26 In 2013 Project Life CT/ baby album/ Caylin/ Project Life/ Scrapbooking

Caylin’s Baby Album: Part 3

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I’m so sorry this blog post didn’t go up on Friday or over the weekend like I planned. It became a bit larger than I anticipated and very photo heavy, but I wanted to include all of it into this post. So bear with me – this post is a doozy. ;)

I’ve made considerable progress on Caylin’s baby album – Project Life style. I’m not going to say that it wasn’t time consuming considering I basically went through ALL of the scrapbook layouts that I created for her early on and then took the journaling and the photographs and incorporated them into the Project Life format, but it is TOTALLY WORTH IT. I just love the way it’s coming along. It’s more simple, neater, more organized and I just love how it concentrates more on the memories and not so much on the mass amount of embellishments, product, etc. I don’t have to worry about photo placement, trends, titles, etc. – it’s just all-around easier and more enjoyable. It’s definitely the way to go if you are wanting to do a baby album or a childhood album.

When it comes to Caylin’s album I debated on how I was going to do it because I have taken A LOT of photos of her. LOL. She is almost 8 and there are a ton of photos, scrapbook layouts, memories, etc. What I decided to do is to complete her baby album for the front part of the album and then just continue on with photos and journaling of her toddler and younger years. Then when the photos got to 2012 I am going to just let the photos that I have of her in our FAMILY Project Life album be enough because let’s face it – I don’t want to have to do a separate album for EACH kid through the years when I have this super awesome and cool family album that has so many memories of each kid, what they are like, what they love, photos, journaling, “right now” moments, etc. There would be a lot of redundancy in a separate album for them so I’m going to stick with the baby album for each child and Caylin’s will have just a bit more to it since unfortunately Project Life as not around back then. ;) Once again, I’m just adapting it all to what works for me and my family and I’m content with that. Caylin, Jack and our other son (name is being kept a secret, heehee) will all have baby albums. Caylin will have a bit more in her album and Jack will have about a year’s worth of extra photos and memories behind his baby album, but our other son will just have his baby album and then all other photos, journaling, memories and every day moments will be contained in our family Project Life album each year. I think that’ll do! :)

Ok, so you can see the FIRST and SECOND installment of Caylin’s baby album progress by clicking on those links.

Here’s what I’ve done since then – I still have plenty to do, but thankfully THIS part won’t take as long as getting the photos reprinted and going through the memories, will. SO neat to take a trip down memory lane though and like I said, it’s turning out so great – it’s worth it and I’m loving it!

I decided that when it came to the monthly photos I took of her that I was going to do them all continuously for a few pages. I thought it would be really neat to see her grow every month and to have the stats and details of each month together like that. I thought about spreading them out a bit (and you totally could do that), but decided against it. months-both

months-1-2

months-7-8

(Note: The 7th month title card is supposed to be where that pink milestones card is on the bottom left. I accidentally put that card in front of the 7th month card, but it has been fixed now.) :)

I love the “Highlights and Milestones” cards and I decided that I did want them with the monthly photos and the “this month’s stat’s” and so I put each one of those cards with more details on it BEHIND the numbered 4×6 title cards.

milestone-card

I know they’re there and just thought that would be a good place to tuck them. I also numbered each photo so I know for sure which month that is for – even though the monthly card is close by – I figured it would be a sweet little touch to have the monthly number on the photo as well. Another thing I did was when it came to some of the “this month’s stat’s” cards – I didn’t have room for them close to the photo that corresponded with that month so I just glued the 3×4 card onto the 4×6 card -you can see an example of that in the first photo above on the 5th month card.

I STILL have to fill out the monthly stats AND the details cards, but trust me – I have all of that information contained on scrapbook layouts and I just figured I’d get my photos all in, my little post-it note notes where I need them and then go back through the album and spend some time rewriting those details and memories down.

Now that I have all of her monthly photos in the album I just jumped right in and after printing some photos, I just made sure they were in chronological order and started plugging them in her album.

