This is a guest post from Tiffany Perry, owner of Owl Tree Studio, one of this week’s sponsors of Simple Scrapper.
It’s January, so along with lots of talk about resolutions comes chatter and excitement about Project 365. Today, let’s discuss a few ways to keep your sanity with this rewarding project AND give away an awesome quick book so you can create your book with minimal stress.
1. Don’t stress out!
A Project 365 should be all about capturing your year in photos so you can look back on it later. It should be fun, not a cause of stress. It’s almost guaranteed that you’re going to miss a few days – that’s okay! Fill in the missing days with photos of your daily life or include a few extra photos from a special event to fill in the gap.
2. Include photos of objects and places in addition to people
If you chase your family and friends around with a camera every day, you’re going to alienate (at least) a few people. At least, this was my experience in 2010 when my fiance hid my camera for a few months because he was completely over having his photo taken on an almost daily basis and felt like that was the only way to get relief from my paparazzi-like stalking. In hindsight, I really can’t blame him.
When you’re planning your photo of the day, keep in mind that it is 100% okay to take photos of your surroundings, the food you’re eating, the activities you are completing, your hobbies or your environment. You’ll document the tiny details of your life and your loved ones will thank you for their break from the lens.
3. Get a system
Aside from remembering to take your daily photo, having a simple system is the most important aspect of finishing your Project 365. Veteran Project 365-ers Joey Lynn Designs and Wild Blueberry Ink both discovered this when they were completing their own projects and have created an awesome quick book for you to use in order to complete your project with minimal fuss.
This Project 365 quick book is the ultimate solution for your project layout needs. You can use it straight out of the packaging or you can invest a little extra time to make it your own with different papers and elements. Here’s what the package includes:
- 52 weekly psd templates
- front and back cover sized for printing
- title page
- 11 hi-lite pages for times where more than one photo is needed to tell the story
- six 365 stickers that are also psd files so you can customize them!
- Over 100 photo ideas and journaling prompts for days when you are stumped
With this book, the paper and dates are already done for you. All you will have to do is add your photos or journaling for a completed book. All of the templates are in .PSD format, so you can also change out the papers, add elements, resize photos or rearrange your pages to fit your needs.
In addition to the weekly templates, the additional 11 Hi-Lite pages are perfect for documenting special events or days where you want to record more than one photo!
The Giveaway
We’re very excited to be giving away a copy of this book to a lucky Simply Scrapper reader. Just leave a comment below letting us know why you participate in Project 365 by noon on Sunday, January 9th.
Tiffany Perry runs Owl Tree Studio, a digital scrapbook community focused on providing high quality, creative digital graphics for scrapbooking and hybrid crafts. Their flagship product, the Owl Tree Studio Hoot Club, offers a fresh variety of new digital goodies each month for one low price and their full store is home to new releases weekly.
I love seeing the little bits and pieces of my daily life- and my grown-up children do, too.
I love to watch my kids go through all the pictures. It so much fun talking about all the things that happened.
Im participating this year to document how fast my boys are growing and changing! Every day they do something new, and i want to remember these little moments!
This is my first year participating in P365. I would like to get better with my journaling and photography skills. P365 puts me in touch with noticing my surroundings and reconnecting to the beauty of God’s creations each day.
I have organized 10 years of digital photographs by date-created and am ready to make 10 yearbooks for my 4 grown children and their families (and myself of course). I will focus on photos and journaling. Your Project 365 Quick Book is JUST WHAT I NEED!! Thank you so much for the chance to win it.
oh, this would be soooooo nice!! I did this project in 2009 and scrapbooked the whole thing. A bit of work coming up with my own pages when I wanted to (I did use some templates, but not all) – but the end result was SO worth it, I’m doing it again in 2011!! Thanks for the chance to win (pick me, pick me!! haha)
I have always wanted to participate in the P365 and this quick book is just what I needed to give me that extra boost to just do it! My kids are growing so fast and I want to capture those daily memories that seem to get overlooked in our busy lives. Thanks for the chance to win!!
