(Cover of my 2018 Project Life Scrapbook)
"Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do."-Brene Brown
It all started with a 35 mm Kodak camera that I had since I was about 4th grade. I remember bringing it with me everywhere and getting excited when I would get my rolls back from the photo lab at our local Longs Drugs. Then I would place them in those adhesive type albums, you know the ones where the entire page was adhesive and you would have to peel them back and be extra careful placing the plastic cover. But I would add magazine cut outs and even confetti, so it was always a challenge placing those plastic covers back over.
(Exhibit A & B, And I think I used puffy paint! WTH!)
Growing up, I would document everything! I would fill my albums with stories, photos, magazine cut out as embellishments. Heck I would even cut out our photos and stick them on photos of cars to document our "travels" or "adventures." So choosing a career that resonated with my passion seemed only fitting. I always knew I enjoyed documenting, telling stories + photos. Magazine layouts, posters, typography and photography has always struck my heart strings and I simply love design.
Looking back, I was at my most content when I was able to add a bit of creativity to my everyday. I started this blog 12 years ago with the intent of being able to write my stories as I did with my written journal entries as a child then copy & paste them to my albums. Scrolling back, I have been doing just that (just a few):
The Need To Create
There have been a few long breaks in between, especially when I decided to go back to school and get my degree in Communication Design. Although, higher education and my love for learning took the place of my need to create, I always missed it and see how many stories I missed documenting. I realize how quickly life changes without us even realizing it. We are often great documenters when it comes to the big events like birthdays, or the trips we took, but we tend to miss all the daily details of our everyday life and I believe that it is those little details that make our story uniquely ours. My goal with this blog of over a decade has always been my place to capture my story, our families story, document the details of it, and share them with others.
Back in 2012 I started this system of documenting the details of our everyday life, called Project Life.
Past Project Life Pages
It simplified the system of scrapbooking, and mind you I've been in this community for a LONG time, way before it hit digital. The best thing about this way of scrapbooking is the simplicity of it. In the beginning I felt that our everyday life wasn't really interesting, but as I scroll back at all the albums, I was moved by all the little stories that I've captured and realized our mundane life was our own authentic life. Life changes quickly without us really seeing it until years have passed and remembering all the little details encourage me to continue to preserve our stories. Project Life encourages me to print my photos and journal my everyday story, and I love keeping my albums in our family room so that they are easily accessible and ready to be enjoyed by all that flip through them. Believe me when I say that documenting your story is something you will never regret and if you aren't doing it already I hope you will feel inspired to start today!
"We take photos for a return ticket to moments otherwise gone." - Unkown
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