As you can see – there are some of my mini post-it note notes where I need to take journaling cards and rewrite the journaling about the photos/event. :)

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closeup-bath

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reading

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swing

first-cereal

veggies

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The pages obviously aren’t complete (I’ll share the entire baby album/early years album once it’s completed), but I thought I’d just share my process and how I’m doing her album so that you get an idea. :)

Some spots will have “filler” cards – others will have journaling. I am also NOT wasting the embellishments that I could salvage from the scrapbook layouts that I took apart. ;) I am using them sporadically throughout her album. I’m not BIG on adding a bunch to my Project Life pages – I’ve always been more of a simple gal, but I definitely did NOT want to waste them and so I’m adding them here and there and the ones I’m not using Caylin has asked for to put to use in HER Project Life album. :)

closeup-stickers

stars       fav-photo    criss-cross

I have so many photos that on some pages I am just letting the photos speak for themselves and doing no journaling cards:

all-photos

I think it’s totally OK to just go with the flow with your baby albums AND your family Project Life albums. It’s totally no stress and just having these photographs and memories contained in ONE album organized like this is seriously making me giddy. There’s just something so much more special about eliminating all of the clutter of scrapbook supplies and concentrating on the photos and memories. :)

Also, some other cool things I’ve included in her album so far are things like:

  • The timeline that I kept during labor (see photo below)
  • The baby shower invitation for the baby shower my sisters threw for me
  • The photo that was the way we announced we were pregnant
  • The birthday party invitations that I created for her – I don’t have them ALL, but I do have some and I’m going to include those. :)
  • I also, as you saw in one of the previous posts, included her little hospital hat and her hospital bracelets.

timeline

Oh, and when I come across some scrapbook layouts that I just can’t bear to NOT include – I’m just slipping them in a page protector and including them in the album. Easy cheesy. :)

layout-example

Now what I need to do is go back and handwrite the journaling and memories onto the journaling cards that I already had tucked in their appropriate spots.

I also have a few pages done of her “early childhood” section of her album. I’m just continuing on after her baby section of her album. I’ve been using lots of different Project Life cards in this section (especially Blush which I ADORE!).

childhood-2

childhood-3

childhood-1

I hope seeing these pages has inspired you to create a baby album for your child(ren) or to even revamp one that you’ve already done into the super awesome Project Life format. It’s such a classic, beautiful album and I love concentrating on the MOMENTS and MEMORIES because after all, those are what matters the most.

Let me know if you have any questions! I’m happy to answer them! I’ll also be sharing even MORE pages soon of her album. I’ve got plenty of pages left to do, but it has been a fun, enjoyable process and the end result is one to be cherished for sure!

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

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  • Michelle Bostinelos
    April 9, 2013 at 8:37 am

    I love it! I am going to start working on my “baby” girl’s PL album soon (she is 2). I just ordered a bunch of pictures from snapfish, and I need to gather all her stuff – and just dig in. I love looking at your pages as it gives me tons of inspiration.Thank you so much for sharing. And once I am done, I will post mine on my blog :)

    • Kristina
      April 9, 2013 at 10:17 am

      Thank you, Michelle! I can’t wait to see yours!

  • Kim
    April 9, 2013 at 8:46 am

    This brings back so many memories! Remember when you secretly moved back from Colorado and showed up at Mom and Dad’s house? That memory just came to my mind. :) Sweet memories.

    Love ya

    • Kristina
      April 9, 2013 at 10:16 am

      Yep, I remember that, Kim! That secret was SO much fun! LOL! We’re sneaky like that! Ha! ;) I loved seeing Caylin’s sweet baby face over and over again. ;)

  • Krista Lund
    April 9, 2013 at 8:55 am

    Good for you for getting this done! You have inspired me to get started on mine. I have 3 to do! Lovely, lovely pages as always ;)

    • Kristina
      April 9, 2013 at 10:16 am

      Thank you, Krista! You can do it! You will LOVE the outcome! :)

  • Julie
    April 9, 2013 at 9:55 am

    Seems like yesterday she was that little and we were doing a baby album swap on Two Peas to surprise you with a gift!!

    • Kristina
      April 9, 2013 at 10:15 am

      I know, right? Sigh. They sure do grow up fast! Love you, sweet friend!

  • Megan Liane
    April 9, 2013 at 10:27 am

    Love how much you have done on this…I am about to tackle by 2nd son’s album using the Baby Boy kit. Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Nichole-the bestie
    April 9, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    This is fantastic!! Your hard work is certainly paying off! Wowee, what a keepsake for Caylin to have to look at over the years! I love this, K! LOVE it! Her sweet little face–eeeks! Loving how you still placed some older layouts in the mix too, such a good idea! Thanks for the inspiration, as always, bestie! :)

  • Sara
    April 10, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    Your album is adorable. I am working on my little girls project life baby album right now as well. I hope it turns out as well as yours. I am curious, what type of corner rounder do you have?

