Project 365

[marlathrall]

I'm on Day 533 of what started out as a simple 365 Project. I got addicted and just couldn't stop taking pictures. The project has been amazing for my photography skills and has resulted in a wonderful record of the last year. I know 2012 is still a month away, but I think you guys should seriously start thinking about it. It is a great way to capture the every day moments in your life and really doesn't take that much work.

Each day, I take a picture (I've never cheated) and then every three-four days I edit them and upload them to facebook. This really makes my family supportive because everyone wants to be "the picture of the day." There I do a little journaling about my day. Then when I have time, I go back and put my pages together using Cindy's amazing Super 7 templates and copy the text from my facebook.

Here's my page from last week:

https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...eek-46&cat=602

Somedays, I have nothing to take a picture of... so I take a macro shot of a basket or something. From time to time, I take a picture that sucks (see Mexican food picture in above layout), but it's a memory.

I think there are four or five other girls here who've kept up with an entire 365 project and might have some words to share as well. I totally feel like a politician trying to convince you girls to start one, but I really love it so much. Haha.

*Edited to add- I can't believe I made a typo in the title. Epic failure! Forgive me.

[Nettio]

I fixed the title for ya.

[marlathrall]

Thank you so much!

[taracotta7]

I know I would love this project. I am always jealous of seeing the P365 pages. I enjoyed doing A Week in the Life Project. My problem is I am ALWAYS taking pictures..........there are too many to choose from! LOL Thank you for the encouragement! I will have to think about it some more and decide how I want to do it.

[Stacey42]

I've been doing mine for 4 years now, though I changed it up a bit earlier this year and went with 20 topics instead of daily photos but went back to daily after a few months because it was hard taking less photos. I do occasionally cheat, on days when I am sick or the boys are both sick & I just can't manage it. Then I take a photo of medicine bottles the next day or so to represent that day I missed.

I also don't do scrapping pages. That is just a bit too much for me. I use blurb to assemble photo books as I go. Every couple of weeks I add new photos to the book. Blurb lets you design your own pages so I can make bigger text boxes or smaller photo boxes as needed. My boys love the photos books I made for the last 3 years & are always going through them.

Project 365 is so much fun. Everyone should try it t least once.

[ColleenSwerb]

I've tried for 3 years in a row now, and I always fail.
I'm hoping that doing Project Life next year + wanting to do a 365 of Swerbaby will keep me motivated. I probably won't tackle Project Life in a P365 manner, but more as a weekly overview. And then when the baby comes, I'll do a P365 with him/her, and lots of those will get included in PL.

[cardinalskate]

Now that's some dedication, Marla! I'd love to do it, too. I'll think about it, but I just know myself too well. I don't think it would work...as much as I'd love it to.

[mummytothree]

I could never do P365!! My life is just to hectic and I just know that it would become a chore and then I would stop enjoying it and who wants to be forced to do something they love...I love taking photos and if it became a chore I just know I'd end up hating it and then that would really make me sad!!

I do, do a Month in Review page every month....or at least I journal about it every month...I'm behind in actually putting the pages together. But that works for me and my family and I really think that is the most important thing to this thing called "memory keeping"....find what works for you and do it!!!

[tanyiadeskins]

I tried this twice ... first time I stopped in March, second year I made it to May ... I REALLY want to try this year! I plan on giving it my best and am really looking forward to trying.

I really like your idea of FB with a little journaling then you can catch up on the LOs but not forget the details. I may just use that trick if it is ok?

[marlathrall]

Oh yes, totally use the Facebook trick. I find that it keeps me motivated. If I get too far behind, my grandma or someone will ask me if I still taking a picture. lol. And everyone knows about it and is more likely to pose for a quick picture.

[LenaGardner]

Last year I made it all the way to July! I thought P52 would be better so I started that this year and I made it to May. A fail is a fail, meh.

[SweetMelissa]

I tried to do it this year. I got to week 9 and then stopped.

[pomi]

I actually just did a layout about my Project 365 journey (2011 was my second year doing P365):

It's about my expectations and what was met in reality and what not etc.

