Talk to me about what you focus on for PL

[ayaandjudah]

Do you focus on your kids only? just you? A comb? current events?

This is my first attempt at it and I need lots of inspiration. :-)

[DawnMarch]

I put in whatever I can think of -- lots about the kids, stuff about my husband and I (work, travel), current events (clips from the news like Hurricane Sandy, the Oscars, the presidential election), vacation photos, school projects, big purchases, pictures of stuff around the house.

I really want mine to be like a cross-section of our lives -- to capture how we live and what we do day-to-day. If I don't have enough pictures (which is rare for me), I will walk around the house and take photos of, say, our messy closet or the huge pile of laundry in our laundry room or something the kids are watching on TV; or I'll go on the Internet and grab a quick photo of some current news story or the weather forecast.

[KateD]

Like Dawn said, I try to put in a good sampling of things from our everyday life.

[NeverendingJen]

I just put in whatever. some weeks it is heavy on one person, others a balance. it all works in the end

[ayaandjudah]

I think my biggest issue is that I tend to focus totally on my children. Maybe it's best to just make this a complete life album including my, hubby and current events.

[MissKim]

When I first started doing it, my guiding question was "What makes this day different from any other day?" It doesn't have to be a big event. Maybe you finished a book, or picked up McDonald's on the way to work, or it snowed. I just tend to look for the unique.

[misfitinmn]

I am hoping Project Life gets me writing down the crazy things my kid(s) say (hopefully the little will start talking this year!). And take more pictures of the every day. I tend to want to always get really nice, good awesome quality pictures and I miss the fun little moments. I think this will be easier once I have a smartphone and can just take pictures randomly instead of hauling out my DSLR every time.

AND it will get me printing pictures on a regular basis which I struggle with right now. But I will probably include things about me and my husband too. And maybe it will get ME in front of the camera more often, too. I have big hopes for PL. We'll see if I stay inspired!

[rach3975]

This is my first year doing PL, but I'm going to try to do it about all of us. That said, it will still probably be 85% the kids, 10% me and DH, and 5% current events.

The reason I decided to give it a try this year is there are too many pictures and stories in my To Scrap folder for the last few years; starting this year, I need to find a way to get the less meaningful (but still scrap-worthy) ones into an album quickly. I guess I'm thinking of this more like an expanded photo album. So I'll be focusing less on the big events and best stories, since those will still get their own scrapbook pages. I'm envisioning this as a place to put photos of our 27th trip to the park, the kids building together with Legos, what book series DS is reading, or the rare date nights DH and I have.

Originally Posted by ayaandjudah

I think my biggest issue is that I tend to focus totally on my children. Maybe it's best to just make this a complete life album including my, hubby and current events.

I do the same thing with my scrapbooks, which is one thing I like about PL. I can include more about me and DH without committing to a full scrapbook page and the 2 nights each of those takes me.

[MamaBee]

I'm like Kim... I think what makes today different than yesterday... did I try a new recipe for dinner tonight? What did I get from Target today? What is the dish soap I'm using right now, etc? Most of the time it's all around kiddo since his the one that does the most things different... different lego structure, etc.

I do want to focus more on current events though... even if it's taking a photo of the President on tv addressing the nation or the radar screen of a bad storm... that adds a lot of the books for me... and this last year I got lax on recording those things.

[DawnMarch]

I think my biggest issue is that I tend to focus totally on my children. Maybe it's best to just make this a complete life album including my, hubby and current events.

I really thing that's the beauty of PL is that you can make it anything you want. I love having PL as about our family and our daily lives - to me it is more meaningful and provides so much more context. I think having a family focus is more realistic as the kids grow up, don't have as many "firsts" and don't necessarily wanting you taking their picture all the time! My child isn't starting school or having a birthday party in a vacuum, they are doing those things while there are hurricanes and royal weddings and mass shootings and the dog going to the vet and presidential elections and Olympics and their cousin getting married and great grandma passing away. Life is all one big jumble of events and history, happy and sad, and I know I'll never capture it all but I love trying to get some pieces of it in there. Plus, my kids will eventually get these albums (one way or another and I know they will want to know what their father and I had going on in our lives too!

[joelsgirl]

I agree with what everyone has said. I take pictures, and I make my spread based on those, but I also jot down what we do each day, if we do anything out of the ordinary. This way Joel and I get in the albums, too. I NEVER have pictures of what he does, but I can make a card about it. I love that.

I also add 8x8 layout inserts some weeks, as well as using the page protector that has 4 6x6 spots to add layouts as well. The beauty of PL is that you can make it anything you want it to be.

I try to add some everyday stuff, too, so that my kids an look back at it and be all, "I remember that!"

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by joelsgirl

I NEVER have pictures of what he does, but I can make a card about it. I love that.

I never have photos of Dan at work, but if I'm creative I can sometimes come up with a related photo. Like I might do a screen shot of his office's web page, or a newpaper headline that has something to do with an issue he's working on, or him reading work emails on his Blackberry. It isn't perfect, but at least I get some photos related to his day. (Not to mention that he hates having his photo taken, so 3/4 of the photos he agrees to be in he's making faces for the camera.)

[kristalund]

all of it kids, family, friends, but not work. lol. that is NOT my favorite part of life