Project Life®
CONTENT TELL YOUR STORIES.............................................................................................5 ABOUT ME.............................................................................................................5 WEEKLY OR MONTHLY........................................................................................6 SIZE..........................................................................................................................7 PRINTING................................................................................................................8 MATERIALS............................................................................................................8 ADHESIVE..............................................................................................................10 CUTTING................................................................................................................11 PROJECT LIFE® CARDS........................................................................................12 MY FAVORITE TYPES OF CARDS.......................................................................12 PHOTO PRINTING.................................................................................................14 MAKE YOUR PHOTOS STAND OUT...................................................................16 EMBELLISHMENTS................................................................................................18 MIXED MEDIA........................................................................................................20 JOURNALING........................................................................................................22
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TELL YOUR STORIES With this inspiration book, I hope to inspire you to start keeping memories. If you are already doing so, this inspires you to continue. The purpose of this book is to inspire you to make things simpler, to prioritize within your budget, and to relieve the stress part of crafting in a busy everyday life. It is important to create for the fun of it and not feel that it is just another add-on chore. For me, my Project Life journey started after giving birth to my second child in 2013. Life is short and time goes by fast. I really felt the need to document my life in some way. First of all, I wanted my children to never doubt how much I love them, and I didn’t want to forget all the little precious moments with them. But Project Life is so much more. It is about telling my story, because nobody else will do it. I want to leave traces of me in the world and I want to remember just how beautiful this world is and how lucky I am to be in it. I want to remember all the little things, all of the everyday stories, good and bad. Furthermore, I felt an urge to store my memories outside the digital world where you can sometimes feel a bit lost.
ABOUT ME Hi, I am Marianne. I am a Graphic Designer. I am also founder of Funder Design. I have been creating Project Life and since 2013. With this little inspiration book, I will inspire you to be creative and to have fun while doing so.
Enjoy !
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WEEKLY OR MONTHLY SPREADS When the project life idea first saw the light, it was meant to be created on a weekly basis and many scrapbookers still create on a weekly basis. I just have to admit, I cannot find the time for that. I creates monthly spreads and I am still always falling behind—sometimes a half a year or more. Let me just tell you that whatever you can make work, it is okay—it is supposed to be fun and not a stress factor. Actually, I love falling behind, in that way I get to experience the stories more than once, which is amazing, and as long as I have the photos, I can always remember.
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SIZE There is also the question of size. Project life comes in a lot of sizes, the most frequent ones are 12” x 12”, 9” x 12”, 6”x 12”, 6” x 8” and 4” x 4”. I started out with the 12” x 12” as it was the most common, but it is really big, and I find it hard to store the albums when done. Therefore, I started using the 9” x 12” albums and I love them, because they are easier to store and easier to handle size wise when creating them. For smaller projects like Christmas albums or other special occasion albums, I often use the 6” x 8” or the tiny 4” x 4”, since they are really useful for those smaller projects. If creating too many small albums, they can also be hard to store.
9” x 12”
12” x 12”
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MATERIALS As a crafter in general, buying craft supplies can be a hobby in itself and you can spend hours finding the perfect materials. But most of us are on a budget. I will try to highlight the most important materials—in my opinion at least. To many of us, time is also a factor, which is why I also try to find supplies that can make things a bit easier. Instead of buying a bit of everything, I would rather buy less and then maybe spend a bit more on these fewer things.
PRINTING First of all, I need to print both photos, as well as digital prints like Project Life cards, embellishments, etc. I have not bought expensive printers, which works for me. I think they were around $130 each. For photo printing I always use my Canon Selphy 910, which prints really good quality and doesn’t take up much space. I find it super easy to be able to print photos directly from my phone as well as my MacBook. For every other photo I need to print, I use my Epson XP 445. What I really like about that one is, that it can print on various paper types like thick paper for Project Life cards, sticker paper for embellishments and photopaper for photos that are too big for the Selphy printer. Furthermore, the Epson printer uses cold ink, which prevents it from drying out quickly and it is possible to change the inks individually.
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ADHESIVE I rarely use glue as an adhesive, simply because I don’t have the patience to wait for it to dry. If I use glue, it is Glossy Accent from Ranger, because it is easy to press out of the bottle and it dries quickly. Most of the time I use a tape runner and I have chosen the E-Z Runner Grand Permanent Strips Tool. It is easy to apply, easy to peel of if you make a mistake and easy to recharge if empty. If I need stronger adhesive e.g. for heavy embellishments etc, I use Scor-Tape, simply because it is a really strong adhesive. On rare occasions, I also use foam tape for 3D effect, but no specific brand.
YOU ARE MY GLUE. WITHOUT YOU, I’D BE NOTHING BUT BROKEN PIECES
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CUTTING For cutting I can highly recommend Fiskars Paper Trimmer, since it is really good, easy to exchange blades and easy to store since it is not the biggest on the market. It is also a good idea to have both small and large scissors on hand.
