Miss Fancy Pants Designs: 5 Designer Tips with Julie

Today I am posting to share 5 tips I usually do when working on my Project Life pages. I'll be honest, I tried Project Life in 2012, but was unsuccessful after just 2 weeks!! Trying to create a two-page spread every week was just too much for me personally. Over the past year, I have taken some time to really reflect on how I could approach it differently in 2013. In doing this I came up with my own "mission" of sorts for Project Life.

I know I want to preserve my memories, both everyday moments and special events. I love scrapping my 12 x 12 and 8 1/2 x 11 layouts. The artistry involved in them, versus a Project Life spread, is something I really enjoy. Unfortunately, I am a very slow scrapper and I find there are so many moments of my life that are undocumented. My mother began scrapping just a few years ago. With five children and a large extended family, it isn't always easy for her to remember "the stories" behind all those photos in the boxes. I don't want to lose "the stories". I want to remember my son's songwriting skills at age 6, the evening my family of four celebrated my husband finally leaving a thirteen year long job he disliked to open up a business he is genuinely passionate about, the speech struggles of my adorable 2-year-old . . .

This "mission" doesn't mean I won't be scrapping my traditional pages. It just means I am trying to find a balance between the "artistry" of scrapbooking which I love, and the need to document the complete picture of my life. I think a combination of the two will allow me to do this. I plan on doing two double page Project Life spreads each month. Although a newbie to the Project Life process, I am excited to share my thoughts on it with you all!!

TIP #1: ORGANIZE YOUR PHOTOS

All my photos are housed in iPhoto on my Mac by date, so it is easy for me to find any pictures I have uploaded for a specific two week period. I also regularly upload my iPhone pictures onto iPhoto as well. They show up by date as well.

TIP #2: SKETCH OUT YOUR DESIGN

Once I have decided which photos I want to use in my spread, I look through my page protector design styles to see what best suits the photos I am working with. Then I make a quick sketch on paper and list where photos and journaling will go. Here is a sample of one I created for the layout I will be sharing today.

TIP #3: EDIT & PRINT YOUR PHOTOS

There are tons of photo editing programs out there. Personally I use a program called Rad Lab by Totally Rad that is housed within my Photoshop software. Once I quickly edit the photos I will be using, I print them out with my HP Photosmart Printer. Printing from home is more expensive, but I like the ability to print custom size photos whenever I need them.

TIP #4: FILL IN THE EMPTY SPACES

Once I have placed my photos in their appropriate pockets, I fill in the blank spots with patterned paper and/or journaling cards.

TIP #5: EMBELLISH TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT

This is the fun part for me - I don't go to crazy, but I do enjoy finding bits & pieces to put here & there on my patterned paper, journaling cards, and photos. I also make sure to add in journaling for my photos. I try not to go too overboard with the embellishing :) With Project Life, my main focus is on the photos and the stories behind them - so I keep that in mind as I embellish. Here is a close-up on some of the little touches I added to the Project Life spread I will be sharing today. A little sticker stitched down to a photo, a handmade journaling card with an adorable chipboard button accent, and a journaling file tab from the Brag Pad all work together to "dress up" and complete my pages.

After following through the above process, here is the Project Life spread I created using a mix of supplies from the Etcetera, Swagger, Trendsetter, and Park Bench Collections.

Etcetera 6 x 6 Paper Pad/Etcetera Brag Pad/Etcetera Label Stickers/Swagger Paper Debonair/Swagger Label Stickers/Swagger Sticker Fundamentals/Swagger Rub-Ons/Trendsetter Label Stickers/Trendsetter Ephemera Pack/Park Bench Paper Lunch Date/Park Bench Paper Bridge/Park Bench Paper Paddle Boat/Park Bench Banner Die-Cuts/Park Bench Label Stickers/Park Bench Sticker Fundamentals/Park Bench Tape Stickers/Park Bench Brag Pad/Park Bench Patterned Photo Frames/Park Bench Button Set

A better look at the details on the left side . . .

A better look at the details on the right side . . .

Thanks so much for joining me here to discuss Project Life today. I hope today's post gave you some ideas to reflect on when creating your own Project Life Pages!!

- Julie