Coming in 2012 ...

Do you love the little things, but find it hard to remember them when you need to? Do you love taking photos but find it a hassle to get them printed out?

Some of you who have been following this blog for a few years will know I am a big fan of Project 52, or Photo a Day, or 365 - whatever you like to call it. I have been creating a photo diary keepsake every year for the past few years and now its in my blood - I cannot give it up.

It's evolved from the way I first started out, with rigid instructions to take artistic shots once each day throughout the year. Now I just take it as it comes - there's some days when nothing happens and so I don't take a photo. Other days, several things might happen that I want to remember, so I take several. And they all go into my Project 52 album like that.

As long as they all fit on a 2-page spread, with plenty of room for the journalling (I write because I cannot remember one day from the next - how the heck am I going to remember details 10 years from now?) I see fit to call it my Project 52.

I've honed my experience of Project 52  down to several key factors; I mention some of them here, here, here and here.

In a nutshell:
1. Make yourself a template or a set of templates that can be easily customised (or buy some if you don't need the strain!) and stick with them. It gives your album a unified look - especially if you plan on using whichever scrapbooking kits you like from week to week.

2. Don't make it a chore. Set aside a specific time of the week to sit down and do it. Mine is Sunday night. I try and do this week's layout, and if I have time left over, I will make up next week's background and elements so it's ready to just slot in the photos and journalling next week. So work ahead if you can.

3. Take a photo even if it's not the best light or situation - even if it's just to jog your memory when it comes time to write up the week's activities.

4. Give yourself some breathing space to add more photos when you need to, and less on other days. Clip a patterned paper on anywhere there are blank photo spots ;) It actually ends up looking better than having too many photos all next to each other.

5. I will be putting out a Project 52 scrapbooking line this year (to help me keep up too!) and I've arranged it so each month you get 4 layered templates, a scrapping kit that co-ordinates all month long, some little journalling extras that slot into the templates WITHOUT having to resize, and from month to month, all the kits will co-ordinate, but in different colours and patterns.

At the end of the year, you will have a beautiful album to show off to your family and friends. Or to keep to yourself (especially if you've written something bad about your neighbour, hahaha!)

So keep an eye out in my store for my Project 52 line in my store. First one goes up on January 6.

Here's a sneak peek.

Good luck with it, I'd love to hear how you're going with it as the year progresses, ok?