Project Life | Months Behind & My Catch-Up Process

Happy Friday! I almost considered taking this entire week off from blogging, but last night a post idea came to me while I was working on my Project Life pages from the last two months. I didn't notice it before, but I really do have a system for catching up when I'm behind, and while these 8 or 9 weeks of pages might not be my best spreads from the year, they'll be done in the way Beck Higgins intended for Project Life to be done - quickly. 

I almost prefer working on several weeks at one time because I feel like it taps into my creativity a little more, and it takes a little longer than a single two page spread. Which is how I love to create. I love to sit down and do several of the same project at one time (or an entire mini album). 

My process for doing a large amount of Project Life layouts goes like this:

1. Determine which pictures go to which days for each week (sometimes I do this while making my notes throughout the week)
2. Sketch my spread and determine photo placements
3. Print and place photos
4. Add Project Life cards
5. Journal
6. Embellish (optional)

Sometimes when I have the time, I print out my photos and I stick them in the pages and leave them there for several days before I do anything more with them. Sometimes I place all my cards and leave them for a few days and come back to make sure I'm okay with how it looks.

For this particular catch-up, I tried to use up a lot of my Studio Calico stash, so I set those cards out on my desk and while flipping through them, if I had a particular card that went well on a particular spread I'd stick it there. I tried to do one spread at a time, but usually ended up placing cards all over. I double check to make sure that all the pockets on every spread was full before I put my cards away.

My planner pages came from a blog that is no longer, but I'm working on creating a set of my own printable planner pages to offer to my readers.

I hope that you found this post helpful, at least a little bit. If you do something different (like select your cards first, or embellish before you journal) I'd love to hear about it. 

Have a great weekend!

-Alexandria

Rosette Making Tips

Tips for making the perfect rosette:

• Score all of your paper first. I decided on a couple of papers, scored them, then cut them in an assembly line fashion. That way you're not going between scoring, cutting, folding and assembling everything.
• Decide on the sizes you want your rosettes to be. You need to remember that whatever size you cut your strip of paper, you're finished rosette will be twice that size. If you want a 4" rosette, cut your strips of paper at 2" wide.
• After folding your rosette, straighten out your folds. When you fold them, sometimes the peaks of your folds don't line up, simply hold it on the table and push so they're straight across. 
• Before you glue your rosette into shape, test fit it a few times and get the paper used to being pressed down into that shape. Manipulate your paper so you know how you want it to look.
• Use a larger circle to glue the back to. No one sees the back of your rosette, so they'll never know if your 4" rosette has a 3" circle on the back to hold it into place. It also doesn't matter if your back circle is in the centre, just make sure it doesn't hang over on any of the sides.
• Roll a piece of tape and use it to stick your back circle to your work surface. This makes it easier to glue your rosette to the back circle. It won't move around, and it's easier to get it close to centre if you test fit a few times before.
• Allow the glue to set for a few minutes before moving your rosette. If the glue is still soft, there's more chance of your rosette falling apart.
• Always, always, always, use hot glue to assemble it. If you're using thinner paper you can use a tape gun to put your strips together, but always use hot glue to glue the centre together.

Most of these tips can be found in this Youtube video that helped me become more confident in my rosette making skills

Good luck with your paper rosettes! In my next post I'll show you the beautiful rosette's I made for my living room and dining room!

Have a wonderful day!

-Alex