Project Life - my way

This year the trend in scrapping seems to be towards Becky Higgin's Project Life. It seems everywhere you look people are getting ready to do some quick scrapping using journalling cards and background papers, cut to 6x4 sizes and then with the addition of photos, all put together like jigsaws, in 12x12 page protectors that have been divided up into 6x4 pockets.

Now I was a bit curious and went over to Becky's site to read the blog and watch the video's all about it. I really wasnt impressed and couldnt see the point in it all. It didnt seem to be much up from sticking your photos into a slip album and adding a couple of lines underneat to say when it they were taken and who of. I guess that since my family and friends rarely look at my scrapbook albums (and I have over 20 very full to bursting 12x12 albums plus some mini books) that the whole point of the game for me is not so much the telling of the stories, although the stories are there if anyone should care to look, but the actual pleasure I get from planning, cutting, sticking and seeing a page come together. I couldnt see that I would get anything out of doign Project Life.

Somehow though the hype catches you up. All over UKScrappers people are posting about where to get the kits, which page protectors to get, who did it last year and lots of other enthusiastic stuff. So I took another look, and I was rather taken by the pages done by Laura. I found myself looking online for divided page protectors, but with everyone else and their wife already ahead of me it wasnt an easy task.

Could I use the stack of 12x12 pp's and my sewing machine to make some divided pockets? I dont sew very well in a straight line at the best of times and on slippery plastic? The conclusion was ...no!

Then I had a brainwave!!

Why use divided page protectors at all? Why not just use the pp's as they were and simply divide the page itself up?

YES!!

It was a simple task with a pencil, a ruler and a set square to drawer 6 6x4 inch rectangles onto a sheet of white 12x12 card stock.

I especially liked the layouts Laura has done that when joined together they made up into a bigger layout, now it would be simple to do that because I was really working on a 12x12 anyway.

The next thing I did was to go through all the zillions of digi kits on my hard drive. Choosing one was really hard but I finally settled on Wild Sorbet by Micelle Coleman, alongside some wonderful Karma cards I also found on her blog My Second Mile, and coupled with some Jessica Sprague journal blocks that I had got free from one of her classes, I soon printed out my first few home made Project cards.

So now all I want is a few photos (still not managed to get enthusiastic about the Project 366 yet). Watch this space and lets see it it works!