The first year I did P365 was 2009, starting with my “wedding day” at the courthouse where we eloped, Dec 23, and chronicled our first married year. It’s been fun celebrating our daily lives.
I am doing Project Life this year, but would love to do a separate album (like this) to capture a picture a day of just my kids … how fun would it be to see how they change from January 1 – December 31.
Keeping up with P365 focuses me on capturing the little details of life that might otherwise go missed.
Thank you for the chance to win 🙂
I’m doing P363 this year because i would like to document my girl fourth year. This templates can be a really good idea to make the project an easy task.
Thanks for this chance to win them.
I did P365 for the 1st time in 2010 and LOVED it. However, I’m still staring at 365 photos on my hard drive and no pages scrapped with them. I do it to remember the little things and think this Quickbook is awesome! Thanks for the chance to win it.
Wow! Great give-away! I participate in Project 365 b/c I don’t want to forget any of the details of my life. The “ordinary day” holds so much meaning–lots of treasures to reflect on!
I am super excited for the chance to win this! I have never completed a p365 yet, and I am determined to work it out this year 🙂 I think that having the templates would allow me more time to photograph the daily life of my five kids 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity to win!
this is my first year doing 365 and am super excited…these would be great
this will be my 3rd year attempting P365 and I hope to actually get it all done this time. and while I have never actually made it the entire year yet, and don’t have an album, I always love looking back through my folder on my hard drive at the photos I did manage to take. So this year my goal is to get an album made!
Every year I try to complete Project 365 and I have yet to complete a full year. With a Baby being born this summer I really don’t want to miss the end of my pregnancy and the 1st half of his/her year so I REALLY want this year to be the year I make it all the way!
I have very few photos of my own childhood, so i want our daily life to be well documented for our daughter, and our whole family.
I’ve done Project 365 for two years now. I have young grandchildren and I love to browse through one albumand see how quickly they change.
I am trying to complete as much of this project as I can to better my skills with the camera and journaling.
I just love everyday life… The big events like birthdays and holidays are great and special, but daily life Is It. Your life.
Live it, love it, document it!
Thanks for the opportunity 🙂
OMG, thank you so much for the chance! it is unbelievable opportunity! I love Project 365 for possibility to create the picture of the whole year of my little son!
I’m doing P365 because I’ve never been able to accomplish a whole year! This year we are expecting Baby #3 and I’d really love to have a book to finish with at the end of the year 🙂
P365 is my way of preserving memories for my family. I have been scrapbooking since I was a teenager, and I am always looking for ways to make it easier and less time consuming so I can focus on taking the pictures and being in the moments.
I just started digital scrapbooking a month ago, and I am already addicted! P365 would be a great way to capture all the special memories in our family now that we have a little guy (18 months).
I’m just finishing up my second year of Project 365, and I love it! It’s amazing to look back and see, captured in real time, our regular, everyday lives unfolding. I wish I had P365 for every year, or even every 5 years! So that inspires me to keep going. As a busy single mom, I don’t have much time for regular scrapbooking (though I love it!), so this is my “do at least something” project that I make sure to keep up with.
This year, though, I’m going to change things up a bit, and this book would be a great support for that! I’m going to capture a week overall, and not worry about getting a photo for every single day. Thanks for the chance to win!
Project 365 gives brand new life to moments passing through my fingers like sand. And I realize one should love to remember if he wants remember all his love. My dream is the whole bookshelf with P6365 on it. Guess my kids would be pretty surprized to discover all about them)
I love Project 365 and this set of templates is awesome!
what a nifty and time saving idea..this will be my third year doing this..I have completed and printed 2009 and 2010 projects..I only wish I could have started this sooner…because it is the little things in everyday living that should be remembered..that burnt pot roast…the ripped dress….etc…so I am so looking forward to doing this again.thanks for giving me an opportunity to win this awesome book
I participated last year and plan to do it again this year. It is a fun, easy way to document our life.
This is the beginning of my third year and I love doing a picture everyday. Yes, sometimes I forget, but I pick up the picture some other way with something everyday around our house. I can’t imagine not doing this! Thanks for the chance to win!
