Project Life: Week 1

i, like a whole multitude of scrapbookers, have decided that this is the year i will tackle Project Life. not long ago, i made the decision to start out my project by purchasing a Core Kit---choosing the Cobalt design.

then, i was plum out of luck in finding any Design A pocket page protectors in stock. my sweet friend Sharyn Tormanen came to my rescue by sending me some of hers until they get restocked.

so, my kit arrived and then it sat and collected a little dust while i griped and whined to Sherry about how i felt paralyzed by perfection---afraid to start.

i just didn't have a good idea about how i was going to carry the project through from start to finish. i'm one of those people who likes to see a finished project in my head before i even start.

this isn't one of those projects.

while in this limbo of waiting to start i kept snapping pictures here and there. some with my canon dRebel XT and some with my crappy camera phone. i kept notes on my phone using the ColorNote app. i kept notes jotted on PostIt notes. i kept notes on my calendar. i kept notes in a Word document.

lots of places to keep notes, eh? well, yeah. i'm still figuring out which works best for me, but the truth is, i'm a busy girl on the go, so i don't always have my phone with me or Word at my fingertips.

so with notes and phone in hand and my Word document up on my screen i began to piece together the first three weeks of January by using this weekly tear-off calendar found in the $1 at Michael's about a year ago.

i printed photos, rounded the corners and stuck sticky notes on the page protectors and got busy!

when first starting to populate the divided page protectors with photos and journaling cards i was disappointed at how visually flat everything looked. it didn’t take long for me to realize i wasn’t going to be satisfied with just photos and words on lined journaling cards. i decided I still want all the layers and the look of dimension, just without all the bulk of my typical layouts.

for Week 1 in order to add layers and visual dimension without the bulk i decided to play with some new Little Yellow Bicycle product from the Saturdays collection.

i plan to combine my Cobalt Core Kit pieces with lots of other little supplies throughout the year. things like tear out ticket booklets, washi tape, clear shapes, stickers, and thinner chipboard pieces.


when i came to the placement of pictures i just simply tried to balance colors. my photos had lots of pops of red, blues and neutrals.

when reaching for products i grabbed some with color along with some neutrals. the neutral colors--beige, cream, white--help add visual interest, but not visual weight allowing the eyes to rest.


this closeup is a great example of what i mean by the neutrals. you can see how the neutral clear crown shape and the word sticker add interest to the photo without adding visual bulk.


i'll be using lots of tone-on-tone patterned papers throughout my album. finding lightweight papers will be the tricky part as the heavier weight/cardstock patterned papers will quickly add bulk.


bits and pieces from the sticker sheets, ticket books and clear cut shapes packs are the perfect products to pull from to spice up your lined journaling cards. You can see a little closer detail on how I’ve done that in this photo. at the top of the photo you see the “take it easy” chipboard piece.

TIP: for some of these thicker/bulkier pieces, insert the photo into the protector, and then attach your the chipboard on the outside of the protector. that way you are assured that the bulk isn’t going to cause a weak seam within that pocket.

okay, let’s move to the right side details. here’s a closer look at the right side all together.


just because an embellishment is layered and dimensional in the original packaging doesn’t mean you have to totally discount it for use in your Project Life album….or any other project you want to make less dimensional for that matter.

with just a few minor alterations, you can make a layered piece flat; such as i did with this “today” banner ribbon. it was originally sandwiched with two layers of foam, so i simply pulled apart the layers, removed the dimensional foam and reassembled it together with a thin glue dot. then, i even cut the banner short, removing the phrase as you see here. The phrase is still intact and ready to use on another project.


when deciding on how to layer products for this spread i made to sure look specifically for empty space within the photos. if you go back and scan through all the detail shots in this post you’ll see what I mean by that, but i think in the photo above it’s most obvious.

by embellishing the empty space you are simply covering space that has no meaning to the overall photo or memory you wish to retain.

and lastly, you might notice that i chose to type up my journaling cards. i'm just doing this using a hand-me-down typewriter. nothing fancy.

i haven't yet decided if i'll continue to type them week after week. most likely not because i love the character that hand-written journaling adds, but i had to do what my hands would allow. fine dexterity was causing a lot of pain the night i worked on it due to a rheumatoid arthritis flare and typing them was much easier for me.

and that's okay by me.

so whether you’re on the Project Life bandwagon or just doing your own thing, i hope you’ve found the details of my Project Life:Week 1 useful for how add a little ooomph to your Core Kit and how to stretch the use of your Little Yellow Bicycle products that might not otherwise seem suited for your taste!

Confused about Project Life? Start here.