enJOY it

I thought for sure I would be doing another round of the album I completed in 2011. Monthly sections. Four photo spreads of 4×8 photos. I even have the albums purchased and ready to go. But I'm changing things up because although I loved it, that was such an "Elise-focused" project. I have a book about me and the projects I completed because it was a pretty "Elise-focused" year.

But 2012 will hopefully be the complete opposite.

Which means, I want a bigger album that can reflect me, but also Paul and our life as a family. I am totally intrigued by the Project Life format and I want more space to spread out and save photos and thoughts and stuff. It's too early to say how I am going to make this project fit into our life yet, but 2012 is going to be a hell of year and one I will be so happy to have saved in this format.

supplies used : PL Clementine paper (black dot & graph), Hambly transparency, Staples letter stickers & manila tag, gold star from Christmas clearance at Target, American Crafts herringbone paper, label unknown.

A few days ago I created the title page and realized this project appeals to my minibook making side. I gave up traditional scrapbooking (like full page layouts) about four years ago. While technically this is a full page format (the pocket dividers are 12×12), the pockets each feel like they hold a different page of a mini album. I love working in 4×6 and 3×4 sections and combining them all together to create something bigger. I can only imagine how rad the entire book will be once each spread is complete.

So welcome to Operation Document 2012. I am so hopeful that I will keep up with this project and am setting a goal to not just phone it in. I am not sure how often I will share it here, we'll see what makes the most sense. Maybe it will be something I post about on weekends, since I don't usually blog then?

Fun facts about the title page : Both of those photos were taken on December 31st. We were able to video chat before the NYE celebrations got started and I took a screenshot to capture Paul. That choose quote is going to be a guiding force this year. I typed it up in PSE and printed on white cardstock. Then I trimmed and added the word "choose" with pen. I printed some blog text on the manila tag following the same steps as this tutorial on Ali's blog. I so rarely use our last initial – but I think I'll start the habit in this book.

Details : Project Life is a product and documenting system created by Becky Higgins. You can learn more about Project Life here. I have the clementine kit and will be using some pieces from that in addition to other patterned papers and embellishments. Right now, I have a bunch of design A page protectors. Currently, I am using the clementine album which is great quality but something I may recover in colored bookcloth to make it feel more like my style. I will be printing all my photos at home on my HP PhotoSmart printer (which reviewers hate but I love) and Office Depot brand semi-gloss photo paper.

I am so excited for this project.