PL Newbie Love

[jenevang]

OK, so I'm a PL Newbie. I sort of tried this venture last year but decided to just dip by toe in with one 2 page spread a month. That was just plain hard! It took FOREVER to weed out what would fit and not fit on the spread and I only got through April.

So, this year, I'm ALL IN. And honestly, it's a decent amount of work, but I'm loving the results so far.

Here's what I want to know in this thread...

From Newbies:
What have you learned so far?
Do you have your "process" down yet?
Are you going with consistency or randomness in your pages?
What have you learned you must NOT do to stay on track?

From the Pros:
Any advice for us?
How have you changed your process this year? And are you happy with the change?
How do you stay on track?

Anything else you want to share! We are sort of all in this together, Newbies and Pros. We are almost through 2 months! I really want us to succeed with whatever our goals were for our Pocket Scrapping this year.

Let's encourage each other!

 

[talivstouwe]

Yes!! This is a great post. I tried last year, and I got through 5 or 6 weeks. So far this year I'm not nearly as stressed out about it as last year (part of that is b/c last year I was still using my old laptop and it was just painful to scrap at all).

So far, I've learned to just relax about it. I'm remembering the WHY in all of this - that my kids are someday going to look at these pages and love reading about all the simple little things we did in our everyday life.

I (mostly) stopped comparing my pages with everyone else's. I made a PL Base template and I use that each week and that helps me tremendously.

I'm also just going with the flow, photo wise. A few weeks ago I took a ton of pictures and the lovely ladies here shared the whole insert thing with me and that has really broken through to me - I don't have to worry about what to do with too many photos. And if I don't have enough I'll do the "currently" idea that has been thrown around as well.

I do feel like my process is down. I go through each week's photos and email them to myself from my phone (so happy my iPhone tracks which photos are taken on each day!) Then I import into Lightroom, and edit. I picked 2 presets (one color, one B&W) to use for consistency. I throw my calendar card on the left page, then start arranging pics. My journaling card generally goes on the right page.

The biggest thing I'm avoiding is adding too much to my pages, embellishment-wise. I'd love to dress them up but going for just photos and a few journaling cards is really working for my flow so far!

 

[tkradtke]

This is year 2 for me, so I'll compare and contrast my years...

Year 1:
I was very consistent in my pages last year. It was my first year, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. I used the exact same template each week with the same basic layout. I felt a little stifled by this by the end of the year, but it was this rigidness that kept me on track and made PL part of my routine. I also had a delusion early on that I was going to fit all pages from the year into one shutterfly book which meant that I tried to cram everything into one two page spread per week. It didn't work, so I ended up splitting the year into two books and I was much freer with extra pages in the second half.

Year 2:
PL is now pretty firmly part of my routine. I actually still look forward to doing my spreads each week. I use whatever template I feel fits my pictures best now and I have no set formula to putting them together. I also have given myself permission to fill as many pages as I want. Over the past year, I have come to realize that this may be the only consistent scrapbooking I get done, so I want to get as many stories down as possible. I have all kinds of extra pages so far this year and I love it. I tried my first insert with week 7 (?).

So what I, personally, learned was that consistency in the beginning is what helped me establish a routine. Now that I have a routine, I don't need the consistency any longer. Oh, and one thing I'm finding painfully obvious over the past couple of weeks is that if I don't have enough pictures, the week is tough for me to get motivated to do. And it honestly doesn't matter what the photos are of and how mundane the subject may seem at the time, they help me get it done. I think I have five photos to work with from last week and I'm having a hard time getting started on my pages. I need to get on the ball and take more this week so I'm not in this situation again this time next week! It's end of day Monday and I have yet to take a photo (I do my weeks S-S).

 

[LeeAndra]

Hmm... advice, eh?

Start with the 'A' template. Do as little post-processing as possible on your photos & stick them in the 'pockets' with little to no embellishing. Stockpile some filler cards with either cute quotes or 'currently,' 'what we ate,' 'what we watched,' etc. Don't stress. Don't compare. Don't take more than 2 hours to do a 2 page spread. Set up a 'no fail' environment for yourself.

I changed my process quite a lot this year. After sticking with just one page per week last year, I changed to a double page spread per week. I still run my weeks from Monday - Sunday and still pull my pages together Saturday or Sunday nights, but I have expanded out to (usually) using an 'A' template for the first half of the week & then a fun different template of my choice for the second half of the week. With a year of PL completed and behind me, I am having fun expanding my creative horizons.

The only way I keep on track, really, is to get my spread done every week. As long as I don't fall behind, I don't have a lot to keep organized -- the photos automatically are dated when they come off the camera/phone & I write my journaling on-the-fly as I complete my pages, kwim?

