Project Life + In the Spotlight / July 11, 2014 by jen geigley

I have a pretty simple, laid-back approach to documenting my family's photos and memories. I don't care if photos and elements match perfectly, but I want to tell the stories and make photo books that look cool. A crazy hodge-podge of memorabilia and drawings and photos is a-okay with me. And while I'm nowhere close to being caught up, Project Life keeps things doable and realistic for me.

If you want to read a little bit more about how I do Project Life, check out my 'In the Spotlight' feature today on Becky Higgins' blog. Project Life has changed the way I scrapbook and has given me a new outlook on what I can realistically document for my children, my family, and myself. My love for scrapbooking is back.

Project Life: tackling vacation photos / April 3, 2014 by jen geigley

Last October, I went on an amazing trip with friends to NYC. We try to get together every year if we can, and our adventures almost always seem to happen in the fall. I actually have three piles of photos from our other NYC trips from various years going back to 2010. Piles of gorgeous photos + ephemera that are begging to be displayed somehow. They're honestly too pretty to be sitting in a box.

Last weekend, my whole family was sick. Everyone except for me. So late one night after everyone was finally in bed, I grabbed a stack of NYC photos and boom. I busted out 10 scrapbook pages. It felt so good!

And let me tell you – the way I go about putting these pages together is 100% non-stressful. I laid out my favorite photos in front of me. Vertical and horizontal, big and small. I grabbed photos that went together (either chronologically or subject-wise) and threw the pics in the photo pockets. I cut some photos in half to make best use of the smaller pockets. I threw in maps and postcards and matchbooks and coasters from the places we visited. I jotted down quick notes and memories on journaling cards.

I encourage you not to be intimidated or discouraged about tackling a project from a few months ago or many years ago. Project Life honestly makes it simple and doable to get an entire vacation into a scrapbook in a day or two. I finished 10 pages in one night ... which is approximately half an album. I covered a lot of ground with the photos on these pages. (And you definitely don't have to use every single photo that you take. Pick your very favorites!) If I spend just one more night making a few more pages, I'll have this trip completely documented. Two nights is so worth it.