{Project Life: Newbie Alert}

I've always had an obsession with pictures, pretty papers, and fancy stickers.  This obsession has evolved over time, but never disappeared completely.  (Instagram has helped make sure of that!)

I first heard about Project Life through The Mom Creative's blog and the concept appealed to my rather schizophrenic scrapbooking tendencies.  I'm just getting started with it, and although I don't have the money to invest in many of the prepackaged sets, there are so many things I love about the ideology behind Project Life that I'm tweaking it to make it work for me.

First step: 12x12 photo album

Because I am so far behind in my scrapbooking (like five years behind), I found an album I liked without spending too much time thinking about which year of photos I was going to fill it with.  I'm simply printing batches of pictures per event that I know are complete, and I'll organize them by year into different albums when I get a little more on top of my overwhelming photo-disaster.

This one came from Michael's craft store -- love those 40% off coupons!

Second step:  where to start?

I decided to start with the most current pictures because I knew it would be easier as they were already organized and fresh in my memory.

Fourth of July photos were edited and set over to Walgreens for printing.  I didn't take many over the holiday weekend, so getting them organized into the inserts and a layout I liked only took around half an hour.

I've decided to use a combination of standard 12x12 single-sheet inserts and the pocket pages with various sized sections that are synonymous with the traditional Project Life setups.  This will allow me to have greater control over my layouts, as well as ease of layouts if I don't have a lot of time to devote to more creative diagrams.

I need to finish getting my supplies organized and buckle down to get my photos edited & printed, but hopefully once I'm in the groove I'll be able to get the rest of 2013 in an album without too much trouble.  I am definitely a Project Life newbie, but I'm excited to see how it all turns out in the end!

What method do you use to scrapbook?

Have you ever tried the Project Life?

What do you think?

Linking up with Jessica at The Mom Creative today!