Before I get immersed in reading pronexin reviews (my mom told me to read them and tell her my opinion), I want to post an update on my P365.

My Artscow books finally arrived! I was a little scared it might get lost or returned back because my sister is not very excited to go to the Post Office to get my books. Thankfully, all of them arrived safely – and complete. All my hard work last April paid off. They looked so nice. My biggest reward was that Matthew spent hours reading through everything I wrote down and that Edil even took time to read and look through them when I showed the books. He told me I should make more. He even laughed at some pictures.

Here are a few notes with pictures:

Here are the books stacked up:

Notice the color discrepancy:

*The original color is the one above (below in this picture)

My covers (front and back):

I feel the front cover title is too big for an 8×8 book but I am sticking with it since I want them all to be uniformed.

Sample page:

All in all, despite the color discrepancy on the covers, I would still recommend Artscow to anybody. They are dirt cheap and they serve its purpose on seeing all of what I’ve worked so hard for in print!

These are my monthly covers for my monthly P365 album. It’s a good thing I was introduced to the concept of doing something every month for 2010 and while others thought of scrapping their movie nights and other stuff, I kept my goal simple – to capture a family picture of us every month. It should be easy, I know. But I missed two months last year when we didn’t have a family picture – and we are together almost everyday. Now that we only see other most parts of the weekends, it makes me more conscious to make every second count. Isn’t that such a bittersweet lesson to realize?

So, trust me, get into those pictures. Hand it over to someone else. Take one each month. Your kids will be glad you did.

Getting into this project made me realize that I can continue to scrap for as long as I can – even if I am not part of any creative teams and cannot spend much time on the computer. And I don’t need to buy so many digital kits that I probably would need credit card debt settlement. I just need to still take photos + put my words in them. So many people love to take photos, but fail to put the story behind them. It doesnt really matter if you feel your words arent enough. You dont need to share them with anybody else except your kids and family. And any of your written stories matter to your kids. It will matter to your family’s history. Get those in paper!!

These are the cover pages of my Project 365 books – it’s a title that will grace all the 12 months (I hope I can finish them all!) and I will just change the month headings.

Word art and word brushes are from Ali Edwards from Designer Digitals (which is still offering their products at 30% off until today! Grab Ali’s goodies – you can make numerous albums on her alone).

I am on album kick lately, as I realized I dont have enough 8×8 albums in stock to print my loose pages. (I still need to wait for my 8×8 free scrap prints from Artscow too). I made a list of albums I plan to make up until June 6, when my free credits expire and I am using quick pages on one of the albums and a template album on the other one. I am wanting so many brushes though that I am surprised the whole lot is equivalent to a payday advance loan from the husband. So I am not buying anything, too much temptation.

Things got a bit silent on this blog regarding updates on my Project 365. I originally thought that I would not be able to continue, things got insanely busy last month and I have to be honest – I think I missed five days. But thanks to the iPhone and the husband’s Sony Ericsson w580i (that were all gifts, thank God (and to my father-in-law), we didn’t need to get any payday advance for everything), I was able to fill in the missing gaps.

The Artscow’s free 30 page books could not have come in a better time too! I was able to finish the books January – April in a week. It would have been faster if I didn’t have to catch up on the last week of March and the whole of April though. It pays to be consistent and edit, upload and take notes every week. I am just thankful that I have my blogs, Facebook and Twitter to fill me in on dates I forget (microblogging at its finest).

I had them printed in single books as I still do not know if I can keep up until December. (Plus, Artscow gives free books all the time, what is $7.99 a book a month?) But I made a promise to myself that I will have them printed in a Blurb book if I finish a year.

I had everything in a layout similar to Janet’s P365 book last year – one picture, one page + date and journaling. It makes stuff pretty simple.

Here is a sample page:

More stuff coming up this week – my scrap mojo has returned too!

So far, I have managed to get a decent family picture of us every month and have it scrapped. My Project365 has failed (more on that later), I missed a week already when something personal came up. I am going to make books from January-March though. That’s the best thing I have thought of so far – as I have not been scrapping that much as well.

So many things happening with our little family lately that I want to make sure I take it all in and document. But then I realized that you do what you can and just live in the moment, and trust your heart not to betray you and give you your memories

Some important updates though: The husband has quit (or is trying to quit) smoking! Yay! No more arturo fuente cigars and stinky breath! I had my hair curled, after ten million years and I will have two kids in school by June!

I am aching to scrap, seriously. I haven’t been able to set aside a day or even an hour to really just scrap for myself. It would either be too swamped with work writing about hydroxycut reviews and outdoor storage, too hot (the heat is terrible I tell you), or too preoccupied with reading this Jodi Picoult book I am having trouble finishing and watching Glee.

