Project Life...with a twist or two.

It begins with a celebration.
This was 10.5 hours ago...Allie + friends throwing confetti with not a care in the world.
Screaming at the top of their lungs...
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Hugs all around, party hats and horns.
This is what it's all about.
These are moments I want her to remember.
Not just because they may be happy...sad ones will happen as well.
But I want her to remember that at 12 o'clock, on January 1, 2012...at the age of 12, she was having the time of her life.

Enter Project Life.
I'm never ashamed to admit that I am a skeptic...or that I hesitate to go along with something just 'because everyone else is'. That is SO me. If it's trendy/popular/cool, I'm usually passing it right up, lol. And initially, that's what I thought this project might be...so I passed.

But this past year has changed my outlook a bit. My friend Stephanie put it perfectly in this blog post...please take a moment to read it. I'm kind of feeling stuck lately with projects/assignments/scrap responsibilities...even the word 'responsibility' shouldn't come into play when thinking about my hobby, right?! So, while I am challenging myself to break out of my box a bit where those things are concerned...I realized at the same time that I missed having FUN with all of this.

But that was before I gave this Project Life thing a try. :)

And I've only done our title page...up there in that picture...but it was a blast. I just grabbed things from my stash and played around. I bought a set of the 'F' page protectors and some grid cards...that's it. Everything else will be from what I have on hand. (plus a few more page protectors) I don't intend to post photos of every page I make for this project, nor do I plan to do a strict 2-page per week kind of thing.

That sounds too rigid. Like work.
Everyone is different...but the cool thing is that from what i can tell, you can make it work just right for you.
It isn't an assignment. It isn't 'work'. There is no deadline.
There is just...play.
At least for me, anyway.
:)

Here are a few close-ups of our title page. (and i do mean OUR...Mike & Allie are on board with this and have agreed to contribute. Mike was a bit nervous at first...until Allie gave him that look that he can't say no to, lol.) What a cool thing for us to do together. Heck, i need to just figure out a way to get Lola Kitty involved and all Harpers will be represented lol.
The first thing I started with was the grid card with the Silhouette cut cumbers in the middle row. (i had cut it while playing last week and it was too small for what i was making at the time...so i set it aside.) I knew I wanted to use individual photos of us, a piece from an old Road Atlas (a bargain for only $4 at an antique shop) showing where we live and a title in the 4x6 slot. The rest just kind of 'happened'. I'm not in any way/shape/form a 'planner' when it comes to this stuff. I do not sketch and I rarely think ahead, lol. I envy people who do...but that just ain't me. :)
Who knows if this 'loosey Goosey' approach will have the legs to work for us all year...certainly not I. But we'll adjust it if need be, and just continue to do what we do.

And we'll add this to the list of things we do together.
Harper-family style.
:)