Advice for new PL'er?

Discussion in 'Project Life/365/52' started by southernmother, Jan 19, 2017.

  1. southernmother

    southernmother Headed to SB for some cold brew & coconut milk

    Messages:
    307
    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2012
    Hey ya'll. So had been thinking last year about starting a PL album this year. But I've been very ill sice Christmas, in the hospital the first week of the year and am still home from work sick. (if anyone wonders, I had bacterial pneumonia and now that I'm better from it I'm still sick at home dealing with my blood sugar being through the roof (fasting levels around 300) as a result of some of the meds I was on to treat the pneumonia. I can not win for losing.)

    Anyway, like I said, I'm wanting to do a PL album but here's my deal.. due to having been so sick this month I have NO photos. Well, I have a few I've taken for IG that I could scrap but not many, maybe 3-4.

    So my question is what kind of suggestions can you offer for someone wanting to start late who doesn't have any photos to start with? I don't want to take a bunch of fake pics now and say they were from those missing weeks LOL

    Thanks in advance!
     
    RebeccaH likes this.
  2. Juliestcyr

    Juliestcyr Grammar nerd and proud of it

    Messages:
    1,531
    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2015
    You could do photoless, I suppose? Like art journalling with PL?

    What if they weren't your photos? Sometimes, I add a movie review to my album, and I use screen shots from the movie. You could show the TV shows and movies your watched, or books you read? Talk about events around the world that happened while you were stuck in bed.
    You could also do a "What I missed" layout, with photos from friends and family (unless, of course that's too depressing).

    Get well soon. That's a rough go.
     
    Aerobigirl likes this.
  3. tkradtke

    tkradtke Professional Brainstormer

    Messages:
    6,030
    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2009
    Oh gosh... what a tough start to the year! I hope you're feeling better soon!

    There is no one right way to do PL, so there's no reason why you couldn't combine the first weeks into one spread if you wanted. You could use your 3-4 photos and the story of your illness and start fresh with the next week.
     
    RebeccaH likes this.
  4. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

    Messages:
    19,369
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2013
    Great suggestions above!

    For you, it may fall into fake photos, but I would add a photo of paperwork- blood sugar number, hospital stuff, maybe the wristband? And a photo of the hospital. Depending on your layout choice, you could totally fill 1/4 -1/3 of a page with journaling about the visit, and another 1/3 with a photo of the hospital or your room or whatever you've got. Especially since that was the focus of your first bit of the month.
     
  5. Mrivas

    Mrivas I know how to spit like a man

    Messages:
    5,179
    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2012
    I was very sick with morning sickness last year in January and I actually combined like 4 weeks into one spread. I literally had only 1 photo for weeks 1 and 2. I used some filler cards and journaled about that time.
    I hope you feel better soon, it's hard starting the year off sick.
     
    RebeccaH likes this.
  6. carilyne

    carilyne It's only impossible if you think it is

    Messages:
    4,429
    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2014
    Great suggestions. One idea I had is there is that first page of any scrapbook. You could do a regular layout or PL style explaining what happened. You could make some cute journal cards from some of the medical kits here. And it wouldn't be so obvious that it's not real pictures. It seems like every January I get sick and mess up at least the first week and I use it as an excuse not to do PL that year. I'm going to look at Storyteller Ready to Go pages and see if I can use them without pictures the first week.
     
    RebeccaH likes this.
  7. RebeccaH

    RebeccaH Life is exciting, yes it is!

