January Project Life – Starting a New Year
January Project Life – It’s the start of 2024 which means it’s the beginning of a new year with Project Life. If you want to read more about project life check out my blog post Why Do Project Life.
Fair warning – there’s lots of stuff packed into this post so grab your favorite drink, sit and relax while you read!
In The Beginning . . .
When I first started doing Project Life many years ago, I followed a weekly format. Because it was just me and my furbabies, I stressed about having enough photos every week. Then I decided to make a change! Now I do my albums in a monthly format so I don’t worry about having enough “content”. This way if I have lots of photos one week but very few the next one, no worries. Switching to a monthly format has definitely taken the stress away from something I enjoy doing.
Making It Easier . . .
Another thing I do to make the process easier is I use a “template” to organize my albums. I have a list of photos to include each month and have specific pocket slots for them. This method allows me to set up some of my album pages in advance.
I take the majority of my photos using my cell phone. It’s the camera that I have usually have with me. The great thing about using my cell phone is my photos are automatically backed up to the cloud. To organize my photos I create digital albums. Then I save the photos I want to use in my layouts in these albums. This way when I sit down to print my photos I already know which ones I want to use. This is such a time save and eliminates stress.
New Process . . .
This year, I plan to change how I print my photos. I take photos, put them in my online album and print them sporadically. To help me keep up with my album and with downloading, editing, and printing my photos, I’ve decided to allot specific time to work on them. I’m currently undecided on whether to do this daily, which may be a bit overwhelming, or a few times a week, which seems more manageable and sustainable.
Digging Deeper . . .
Journaling is another difficult part of Project Life for me. I feel I need to improve how I tell my stories. My journaling leans towards being minimal and “fluff”. I don’t dig deep into the stories behind the photos. The stories I tell are superficial and don’t touch difficult subjects. My goal this year is to dig deeper and tell tough stories too.
Why Do Project Life?
The reason why I’m doing Project Life is so when I’m gone my children and grandchildren will have a way to know me. How can they get to know me if the only stories I tell are of the good things and don’t tell about getting through the difficult times?
Another reason why I do Project Life is for me to have a way to look back on my memories. How can I appreciate where I’m at in life if I can’t see how far I’ve come?
My Stories . . .
This year I’m going to tell stories that are about the whole me. Just thinking about doing this is very uncomfortable. “Putting myself out there” is not easy and makes me nervous. This is definitely outside of my comfort zone!
I subscribe to Ali Edward’s Story’s Kits and my plan is to use the lessons that come with each kit to help me tell my stories. My goal is to use a kit, either current or a past one to tell at least one specific story a month.
January Looked Like This . . .
My title page is different every year although I do have a couple of elements I repeat. I use the letter “D” and the year in all of my title pages.
The first page for every month I include a screen shot of my monthly Activity Challenge, a photo of the front of my house and a “Where I Stand” photo. Often my “Where I Stand” photo has it’s own story to tell.
I use a 6 x 12 page protector for my month divider. These pocket hold the monthly title card, photos of us and a chapter card. This chapter card is a free download from Ali Edwards. I like showing changes to my house and my “family” each month.
The back of the divider I have a photo of my neighborhood, a calendar card with special dates listed and a Looks Like This card where I show pictures that represent what the month looked like for us. The calendar card and Looks Like This cards are part of Ali Edwards Stories By The Month kits.
The next page has a couple of repeat photos – a selfie, a Bingo card and a screen shot of the weather.
This month, my selfie has its own story to tell. Tigger joined Litten and me about two weeks before Christmas, making this our first photo shoot together. As it turns out, trying to take a photo with a 6-month-old puppy is like taking a photo with a bored toddler!
My First Story For January Project Life . . .
I love playing Animal Crossing New Horizons so of course I had to include some photos of how my island celebrated the New Year.
The first story of January is how I spent New Year’s Eve and day.
My best friend from high school, a forty-five year friendship, her boyfriend and myself went to Annapolis to celebrate and dance the night away. New Year’s day we walked around Annapolis, which was great because I’ve never been there before.