I have coupons from Artscow expiring a month from now and I think I will get my Project 365 printed – I didn’t last through April I think – I’ve missed a week already I think. I seriously need to sit down and upload my pictures. I need to set aside some time for that too *sigh*.

I never thought I would depend on the internet as much I do today. Seven years ago, I wasn’t even keen on opening an e-mail address but had to because of work. Now, I am one of those people who need to check their e-mails every hours (Ok, fine, I confess, every 10 minutes even). I function exclusively  when I connect to the internet – my job is there, my friends are there (and yes, they are real life friends we just live so far from each other) and of course, my hobby and passion, scrapbooking, is there too.

I started scrapbooking December of 2005. This is when we got broadband internet connection at home. If we had connection way before, I would have started six months earlier. I saw some awesome pages from an online friend and just had to check it out. Incidentally, the pages were made from kits of Robin Carlton and Manda Bean, the very designers I work for at Sweet Shoppe Designs today. From there, I was hooked into the hobby, as they, hooked-line and sinker. There was a time I spent so much on buying digital scrapbooking kits and sadly, almost 75% of them I have never used (and have been since deleted from my hard drive). Now I rarely shop because I can get everything I need at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I am a lucky scrapbooker indeed!

One thing you need to have before scrapbooking digitally: a computer that can handle large-sized files with a memory than can handle Photoshop running on so many files and layers. You need an internet connection that can download large files too (dial up may be a pain in this regard). There are many Verizon deals you can avail right now. Verizon bundles now include internet connection, cable and phone line so if money is tight in the household you can save with these amazing Verizon offers!

I am still doing it! A big accomplishment for me, I think I deserve a pat in the back for that actually. I have to be honest though, sometimes I really run out of things to take a photo of. I could just imagine taking pictures of my closet or my vanity dresser that is peppered with eye wrinkle creams and moisturizers! But I am doing fine. You can look here to see my pictures.

I plan to have them printed every quarter – so by the end of March I can have it printed at Artscow. That would be more or less 60 pages – give or take. I am excited to see how it will end up looking like.

Here is my most favorite POTD so far:

So I promised myself that I won’t over think and complicate my P365 project. My only goal is to make sure I complete my year and have it printed by the end of the year. Right? (rrrrriiiiiiight!) But look what I saw when I was reading blog posts on my Reader (and saw some weight loss products I like to try):

It’s the album I’ve been secretly lusting after once I read about it from Karla Dudley’s blog. So very minimalist and the design is just awesome. It’s only $4.40 right now (20% off!) and you bet I am buying this, even if I dont get to use it for P365. It is a steal!

This kit is designed to make your yearly memories shine with ease yet you have total creative control. Designed as a hybrid kit for an 8.5×11 protector album. Grab a template and alter with brushes that give a uniform sophisticated feel.

You can choose to use this album for 365 days or to record weekly for 52 weeks! That way you don’t have to feel the pressure of falling behind. There is a template cover page that you can use to start each week. And there is a journaling template that you can use to sum up your thoughts for each week as well. In between you can record all seven days or just one! It’s all up to you! I hope you enjoy!

Kit Includes
• 97 Brushes -(handwritten words, text words + sentiments, 2 flourishes, decorative) All in .png and .abr files.
• Two word page templates in .png files
• 2 blank templates both in strait and round corner designs. All in .png files
• 1 Wave page template with strait edges in both .tiff and .psd files
• 4 Page templates all in both .tiff and .psd files (8 templates total)
• Tip document as a .jpeg

During the first week of January when I committed myself to trying out P365 again, I searched forums around for completed books on P365 for 2009 and for scrappers who did it and if they had tips. They were a lot and I admire their tenacity, perseverance and how they really captured “life” in a year. So they were assembling their books by that time and their books had awesome photography, beginning and day-in-the-life quotes. I thought I’d share them with you.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
Kahlil Gibran

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
Thornton Wilder

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Author: Robert Fulghum

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I get up. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing.

LIFE is what happens while you are making other plans. -John Lennon

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you."

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is actually one of the many reasons why I quit my teams and now am focusing on my being a Sugarbabe over at SSD. I really want to make P365 work for me this time around. I have to be honest that I cannot scrap as much and as often as I used to, but I still want to document my stories. P365 will be perfect for me, since I still take pictures. Flickr helps me blog and share about it – I just need to have an outlet to make sure it’s printed and my family sees it. If I try to do everything still, I might need anti aging products early (not that I do NOT need – I am using an eye cream already) – my first decision this year is to let go of stuff I cannot handle so I can focus on things I “need” to do. This is one of them.