Project Life 2012 Supplies...

As I showed yesterday, I am doing Project Life in 2012.  I was super excited that the kit I ordered has  nearly everything I need for the endeavor.  One of the reasons I love Project Life, though, is that I can embellish my pages as much or as little as I want.  The kit gives me the foundation, and then I get to get creative and put my own mark on it.  In addition to the Cobalt kit, here are a few supplies I've been gathering over the past month. *Sorry for the glare - my craft room needs better lighting!

Journaling cards from Amazon.com. 

These Karen Russel Narratives stickers from Hobby Lobby.  Love these.

Making Memories Word Fetti Stickers (family)

Also from Michael's.

K&Company Embossed Life's Journey Words & Sayings from Michael's.

American Crafts remarks stickers in white (getty)

Binder Clips with the months on them from Office Depot.

Office Depot had these on Clearance for $1.  Thought they might come in handy.

Tiny Attacher Tim Holtz from Hobby Lobby.

So these are the products I'm going to use.  Hopefully that will get me through at least half the year and if I start to run out or get bored I can always get some more in the summer.  We have three major craft stores in Cheyenne, but I tend to get discouraged by the types of supplies they have.  I have a hard time finding embellishments to fit my taste.  I do shop online a little, mostly from Amazon, but it's hard for me to judge size and color from the computer screen.  It's more fun to pick stuff out in person.  I may see what Ft. Collins has to offer next time I am down there.  

Tomorrow I will show you my craft area set-up and show you how I've organized my materials for Project Life!

Project Life 2012...

I've seen lots of bloggers post about Becky Higgins' Project Life for some time now, but it wasn't until late 2011 that I really took a look around her website to see what it was all about.  To keep you up to speed if you don't know what it is, it's basically a system she has set up with kits to help people collect photos and memories through the year.  The kit is set up to capture one photo and journal about it each day of the year, but it's very versatile and I've seen all sorts of formats pop up in the blogosphere.  It's a look at the moments of our lives that usually aren't scrapped.  We tend to scrapbook the big events - birthdays, holidays, vacations.  Project Life captures the basics of our lives.  

This is my kit.  I loved the colors of the Cobalt design, and once it arrived I was NOT disappointed. 

Let me just say, the kit smells SO good - like the smell of new books in the bookstore.

  
Project Life appeals to me for several reasons. 

• As noted, the project is customizable to individual needs.  I will be looking at doing a weekly format instead of a daily format.   I know I will never keep up if I am stressed out about finding something to document every day.  Enough happens in our week that I can document some decent day to day memories.  
• I turned 30 this year, so this is a great way to document the start of a new decade for me.  It will also be documentation of my marriage, my 2 furry babies, and who knows what else.  I'm excited to see what comes up for me when I reflect on this project at the end of 2012.  Even though Kyle and I don't have kids, I definitely want to remember the daily routine and way of living so I can have it to look back on years from now. 
• My medications have the unfortunate side effect of inhibiting my creativity.  This kit comes with coordinating materials. In addition, I bought the protective photo sleeves that go with it.  All I have to do is slide the photos into the pockets and use the included journaling cards to document memories, thoughts, places, names, or anything else.  I can add as much embellishment as I want, or leave the layout with just the materials from the kit.  This takes a great deal of stress off of me, as I don't have to try to coordinate or decide on layouts.  The beauty is, there are lots of different layouts for the sleeves, so I'm not confined to the same layout throughout the year.
• It's a very organized process which, for me, is essential.  I am still fine tuning my set-up in my craft room and folders on my computer for storage of photos to print.  I will share that at a later date.  

So that's why I'll be diving into Project Life 2012.  I'm pretty excited and a little bit hopeful that this project will jumpstart my creativity and get me motivated to do more crafting. 

Tomorrow I will share photos of the awesome supplies I've gathered up for this project. 

A Little Update...

Dear Reader, I have not been so great at updating my blog lately, but I vow to do better.  I have a million and one excuses for my recent absence but it all boils down to lack of motivation and preoccupation with other items on my plate.  Here is a brief list of updates.  I will be elaborating more on each of these points in future blogs. 

• I'm jumping on the 2012 Project Life bandwagon to document a year in our life.  I'll be using the Cobalt kit. 
• I switched to a new psychiatrist to try to find a better treatment for the bipolar disorder.  New Doc assures me we WILL find the magic cocktail that will treat it and the connected issues, but he suggests it may take 1 to 2 years.  This means more med changes are ahead for me.  Some of these will be very difficult transitions, as some meds I am on have awful withdrawal symptoms.  I shall try to be a patient patient and remain open-minded.  I will be attempting to document this process as best I am able.
•  I will finally get some pictures of our home up to show the new floors, picture walls and paint.  This will be sometime after I get the holiday decor down. 
• I still need to do a post to wrap up my 30 before 30 AND create my 40 before 40 list. 

I'm struggling with depression big time as this year wraps up, and trying to keep my chin up and eyes on the absolutely wonderful gifts life shows to me daily.  I really have no reason to be depressed, as life is not too shabby.  That's the nature of the illness, though - it can really beat me down, even when I have little to complain about.  Those are the hardest times for me.  I could rant and rave about how crummy life is if I was handed horrible experiences.  It's hard to understand where depression comes from when I have much to be grateful for.  It's a reminder to me how unreliable this illness is, and how important it is to have my support network of doctors, therapists, family and friends, because my world can turn upside down with relatively little reason.  I don't mean to complain, but rather paint the realistic picture of what life is like with a mood disorder.  More on all of this as we begin 2012.  Have a fabulous last week of 2011 and may your New Year be the best yet!