An Exciting Announcement

I am so very excited to share with you some very fun news. A few weeks ago I received a note from Becky Higgins asking me to be a part of her Project Life Creative Team. I do believe you could actually hear me gasp and my jaw drop when I read her note at work. To say I was flattered would absolutely be an understatement. When Becky later shared the other team members, I had yet another pinch me moment. I am blown away to be in the company of so many scrapbookers whose work I admire. I highly recommend getting to know the following ladies:

Deb Duty
MaryAnn Kennedy
Marcy Penner
Liz Tamanaha
Jennifer Woodbury
Michelle Wooderson

Today I would like to share how I came to say yes to this fantastic opportunity.

When Owen was born in May of 2010 I gradually stepped down from my crafting commitments in anticipation of the decrease in creative time that would come with growing our family. However, I didn't anticipate the loss I felt from not telling our story on a regular basis. In 2011 I looked to Project Life, a system created by Becky Higgins to simply the process of documenting your life, to help me simplify the creative process without sacrificing our story. What I have come to love over the last year is that it truly can be anything you make it to be. There are so many people embracing Project Life and each has their own unique implementation.

What it means for me is a space to capture bits of our life, the motivation to intentionally pick up the camera, a greater awareness of moments that are not captured by the camera and an opportunity to play creatively in pockets of time that fit into this season of my life. With those parameters set I am able to not worry about being "caught up" and stay true to the Library of Memories philosophy Stacy Julian has instilled in my core that I believe in wholeheartedly.

When I was approached by Becky to join the creative team I paused for a moment in concern of the time commitment. A pause that I think several of you reading may share with me. The outlook for 2012 is just as busy if not fuller than 2011 has proven to be so would I really have time to take on Project Life in 2012? This seems to be the largest question for both my personal friends considering Project Life and the crafting community I follow online.

I answered this question for myself by looking back on what I have accomplished in 2011. Since the first of the year I have been immersed in my life both daily and retrospectively. My family's awareness of the little details that make up who we are today has exponentially increased. Both my husband and my son frequently deposit memorabilia on my desk to include in Project Life and both regularly stop to flip through the open album as it sits on my desk. I have carved out enough creative time for Volume 1 of Project Life to sit as a finished album, an extension of my Library of Memories. I have inspired several of my personal friends, many who would not consider themselves scrapbookers, to begin documenting their lives. So even if I do not find the time to go through the "incomplete" weeks of Volume 2 to round them out creatively I have accomplished so much with this project. If it were not for Project Life, "incomplete" weeks and all, the story of 2011 would not have been told in near the detail it has been thus far. It became clear that I could not pass up this opportunity. I look forward to continuing to find what works and what doesn't work for me in 2012 and share it with you here and on Becky's blog.

If you are wondering what I mean by "incomplete" these are the weeks that have pictures inserted, both SLR & iPhone, memorabilia slipped in and any snippets I've captured included. What is missing are the fun creative touches but the meat, the story, is all there. While rounding out my weeks creatively is a second priority I enjoy going back as time allows. In fact, I am very much looking forward to spending much of my holiday time playing creatively with Project Life. This is something I did on our summer vacation to finish Volume 1 and it was perfect.

For those who also maintain a Library of Memories, my Project Life album is the same color as my other Things We Do album and sits right beside it. I love having it incorporated into my existing system as I still do scrapbook traditional layouts when I have the time to play more creatively.

If you are considering Project Life in 2012 but are concerned about the time commitment or keeping up or making it perfect please don't let that keep you from telling your story. If you are in a season of life where you are struggling with finding time to create layouts either with paper or digitally I would highly encourage you to take a closer look at Project Life.

I'll be back tomorrow with Week 43 but for now here is a look at my opening and closing page of Volume 1. Similar to the rest of my album I combined scraps from my stash with the Turquoise Edition.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and if you are new to my blog you can read more about my Project Life here. Have a beautiful day!

Monica