I take picture that otherwise I would miss! I have captured precious memories that I would forget otherwise. I am grateful to whoever came up with this idea and all of those who creat product to support us in our quest to remember! Thanks for the giveaway!
This is my third year of P365, I blog every evening with a photo and I journal about my day. What Ihaven’t managed to do yet is a layout per week. That is my goal for this year, a set like this would certainly simplify things for me!
Thanks for a chance to win
Hugs
Kerri
I love the idea of documenting an entire year. This upcoming year we will have alot of first for our family…my oldest starts driving, my youngest starts school and we have a baby on the way…what a great year it will be. I also look forward to lloking back at this year in the future!
What a beautiful book for 365. I like the simplicity of it. I’ve attempted two other times and did not do well – except for pictures. I want to do better…this might be the jump start that I need. Thanks for the ideas.
Karyn
I’m participating in p365 this year because looking back through my pictures in 2010 I realized there were a few months where we didn’t take ANY pictures at all of my daughters.
I decided to give Project 365 a try because I found I was not taking very many photos of the everyday things in our lives. I only have one kid (of 3) at home now so our lives had slowed down considerably.
Wow this book looks perfect and will buy it if I don’t win!
I tried to stick to P365 last year for the first time and found it hard to do. I also decided to return to University, so my time during the week to scrap was greatly reduced.
I love P365 as it give you a snapshot of you life in general at the time. It captures the day to day stuff that you loose, unless you take a photo of it…eg labels on the can of you favourite food, the cover of your kids favourite dvd etc.
I have been looking for a template that was nice and easy and this looks perfect!!!
I have two young children, so I would love to be able to say…here was a year in our life with me being a SAHM. That being said…I started this project last year and only made it to March. I found it very difficult to scrapbook the pages once I had pictures taken. This album looks awesome and would have helped out immensely.
I love documenting the lives of my little ones – although I have yet to fully complete a Project 365 – maybe this digital kit is just what will do the trick!
I love being able to document all of the everyday details of life. I think these albums will be a great treasure to see what life was like 10, 20, 30 years from now. I’ve included things like the price of gas and my favorite places to eat just to freeze time. I think it’s a great project to capture life’s great memories!
I am facing a year of big changes and I am attempting my firs ever P365. I have my new granddaughter living with me right now, my sons leaving for a tour in Japan and my father’s fading life. I want to record this year.
Thanks for the chance.
I’m all about scrapbooking the every day and the stories behind them!
I am trying to take a photo a day not only to document my life but to work on learning my cameras and improving my photography.
Very cool! This would certainly be a big help and keep me on track. Maybe I will actually complete 365 this year! Can I win……PLEASE!!!
I want to look at those pictures in 10 years and REMEMBER. Otherwise I will forget.
I like the day to day and do try to make note in my calendar of what happened during the day to compliment photos
love the idea that i can take 1 picture per day or 1 event that i attend that week. one way to tell my story without stress, since the journaling won’t look ‘wrong’ if it’s short!
With three kids 5 and under and my husband working out of town during the week, I’d love something like this to focus to try and record the stories that he might be missing when he is away. I can’t call him or send him an email each time I think of something but I don’t have a system in place to try and do this and really don’t have the time to try and set one up… Would love to win, thanks for the chance!
Great giveaway. I have a grandchild now and a 365 project will be a great fit for her mother too. I will forward the link to her as well.
i’ve been meaning to try the P365 since i read about it, and it seemed perfect to start it with the new year.just last night i was looking through my templates folder for help but it’s a mess so the P365 quickbook seems the perfect tool for me…here’s hoping I win, lol!
Commitment to learn and use my new camera & zoom lens 🙂
What a great idea – and what a time saver!! I tried 365 a couple of years ago and got so bogged down in deciding on a format that I never got off the launch pad. Thanks for the opportunity to win this great prize!
This is my first year of 365, what a wonderful opportunity to win this fantastic prize and have the chance to have a complete book at the end. Thank you 🙂
This is my first try at project 365. I scrap a lot of event pages, but rarely capture the day to day stuff. I got motivated when my husband commentted that our oldest daughter, who turned 8 yesterday, will be leaving our nest in 10 (way too short) years! I don’t want to forget any of the little things that make up our days.
