Project Life!

This post is part of a paid campaign with American Crafts, but all opinions are my own.
Once upon a time, long, long ago in a faraway life I was a scrapbooker.  It was a mystical time . . . a time before children . . . a time when I was teaching school . . . a time when I stayed up every night during the summer watching Friends and creating scrapbooks until 3 am as my husband slept.  My kitchen table was a permanent scrapbooking table, and we ate on the couch, which didn’t matter because it was just the two of us and we wanted to watch tv anyway and weren’t teaching anyone about family dinners and good manners yet.  I could sit down and scrapbook for five minutes or five hours.  It was all strategically set out at all times.  And then a squirmy child came screaming into my world, and my world was forever changed.

Yes, this is a true tale.  A true tale of a life that was only four or five years ago, but which seems a lifetime away.  😉  My scrapbooks are now in boxes in my dad’s basement, all of my pictures are now in digital files, just hanging out on my computer, and I have lost the scrapbooking bug.  Since that time I have learned to create jewelry, which is now my little business, and I have also taken up blogging.  Most importantly, I have become the primary caretaker to two little snoogfests.  (Yes, that is a word…..at least in my family it is!  Snoog=snuggle.  You get the gist.)   And now that I have HUNDREDS of precious pictures of my children to preserve and place out for our family and others to enjoy…….I have lost the will to do so.  Where I used to spend ridiculous amounts of money on scrapbooking supplies, I now spend it on fabric, jewelry supplies, holiday stuff, and home decor projects.  The time and money have drifted elsewhere.  In short, I thought my scrapbooking days had vanished, left far behind me in a distant former life, never again to be seen.  And then yesterday happened.

Yesterday I cracked the seal on my brand spanking new Project Life Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic Kit.  When I got the box on my doorstep with these supplies in it I literally did a happy dance in my kitchen.  Literally.  I had no idea I had been chosen for this campaign, for which I had obviously applied, and I was tickled pink to have the opportunity to try out Project Life!
What is Project Life, you ask?  I actually asked a blogging friend the exact same question at SNAP.  Basically, it is a revolutionary new way to scrapbook created by the brilliant and lovely Becky Higgins for American Crafts.  I described it to my picture-loving but craft HATING sister as scrapbooking for dummies.  Even SHE could whip out a cutesy scrapbook in a jiffy with very little agony involved.  (Yes, agony.  She really hates crafting.  How are we related, again?!)  It is page protectors divided into sections and inserts of all types designed to fit into those slots, all with the aim to simplify the scrapbooking process. It requires no scissors, no glue, no tools and no skills of any kind.  Let me show you.
I received a brand new kit edition called the Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic Core Kit, which is carried exclusively at Michaels.  Several places carry Project Life, by the way, but Michaels has one of the largest selections, along with two exclusive core kits.  The Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic Core Kit features an array of light blues, pinks, greens, yellows and airy neutrals. The fun icons include birds, trees, foxes, houses, keys and clipboards. It all has the very romantic, distressed feel that is so popular right now.  I am normal a BRIGHT color girl, but I swooned when I opened this up.  It’s just amazing!  And COME ON!  That grey chevron album?!  Are you even kidding me with that?!  Ack.  Love.  Love, love, love.
Here is a peek at the inside of the core kit.  The inserts are varied in size and type.  Some are just cute patterns, some have space to write and personalize, some are made to fold over and slip inside of a small slot so that there is a little story hidden within, some have cute sayings and pictures on them.  All of them are cute enough that you would not have to use a single embellishment and you would have a stunning scrapbook!  Truly.
Here is the box of page protectors that I received.  You can see that they are made for two different layouts.  I am not even sure how many different page protector varieties Project Life makes.  Probably more than two!
Now let’s get to work!!  Start by printing your pictures.  I swear that is the hardest part!  It’s ridiculous!  Part of the reason I loved scrapbooking so much before was because I used a film camera.  I excitedly took my roll of film to the store, and once I got the pictures in my hot little hands I was eager to create.  Now I admire them on my computer….and never get around to ordering prints of them.  Technology is a both a blessing and a curse, am I right?

Now, you do not HAVE to use embellishments, but I did.  I have problems.  And lots of craft supplies and a huge stash of leftover scrapbooking supplies.  So I figured I may as well pull out a few fun things and see what inspired me.  I only added a few things here and there, but I do like the extra punch of interest and personalization that they added.  It is truly optional, however.  I just gathered up my favorite letter stickers (Thickers from American Crafts), washi tape, glue, glitter tape, glitter glue, rick rack, flower embellishments, etc.  I didn’t use all of them, but I like to have everything spread out in front of my face to inspire me when I work.
I decided to scrapbook photos from a recent family photo session that we did in a park with my dad, my sisters and their families, and my grandparents.  Four generations of cuties, if I do say so myself.
I love the way these pages turned out.  It is as if we planned our outfits to match this Project Life Kit!  Haha.  Let’s take a closer look!
Here is my little family.  My kids are the cutest.  I’m sorry, but it’s true.  I love them so much!  As you can see, I added a little Washi tape to embellish the picture of my boy laying in the grass like an angel, and I also used those fab gold Thickers (which are actually from the Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic Line as well) to add text to the page.  Both only took minutes.
This other page features pictures of all of us with my grandparents.  They are the best.  I am thrilled beyond words that my kids have gotten a chance to spend so much time with them, especially since my own mother passed away ten years ago.
I used Thickers and a flower embellishment on a basic heart pattern card to jazz this page up, and I also used yellow glitter glue to trace the flower quickly and add a bit of pizazz to the page.  Also…..isn’t my grandma the cutest thing you have ever seen??  She is 4’10” tall.  I adore her.
SO easy, and yet SO cute, right?!  I am so excited about these pages that I have literally been thinking about doing the rest of the photos after my kids were in bed all day long!  Uh oh……looks like the scrapbooking bug is back!  Sorry, honey.  Sorry, budget.  Now off I go!  I have some Project Life playing to do!

If you want to learn more about Project Life basics and ideas I would recommend checking out the Project Life for Beginnners series on Sweet Rose Studio.  In my mind Katie is the Project Life queen.

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Sarah Westover McKenna

Sarah is the scattered creative mind behind Bombshell Bling. A former elementary school teacher and a current stay-at-home mom, she loves developing her creativity through her blog and her jewelry design business, Bombshell Bling Jewelry. Sarah is a lover of all things vintage, colorful, and BLING. She is also a sweets addict with a major obsession with s'mores.

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