Project Life 2012: 2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Persnickety Prints–Project Life Article & FREE Template

I love that all these projects are different and talented kind creatives are coming up with some free templates to share with their readers.

Check this one out from Pernsickety Prints……click on the image!

Sharon xo

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Week 7–12th February to 18th February, 2012

Again not huge on the words…..which I am trying to rectify this week and carry my P365 diary from Kikki-K with me some more and just recording each day so that I have something to refer to when I come to putting my pages together. My memory isn’t what it used to be and I really don’t like to be like that but the reality is I am!

I might come back and put some more on these pages at a later date I think.

Week 7 – Left hand side…..

and right hand side…..

Sharon xo

“Project Life is a back-to-basics approach to memory-keeping. This simple format requires no skill - only your pictures and a pen. No one's life is perfect but everyone has a story and every family has a collection of memories. Putting pictures + stories together in Project Life makes us more aware of our blessings and encourages us to cultivate a good life.” Becky Higgins – Find out more here.

Freebies

Sharing is Caring!

I really like these journaling cards! Very versatile. Thanks Plucky Momo!!!!!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Week 6–5th February to 11th February, 2012

Week 6…..left hand side

Right hand side.

I have rushed week 6 as I am behind……it’s done – my thoughts and photos are there and that’s all that matters.

Sharon xo

Monday, February 20, 2012

Fat Mum Slim–February Photo Ideas

February Photo A Day Challenge from Fat Mum Slim has saved me a few times already – sharing!

Week 5–29th January to 4th February

Yes I’m catching up!

Here’s week 5…….left hand side

right hand side…..

Thoughts: Still keeping it simple….photos and little stories that I like to remember.

Righto…..must go do week 6 and then 7……..Seven????????????? Are we already through week 7 of 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please make the year slow down……please!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Vol. 25 Simplicity Journaling Cards

These look perfect! Click on the image.

I know I am behind….life has been busy and I am hoping to catch up this weekend!

Thanks for visiting

Sharon xo

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Week 4–22nd January to 28th January

A whole month gone and I managed to get one shot a day…I think. Not that I think it’s important to achieve a photo a day to be able to tell my story of Project Life 2012. But I am participating in P366 too and well a photo a day is the main aim isn’t it.

Two projects rolled into one.

I have kept this weeks layout pretty simple with minimal journaling. It was a busy one for me with a public holiday thrown in which really made Friday feel like Monday.

Week 4 left hand page……

Week 4 right hand page…….

Short and sweet this week. I’m hoping to get some blog surfing in this week and find some more goodies to add to my pages.

I’ve printed off my first week and my goal this week is to start compiling my pages into my album so I will be back with those details soon.

Have a great week everyone and if you are in Perth try and stay cool.

Sharon xo

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Plucky Momo–Project Life Freebies

WOW these weekly freebies from Plucky Momo for Project Life are just gorgeous…..

All the freebies are now in one list and will be added to each week. Click on the image above to be taken straight to the page.

Make sure you visit her other digital products too….they really are great!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Week 3–15th January–21st January

I’ll admit I have struggled this week. Not sure why but it might have something to do with my business suddenly becoming extremely busy and planning a expo that I will be part of this Sunday.

Anyway I have decided not to stress too much, just use what I have and concentrate on including some journaling instead, which is something I have always regretted not doing more of so it’s a win win situation if I look at it that way.

So onto my Week 3…….Left hand side Week 3…….

Right hand side Week 3…….

I like that I have added journaling straight to the photo – allows me to record more.

I’m loving my camera (I keep telling my hubby how much I like it) and I am slowly getting used to the manual settings. The results are very different to my Canon 5D MkII. The photo of the storm here was not edited at all in Photoshop and I love the richness of the blues and you can see a hint of the sunrise on the horizon.

Hopefully I will remember to add some bits and bobs this week like receipts and costs of things which will be fun to look back on in time and compare.

New purchase this week: a laptop table so I can work on my project life whilst watching the tennis and cricket and trying to stay cool in this heatwave.

See you all next week! I don’t think I will be back before then. Have fun with your Project Life!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sharon xo

Monday, January 16, 2012

Week 2– 8th to 14th January, 2012

How is everyone going with their Project Life? Are you still working out what’s going to work for you? Or are you all sorted and steaming on? I’d love to know so leave me a comment and share your experience so far.

I’m a bit in the middle. Some days I struggle to think of an imaginative photo to take (I am a photographer after all) especially when the day is pretty mundane and full of normal boring stuff like work and household chores etc. Then I got to thinking that if that’s what it is, then that’s what I will photograph.

