…blogtober day 11 :: 31 minutes for 31 days…

Part of my blogging process, especially over Blogtober, is once the post goes live, is to view the post on both my laptop and my phone. I’m familiar enough with my theme now that I know how it looks, but I still like to take that moment to review it, make sure everything loads properly in both formats. In our anniversary podcast, Car mentioned how when she does her review listen after I edit the episode, she feels enough distance that she can seperate the her talking, from the her listening. I feel a bit the same when I read back over my posts. Reading after it’s published feels strangely different to reading over my draft before I hit the publish button.

At the bottom of each post, between the post itself and the comments section, is a little “you might also like” section, with three posts from the archive. The theory is they are related to whatever it is I’ve just posted, but sometimes they can be…very much not. I love these little snippets, and I’ll often tap on one just to revisit a fun project, or remind myself what the vague title and interesting photo actually refer to. In one of these wanders down memory lane, I came across some of my old project life posts.

I’d already been considering a new scrapbooking project, to celebrate our newly minted learner driver. When we’d moved, I’d also had big plans to bring back regular project life, and then 2020 happened and “project life” meant getting through the day without doomscrolling oneself into oblivion. Over time it just slipped down the list of priorities. The more I fell down the rabbit hole of my old posts though, the more I missed it. After yet another day of scrolling through my archives thinking “oh what a shame I don’t do that any more”, I had a revelation of the blindingly obvious. If I missed it, if I wanted it back in my life, I had the power to prioritise it. October was coming, and with it 31 Minutes In 31 Days, which felt like the perfect time to take up an old hobby.

Towards the end of my previous project life adventures, I’d gotten into making my own filler cards. The core kits no longer were a great fit, and with the US dollar no longer being asking as it once was, I’d cancelled my monthly Studio Calico** kits. I had enjoyed working from a small, curated collection, so I gathered some supplies on a spotlight run – by this time our local scrapbooking shops had closed, so spotlight was my best option to be able to pull stuff together and see it in real life. I spend some time batch crafting and turning my paper pad into a pile of 3×4 project life cards (see a video flick through of them here), with plenty of paper and embellishments leftover. I’ve done a similar DIY mini kit concept for my December Daily albums over the years.

I knew, then, once I decided to revisit Project Life, that I wanted to go down this path again. Being in a small house, as well, made a limited, curated mini collection the ideal way to help me keep on track. My starting place is always finding a paper pad I like. Most recently, I’ve been using a 6×8 paper pad designed by Vicki Boutin, and the mixed media feel of her collections are really appealing to me at the minute. I jumped on the google, and found her newest collection, “Print shop”, was about to launch. Along with the 6×8 pad I was after, a pack of stencils from the same collection accidentally fell into my preorder, perfect for another hobby I’ve neglected for too long but am hoping to pick up again – gelli printing.

My parcel arrived while I was away last week, but I snuck into the post office while in town yesterday and collected it. It was just as pretty as I had hoped. Having survived the final birthday of the season, this morning was dedicated to clearing the decks chore-wise. This afternoon though, between packing a bag for the 6.30 pm dress rehearsal, and heading out the door for the 5pm athletics session, I snuck over to the container. On my shelves I have a whole paper box dedicated to embellishments, alphas and project life cards. I pulled it down, and picked through it for a range of embellishments that could work for what I’m picturing a 2022 project life album might look like. It didn’t take long for my basket to fill with anything and everything that could fit.

Back in the house, I pulled the paper pad out and starting sifting through my haul. I had a box of leftover kit bits, and a few of those had colours close enough to be included. The large sorting box of 3D embellishments yielded some veneers (from Freckled Fawn), and flair (from Feed My Craft). Stickers and labels also came from previous SC kits, and the wordfetti has been in stash so long I couldn’t tell you where I found it! I also found the last couple of leaves from an old Lime Tart kit, as are the little clock hands. To round it out, I pulled some versatile stamp sets – the alpha from Kellie Stamps, the 4×6 patterns from Studio L2E, and the 2×3 & 6×8 are both studio calico. I can’t remember where I got the wood mount – maybe Lime Tart again? And the roller stamp is Amy Tangerine via a friend’s destash.

Doesn’t it come together well? Some of these items have been in stash over 8 years so it’s fun to pull them out and finally put them to use.

I’m so excited to be getting back into Project Life. Having a kit together feels like a great first step, and removes a major hurdle in actually sitting and doing some memory keeping. The decisions have been made. I have a box ready to grab and go. No more excuses, no more procrastinating. Future me will be thankful. Despite all the everything, these are the good old days, and they deserve to have their story told.

(I’m also sharing more thoughts on nostalgia and inspiration over at the Ministry of Crafty Shenanigans blog, you can read that post here)

**I am a Studio Calico affiliate, which means if you click this link and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only ever affiliate link to products and places I genuinely use and love. Thank you for supporting my blog!