Earlier this month Liz wrote a really thoughtful post on project life, three things I'm doing differently this year. If you know me, you know I like thinking about crafting, and talking about crafting, almost as much as I like the crafting itself. So her post really resonated with me.
In the comments, I mentioned three key changes:
1) adding notes/dates to my photos pre-printing rather than handwriting them. I’m realizing I wasted a lot of time/ink/paper printing and reprinting photos if I didn’t like the pen color, how the writing fit or made a typo.
2) ignoring “weeks” and focusing on months. Instead of trying to label each week I’m adding monthly dividers and simply adding dates to photos. It felt like an unnecessary complication and made me feel behind all the time. Now, if I miss a few days or have a hard time “filling in” a week, you won’t even notice.
3) minimal pocket customizations. Last year I made all sorts of differently sized pockets and got crazy with my sewing machine. This year I’m sticking with ready-made protectors and only doing quick and dirty customizations. If I add a pocket over another one I’m stitching it on quickly by hand or using a stapler close to the edge where you won’t notice.
But as I thought more about it and looked at my pages, I realized there's something more going on. I can't quite put my finger on it but the project feels very quiet this year. There's a sense of calmness about it, both while I'm working on it and again later when I'm flipping through the pages. Is it that I've streamlined the process so much it feels effortless? Or that I've whittled it down to it's purest form? Without noticing, I've eliminated everything that slowed me down or needled my perfectionist tendencies. Most of my pages are filled with photos taken with my iPhone, edited either in Instagram or Afterglow or in Photoshop when I add my notes to them. I'm using fewer journaling cards and more pencil. I'm consolidating. I'm "decorating" less and enjoying it more. Still using paper clips and staples and my typewriter. Still cursing.
Still madly inspired by everyone's unique take on this project. Pink Ronnie for focusing on photos and not bothering with journaling (thank you for freeing me from that burden); Tina with her Pinterest page (ganked that) and her Jenni Bowlin perfed paper tabs (ganked that too); Liz's simplicity and her mix of color and black and white photos; and Kelly who always adds just the right amount of detail (hello, tiny pig paper clip).
However you tackle this year, I hope it brings you lots of enjoyment and satisfaction.