An example of this was Saturday. We didn’t have to go anywhere. No taking our daughter to work, no shopping to do (I did that on Thursday night), no appointments, no-one to see. So we stayed home all day and chilled out and watched the Cricket and I worked on my Project Life and tried to stay cool as it was warming up outside. Well that’s pretty boring and I had already taken a photo of the cricket on TV the week before, what was I going to photograph? Then I remembered I had made some scrummy Donna Hay Chocolate Fudge brownies so I fished the box (Yes I cook cardboard stuff!) out of the recycling bin and photographed that along with some scrummy (repeating myself) fudge on a pretty plate. There I had it!

Other days like yesterday, it was easier, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of whole gold band snapper on the BBQ and I snapped Renae (who was home for dinner and sleepover) enjoying her food, she loves it when Dad cooks fish.

Of course there is always the photo idea lists I posted in my last post, which I am sure I will need/want to use before much longer.

So onto my Week 2…….Left hand side Week 1…….

Right hand side of Week 2……

CONFESSION: I did not take the photos of my family on this page, my niece did, thankfully!

I have decided to keep things simple and mix up the layout of my pages depending on the photos I have to work with in any given week. So my Left page is using Template D and my Right page used Template A. This worked for me. I guess if you have more portrait/landscape photos you wanted larger then you would use a template to suit.

This will be the first week I will have some more photos I want to include so I will be introducing my Kikki-K 6x4 photo album refills.

I have created some digital files using the journaling cards in the digital kit to fit in the left hand side of these pages. Here’s a couple of examples of those. I have simply made a new file with the correct measurements and added the existing journaling cards and rearranged them a little. Some are cropped to fit and others are rotated etc.

I intend to get the 6x4 photos printed off with my page layouts and put these insert pages together down the track a bit. I have created a digital folder and placed the photos in here for safe keeping at the moment and to remind me to get them printed.

So there you have it Week 2 completed. It feels good, it still feels manageable at this stage.

This week my personal photographic challenge is to get a decent photo of myself!

A photographic tip ……You will get a better shot if you step closer to your subject rather than zooming in. This is one I have discovered with my G12 this week!

Sharon xo

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Photo ideas

There are a few lists circulating around the web with photo ideas, mainly for the P366 project but they are a great resource for recording the every day part of your Project Life journey.

Here’s a couple I found:

Fat Mum Slim has created this list for the month of January…Rebecca Cooper from Simple as That has created this stunning list…..who wouldn’t want to print this out!

Katrina Kennedy from Capture Your 365 has created an inspiration list complete with tips.

This one isn’t a photo idea list but Katrina from The Organised Housewife has created a gorgeous ‘Project Life Photo Planner’. If you are not so good at printing off your photos and keeping track then this might just be the solution for you!

There is a planner for each month of the year. And you can download it for free here.

That’s it for today. I’m hoping to be back tomorrow with my Week 2 pages, I have been working on them this afternoon whilst keeping one eye on the cricket!

Sharon xo _______________________________________________

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Buyable Downloads and Printables

OK so as I promised I would list out just some of the resources for “buyable printables” so here it is……

1. Marcy Penner – Downloadable Printables of all kinds!

2. Paislee Press – 3x4 journaling cards.

3. Kitty Designs – Digital kit for 366 and journaling cards.

4, Ormolou – A heap of things to choose from here!

5. Erica Hernandex – Two Peas – Some gorgeous goodies here too.

6. Creative Place – Etsy shop.

7. Perfect Loop Paper – Date Brushes for your photos.

8. Basers Garten Design – Journaling cards etc.

9. Designer Digitals – Lots to choose from!

10. Ali Edwards – templates galore.

11. Jessica Sprague – where you can buy all the basics for the digital kit and more.

These have been added to the side bar and of course if you would like to add some more, then leave me a comment and I will gladly oblige!

I posted on my other blog Sharon Manning Photography this morning about these gorgeous prints now available at Vol.25’s etsy store…………..

Check them all out and let me know your favourites!

I’ll be back soon with an update on my processes of how I put my pages together…..promise!

Sharon xo

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Week 1– 1st to 7th January, 2012

This is proving much easier than I thought. In amongst my busy week I have managed to add my images and journaling to the template as the days have passed.

A couple of things I have noted though:

The page background on the template is a beige colour and I want white (cause I’m stubborn like that!).
This lead to another dilemma that some of the journaling cards and paler photos will not stand off the page.
I have tried adding a 6 pixel border to the edges of the journaling cards and paler photos but I’m not happy with it as it doesn’t tie in with the other elements then. All or nothing. Yes I know I’m being fussy, but I need to get this right at the beginning so that the album flows and looks all the same. It’s alright I know what you are thinking! But it’s me and that’s the way I am.

