For those of you who don’t stalk scrapbook divas like we do, you may not know our good friend Becky Higgins. She is like the Beyonce of the scrapbooking world (without the leotard) and Ashleigh thinks if we actually knew her they would be BFFs.

Last year Becky came up with a genius scrapbook kit called Project 365 which sadly sold out in less than a day. But we were sold on the concept which was taking a picture a day for a whole year! It sounded crazy hard at first but also wonderful and liberating. Becky, do you actually mean we’re allowed to just develop 4 X 6 pictures and insert them into slots in albums? No photo enlargements, page layouts, color schemes, or embellishments with hidden symbolic meanings? And it’s still scrapbooking? Yes? I’m sold!

We were also sold on the concept of documenting the everyday events of our family life. While no one else may want to see the mundane day to day happenings in our house, in 5, 10 or 20 years it will be fun for us to remember the time Jared (12) brought home a half eaten pan of cherry jello from Jr. High.

Since we didn’t have the kit, I found an album with 5 slots for pictures on each page. Then we bought all the paper and embellishments from a scrapbook line called Friendly Forest because it had bright colors and cute little critters. We printed the week titles out for the whole year and we were ready to go.

I kept a lttle notebook with a short note for each day. I printed pictures once a month and then sat down with my supplies, handwrote my journaling and added some embellisments. It took about 3-4 hours a month.When the year was over I summed up the experience on the last page:I was highly persecuted for starting this project and embarrassed myself more times than can be imagined by asking to take a picture (like of my veterinarian and of a church meeting). But in the end, I documented things I never normally would have and have a fun record of our family. Already the kids pull out this book more than any other scrapbooks. When I started Project 365 little did I know what excitement this year would bring. Who knew on Jan. 1 that in the coming year our family would: be expecting a baby, have a job change, ordain a deacon, have a baptism, get two new cars, go on two vacations, have a big calling change, remodel part of our house, and get a dog. Makes me excited for 2010. I say, “BRING IT!”

The great news is that Becky has been at it again. Bless her heart. Go to her website to checkout Project Life. Same idea, very versatile, totally cute! We have several friends that have bought it and some are taking a picture a day while others are adapting it for their needs. I bought it for my teenager to use for all of her high school pictures and memorabilia. You can start it Jan 1st, start on your birthday or start Feb. 19th. There aren’t any rules, just enjoy!P.S. I would like an award for typing this whole post one handed while I hold my little lovey who won’t stay asleep. Who says I haven’t been productive today?

It’s me, Ashleigh. I would like to start by awarding Kathryn the “Great blogging while holding a baby award.” Well done.
Now I would like to share a few of my layouts! Very simple and minimal scrapbooking, but hey, I’m done documenting 2009!

I enjoyed having a new perspective on what is document worthy. I love that I have pictures of the simple and little things. I have a picture of Justin throwing a fit in Target because I had my camera in my purse, and I wanted to show him what he put me through someday. I love that I have a picture of Jenna’s face when the Jenga game fell. I love the picture of Dave going all out in Karaoke. I love the pictures of report cards, coupons, band-aids, neighbors, day trips, holidays, food and projects. After all, we got in the habit of taking pictures of our silly projects because of our quest for a “picture of the day.” Mid-year, we decided to blog these project pictures, and “bee in our bonnet” was born!