    Messages:
    12,237
    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2009
    So, I have not yet read through everyone else's responses, but I know exactly what I would do. I would follow these 4 simple steps ;) :

    1. I would use whatever photos you DO have.
    2. If there's anything else that has been a major part of life for the first few weeks of 2017, and you have the ability to take a photo that represents that (like a cool perspective shot on your medicine bottles or something, books you've read while you've been down, anything like that), then go ahead and snap a picture to help you tell your story. If there's nothing, not a big deal.
    3. If there is anything in pop culture that has been a part of life -- TV shows you've been watching, songs you love to hear pop up on the radio, movies you have on your wish list to watch, political happenings, etc -- find something on the internet, or make a list, or write a journal card ... something to represent those things.
    4. Put it all together. If you have enough content to fill 2 pages (filling in gaps with pretties and journal cards / word art / etc) then do a 2 page spread. If you can't fill 2 pages, then let it be your 1st page in your album where you only need 1 page anyway.

    hopefully this helps, and you feel like you're not too far off from getting started on 2017. I promise you won't regret throwing your hat in the ring on this project - it's been my favorite thing I've ever done from a memory documentation standpoint. So great to look back through years later!
     
    Aerobigirl likes this.
  8. scrappyjedi

    scrappyjedi Patience you must have, my young padawan

    Messages:
    1,658
    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2014
    Oh, goodness! I am so glad that you are out of the hospital and on the mend, even if things are still a bit of a struggle!

    Don't let not having photos for the first month discourage you! Just start taking them now and begin your really photo-heavy layouts there. For the time that you don't have many photos, I would write as much journaling now as I could while the memories were still fresh and include that on a page (or two, or however many it takes) as a way to document the time. And, as others have said, if you watched any TV shows, movies, read books, etc. while you were recovering, you could totally add those in, as well!
     
  9. londoncuppa

    londoncuppa I like rain, England ... and big words

    Messages:
    2,163
    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2014
    I completely agree with this! Also, don't forget to document your illness. It's definitely your life since December.

    Wishing you all the best and praying you get better soon!
     
  10. Aerobigirl

    Aerobigirl Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,508
    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2016
    Very good suggestions so far and I agree with them so I'll try not to duplicate what's already been written.

    Although it's most common to see a pocket page filled up with photos and elements, I've seen some gorgeous pocket-inspired pages with lots of white space. If you dont want to dwell on your illness, yout could place the photos that you do have in a row or column with just one journaling card and a couple of accents. A partially blank (lots of open space) page might really fit the mood of your first month to write that not that much happened, and will be a good visual contrast for the upcoming pages where your life is more vibrant with things happening.
     
    RebeccaH and bestcee like this.
  11. Aerobigirl

    Aerobigirl Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,508
    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2016
    (I should mention, I'm a pretty free spirit when it comes to digital pocket pages. I love doing both digital and paper pocket pages. I've done one digital project 52 and 3 full paper albums of them. I'm pretty structured when it comes to paper albums because of the size of the page protectors is a given, but when it comes to digital, I don't feel compelled to make my pocket pages look exactly like my paper albums. So, if my ideas were too out-of-the-box for your idea of pocket pages, I apologize)
     
  12. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

    Messages:
    5,791
    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2012
    My December/early January kind of duplicate your time so I'm glad to share the photo of me after passing out in the doctor's office or laterin the hospital and you can just change the face!?! LOL I do hope you are getting better because it's a slooooow recovery. Be good to you.

    I ditto all the suggestions but perhaps making page 2 of a monthly January be a whole lotta journaling detailing the whole saga of the pneumonia. It's a serious illness and deserves a good documenting.
     
  13. StefanieS

    StefanieS Think it over, think it under

    Messages:
    9,161
    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2014
    I like to add my routines, the products I use, tv shows I watch, books/magazines I have read, the weather, cost of living etc. I don't even consider them fake photos if I take them one week and only use them a month later (or vice versa) as they are still part of my routine or life.
    Be gentle on yourself and make the rules up as you go along.
     
  14. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

    Messages:
    5,791
    Joined:
    Aug 1, 2012
    Everything @Eyeore said.

    Two of the strongest proponents of PL - Becky Higgins and Ali Edwards - constantly say, no rules (unless YOU make them and you know you can break them) and make it as easy as you can.
     
    StefanieS likes this.

Share This Page