Pocket Life 2016: Tips, Tricks, PL Title Cards (+ a Cut File)

Happy New Year to everyone. We want to share a few Pocket Life tips from some of our designers to help get you off to a great year of PL. Everyone here is sharing a "title page" PL card to title their pocket page.

Karen Baker

I love a New Year, it's a chance to start fresh, an empty album full of creative possibilities! For 2016 I decided to create a full page layout in my pocket pages album, keeping it as simple as I could. That would be my 1st tip: keep it simple. This way you're more likely to stay up to date. My 2nd tip is: take one photo every day. You might not use it in your weekly layout but you've got seven options at the end of the week. 3rd tip: if you're camera shy like me, take a photo of your hands doing the work or what ever you're doing, take photos of things you want to remember one day, it can be as simple as what's in your handbag! Documenting your life doesn't mean you have to 'stage or create the memories' if you spent the day cleaning, take a before and after shot. Remember it's YOUR real life you're documenting, not one that looks good just for the cameras and albums. 

1. keep it simple
2. take one photo every day
3. If you're camera shy like me, take a photo of your hands doing the work or what ever you're doing.

Here are some pictures of my Title Card layout page with a little flip book treatment:

Marie-Pierre Capistran

My tip for 2016 would be to get a blank note book and to write, each day, the date, one story and maybe a picture you want to include in your PL. At the end of the week you'll get at least 7 stories to tell. You don't have to include them all, of course. But if you get a little behind on your album, you'll have all this material to get started with.

Trina Craig

Happy New Year! I started my first PL in January of 2012 and quickly became overwhelmed (and got behind) with my 12x12 album. By mid 2012 I made the switch to a more manageable 6x8 size. I am not a weekly (or a daily) pocket page scrapbooker. I have melded my scrapbooking into my PL and make pages of anything that strikes my fancy.

My tips for you in 2016 are:

1. Take lots of photos. If one of those photos (or a series of photos) move you, make a page. I only print the photos I love. (Gone are the days where I printed them all!)
2. Don't get caught up in guilt if you get behind. The best place to start is today.
3. Don't have any current photos to use? Include favorite photos from past events/years as "flashback" pages in your pocket life. Remember to date the flashbacks. (I love the 1980s-2000s October Afternoon date stamps for this.) It is fun to see the old photos mixed in with the new.

We had our first snow of 2016 this week. Our little, crazy cat (a kitten at heart) went crazy in a good way in the snow. We were laughing so hard at her antics, that I grabbed the camera and sat right down to create a PL page. Here is the title card for that page:

Elizabeth Gardner

Set yourself up for success: have your supplies organized and ready to go in one accessible place.

1. Decide what you want from this project. Do you want it to be very quick & basic, just photos and cards? Do you want to embellish and make more room for incorporating creative elements?
2. Do what works for you. Working weekly on Project Life is not realistic for me. Instead I take photos regularly throughout the month and jot down notes on things I may want to include in my planner. That way I can remember the details later. At the end of each month I go through my camera roll and print photos. I grab my kit and set to work on the past 4 weeks. I can usually piece together the month in one sitting. Maybe for you it will be easier to stick with a weekly approach. It’s your project, you dictate the best way to move forward.
3. Cut yourself a break. I think the key to success with this is going with the flow. I don't really believe in “being behind.” If you miss a week, or even a month here and there, no biggie! Seriously! It doesn’t have to be this big thing hanging over your head that you keep "falling behind" on. Just pick up with the week you’re in and go from there. No pressure makes this process a lot more enjoyable. 

Mira Jurecka

The most important thing that I can share about my PL approach that would be useful is how I plan my spreads design. 

What I find really practical is printing pictures very often - almost on a regular basis. For example - I have a moment of free time during the weekend, so I sit down in front of my computer, develop the most recent photos, choose some of my favorites and print them immediately. Then I fit them into the pockets. Obviously I leave some of the pockets empty for cards and other memorabilia. All of this allows me to think of what I want to accomplish in the end. It allows me to imagine the general design of each spread. This way, when my Pocket Life Kit arrives I am ready to create right away! I simply play with papers and embellishments and my pages are finished in a blink of an eye. 

For those of you who print your pictures in a lab, I think developing pictures regularly and putting them in a specific folder (or envelopes or files by your crafting space) on your computer could do a similar job!


One more thing: since I write our family stories on the computer I have a similar process of printing my journaling. I really hope that some of You will find this planning concept useful in Your PL approach!

1. Print your pictures often.
2. Fit the pictures into your pockets, leaving some empty pockets for journaling and other memorabilia.
3. Store photos by date/event in files on your computer or in an envelope or file system in your creative space. 

Tara Rice

Hi there! Since we are expecting our fifth family member any day now, I wanted to capture it on my title page for 2016. This will be my second year doing PL.

1. I'm keeping it simple! It's so easy to overwhelm myself with ideas but i'm committed to doing what works for me.
2. Have a routine. Last year I fell behind (I still am!) because I didn't establish a good routine. I'll be printing photos weekly and creating often. That way I won't have to choose from tons of photos and doing spreads on a regular basis makes them more manageable.
3. If something isn't working, try something different! I won't be afraid to mix it up if one routine isn't working. Remember we all have our own way of doing things! Don't compare yourself to others and most importantly have fun.

Xxo,

Tara

Diane Williams

1. Progress not perfection. You can spend forever trying to make a page feel right but sometimes it is better to call it done and move on.
2. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing, make it work for you and your life.
3. Even if you think your life is ordinary or boring, it is 100% worth documenting.

Here are your free cut file designs:







To download these cut file designs (designed by the lovely Mira Jurecka), join the Facebook Citrus Twist Kits Fan Page where we post digital files every month, free for our fans. 

Happy New Year!