Project 365 (aka Project Life; Photo-A-Day)

I’m still doing it – taking a photograph every day.

Blog7May-P365#1

On the left – January’s collage; on the right, the first page of photos

For 2013 I’ve abandoned the Project Life albums and weekly spreads, and gone back to the system I used in 2010, making a monthly series of pages. To begin, a collage made from the month’s collection of bits and pieces (did you know the word for that is “ephemera”? Isn’t that a lovely word?).

The next two pages with photos from January

The next two pages with photos from January

Then most of the photos for the month, with the date and a brief annotation if required, simply slotted into divided page protectors. For 2013 I want to display every photo, so I am using two sheets (that’s 24 photos, with 6 to a side).

On the left the final page of photos; on the right the first of two layouts made celebrating a January theme.

On the left the final page of photos; on the right the first of two layouts made celebrating a January theme.

Finally, a layout (or two) using the remaining photos.

My second layout for January, and on the right the collage to begin February's pages.

My second layout for January, and on the right the collage to begin February’s pages.

The first of the layouts I made for January celebrates my rediscovery of cycling:

Blog7May-LO1I used a technique from Shimelle Lane, and took an artsy photo of that detail:

Blog7May-LO1-detailThe second layout was inspired by the captions I wrote on three of the photos – they all ended with the words “at the library”:

Blog7May-LO2The background was inspired by this post from Big Picture Classes; I had a lot of fun making it and it was just right for the library layout.

I love this project – especially now it’s finished

Album coverRight through 2012 I tried to take a photograph every day. If I missed a day I didn’t stress about it, I just took an extra photo the next day (usually of something that would have been the same the day before).

Title pageThis is the title page – the easiest to complete because it was a simple “fill the slot” page, and all the components came in the Project Life Amber Edition kit. I’d purchased this in late 2010, but didn’t use it for 2011 as I took a break from the photo-a-day thing.

March spreadThrough the year I placed the photos (7 for every week) into the slots in the divided page protectors, and filled the other slots with journalling and bits and pieces I picked up.

August spreadI was still going strong in August. My routine was to sort out the week’s photos on Sunday evening, and then print them out in draft quality on plain paper. On Monday night I’d complete each week’s spread, slotting in the images and writing about the events of the week, using the collected ‘ephemera’ from my handbag, mailbox and recycling bin to create mini collages for any slots left over. Every couple of months I would take advantage of a printing special at Harvey Norman and get the images printed, slotting the photos in place of the paper place-holders. I kept up with that routine until mid-September, when I started getting behind. I did a big catch-up at Stamp Camp in early November, but the rest of the album had to wait until this weekend to be finished.

Blog-PL-Complete-5But finished it is!

This year I am continuing to take a photo every day, but I will return to the format I used in 2010 when I create my album.