Year-long projects (like Project Life) that span a year and capture all of the little details in a simple, repetitive way are a favourite of mine and some my most valuable albums.
The years that I have decided not to have one of these projects in the mix, I find myself missing a place for all of the little daily bits and photos. I love having a project that is always in process - something to pull out and work on when I'm not feeling super creative or in the mood to start from scratch. Even better when I'm following a template or repeating design.
So I thought I would do a quick roundup of the various longer-term documenting projects I have completed or designed solutions for as we start making plans for 2024.
These options are all minimalist in style because besides being my style, it's the simplest way I've found to keep these projects achievable over a long span of time. Any of these digital ideas can also be turned into regular paper pages too I'm sure.
Some of these options make great stand-alone albums, others can be repeated regularly and just included as inserts in your everyday album.
Clicking on the product photos will take you to the related shop page. Most templates have various size options. 8x10, 10x8, 5x8 and 6x9 are popular photobook sizes if you want to go that route.
GRIDS
Let's start with Becky Higgins' OG style of scrapbooking where you pair photos and journal cards in pocket pages (or grids when we are talking digital) to document your week or month. I have done so many iterations of this in various sizes and still think it's one of the best and simplest ways to capture daily life. It's also the best way to use up those stashes of journal cards we all have, digital scrapbookers included.
RECAP SPREADS
Sometimes a quick recap spread at the end of the week or month is all you have time for. My favourite templates in this category already have titles and some structure to follow.
TRACKING MEDIA
I really like the concept of making a page once a week or month to document what you are reading, watching etc. What a cool album that would make over a year and so simple if you repeat a template.
ANNUAL PHOTOBOOKS
Some years I have taken a really photo-forward approach to my yearly memory keeping. These are great for those seasons in life where you are taking so many wonderful photos that you want to showcase (for me that was when the kids were younger). I make sure to always include words too.
PHOTO-A-DAY
I loved how this project came out. Pair a photo with a caption everyday. Simple.
JOURNAL-HEAVY PROJECTS
Sometimes I just really want to dig deep and write a lot. I'm always grateful that I did.
DOCUMENTING JUST THE WEEKENDS
Imagine having an album at the end of the year that documents just your weekends - amazing and do-able.
THEME-SPECIFIC
One year I documented all the food we ate and cooked (I got the idea from a Rachael Ray cookbook) and another year I documented all of the new recipes I tried. This is a great way to document your interests and hobbies and track your progress over a year.
DIGITAL MEMORY KEEPING/PLANNING
Using planners for daily documenting has been huge in the last five years. When I tried to make some templates to size my photos correctly for my paper planner I realised I could just make a planner-like spread in Photoshop and call it done. This is a really fun way to scrapbook and I love my finished album.
KEEPING A DIGITAL JOURNAL
I love the concept of a notebook that is part scrapbook, part art journal, part journal. Or a more formal daily notetaking practice.
DOCUMENT A LONG-TERM PROJECT
Perfect for things like renovations, gardening or even craft projects.
A final pep talk on these kinds of projects: they require consistent attention and can quickly become a chore but if you keep going, you will end up with something so worthwhile.