Heidi Swapp Memory Planner | January 2016

I went back and forth so many times on how I wanted to do my Project Life for 2016. With doing 2015 monthly, I knew I had more wiggle room since my 12x12 album is so flat, and that I could possibly go smaller. I got the 8.5x11 album and protectors for this year's PL, but I was still unsure. I had used the Heidi Swapp Memory Planner from last year, but because I did do PL as well, it wasn't flowing for me. But after seeing Maggie Massey's planner on IG, and she said she mostly uses the Memory Planner and does big or special events for PL, I knew I wanted to do a complete change this year and go for it. And then to find that everyone is sold out of the planners. I found some on Ebay but the shipping was way too high. Simon Says had them but their price was higher than anywhere else. But I was ready to start. I used a $5 coupon, ordered it and got it last week! I got started right away!

Decorated the first transparent page with leftover numbers from Gossamer Blue kits. Since this is my primary documenting of the day to day instead of doing my usual Project Life, I wanted to carry that same feel and set it up for the new year.

You can still use your Project Life or pocket cards from kits. I adhered and clipped the "hello 2016" to the January tab. The planner comes with one page protector for each month in different sizes. I used the one as is in the planner to hold cards and small photos that sum up the month. One pocket, I filled with a small circle tab.
For the next page, that is similar to a 'dashboard' for most planners, I worked stickers around the blocked areas with my large photo as the focus, and added my journaling around the photo.

Because I will use my Fun Stampers Journey/Webster's Pages personal planner to keep me on track, I may not use the month at a glance a whole lot in this planner. So it is pretty light. A great tip I saw from Maggie is that she adheres these two pages together. She does not use these either.

I love this change from last year's memory planner...the 'my week' pages now have the days of the week marked and are within a week. Little things make me happy, and I really really love that change. Jan 1st didn't start until Friday, so that left room on the left for me to fill with a card to document my OLW (one little word), add some pattern paper, and journaling. Then on the opposite page, I could document with photos and journaling the everyday events that took place.

This week is leading up to leaving for CHA, so not an ordinary spread. Inspired again by Maggie Massie, and using what I have without buying anything more, I used old tags to adhere ephemera to insert into my planner. I did not buy the punch. I need to be better at buying things, and using what I have. So I just made a template from a thick piece of cardstock to punch my own holes.

All those tags that I said I would use that have sat for at least two years, are finally getting used.

I cut the top of the Starbucks "you are here" box top off since it was from Disneyland.

For the collage of photos, I used an October Afternoon pocket, trimmed it down to fit, and used the fuse tool to fuse my entire printed collage of photos into the pocket. I use Lightroom to size my photos. I will have to get sizes and post those for the next post.

Before fusing in that pocket, I made a small scrap page. This is a duplicate of a photo in the front, but it is a big deal, so deserved to be documented more, and it happened while I was out of town, so a perfect spot for it.

I'm am putting to use my stash that just sits. I tend to move on from previous kits to the next, or previous collections to the next, so this is a great way to use what I have. It was a dream (I know a little silly for some) to work at CHA. I've attended twice as a spectator, but I loved being a part of the show with Richard Garay and his team. Amazing experience that I won't forget.

Now for the next week, on Tuesday I headed home, and then the rest of the week was normal day to day. I think this right here is one reason I love this planner so much. I could fit more details with photos (printed at different sizes) and with journaling. With my Project Life, I always typed, but with this method, I'm finding I am using my own handwriting. I am getting a lot more details of just ordinary things documented that I would not do with PL.

And from that week on, the spreads are more of a realistic, day to day documentation. Another difference from my transitional PL I am noticing, is I'm adding more photos, and not just saving the better photos for my PL spreads. I do think my family might be a little disappointed that I am not doing PL, but I think they will love seeing more of the details. But that doesn't mean that I won't do any PL spreads. I just want the day to day documented like this.

I just want to say that my life is not so packed that there is constantly something going on. It is just the three of us, well four, with our cat. So our days are pretty typical. I did document a lot more for my first PL back in 2012, but I continued to simplify it. With this format with the Memory Planner, I feel that I have that same excitement of documenting the everyday. So all those ordinary photos I take, I feel, are getting used more than I would have in PL.

I used one of the large 4x6 Gossamer Blue cards as an insert. I loved that photo of my cat. He will be 21 in March. He has some issues...not pleasant. But he is still my boy. I wanted photos from the parade this past weekend a little bigger, so I cut down an October Afternoon pocket page, and fused it in the middle to put it back together, then used my template to punch holes. I will have to do a little more step by step of those little things, as well as photo sizes.

I love rediscovering leftovers from Gossamer Blue kits and my stash. I can find that perfect sentiment or sticker. The cards as well. Really love the trimmed down pocket cards on the reverse side of those photos.

And that is my January. I am so happy with how it came out. I feel like I am getting in the flow with this new system.
I'm using my favorite pens, Micron 01 or 005 to journal. 005 is my favorite, but I have used it so much, it is hardly a point there. I need a new one!
Here are some more thoughts about this way of documenting. I think if you are new to scrapbooking and don't have a way to resize your photos, this might be overwhelming, unless you could print your photos all the same size, and then crop as needed, which would work out great.
I still think Project Life is an easier choice for getting started with less steps. Just slip in photos, add journaling and cards, and done.
I love the Memory Planner because I want do do more with how I document. I don't mind getting creative with pockets and adjusting them with the fuse tool or printing in different sizes.
If I find that the album starts to get too thick, I can use the extra binders that Heidi sells to hold them. For the most part, I try to not use too many bulky embellishments. But I may have to adjust that to not using any. Will see as I go through the year.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Now to clean off my desk!