 

[bderby]

Don't stress. Don't compare. Don't take more than 2 hours to do a 2 page spread. Set up a 'no fail' environment for yourself.

I (mostly) stopped comparing my pages with everyone else's. I made a PL Base template and I use that each week and that helps me tremendously.

I do think a HUGE key to keeping yourself on track and happy is what these ladies said--don't compare.
Look for inspiration and be inspired, but for me, having them done is the goal. I can look back through last year and see weeks and months where I had more time to be embellish and be creative and I do love those spreads, but those are for me--my boys and family are just as happy with the 'plain Jane' words and photos spreads from my crazy busy weeks.

 

[lauracw]

Newbie here:

What have you learned so far?

I have been doing a P365ish blog for over 3 years. I take a photo of my girls everyday, it's usually just an iPhone photo, and then I post a few times a month. It started as a way to keep my husband up with what was going on in our lives while he was traveling for weeks as a truck driver. He's been home for 3 years now, but my out of town family makes me keep going LOL! ANYWAY, I have an enormous amount of photos and little stories I'd love to scrap but I'm totally overwhelmed. SO, I'm loving this as a way to scrap everything and then if I never get back to make an individual page, that's cool.

TL;DR: I've learned that this is a great way to quickly scrap everything!!

Do you have your "process" down yet?

In short, no. I've made a file of things I use on every page and I've organized my photos to make it easier. I've gone back to work though and I'm having trouble organizing my actual time so I'm a week behind.

Are you going with consistency or randomness in your pages?

I picked a date card to use for each week and a font. I've decided to stick with stitched templates. Otherwise, I'm using whatever catches my eye. I like colorful and fun and since I'm just scrapping for my girls, I'm guessing they won't care if I've "followed the rules" lol

What have you learned you must NOT do to stay on track?

procrastinate, lol. Time management is my mortal enemy.

 

[dennydenny]

I did a Project 365 album in 2009, then I'm no longer able to finish one (sometimes due to technical problems and sometimes for family problems) but I tried every year. Now, another attempt and I hope to carry it out.

I upload all my photos from the various devices every monday afternoon on Lightroom. I delete some photos and made a selection of the photos to put in the PL page. My problem is that I always have too many, so if I feel the need I make an extra 2page spread. Then I edit them and export in a temporary folder on my desktop.

In my scrap folder I have one for projects and inside this I have my 2014 PL folder with all the pages and the basic templates and some elements that I use every week. I open my basic template ready with place for tilte card and weekinreview card. And then I put the photos, the cards, the journaling and some elements... very basic.

All the process takes me 1-2 hours. My biggest problem is to write the journaling.. I'm very lazy on this and sometimes I struggle with the kit/elements/cards to choose... but I try to not waste too much time on this.

 

[bestcee]

Sorry so wordy!

TL;DR: Dropbox for easy photo access; don't stifle your creativity; Journal includes texts; Consistency helps create habits; include yourself!

This is my second year:
What I've changed/learned:

Pages: I started out using the PL style pocket templates, and only those templates. About 3 months in, I decided to branch out into other templates. I love it, and I love the random pages in the midst of the boxy type look. I don't follow the 'rules' in what is or isn't a pocket style template, but use whatever fits my mood and pictures. Maybe it was a busy Halloween week, and I have a page of 12 2x2 square pictures. Maybe it was a slower week and I have one large picture and 3 little ones. This year, I am including our weekly menu and a weather screenshot along with the calendar week.

Photos: Dropbox is my friend. Both mine and DH's camera are set up to auto upload to the Dropbox folder on my computer. I also keep my DSLR upstairs on the kitchen counter. Because life happens upstairs in the kitchen and living room mostly. I don't want to miss the moment tracking down my DSLR, and I learned that I love having those pictures, not just phone pictures in my book. On Sundays, I pull the SD card out of my camera and add the photos to my computer. I rarely edit them, usually only for white balance or shadows/highlights if it's way off. Often, I will use "Duplicate" and "screen" or "multiply" if the photo looks super dark or light on the layout.

Consistency: Unless we are on holiday, I sit down Sunday night and do my weekly layout. It's always Mon-Sun (I like my weekends together) and it's always a 2 page spread. I toyed with the idea of inserts, but decided that if there are enough photos for a second page, there's probably enough photos for a regular layout about the event. I included a birthday spread for my kid in the PL 2013 book (which will stay), and a page about the Blizzard at the end (which will get moved I think to a regular layout book), but other than that it's just the weekly 2 page summary. This makes it easy for me because when I look at photos I ask myself what is the best photo to represent this event? Sometimes there are more than 1, but I try to limit it to no more than 3, unless it was a super duper slow week, and I have nothing else I want to add.