Besides what was already said (improving photography skills, having a family diary) I really like this about P365: it really makes me cherish our everyday. I think scrapbooking does this itself, too, but P365 even more, for me. When I was talking about this project with some of my friends, they often said: "But I don't do anything exciting, why should I take photos of my boring life." I didn't know what to answer, but now I'd definitely say that everyday doesn't mean boring. Things we do today, even if they aren't exciting, will change and it's great to capture this.

I've got quite a dilemma for next year, because it's going to be a year of big changes in our family (me going from SAHM to full time job, girls starting kindergarten). I'd really love to have this documented on a daily basis, on the other hand I am a bit afraid of stressing out about P365 and I don't think I need pressure put on me by myself (who does, right ) - that's the same like Elizabeth or others write - I, too, think that this commitment should feel good and not stressing. Right now, I just think I start next year normally and should I quit during the year, then I'd just make a layout about the reasons of the quitting - which is sort of documenting my/our life, too.

[chloe]

I tried it twice too, but this year I stuck with it, and seriously... it rocks!!! The trick to make it work for me was
a) use the same template all year long for my scrapping pages and use one kit for each 2 pages spread
b) journal every night (I already had that habit, so it wasn't very hard)
c) and most important one: don't be afraid to "cheat". Recently I've been missing many days, but it doesn't matter: there's no P365 police that will check what I'm doing. So I took some pix to catch up on the missed days, like photos of something I do every day, or something around the house, etc.

I started this project hoping that 2011 would be the year I'd finally get pregnant. No such luck, but I enjoyed it so much that I'm seriously considering it for 2012 as well. But this year I'd like to focus a bit more on my photography skills, maybe using Katrina Kennedy's website. Will have to think about it.

[pomi]

Originally Posted by chloe

c) and most important one: don't be afraid to "cheat". Recently I've been missing many days, but it doesn't matter: there's no P365 police that will check what I'm doing. So I took some pix to catch up on the missed days, like photos of something I do every day, or something around the house, etc.

Same here, Chloé.

[Lyd]

In 2009, I had a big fail - only made it through February or so. In 2010, I made it to November and then it fell apart. Such a shame to get so far and then have it die. This year, I didn't even try, and it's a good thing. Our lives were so insane this year, there's NO way I would have kept up with it. BUT, I also recognize that I have missed out on documenting a lot of our lives this year, and that makes me sad. So, I'm recommitting to P365 for this coming year. I already have some good ideas about how I'm going to do weekly layouts without making it a huge time-sucking project (i.e., Traci's Slip-Ins and that new kit from Jenn and KCB). I'm getting excited to start again.

[nikkiARNGwife]

I'm on my 2nd year and have never gotten behind. i actually really enjoy it and will most likely continue on with it next year as well.

[MamaBee]

I'm great at taking photos daily - but not great at getting them scrapped. LOL! I did get 2007-2009 scrapped (07 and 08 were monthly spreads)... but I'm struggling with 2010 - I'm into May... and am trying to get 2011 going - but I'm probably in March with them with the pages scrapped... I WILL GET THEM DONE... some day. LOL!

I love the project and I totally agree with you on that my photography has gotten better! I also love that little things that I would not have paid attention to in the past, I'm capturing. So, even if you can't keep up with the scrapping side... I still encourage you to jot down or snap a photo of something to remember of your daily life.

[Kara]

I did it last year, and decided this year to change my approach. These are the photos that I print to put in photo albums (I also scrap most of them) and my albums fit 500 photos. There are many days (vacations, holidays, etc.) when just one photo doesn't do the day justice. There are other days when we've done virtually nothing and I hate to take a picture just for the sake of taking a picture. So now I'm shooting for 500 good photos a year to document our lives - the fun and exciting, as well as the boring and mundane.

[marlathrall]

One of the great things about a 365 is that there are so many different ways to go about the project. I just love that about it.

And really, there is nothing at all wrong with making it part of the year and quitting. Those will still be pictures of your family that might have never taken. Bonus either way!

[Leontine78]

I would love to do a P365.....but I am bad in taking daily photos I guess.
And....more important....I think my life isn't that various enough. 52 layouts of my cats and Eric isn't that pretty....

[marlathrall]

Originally Posted by Leontine78

I would love to do a P365.....but I am bad in taking daily photos I guess.
And....more important....I think my life isn't that various enough. 52 layouts of my cats and Eric isn't that pretty....