I’m attempting Project 365 again this year. With 5 kids it might get interesting and anything to make scrapping my photos easier is a GOOD thing!
I have never done the 365 before. This will be my first and am looking forward to it. The book would be a great help and inspiration. Thanks for the chance to win!
I am participating in Project 365 so that I will have something to leave for my 4 children as to what my daily life was like in that particular year. I am taking photos of things around the house that meant something to the kids when they were growing up. Now with 9 grandchildren I have lots to scrap about!!!
I did P365 for two years and took last year off. I have started it again this year.
I have seen my photography skills improve so much. I am hoping to see more growth this year too.
I’m doing P365 for 2011 because I want to record my daily life and watch the progress of my kids growing up. They are 2 and 4 and it’s just amazing how fast things change. Hopefully 2011 will be the year I actually complete this goal.
I’m doing the 365 project to improve my photography and editing, as well as documenting my daughters growing up! I really hope to win, if not, I’ll sure buy it!!!!
Oh, I would just LOVE this. This is the year I’m going to go digital and these templates would be so helpful. Thanks for the opportunity to win.
I would love to do a P365 or P52 and keep trying to convince myself that I could achieve this but am so overwhelmed by it that I just never get started. This kit is EXACTLY what I need.
because life is best appreciated through the details of the everyday. 🙂
I’m doing P365 so I remember those special little moments. Love these templates!
Great article! Thanks!
I am doing P365 this year to document all the little things in life that are easily forgotten years down the road.
Amy
P365 allows me to remember the little things that make life special, everyone has photos of Grandma’s birthday but only I have photos of my DD playing with ladybugs in the garden.
365 helps me capture things other than events. Things which are hard to document in other ways.
I am fascinated by capturing little pieces of life that we all take for granted. And with this system, I might actually complete a 365. I’ve failed the last two years!
Truthfully I have not participated in a 365 because it seems like a lot of work and a lot of journaling. A pre-made kit *might* be easier.
I love having day to day photos in my albums. I am lucky to have lots of photos from my own childhood, but don’t remember any of the people in them, or anything day to day- no pictures of my house, my room, my backyard, etc. I want my kids to remember all that, especially since we’re military and about to move for the 3rd time since they’ve been born.
I am the keeper of our family history. This kit looks like the way to go.
I did 365 in 2009 and it was amazing. I am ready to tackle it again this year!
I am committed to completing a P365 to save memories (merry&sad alike) from being slowly forgotten. I love the feeling of going through old pictures and how they bring you back to places you’ve been, people you’ve met, sights you’ve seen and you would otherwise forget…or how they give you an insight in other people’s past lives. I recently found a stack of photos my dad took nearly 25 years ago and the feeling of going through his life just after his marriage, shortly before I was born, was overwhelming: I hope my (future) children will be able to experience the same feeling, someday.
Improving my photo skills would be a nice touch, too 🙂
Great system…I think even I could keep up with the photo-a-day project with these great templates (no stress).
This seems like a simple and great way to make this project a reality in 2011!
Time is flying by and my kids won’t be with us much longer…time to record every day!
i’ve got a share & tell album to fill for last year, but i’ve heard a lot about p365, seems the hardest part would be remembering to take the pictures. i’m use to ‘events’, not days. it would be a new challenge.
What a fabulous giveaway! All you have to do is add the ingredients- I love it! I haven’t completed a p365 before and this would sure help me out!
365 is an ongoing project for me. This idea is outstanding and very useful for anyone doing a 365 project. I would love to have it. Thanks for the chance.
This is the first time i’ve attempted to do a project365 and have wanted to get to grips with scrapping digitally so this would a perfect tool for me to do it with, thanks for the chance to win a copy xxxx
What a wonderful giveaway!! I was actually online tonight looking for just this thing to help me stay caught up on my project so I can print at the end of the year and not go into panic mode trying to pull 365 images together all at once!
I do this because I want to remember everything. My goal is to capture the everyday. Some images will be posed. Most will just happen. I want to record it all with my camera and have to look back on one day!!