5 Reasons to Document Your Year with Pocket Scrapbooking

This is a guest post from Megan of The Nerd Nest

Over the past few years, I’ve been OBSESSED with pocket scrapbooking. (You may have also heard to it referred to by the brand name Project Life.)

Pocket scrapbooking is a form of memory keeping that involves sliding photos, journaling cards, and (optionally) cute products into plastic pocketed page protectors. It has become my primary form of documenting my life and is my very favorite for so many reasons. I thought I’d share a few of the main reasons I love pocket scrapbooking with you and invite you to try out documenting your year in pockets too!

Here are my top 5 reasons you should document 2015 with pocket scrapbooking:

1. Memory is fragile.

When I try to think back on years past, I can barely remember even just a few details about any given year. But when I’m memory keeping with pocket scrapbooking, I’m consistently recording details of my everyday life. I love that, when I’m older and my memory is even less reliable, I’ll be able to look back at the life I’ve lived. I think there’s something magical about that.

2. It is so very easy.

Pocket scrapbooking can be very simple or very elaborate, if you’re a person who loves to get fancy with embellishments or mixed media. You can make it your own. But at its core, it’s easy: put photos into pockets, pick cards to write on / fill space, add journaling. And that means it is FAST. I can get 10 things recorded in the time it takes me to record 1 thing with traditional scrapbooking. And that means I don’t have to play favorites with memories: I have time to record everything I want to remember.

3. You capture the small things.

This is especially true for me because I use photo collages, but you can squeeze A LOT of photos and words into a 12×12 spread. I love that pocketing my photos allows me to document little bitty moments in my life without feeling silly. I might feel weird about making 12 full pages about latte art (though there’s nothing wrong with doing just that, of course). But by slipping a little photo into a pocket every few weeks, I’m celebrating one of the small things that make me happy.

Pocket scrapbooking also gives you a big picture as a whole: having those coffee photos every few weeks documents how big a part of my life coffee is over time with the frequency it shows up.

Because I don’t feel like I’m should just capturing things that are big and important, I document more of the little bits that make up my life, and this gives a much better picture of what my life is “really” like. The small things are a big deal.

4. There’s something for everyone.

I go a little overboard with documenting (I include weekly spreads, extra thematic spreads in-between monthly breaks, and traditional pages just for fun). Because of my pocket scrapbooker overachiever status, I end up with 4 albums per year, but the same amount of documenting for me would take up 40 albums with traditional scrapbooking (no joke). I’d be able to fit more into fewer albums if I was willing to part with chunky embellishments (I’m not).

But there are so many other approaches. You can just stick with basic supplies and add only the photos and the cards: you don’t need to be “creative” or a “scrapbooker” to capture your life in this way! If 12×12 spreads seem overwhelming, there are smaller sizes you can work with like 6×8, 8.5×11, and 9×12. (I use the 6×8 size to document vacations.) You can go the digital pocket scrapbooking route and have your pages printed in a digital photo book–thousands of memories in an inch of spine space. You even can use the Project Life app on your phone and create pages in the palm of your hand.

With so many formats to choose and so many styles to pick from, there’s really a format of pocket scrapbooking that will work for everyone.

5. Documenting becomes part of your routine.

The most important part of pocket scrapbooking for me? How much it has influenced me to document over the past three years. I’ve taken so many more photos, written so many more stories, and captured it all in these awesome albums. Knowing I’m going to be doing something with those captured memories influences me to look at my life in a new way.

Before, my everyday life seemed boring, now I look back on all of these little moments that were special to me and am just so very grateful to have lived them. There’s no better reason than that.

Thanks so much Amy for inviting me to share my love of pocket scrapbooking today!

Want to pocket scrapbook this year with me? Join Pocket Your Year, a year long pocket scrapbooking course that will help you improve photography, journaling, process, and design January through December!

Lemon and Raspberry readers can receive $5.00 off of the already discounted early-bird price with the coupon code LEMONANDRASPBERRY.

Coupon expires January 31, 2015.

Megan is a crafty nerd from The Nerd Nest. She spends her time filling up Project Life albums, reading big stacks of books, going on nerdy adventures with her family, and making stuff. Follow her on Instagram for daily memory keeping tips!

5 Reasons to Document Your Year with Pocket Scrapbooking is a post from: Lemon and Raspberry | Amy T Schubert

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