What I found interesting was the author Alex Haley, who wrote “Roots” ancestor Kunta Kinte, was brought to Annapolis and sold into slavery. There is a sculpture group located at the city’s harbor that features Alex Haley seated before a group of three children of different ethnic backgrounds. He is holding a book open on his lap and Alex recounts his family’s history and that of the Annapolis port as the symbolic beginning of the history and journey of African Americans.
I decided to tell the story of this statue and its significance using an interactive flip-up card. I think an interactive album immerses the reader more deeply into the stories I’m sharing.
More January Project Life stories . . .
Several years ago, I discovered a class called “One Little Word” by Ali Edwards. This year, I’ve chosen the word ‘Open’. Pop over to my blog post “One Little Word – January” to learn more about my 2024 One Little Word. I also set monthly goals to provide a “road map” for my intended achievements each month. These goal help me to stay focused. Click here if you would like to add January Goal card to you album.
Whenever I want to tell a story that’s a bit private, I’ll “hide” my journaling behind another photo or card. My story is still visible but not “out there”.
One thing I want to do every month is to tell a story using one of the classes from Ali Edwards Story Kits. The class for January was Start. While I do want to tell more in-depth stories, this month I wanted to tell a quick story about the year long challenges I’m participating in. Another story I’m telling in January is my Bucket List for 2024.
Another thing I use to engage my “readers” with my stories is the use of pull-out cards. One of my year-long challenges is to cook or bake 52 recipes, which I want to share in my Project Life album. The pull-out card lets me to do this while conserving space in my pocket pages for other photos and stories.
I managed to get three recipes tested this month – Quick & Easy Cream Puffs, Instant Pot Creamy Chicken & Pasta and Chicken with Herb-Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic.
I kept up with the 52 Sewing Challenge 2024 this month. I’m very excited about that! It’s so easy to start a new challenge full steam ahead and by the end of the month I’ve slid away. If you want to read more about the projects I completed this month, check out my blog post here.
I’m working on my photography skills by participating in a free class called A Year With My Camera. This class is perfect for anyone looking to improve their photography skills, whether you use a cell phone or a different type of camera. Currently I’m working my way through Make 30 Photos prompts to help me notice what’s around me and think outside the box.
Every first Saturday of the month, is a weekend challenge known as 1 Day 12 Pictures. The objective is to capture 12 distinct photos throughout your day. This can be done as a “Day in the Life” series or you can choose a specific theme, like “Around the House” or “The Color Blue”, and create your images around that idea. For instance, in January we experienced our first snow, and my theme for ‘1 Day 12 Pictures’ was “First Winter Storm”.
A couple of repeat cards I do mid-month is another weather screenshot and a Currently card. My currently card tells what I’m currently watching, reading, listening to, enjoying, eating, creating, and grateful for. If you’re interested in using this card in your Project Life album, you can download it here.
While I do try to keep my photos in date order, the awesome thing about doing Project Life in a monthly format is you don’t have to. This is also a big stress reliever because I don’t have to constantly worry about whether I’ve taken more landscape or portrait photos than I have space and pockets for in a weekly spread.
I end my January Project Life album with a few recurring themes. I highlight three things I enjoyed and were important to me, I include a monthly Watched and January Highlights cards. This card lists the month’s activities, accomplished goals, and so on.. And I also have a Books Read card, accompanied by a For the Love of Books pull-out card that lists the book titles. I read a mix of audio books and physical books, so I like to record how many of each I’ve completed each month.
January Project Life is done . . .
My albums, created in a monthly format, tend to be thicker than those formatted weekly. January usually has more pages because I have stories that relate to the start of the year. January Project Life album definitely shows that! The following months typically have fewer pages. However, it’s my Project Life and I can document it as I please. If that means using as many pages and albums as I want, so be it. That’s the beauty of Project Life – there are no rules!
Being single and living alone doesn’t mean you have no stories to share. As evident from my album, I’ve found many stories! I discuss my daily life, progress on my annual challenges – recipes, sewing and hiking, adventures I’ve had, books I’ve read, movies/shows I’ve watched, photography challenges and so much more.
Here’s a video of my January Project Life that shows a quick overview of my album, giving you a better sense of its overall look and feel.
Now that you’ve gotten a glimpse into my process and some of my stories, what stories are you telling? Please share in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
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