… I would recommend watching. HERE is a link. {If the video is choppy for you, change Best to 480p in the bottom right of the screen}.
Right now {Saturday @ 10:45 PST}, it’s still the first session. She was talking about how Project Life came about for her, what problems she was trying to solve as a busy working woman, etc.
Even if you don’t do or “get” PROJECT LIFE, I highly recommend watching this FREE* series. They talk about memory keeping in general, the feelings and reasons behind it, and multiple ways to capture our beautiful lives.
Also:
– digital photography, getting better more meaningful pictures, iPhone photography
– organization for actual photos, digital photos, memorabilia, art work and homework, etc.
– much more
I have other things to do around here today but I plan to have it running in the background. I had it running in a window this week next to my work window so I’ve already caught most of it. But there is so much to learn here … plus I just love hearing people talk about scrapbooking! She tears up several times as do some of the audience members – one of my favorite things is hearing the emotional ties we have to this amazing hobby.
I have to say … I’m a real Becky fan after watching this series. For all the griping that may go on about product errors, company growing too fast, etc., she’s just a real person, a real mom, going through all the same things we are, trying to do her best. Her love of family and memory keeping is so palpable and I really relate to that on a deep level.
*It’s on a free rebroadcast right now but I think this is our last chance to watch it for free. It’s an amazing opportunity. To purchase this course, it’s either $99 or $149 depending upon when you buy it.
Are you watching? Please leave a comment about what you think of it!
I picked up Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian on Thursday with a 40% off coupon at my local craft store, BEVERLY’s.
I’ve been interested in reading both of Stacy’s photo organization books because, as I’ve talked about HERE, I’m in a constant struggle with how to best organize my photos. I wish I could’ve found her first book ~ The Big Picture: Scrapbook Your Life ~ and read it first.
But…que sera, I found Photo Freedom first and wasn’t going to pass it up. I’ve heard so much discussion about these books and her non-traditional approach to photo organization, that I grabbed the book when I saw it, LOL!
I went into reading it knowing I probably wouldn’t agree with much of what she advocates. Yes, I’m a chronological scrapper. Not in the sense that I use strap-hinge albums and MUST scrap in order since pages aren’t moveable, but in the sense that I use post albums with drop in pages but I keep my albums in chronological order. I’ve converted most of my albums to this cool SNAP LOAD system by Pioneer, so I can add and move pages as quickly as can those braggy 3-ring-album girls! {And my 2-page layouts aren’t split in the middle with 3-rings…to quote Stacy herself…”So there!”).
I’ve admitted before to being somewhat….er, um….extremely anal in most aspects of my life. {All those years I worked as a governmental budget and program analyst, I told people ‘I put the ANAL in ANALyst.’}. So, nope, even Miss STACEY JULIAN isn’t going to convince me to scrap out of order or to slap photos from different events onto one page. Maybe once in a while on a tribute page or something, but not as regular practice. But I’ve also always believed that you have to look at all sides of a story, to be willing to research other options, before you give a firm NO. Hence, me seeking out Stacey’s photo organization books.
I’m about halfway through Photo Freedom now and here’s where I stand so far. 1. Nope, I’m staying with chronological scrapping and, therefore, I don’t see myself putting all of her ideas into practice. 2. Her system is intense! But I mean that in a good way. She has really thought it all through, has found the best storage items (and suggested alternates to the reader) for each component of her system, and she obviously walks the walk, i.e. really USES her system. 3. I agree with her that ‘the kids aren’t walking out of here someday with all my albums,’ so she has a School of Life album for each child that they can abscond with someday. It’s a good compromise. 4. I love how, when she set up her system, she ‘pre-flighted’ tabs, boxes and such for upcoming months/years. You think ‘that time’ will never come, but then it’s actually here and you’re not prepared, have nowhere to sort your photos and memorabilia, and so it just stacks up. I’m with Stacy…pre-label your shizzle! 5. I love the way she does her school files for each child and will probably implement that idea (sorry, you have to read the book to see what I’m talking about).
So there’s my review so far. I’ll probably finish the book this weekend and will post more thoughts if I remember to (remember….ooh, look, sparklies….I’m easily distracted).
Do you have either of these books? What did you think? Have you implemented her system or any of her ideas? Are your photos organized and how? I want to know it all! Feel free to link to a blog post of yours if you’ve outlined your system on your blog already…
