Ali's Project Life® Documenting Plans For 2024 + PL24 Week One

Last week on Instagram I shared the following: 

Decision made: I’m in for weekly documenting in 2024 in a 9x12 album. I’m in for giving my little, everyday stories a home inside those pockets again. I’m in for not putting a lot of pressure on myself and just focusing on adding in photos + words that represent this season of my life (which is probably going to be a lot of Betty, outside adventures, volleyball tournaments, and other pieces of life with older kids). I’m in for keeping it loose and simple and just having fun filling in the pockets as I live from day to day. I’ll be using pieces from our @aliedwardsdesigninc Stories By The Month kit + pieces from the Story Kit + other past offerings in my stash (and some weeks might just be photos or just be words). I’ll be sharing on my blog + YouTube as I go. 

As always, here’s your reminder to do what makes sense for YOU this year! Let’s cheer each other on whether we are telling stories in pockets or outside pockets, in binder albums or notebooks of any size, using a kit or using your stash or just using photos + stories scribbled on pieces of paper, participating in a particular project or doing something monthly, weekly, quarterly or once a year. If I’ve learned anything over all these years of documenting it’s that there truly isn’t a right or a wrong way to do any of this. Do what you can when you can + let’s all stop being so darn hard on ourselves thinking it has to be some version of perfect. Some years/months/days come with more physical/emotional /mental space and others are filled to the brim. Stories for the win in whatever way you are able to get some told this year.

After sharing that announcement I was super excited to get started documenting 2024! 

And now that I've officially actually started my album I'm even more excited. This feels like the right choice for me this year! 

KEEP IT LOOSE + IMPERFECT + JUST FILL THE POCKETS

One of my main goals with this project this year is to keep it loose. What does that actually mean? For me it means letting go of perfection and simply grabbing my pen and jotting things down on cards as I'm experiencing the week. It takes less than five minutes for me to grab a card and grab a pen and jot down a reflection, a memory, something overheard, etc. I'm looking to capture more "in the moment" pieces of life in these pockets. One of the ways I can set myself up for success with that is having cards already picked out to be homes for me stories for that week. Some weeks I'll use pre-made cards and other weeks I'll stamp on 3x4 pieces of cardstock to create my own cards. 

I know, after years of being a memory keeper, that I won't always be able to do it this way so I'm truly giving myself permission to have it be imperfect and focus more on simply filling the pockets with words + photos. That's the ultimate goal: have an album filled with micro stories (and the occasional longer story) from my life. 

Repeat after me: I WILL BE THE BOSS OF MY OWN PROJECT. I WILL BE THE BOSS OF MY SUPPLIES + NOT LET OVERWHELM KEEP ME FROM FILLING IN SOME POCKETS. I WILL NOT COMPARE MY STORIES WITH OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, RATHER I WILL LOOK FOR INSPIRATION TO GET MY OWN STORIES TOLD. I WILL HAVE FUN + WHEN IT'S NOT FUN I WILL RE-EVALUATE WAYS TO MAKE IT FUN! 

A couple additional helpful links if you are curious about this project: 

• Check out all my past Project Life® archives here.
• Check out my evergreen Storytelling With Project Life® workshop to learn more about my approach to this project over the years. 

LET'S GET STARTED

Let's dive in to my overview video: 

INTRO PAGE

I shared an image on my IG post last week that was a work-in-progress intro page - here's where I ended up. 

Right off the bat you might notice that it's just me + Betty on the intro page vs. images of all the people in my family. All is good here with no major family changes - I simply want to reflect the fact that this album is from my perspective. I'm the main character and my family members are all supporting characters in this story. My goal isn't to include everything that everyone is doing - and with all the people here that's never been possible or my intent - so I simply want to start it out that way. 

For my 2024 intro page I'm using pieces from the January Stories By The Month™ kit - including three pieces of vellum. Two pieces of vellum are layered on top of each other ("bring on the new year" + the who, what, where, when) and the other is on the bottom (which is some of my mixed media that we turned into a pattern). On top of the vellum on the bottom I added a label from a past  One Little Word® Mini Kit and added my journaling on top using sticker paper (which I am loving big time). The 2024 card is from the Start Story Kit™. I had done the "24" card on the top first using some past vellum numbers and then I remembered we had a 2024 card in the kit and decided to keep both. I added the "this story" chipboard on top of the 24. I kept the thread tail after stitching just for fun (remember we are keeping this fun). 

Want to see some previous intro pages? Check out 2019 here and this post has a couple of years all together in one post. 

WEEK 01

Right off the bat, here's your reminder to change the dial on your rolling date stamp. As you can see, I was still in 2023 mode when I stamped on these tags from the January Stories By The Month™ kit. I did go back in and re-stamp them + crossed out the incorrect one. It's all good! 

I created some custom weekly cards for my project this year and have a free PDF download if you'd like to print them out and add them to your album. 

Download the PDF of the 2024 weekly cards here.

I ended up using my  Silhouette and the Foil Quill pen to make these cards gold. You could also print these cards out using a laser printer and run them through a Minc machine to add gold foil on top. You also don't have to think about foiling them at all and just keep it simple + easy and print out the PDF! 

For 2024 I'm going to be using this style of page protector for all my weeks and will add inserts in-between when I have more stories I want to tell (these will often be pages I put together using pieces from the Story Kit™). Keeping the page protectors the same throughout the album eliminates a choice and I appreciate removing that from the things I have to think about each week. Remember - my goal isn't to include every single story from my week. It's simply an overview and an opportunity to capture some of the everyday pieces of life right now. 

I'm using my  Epson PM400 for all the 4 inch x 6 inch and 3 inch x 4 inch photos. I'm going to print all my 4 inch x 6 inch photos with a white border and my 3 inch x 4 inch photos without a border. 

On the back side of the two pieces of vellum I added a couple chipboard pieces from the  Start Story Kit™ using a Tiny Attacher Stapler. 

For this first week I'm using the January tags from the  January Stories By The Month™ kit as my repeated journal cards. I loved inviting myself to keep my journaling loose by using a brush pen for some short stories. I also added a date stamp on each one and grabbed some ribbon from my stash to add to the tags. 

This year you'll often find me adding my Story Kit™ projects into this album. Using the  Start Story Kit™ pattern papers I created a home for a longer bit of journaling from this first week and attached the page into this album using a page attacher. Our 6 inch x 8 inch page protectors fit in the 9 inch x 12 inch album too. 

On the back of the longer story I added another page I made using the Story Kit™ to detail the start of club volleyball for the girls. 

I'm really so excited to be back in this project and looking forward to sharing here throughout the year! I'll be back soon with Week 02. 

TAKING AN INSTAGRAM BREAK

I'll be taking an Instagram break through March 1, 2024. During that break I'll still be in all our classrooms and here on the blog sharing my Project Life® spreads. Please follow @aliedwardsdesigninc on IG for up-to-date details on projects, launches, etc. I'm looking forward to a social media reset and some travel with family after the busiest season of the year for me! 

SUPPLIES

• 9x12 Album
• 9x12 Page Protectors (these are the ones I'm repeating)
• Stories By The Month™ Kits
• Story Kits™
• Epson PictureMate PM400 (for 5x7 and smaller)
• Epson XP15000 (for enlargements)
• POSCA Paint Pens
• Brush Pen
• Micron Pen 
• Scrapbook.com Rolling Adhesive
• Tiny Attacher
• 6x8 Page Attachers
• Maco Sticker Paper
• Other basics can be found via my Amazon Storefront