Me: I was looking through the book around October and was sad to see that although there are a ton of photos of DH and kid, there aren't a ton of me, especially with kid. This year, I am working on changing that. I have a low goal of 2 photos every month. I am trying to get closer to 1x week. I have asked DH to take more of me, which is a huge change for him because I usually hate having my photo taken.

Journal: If I'm inspired early in the week, I will jot a story down on a card and save it. I also use "Oh, Life". I have the email sent to me around 10am. I will add to it, and save to my draft folder until the end of the night when I send it. I will also add parts of text conversations, especially between me and DH, or my mom.

 

[Nixenkind]

Uhmmmm.... I kind of don't know if I'm a Newbie or a Pro.

I started PL at the end of January 2013, but was ALL OVER THE PLACE all year...

I started with one DAILY 12x12 spread. It was a challenge for my discipline, and mostly didn't make very much sense... a friend once commented on my grocery shopping- and weather report... well, he wasn't completely wrong. I managed to get to June before I finally changed to weekly... seriously, a huge relief.

I changed templates three times, but stayed true to the basic pattern. I went through all kinds of styles though... many embellishments, hardly any embellishments, journaling card templates, small pics, large pics... I tried everything. But in October, I suddenly realized that there was something missing: since I didn't print my layouts, my family hardly ever looked at my PL. So I thought about the whole process once more and finally decided to go for the A4 format. It turned out to be a good idea, because printing is AWESOME!!!

Do you have your "process" down yet?
Yes, the process is pretty streamlined now, and I'm content with it!

Are you going with consistency or randomness in your pages?
More with randomness- I bought a basic set of A4 blocked templates, and modified those to now about 80 templates... their style is consistent, but the size of the blocks varies greatly, and I choose the ones that fit my choice of pictures best, two different ones week for week. I'm a kit scrapper, so I also use a different kit every week, which also means a different background paper. I add some embellishments from my stash, and put everything together. What I put on the page totally depends on my mood and the week: sometimes it's just pictures, sometimes I have a whole lot of embellishments. I don't follow a rule there, except one: I NEVER do more than two pages.

What have you learned you must NOT do to stay on track?
I must finish my PL on Sunday evening... MUST. Because if I don't, there waits a new episode of The Mentalist on Monday morning, and after that, I might be just too depressed to a) do my pages at all or b) it might color the whole tone of my layouts... making a happy week a dreadful and depressing one. Happened before, so that's a firm rule for me: if there's "The Mentalist" on Monday, my layouts HAVE TO BE finished on Sunday evening, no matter how tired or busy I am. The TM-rule (if I fall asleep with my boys on Sunday night, my husband wakes me up saying: "Mind the TM rule!") is the MOST IMPORTANT ONE for me when it comes to staying on track . It served me well: I stayed on track all year .

 

[heathergw]

this is awesome!!! I'll be back after homeschooling to share and finish reading <3

 

[Ink and Pixels]

last year but decided to just dip by toe in with one 2 page spread a month. That was just plain hard! It took FOREVER to weed out what would fit and not fit on the spread and I only got through April.

This is EXACTLY what happened to me!

I am taking a new approach this year. I was introduced to the collect app in TLP forum, so now I take a photo a day with my iphone, save the pic with a line of text, at the end of the week I export them to my camera roll. I like having to choose the photo on a daily basis, it saves me time later when I'm putting together the page. (I also keep a notes file on my iphone and keep track of what's going on so I can refer back when I'm doing the page) I have been sticking to the same style template and just add my one photo a week. It leaves me a few extra spots to add any feature items or extra pics. I'm only doing a page per week too. So far I'm up to date. I'm hoping I can keep up! I have a few pages posted in the gallery if you want to see how it's coming along.

 

[lmccandless]

This is my 4th year of Project Life. Crazy!! Looking back, my 2011 album is not "my style" at all because it's a paper core kit and super simple, but I think that was a good learning year as far as my overall work flow. In 2012, I went fully hybrid which I've continued up to now. I seem to tweak a bit each year to keep it fresh and satisfying.

If you're just starting out, my best advice is to really pay attention to finding the right work flow for you. Whether that means learning batch processing in Lightroom or investing in a printer, etc...whatever it is...get the best tools in place that you can. Second, make a standing date for your PL time. For me, it's Tuesdays and the weekend. Do your best to stick with a regular schedule so you stay in the groove.

How do I stay on track? It's hard for me still, but let go of perfection. I have pretty much let go of any of the "rules" I had for myself in the first year or two of PL. I don't do a photo a day any more. Sometimes, I squeeze two weeks into a two page spread. I've learned that I can work the format rather than the format making me work! I still like my pages to be pretty, but I also know that DONE can feel better at times. I used to be very sequential. I've learned that if I am stuck, it's OK to skip and go on to the next week. I've found that I typically run about 2-3 weeks behind. And that's OK too.