I printed my pages at home with pretty good results except I cannot seem to get it centred on the page as yet, despite using the “centre to page” option in my print dialogue box – still playing with this one too. I might just end up getting the printed through my lab.

OK So here are my Week 1 pages…………..Left hand side of Week 1:

I have used the font Jenna Sue for my journaling because I wanted a handwritten feel. I’m editing my images in Photoshop before adding them to the page which gives me some freedom to add stuff.

Right hand side of Week 1:

I like being able to add some more facts or comments directly to the photos once I have placed them in the template (like the cricket score for Michael Clarke). You will notice I have also created one photo from two with the Pandora and Six Senses photo in the bottom right – I really wanted both photos there.

I have decided to go with a hybrid album and possibly a hard covered book at the end of the project (still undecided on that one) and I have chosen the Scrapworks Bay Box Album to use (because I had one laying around here) but I don’t think you can get them anymore…..I may be wrong though.

I now have my 365 diary/notebook from Kikki-K and I also bought some of these 6x4 photo album refills so that I can add some extra photos if I need to. I just need to work on a digital filler/journaling cards for these pages too….ok I’m adding it to my list now and I will be back to share the download.

I’m still adding resources to the side bar and sharing links to others that are participating in this project so leave me a comment with the link to your blog/website and I will add you in.

Enjoy week 2 of taking your photos and working on Project Life.

Sharon xo

Friday, January 6, 2012

Freebies!

Who doesn’t like a freebie now and then?

Here are some links to free downloads designed to work with your Project Life that I have found on the web, don’t forget to give credits or thanks where you need to:

1. Cathy Zielske’s – 6x12 cover page.

2. Sweetly Scrapped – Journaling cards

3. Schona Kessler Photography – Tabbed Journaling cards and Regular Journaling Cards

4. Plucky Momo – Journaling cards

5. Valorie Brown Designs – 4x6 Journaling cards

6. A Vegas Girl at Heart – Twenty 12 Filler Cards

If you know of any others and would like to share – leave me a comment with the link and I will add it to the list.

I will add these to the side bar on the right in a category of their own as I discover them on my webbly travels, so you can access them at any time.

Don’t worry I will be collating a list of downloads that you will have to pay for too and there really are some great products out there to choose from to complement your kits.

Week 1 is nearly over and I cannot wait to share my first double page with you all.

Sharon xo

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Ideas and Tips

I’m jotting down notes on pieces of paper at the moment but I think I will grab one of these next time I’m near a Kikki-K store.

This would be good for storing all my memorabilia in too – like receipts and ticket stubs etc.

A photographic tip ……if you are photographing small items like a phone or jewellery, place them on a piece pattern (or plain) paper or wrapping paper (before photographing) that complements your album theme/style.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Cover page

My cover page completed….this incorporates my One Little Word “Change” on the cover too just as a reminder to myself.

I have used Template E and added in some pattern papers, elements, the letter “M”, the year and of course a photo of myself.

This was easy….on to tackling week 1!

Sharon xo

Project Life / P365 / My Word = "F"

I have attempted one or many of these projects before and

So in 2012 I am hoping the release of this new product from Becky Higgins & Jessica Sprague will allow me to follow through and complete this project……finally!

The page overlays and elements are available as individual purchases or as bundles and work out alot cheaper for us here in Oz when you have to take into consideration the freight as well.

You could even mix and match some of the elements from the Turquoise Edition with the Cobalt Edition to give your project even more personality. Some image editing experience is required, for example Photoshop or Elements, but at first glance it all seems pretty easy.
I have already started to play with the cover page and it has taken me no time at all. How I’m going to print it out is still yet to be decided as I would like to test some pages here at home on my printer first, but I’m thinking I may need to use a lab to get a finish I’ll be happy with.

I love to scrapbook and I really don’t find the time these days to use up my supplies like I would like and because my photography business resides in the same room, I am reluctant to make a mess as I need to keep it tidy.
So why have I succumbed to the digital version?
Because I can put together a page at my computer.
Because I don’t need to print photos as I go.
Because I don’t need to make a mess and have to clean it up.
Because it’s manageable.
Because I can also incorporate tickets and memorabilia into another slip in page protector.
Because I can combine a photo a day, journaling and my word for 2012 into one project.

AND

The biggy – Father Christmas (aka my gorgeous Husband) bought me one of these so that I can capture more of the every day……

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Sure beats lugging around my Canon 5D MKII.

I intend using the 1 week at a time approach and incorporate one photo/story about “change” my word for 2012. I’m really looking forward to doing this project, but then again I have every year I started! Wish me luck?