Hello! It’s Catherine here, and today I’m sharing my process for putting together a big pocket-page layout. Last month, I shared a snow-themed layout from January. The photos were really cohesive, which made it easy to pull everything together. This month is a different story.

In this month’s layout, the pictures are all over the map because I took nearly an entire month’s worth of photos from February and plugged them into one layout (plus an insert). I’ll admit I really struggled to select the photos, but once I had them printed and started to move them around in the pockets, I fell in love with this layout. Some journaling finished telling the month’s stories, and although it seemed to take forever to put this together, it feels worth it since this one layout really does tell the story of nearly an entire month.

I’ll walk you through my process, but first up: the layout! I used two 12×12 Design A pocket pages and put a 6×12 Design H pocket page in between them to include some extra pics. Here it is with the insert flipped on the right side.

And the insert flipped over onto the left.

I had a mish-mash of mostly interior shots to include this month. It was really hard to decide what to print, but I tried my best to select the photos that represented what we were up to throughout the month.

Even with a big, photo-heavy layout like this, I like to try to find some kind of theme. It helps me see the photos as a whole rather than trying to take them all in one-by-one. I printed a simple journaling card with the text “around the house,” which I think helped tie things together.

I used faves 3×4 journal cards to include more detailed journaling and digital papers from bloom and more or less to create the fifty-fifty patterned card (you can find Jamaica’s tutorial on how to create these HERE). I try to use patterns that compliment the colors in my photos, but since there’s already a lot of color on this page, I went with something more neutral.

An insert is a great way to include a few more photos without having to add another full 12×12 page. I used a Design H 6×12 insert and added a vellum journal card to allow a translucent peek through to the next page. The “right now” text is from faves 3×4 journal cards. I think the vellum adds dimension and helps tie the word art together from each side of the layout.

On the back of the insert, I included just a couple pics of us out and about (and a journaling card to match). P.S. guess who’s doing a flip into the foam pit at the trampoline park?!

I added another fifty-fifty patterned card using more or less papers to pick up the blue and green colors in the adjacent photo.

I’ve been making an effort to include more journaling in this album, and Liz’s photo templates are a simple (and beautiful) way to do just that. I used one photo template with word art on each page from pictures + words no 19 to tell the stories behind a couple of the more ambiguous photos.

I always start by selecting and printing my photos, and then I fill in with journaling cards, word art and patterns. I used several of the cards from the faves 3×4 kit to keep the look cohesive and made sure to include one on each page, which helped tie the layout together visually. I chose the patterned papers based on the colors I saw in the photos – blues, pops of green, as well as black, white and grey.

For me, selecting and editing the photos is always the longest part of the process. My favorite part is selecting and creating the journaling cards. I love filling in the gaps, so to speak, and deciding which photos can stand alone and which need a little more explanation.

Products used in this layout: faves 3×4 journal cards, pictures + words no 19, bloom papers, more or less papers, 4×6 photo templates volume 1 (free!).

What about you? What are your favorite parts of the memory keeping process?

You can find more of my work here and follow me on my blog, on Instagram or see what’s inspiring me on Pinterest.

xo, Catherine

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Project Life is a memory keeping system created by Becky Higgins. You can find out more about it HERE.