When I really need motivation, I have my kids pull the albums off our shelves and look at them. Nothing gets me reinvigorated faster than tapping into the reason I do this in the first place.

Keep up the great work, ladies. At this point in the year, you've made it a HABIT. You can do it.

 

[bestcee]

When I really need motivation, I have my kids pull the albums off our shelves and look at them. Nothing gets me reinvigorated faster than

This is so true! I actually started PL, and was keeping it up, and then our whole life changed. Job change, moved cross country, sold the house. It was such an eventful year, that I'm thrilled beyond belief to have captured the 'before' and 'after'. For me, that helps keep me motivated. I have no idea what's next, but I do know things will change in a big way when DH finishes school. That helps keep me motivated to document our life as it is now.

 

[mollyc]

i started in April/May of last year after I got an iPhone. I had tried doing a paper album in 2011 but I could not keep up with printing photos and gave up pretty quickly.

I did a fantastic job staying up to date last year right up until we went to Disney on vacation. Then I got so overwhelmed with catching up that I just didn't do any more the rest of the year. =(

I did start back up again this January and love it again! At some point I will play catch up with the last three months of 2013.

This year I switched from a S-S calendar to a M-Sun calendar and find it flows so much better. I try to work on my spreads Mon/Tues.

We are taking a big vacation in April to Hawaii....I am a little worried about falling behind again after that. I am going to have to come up with a gameplan. If I had a laptop I could work on it over the plane rides....but I don't have a laptop. =(

 

[bestcee]

We are taking a big vacation in April to Hawaii....I am a little worried about falling behind again after that. I am going to have to come up with a gameplan. If I had a laptop I could work on it over the plane rides....but I don't have a laptop. =(

An idea would be to take a notebook. Plan out the previous week, maybe even including the Journaling on the plane ride over. Then jot down anything you want to use when you have a few minutes like at night, when someone else is showering or whatever so it's not interfering on the plane ride back you could compile it so you have a rough sketch and then it might not seem so overwhelming?

We went to Disneyland for a week and drove. I used the drive back to begin compiling what I wanted to include in pl.

 

[mollyc]

An idea would be to take a notebook. Plan out the previous week, maybe even including the Journaling on the plane ride over. Then jot down anything you want to use when you have a few minutes like at night, when someone else is showering or whatever so it's not interfering on the plane ride back you could compile it so you have a rough sketch and then it might not seem so overwhelming?

We went to Disneyland for a week and drove. I used the drive back to begin compiling what I wanted to include in pl.

that is a good idea...the problem is that I will end up with at least a 1,000 photos most likely....so without being able to review them on the computer I won't really be able to get started. But that might have to be my plan! =)

 

[bestcee]

that is a good idea...the problem is that I will end up with at least a 1,000 photos most likely....so without being able to review them on the computer I won't really be able to get started. But that might have to be my plan! =)

Yes. What I did was use the drive to organize my thoughts, and think about what event, etc. was the stand out in my head for each day, as well as note some of the stories (I originally used short hand text notes to grab the details). But, that's because I kept the trip separate, and only put a few highlights into our Pl book.

 

[Lynnette]

So, I'm not sure if I'm a newbie or a pro either, lol.

I completed 2012, but I finished feeling depleted and didn't even attempt 2013. I did, however, spend the year observing and figuring out what I liked about my album, what I didn't like, and being inspired by others. I started fresh in 2014 with a new outlook and a simplified approach. I absolutely LOVE the look of the very full/embellished/messy PL pages, but it's just not something I can pull off without putting in hours of time that I simply don't have. It's more important for me to get it done, and I can spend the more of my creative energy on other layouts and projects. Here are a few things I've put in place to make this year a success - a lot of it is similar to what others have already said.

1. Same template each week (design A). I may switch this up as the year goes on if I feel like I have the time.

2. I chose one kit/collection each week to give myself less choices. I do add in extra things here and there, but mainly it's just one kit so I don't have to dig through my stash.

3. Scheduled time - I have Sunday afternoons/evenings set aside to do my spread. I do Sun-Mon so my week is completely finished when I scrap it.

4. Keep the embellishments simple - mostly cards, photos, words, wordart, sometimes a flair or two, but that's about it.

5. Don't stress about the photos. If I have extra, I do collages. If I don't have enough, I use more filler cards.

6. Phone and Instagram photos go directly to dropbox, so they're all there on my computer waiting for me when I'm ready.

So far, I haven't gotten behind at all. We'll see what happens when summer hits... that's when I really got behind in 2012. But I'm much simpler this time around so I'm hoping even if I do get a week or two behind it won't be too overwhelming to catch up.