  • Amy
    April 10, 2013 at 2:29 pm

    Wow, this is so beautiful and inspiring! I don’t know what I’m going to do for my baby girl — it is so overwhelming to think about it all! Thanks for the beautiful share ♥

    • Kristina
      April 10, 2013 at 4:05 pm

      Thank you so much, Amy! :) Hugs!

  • Diana
    April 10, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    Very nice! It sounds like you took apart a traditional scrapbook, any regrets? I also combined a few albums, a baby book and some traditional pages to make a baby book, well actually more like two. I now have one traditional book and wondering if I should take it apart or if I will regret it.

  • Nicole
    April 10, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    This looks great Kristina! I like how you put all the monthly milestones together like that. Like you said, it is neat to see the changes month to month all right there in front of you. I just received my Baby Edition for Him kit to start putting together for my son, who is just turning one. I totally underestimated how much time this is going to take me, just because there are so many details to include! But it will be such an awesome keepsake when it is finished! Can’t wait to see your future posts on this! :)

  • Stacy Milford
    April 11, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Simply AMAZING! I am a Project Lifer as well & LOVE seeing others wonderful projects! My babies are 20 & will be 18 this week :) I did not start scrapbooking until 2001, so their baby photos are not in scrapbooks yet. I am definitely going to go this route! I am currently putting together a high school scrapbook “Project Life” style for my youngest son & absolutely love the process! I agree…photos + words…makes an AWESOME scrapbook! Thanks for sharing!

  • Wendi
    April 11, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    I’m doing the SAME THING, only for 8 children! The oldest 5 have baby scrapbooks already. The youngest 3 have nothing. Plus we have 15 years of pictures in boxes and on the computer that I want to get into albums. I just cut out the pages from the kids’ baby books (which cover their first year), slid them into 12×12 page protectors, and will be continuing on with Project life layouts from their first birthday on.
    The youngest three will be done totally Project life style, as will our family albums. It’s going to be my summer project to get all of my memories in albums.
    One thing I’m doing that you may want to consider… In each child’s album, I have just one two page spread for each year, after their ‘baby’ year. I considered only doing a family album, but I’m going to be keeping those till I die (smile) so I wanted them to at least have a few pictures per year that show the high lights of the year…Christmas, first day of school, birthday, etc. that they can take with them when they leave home.

  • libbywilko
    April 15, 2013 at 7:05 am

    So so pretty ! Love your pages Kristina and she’s sooo pretty even then.

    • Kristina
      April 16, 2013 at 4:33 pm

      Thank you so much! You are sweet! :)

  • MariClaudi
    April 16, 2013 at 11:46 am

    Lovely! I created a similar album for my youngest son before Becky came out with the kits but I am using the kits for my other kids album. Love the idea of all the monthly photos over a couple of pages.
    I shared pictures on my blog. It is one of my most loved albums.

    • Kristina
      April 16, 2013 at 4:33 pm

      Thank you so much! I will need to head on over to your blog and check it out! BIG hugs!

  • Carrie
    April 16, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    Hi Kristina!

    I have loved loved loved seeing the process of your PL albums (I found your blog through Jessica’s post today on The Mom Creative.) I am gearing up to do a backlog of years for our family…I have 2 boys (5 and 2 1/2). Hoping for it to be a Summer and Fall project. I love how simple PL makes it. I think for me, the hardest part is just gathering everything in one place and getting it sorted…getting the pictures printed and cropped…basically the prep stuff. Gradually, over the last several weeks, I have started on that process, so hopefully, I will be in “go” mode soon with the actual assembly of albums. :)

    I wanted to ask, what is the cute font you used for your Labor and Delivery Timeline? I LOVE this. It looks so organized and detailed at the same time.

    Thanks Kristina! I am saving your blog in my favorites!! Best wishes in finishing out the rest of your albums!!

    Blessings,
    Carrie

    • Kristina
      April 16, 2013 at 4:47 pm

      Hi Carrie!
      So glad you found my blog! Thank you for leaving me such a sweet comment! I appreciate it! Getting everything organized and together IS the most time-consuming part, but it’s so worth it! I’ll have to try to figure out what font that timeline is done in! It has been a long time since I did that! LOL! I will get back to you on that if I can figure it out! Good luck on your albums and thanks again for bookmarking my blog and stopping by! Hugs!! God bless!

  • Sam
    November 21, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    Just discovered your blog and Wow what a great idea, love it. So going to do this.