because I am not a chronological scrapbooker. Instead, I scrap what inspires me...at that moment. I just don't want my scrapping to start to feel like an obligation and I'm afraid that's what Project Life would be....something else for me to fall behind in doing. I am just trying to keep it real.

The fact that the Project Life process doesn't fit with my scrapping style doesn't mean that I am not drawn to a good recap page that highlights events that are not worthy of a full spread. So, I thought I would give a "Year in Review" page a try. I was inspired by Lisa Dickinson's page that you can see here. I kept the overall design of Lisa's beautiful page.  However, rather than matting Instagrams, I cut out 12 Polaroids using a Papertrey Ink die and then filled the center with square pictures that I punched from 4x6 prints. (Note:
I had to snip a little off the bottom of each Polaroid in order to fit all 12 on the page.) To simplify things, I used two Studio Calico kits (34th Street and Penn Station) that I found under the Christmas tree plus a few trinkets from my stash.

Here's my layout:

Let me tell you a little bit about my process for creating this page. Since there were so many photos, I kept my color pallet fairly neutral using various shades of beige, yellow and blue. Also, I used papers with relatively small-scaled patterns. (Many were B sides.) After cutting out all of the Polaroids and pictures, I began arranging them on my page just so that I could get a sense of how the patterns and colors would go with the picture for a particular month. (Note that the yellow dot is actually the stamp that coordinates with the PTI die.) Once I decided on the basic order of things, I adhered the pictures to the frames and then to the background paper. At this point, I embellished each Polaroid as if it was an individual "page." I did repeat some elements (buttons, wood veneer, washi tape, the Martha Stewart starburst punch and the blue alphabet stickers) to create several visual triangles and create a cohesive look.

Here's a closer look:

Since this page was jam packed, I put a list of events on the back of the page. They are:

• January -- Mark's last Jazz Band Concert at East Meadow High
• February -- Jenn at the Polar Bear Plunge
• March -- Melissa's 8th grade Sports Night at Woodland
• April -- Mark's first day of work at Pathmark
• May -- Thomas helps Sal plant string beans
• June -- Melissa's 8th grade graduation
• July -- Mark's new car
• August -- Cruise to Bermuda on the NCL Star
• September -- Kitchen renovation
• October -- EMHS Jets Marching Band at NYC Columbus Day Parade
• November -- Superstorm Sandy results in 10-day power outage
• December -- Christmas Day

Make sure to stop back early next week. I will be sharing a card I made using the centers of those Polaroids.
Supplies:
Studio Calico Penn Station and 34th Street kits 
Additional Supplies:
Tools: Die (Papertrey Ink), Punches (Martha Stewart Starburst and Snowflake, Marvy Uchida Square); Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Stampin' Up!, Jenni Bowlin
Additional Embellishments: Chipboard Alphabet (Heidi Swapp); Alphabet Stickers (Lily Bee); Buttons (Bella Blvd.) Glazed Brads (Basic Grey); Wood Veneer (Studio Calico)