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PROJECT LIFE CARDS When looking for Project Life cards, it is really a jungle out there and everybody has their own taste in designs. However, I would recommend a monthly kit simply because it is easy. You get a big variety and it is often color coordinated. Furthermore, you get to try out all kinds of embellishments to see how it works for you before buying loads of it. For many years I used kits like Studio Calico, Citrus Twist, and Felicity Jane. Very different designs, but I really loved them. One of the reasons for not using them anymore, is that in Denmark, where I live, they are almost always caught in customs, which make it very expensive. I would not recommend buying the huge boxes with Project Life cards for an entire year. In my opinion, the variety is very little, and you get tired of looking at the same colors and patterns over and over again. I have started using printables, which means I go looking for cards online that I can print myself. In that way I can pick and choose as I like and only print the ones I really like. In time it is my goal to design my own cards and really personalize my Project Life. I actually already do that when I create mixed media cards with paints and inks, but I will tell you more about that in the mixed media section.
MY FAVORITE TYPES OF CARDS Patterned cards: I often have a lot of photos and I need backgrounds for them without text or illustrations. Journaling cards is something I always use to journal about my stories. The story is the heart of the project, so they are really important to me. Filler cards I also sometimes use with text or illustrations, but they are not my preferred ones, since I prioritize my photos and stories.
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Filler card
Journaling card
Pattern card
Filler card
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PHOTO PRINTING Almost all of my photos are printed on my Canon Selphy 910 printer as already mentioned. But before the actual printing, I do some editing. Most of my photos are taken with my Iphone X, therefore I also edit and print directly from the phone. As I often fall behind, and to be able to keep track of my photos, I always create folders for each month and each year. So, when I start with a specific month, I go to that folder on my phone (The two top images page 15) and start editing lighting, color, cropping to the correct size / format, etc. After that I use two apps before printing: PicFrame if printing more than one photo on each piece of paper (Bottom left image page 15) and PicCollage for printing collages (Bottiom right image page 15). Then it is just a matter of printing them all through the Canon printing app for Canon Selphy. If I have photos on my MacBook, I usually edit them in Photoshop and then I create a document in InDesign in the correct Canon Selphy paper size. When I am done, I create a pdf and print directly from my MacBook to the Canon Selphy. If you do not have adobe programs like Photoshop and InDesign, you can also transfer all the photos to your phone. I usually use the Airdrop function. Then you can do as described in the first part of this section. If printing more than one photo on a piece of paper, the sizes of the photos can vary when using border or no border—try it out and see what fits your project best.
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iPhone photo albums
iPhone photo album
PicFrame app
PicCollage app
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MAKE YOUR PHOTOS STAND OUT As mentioned earlier, one of my most preferred types of Project Life cards is the patterned ones. I love having some kind of background for my photos. To make your photos stand out, since they are the most important part of your story, I often choose complementary colors e.g. if I have a photo with a lot of blue in it, I might choose and orange card for the background. I might also choose a secondary color from the photo, for instance if there is a splash of yellow. But I would never use a blue card—because neither the card nor the photo would stand out. I often look at a color wheel if I cannot remember what the complementary color is. If it is a really dark photo, I tend to use a really light card and vice versa. These little rules I have set up for myself, also goes for the embellishments. They should also make the photo stand out and not take focus from the photo. Sometimes making a glittery or white border also makes the photo stand out.
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EMBELLISHMENTS For the most part, I keep my embellishments at a minimum so they will not steel the attention from my photos. I try to choose embellishments in a complementary scheme, to make sure they create a contrast to my photos and thereby help them stand out. I will tell you my favorite embellishments and why. Stickers or die cuts with words or phrases. It’s an easy and graphic way of telling your story and it adds some journaling character. (The two images on the bottom). Enamel dots, because they come in all colors and help complement your photos in the best way. It is a subtle decoration and if used in more than one pocket, creates a context. (The dots on all three images). Stamps are great for adding interest, both as words or little icons. It is a decorative and easy way to add a little journaling too. (The „HERE & NOW” on the top right image and the 2015 on the bottom left image).
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MIXED MEDIA Because I also do art journaling and painting, I like to use mixed media in my Project Life. I either do my own cards or layout backgrounds or spice up existing Project Life cards. For the most part I like to use acrylic paint, spray inks for painting or just splatters and maybe a little glitter. I have also used modeling paste either neutral or mixed with gelatos for adding a color of my choice. For that I use a stencil to add it to the background.
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JOURNALING Journaling can be done in a lot of ways and I love many of them. You can write your journaling on the computer, which is really easy. Once I did all of my journaling for an entire year in one round. I just took the album and went through page by page and typed my journaling on the computer. As I went along, printed it out and ďŹ lled in the empty pockets. Sometimes I also cut the computer written pages into strips and glue them on layouts. (Top left images page 23). An old typewriter is also a great way to do journaling. I simply stick the project life cards to an A4 piece of paper with washi tape and run it through an old typewriter. I just love the way it looks and that you can feel the texture of each letter. (Top right image page 23). Often I choose to do the writing by hand, because it makes it much more personal and it might be fun for future relatives to look at your handwriting when you are not around anymore. It is also fairly easy and can be done in the color of your choice. (Bottom image page 23).
If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write. 22
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