Project Life...I thought it would be easier.

[dsneybride]

I got all my supplies to start a project life album. Finally sat down to put something together and found its not as easy as I thought it would be. I was going to do my 2013 album pl style. I started with New Years Eve pics. Maybe I found it difficult cuz I only had a handful of pics but it never failed if I needed to fit a vertical pic I had a horizontal or vise versa! I went into this thinking I was going to bang out pages quicker. But honestly I could have done a traditional scrapbook page faster that it took me to put together the 3 pl pages I got done.

Anyone else having difficulties or is it just me?

 

[3pletprincesses]

I've looked at it several times and I don't think it would work for me either. I feel like I'm too restraint in the pictures that I can use. sorry that I'm no help.

 

[dsneybride]

Glad I'm not alone!! It seems to easy! Maybe I just need to work at it more.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

I created my own PL-365 style doing it traditional scrapbooking style...

I am wondering if you have to really wait and plan out the printing of the photos once you have the page protectors in hand...

Good luck with your project.. Don't give up on it...

Maybe you could check out the different We-R-Memory keepers page protectors to see if you could swap them out but still keep the layout of the PL theme.. they have several bundles that are 6x12 w/ 3- 6x4 (P) photos; 6x12 w/ 3- 4x6 (V) photos; 6 - 6x4, 6 - 4x6, and many other variations... (might be another alternative for you)...

ETA: here are some examples from a bundle I found.. then you could purchase the style tha works best for you...
http://store.scrapbook.com/products/we r memory makers.html?gclid=CJPjxebYiLYCFYxaMgod4g0AIA

I need to order some of Becky Higgins style that is the 4- 4x6 and the 4- 3x4... I'm in need of those.... (but I have to finish my list before I can move on to that project)

 

[momto3gr8boys]

I saw this and had the same reaction you did - this is great, and I will be able to finish pages so quickly! Then the reality that what fits on one side needs to fit on the other hit

What I did was to purchase every style of page protector I could find (both Becky Higgins and We Are Memory Makers (or something like that). This gave me more flexibility. I also was a little more flexible in the arrangement of the pictures and cropping down a few to fit in the 4x3 slots.

The bottom line, for me, is yes, it is definitely more limiting than traditional scrapbooking, but the overall process is much faster! Not stressing over the perfect background paper, placement, embellishments, etc. is very freeing. And the set up/clean up time is much faster as there is much less to work with. In the past I would never even consider scrapping without at least a four hour window. With this I can spend a free hour doing it and not spend half that time just getting set up.

I also figure I can add some 12x12 protectors and intersperse traditional layouts in the same album if I'm ever truly stuck, or if there are some very special pictures that deserve more than a few 4x6 slots.

 

[dogcarbon]

I have found that I take "most" of my photos horizontally with my camera and vertically with my iphone. BUT I have tried to make a more concerted effort to take horizontal with my phone.

If I am using BH's page protectors, I usually cut down those vertical photos to fit in the 3x4 slots, but sometimes i cut the top and/or bottom of a vertical 4x6 to make it a 4x4 then it fits in the 4x6 horizontal slot and I add a piece of paper behind it. And sometimes journal a bit there, or not.

It does take practice to plan the next side. I have been using divided page protectors for my scrapping for a while, and I have also used the WRMK page protectors and like the one with just one 6x8 slot, because I can "focus" on that one vertical picture... and the next page I usally can find one more vertical shot OR can use a horizontal photo and use some embellishments too.

 

[disneyjunkie11]

You are not alone! I bought a bunch of supplies to do PL 2012...didn't happen. I sold the kit and then decided that I would try again in 2013. I did weeks 1 & 2 and haven't touched it since. I have been a traditional scrapper for 9 years and really enjoy doing things that way versus the "new" way of scrapping. I have come to the conclusion it's not meant for everyone. I have several friends that rock it and can share blog links if you would like some inspiration.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I used the Creative Memories picfolio album for my version of PL, I used it for Project 365. One good thing about their pages is each page had 2 vertical and 3 horizontal pages for the 11x14 size album.
I struggled a little with placements and what not but eventually got the hang of it. Once I got the album and could see it laid out, I made more of a conscious effort on camera positions.

But I'm a die hard traditionalist, I love building pages. I'll probably stick with the PL style for my annual albums but for the kids albums and vacations, I'm probably going to stick with traditional.

I asked the kids if they wanted Digital albums or PL albums and they were vetoed immediately.

 

[PrincessinTexas]

Not really my style. I'm a traditional scrapper. I bought some of the cards and inserts that I use in my traditional scrapbooking. I like to use all the extra embellishments on my pages.

Pam