Two years ago I was in my childhood home in Texas, which is where I am now writing this post. In that visit I scanned 171 photos from my birth in 1980 to my high school graduation in 1998.
I used to put a doll dress on my head, sit on my tunnel, grab my keys, and pretend I was driving a car.
I invested time in this effort because I knew I wanted to scrapbook the story of my life from my birth up until my daughter’s. What I wasn’t yet sure of was how I would make such a project actually feasible. How can you scrapbook an epic story without feeling totally overwhelmed?
As I scanned each photo and placed it back into the page protectors of a photo album, I started to think about the role of pocketed page protectors in modern memory keeping. Project Life from Becky Higgins was a game-changer for our industry, offering a fun and fuss-free option for documenting everyday memories.
I wondered if Project Life products could also make it easier to scrapbook 30+ years of your life.
It totally can.
Project Life is just as awesome for creating an epic-scale album of your life as it is for capturing the little stories of our days. It is now my go-to format for simplifying album projects.
5 Reasons to Tell Stories with Project Life
1. You can fit a lot of photos in one pocket page protector. The challenge I hear more often than any other is how to get all those photos into an album with ease. Project Life products are the quickest way to scrapbook many photos.
2. The design is done for you. From the clean grid design of a page to the pre-decorated cards, scrapbook design has never been easier with Project Life and pocket page products. The option is there to add embellishment, but you don’t have to!
3. You only have to write a little. Each Project Life card has enough room for 2-3 sentences of handwriting, which can make journaling less intimidating. I use a formula of documenting a fact, a feeling, and a memory to make the most of that tiny space.
4. Pocket pages fit in the same album as your layouts. Scrapbooking with Project Life cards doesn’t negate creating layouts. What it does instead is offer you a choice of format, allowing you to select the option that meets your storytelling needs.
5. Project organization is simple. Pocket page protectors in different sizes along with Project Life dividers make it easy to structure the story arc of your album into logical sections. You’ll know exactly what’s left to fill in as you complete the album step by step.
Before Your Story is a 6-week album workshop that leans heavily on the use of Project Life cards and page protectors to simplify storytelling. Registration is now open.
Here’s a testimonial: I used the BYS format to document family history, starting in 1850. I’m currently in my 10th chapter (2 more planned) and the initial layout plan has held – for all the reasons Jennifer lists here.
Helen, I am working on family history stories, too. Could I ask what you mean by BYS format? Could you explain a little more about how you are doing this project? Thank you!
Hi Jessie,
I used Jennifer’s Before Your Story (BYS) class to organize photos from my mother’s albums.
The photos I was using didn’t tell my personal story. But I collected information, facts and stories. I scanned the photos, cropped and printed them 4×6 and 3×4. I printed email text from my brothers. I copied stuff from the Internet. I scanned my mother’s handwritten captions from the back of photos.
For example, I have a section for my mom when she was a single working girl in the 1940s. From the albums, I have lists of places she went and some of the people she knew. I made collections of photos taken at conventions, churches she visited and worked at, relatives she traveled to visit, and group photos with childhood friends. I filled 32 pockets – 10 with words and only 1 decorative card. Without knowing many details, I have an interesting story of her life at that time. (To my brother’s distress, she burned her diaries from those years!)
What I like about the format is you don’t have the pressure to tell every detail, in a logical order. And once the pockets are full, you’re done!
Hi Helen,
Thank you so much for all of your information! It has given me some good ideas to start working on.
I like the way you put together your mother’s album. It sounds like you were able to create a good “overview” of her life at that time. It is a shame that she burned her diaries! That would have been a wonderful keepsake for you.
I agree that the pockets are such a convenient format. And if something is out of order, you can just add another page since it is in a binder.
Thank you again for taking the time to give me this information. I really appreciate it!
Jessie
Did I miss it? Trying to find the link to the Before Your Story class please.
Class registration opens on Monday Lisa. You haven’t missed anything yet!
I’ve been working on an album like this, and I also found that PL was the best way to go. I’ve incorporated full layouts as well as multiple page protector designs. It is turning out wonderfully!
I love the idea of using PL for an album like this. I have quite a few travel albums I want to do and I plan in incorporating PL style pages in with traditional pages
Does Project Life make photo holders that will fit the “older” size photos? Ones printed BEFORE the 4″X6″ became the standard size for printed photos?
This would be wwwaaaayyy before digital photography came along!!!
No, not really. The best solution for those older photos is mounting on a 4×6 journal card or sheet of cardstock.