project life | on being caught up

I devoted two days last week to project life and dare I say it? Right now, I am completely caught up and current with my album.  There’s a first time for everything right?  We’ll see how long I keep up with this being current business. It feels nice, definitely.  But it won’t be a big deal if I get back to working on it two to three weeks or even four weeks out.  The reality is that right now my schedule is anything but predictable. My days are dictated first by what my daughters need, second by what I need to be doing to keep my shop running. Some weeks all my time is spent there. But inevitably, a pocket of free time eventually opens up and that’s when I dive back into project life.

That’s my “system” and I’m ok with it. I’m saying this because the thought of being behind used to stress me out and I wasn’t happy with working sporadically, in spurts. I used to think that if only I could find a system – work on it a bit everyday or set aside a few hours once a week – then I would be…what? On top of things? Better? More efficient? Happier? What??  I don’t even know what I was trying to attain, I was simply operating under the assumption that things could be better. But what could be better than a system that works with my schedule? And a system that complements the way I function creatively? Our mindset is such a powerful thing. So no more thinking about this in terms of “getting caught up” or “getting behind”.  Just a simple “building/adding” to the album approach – because this is the type of project that will always be a work in progress.

This spread covers a 2 week period, from April 22nd – May 5th.

Life is full right now. Now that the girls are older, we are able to more, both as a family and as you can see in the photo below, I’m getting more time in with girlfriends. Pretty awesome. 🙂

I filled one of the 3×4 slots with a postcard from Madewell (love that store).  I like how the bold text helps to balance the photo heavy page.

Here’s the requisite week at a glance insert. The black label is from press cards no. 1, printed on kraft paper.

All the photos on this page (with the exception of the top right) were taken with the iphone. The diptychs on the top left and bottom right were created using my 4×6 photo templates (free download in my shop). Collages are a great way to fit more photos in the space and I especially like using iphone photos to make diptychs because most of the shots from my phone are portrait oriented – two photos fit perfectly on a 4×6 canvas.

Getting down the things they say is still my absolute favorite part of project life. This week I got quotes from both of them. The label stamp (vintage blank stamp by purple onion designs) is my all time favorite.

Favorite diptych of the week.

So I’m curious. What’s your project life routine and how do you feel about it?

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Project Life is a memory keeping system created by Becky Higgins. Read more about it HERE. All of my project life entries can be found HERE. All photos edited using RadLab by Get Totally Rad!

Blog Comments

Your spreads are always beautiful and I love your thoughts on the whole ‘being caught up’ thing. This is the first week that I didn’t have my previous week done on Monday and I’m (shockingly) okay with that. More important things come up and it will get done. I just want it to be fun too and it’s not fun if I’m rushing myself. It took 5 months for me to realize that. 😉 Great post Liz!

“More important things come up and it will get done.” Word. You came to this realization so much quicker than I did Nicole. Glad I’m on the same page as you now. 🙂

Gaaah – I’m SO impressed – as I’ve mentioned before, I’m months, even years behind with albums – its always hanging over me and yes I do feel stressed about it – so silly as it should be enjoyable! Do you think the project life system helps you to keep on top of it? .. and do you still do photo books for special events? x

Hi Emma,

Yes, I most definitely still do photobooks, I enjoy making those so much. With regards to project life, doing this album has definitely helped me to better understand what it is about the everyday moments I want to record, things like conversations, things my daughters say, drawings they make, etc. If it weren’t for project life, I wouldn’t be getting so many of these moments recorded.

I love all those moments you capture, the little things kids say are so special – I wish I had had the foresight to do the same when my kids we a little younger …

I am so glad I am not the only one who feels like I’m struggling to keep up with Project Life sometimes. While I love doing it, there are times when I just have so much else to worry about that it falls to the wayside. Thank you for reminding me that it’s okay to be behind! 🙂 BTW, I love your work!

Thank you!

Sigh… Oh Liz, this is so precious!!!

Thank you so much Soco. 🙂

Still loving your pages.. and the way the colors look. Is that the way it looks IRL? Or did u edit the photos to put here? I love it . I was wondering how u do your photo strips like the photo booth strips..

Hi Anika,

I don’t run any filters on the photos I take of the album so the colors are as you see them. I do, however, edit most (if not all) of the photos before I print them out using RadLab by Get Totally Rad!

I’ve been trying to keep up with the journaling {I use your 3×4 kraft&doily set} and then get the photos printed every other month. I live in the middle of nowhere so there’s no good place to get them sooner. I wish you’d make a 4×6 set with kraft&dolies by the way. *hint*hint*

Thanks for your suggestion, it’s on my list of things to do now. 🙂

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