You would be surprised... I'm childless also and still manage to find something everyday. I will admit, my dog is probably in each weekly layout. Haha. And there are food pictures, pretty sunset pictures, a picture of a new outfit, etc.

There are many days that I get sad and think- this would be so much easier if I had a baby to photograph, but then again I wouldn't have as much time for photography & scrapbooking.

[Tracyfish]

I'm on my 3rd year now with 365. This year I decided to give myself a little break and not make it a photo a day (maybe 2 one day and none the next, etc.). What I've found is that I'm so accustomed to it though that I end up taking pretty much daily photos anyway. I do think everyone should give it a shot.

I really want to do something more like Project Life next year where I can add in things like receipts, etc. to a more paper type. I guess this means I need to get busy planning it if I'm going to do it. ACK!

[adrianka]

I don't do it because I know I would fail. I've actually always (ever since I got a digital camera) taken photos of silly little "boring" everyday things, but I just do it for myself, I don't scrap them as a project. Sometimes I scrap these, sometimes I use them for a project of sorts (like, use a seemingly meaningless photo for a calendar / CD cover / e-card / poster / illustration for an article / whatever - and I'm actually the "Luxembourgish correspondent" of our Directorate General's monthly whose role is to take "everyday" photos at our workplace), but P365 is too overwhelming for me. I'm not a do-something-every-day kind of person. A pity, since I love looking at other people's P365 pages (Majda's and Chloé's are my faves, but all are great).

[Jennilyn]

I did P365 for 2009 & 2010 then took a break this year but I'll be doing it again next year. I asked my friends and family on FB and the majority said they'd like to see my daily pictures & journaling again. My girls are always excited to be the picture of the day.

[jacinda]

This is my 3rd year of P365, though this year I changed it up to a modified version of P12. I take a selection of the photos from that month and scrap them as a 2-pager with some journalling. Not as detailed as a P365, but it's less stressful and it still gives a great overview of our month.

My P365 blog link is in my siggie.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by jacinda

This is my 3rd year of P365, though this year I changed it up to a modified version of P12. I take a selection of the photos from that month and scrap them as a 2-pager with some journalling. Not as detailed as a P365, but it's less stressful and it still gives a great overview of our month.

My P365 blog link is in my siggie.

...and actually, yours are totally stunning, Jacinda! I loved your take last year (those partial photo backgrounds, oh) and this year's photo-centric approach is yum.

[Stacey42]

P365 started out as a photo only idea. It's only because we're all scrappers that most people here do pages of the photos. If you look out on the wider web you'll see a great many photo only projects. Please don't let the idea of having to scrap the photos stop you from taking them. There is no requirement to do so.

I have a low tech friend who buys one of those 4x6 photo albums that have the extra space next to each photo sleeve with room for a sentence or two. She uses the album as a journal, dates each photo opening, writes a short blurb for every day in the space provided & at the end of every month orders that month's photos in 4x6 and puts them in the sleeves.

That is every bit a 365 Project as doing a 12x12 scrapped page of every photo is. Find a comfort level & work within it. I cannot imagine scrapping every photo or even doing a week at a time. It's all I can do to pull together my 15 topic layouts. I do scrap some pages of the photos but it's random and I add those to my photo book. My low tech friend cannot imagine putting together a photo book, let alone scrapping.

Some people are doing an Instagram photo a day & plan on letting Blurb slurp their Flickr photo stream so they don't even have to assemble the book.

There are all sorts of options out there.

[Teresa]

I'm finishing my 3rd year of P365...it's become an addiction. I've missed a few days here and there, but have no guilt about it. I journal on a private blog or in my Flickr albums. I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of some type of "scrapbooking" or even just getting them into printed albums. BUT...I have them.

Colleen...you're going to love doing this for your little one. It's what finally got me hooked on this project for good!

For those of you who don't have kids or think your life is too vanilla (), maybe you'll find some inspiration from this recent Project Life post from Becky Higgins

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/201...-without-kids/

[breakingbrie]

I started 2010 p365 thinking I'd end up quitting or falling too far behind... But I've always taken tons of pics, and it was such a cool project, I surprised myself and finished the whole year. I was a bit burned out by the end, and this year I didn't even pick up my camera until summer, and that made me sad I'm bummed I didn't do it again for this year, but I'm definitely doing it again for 2012, and I'm so excited about it already!