I have enjoyed memory keeping for the past several years and have completed a project life album every year since 2010. I have always done a traditional 12×12 binder in the traditional setting with 4×6 photos and 3×4 journaling cards. I really love doing the album and I love going back to look at the albums year after year.
However, every year I have struggled to “keep up”. I am constantly working from behind often doing 3-4 months at one time. True to form, my 2017 album remains incomplete. I did manage to get all of the remaining photos printed (October through December) but still need to do the journaling and get everything into the album.
For 2018, I have decided to try a different method. This year, I purchased the HP sprocket along with the Big Happy Planner and the Big Happy Planner cover. The cover is not necessary but I like to keep my albums together and having the cover helps it to blend in more with the other Project life albums.
The Happy Planner that I purchased is in the vertical format. The plan is to print photos at home with the sprocket and do the journaling and decorating right on the planner page. The photo paper for the sprocket is 2×3 which fits the boxes of the big happy planner perfectly. The paper is also sticky backed so there’s no need for any additional adhesive. The 3rd box will be used for either additional journaling or decor. I’m hoping that by having everything readily accessible I will keep up and work on the memory keeping weekly or twice monthly. I need to schedule the time in my planner to actually work on memory keeping (which I’ve yet to do for this month). I also have not decided how I will use the monthly pages or if I will use them at all.
To keep me motivated and on track, I also plan to share my spreads every month at the beginning of the month for the previous month (is that clear enough)? So the spread for January will be presented on the blog during the first week in February. This means I really need to get working on it!!
As I mentioned, my 2017 album is not yet complete so it feels like I shouldn’t start the 2018 one but I’m going to start it anyway. I’m also going to start scheduling time to work on the 2017 album so that I can get it done in the next month or so.
Do you do any memory keeping? How do you organize and prioritize your work?
