A Wedding Album by Craft Warehouse Project Life Design Team Member Jessica Mihm

Hello all, I’m Jessica, I’m so excited for the chance to share with you today! Becky Higgins Project Life is a simple approach to scrapbooking that is all about documenting all the little (and big!) moments of our lives. I have been so grateful for this method of scrapbooking because it is so simple! It can be as easy as an album, a core kit, photos, pocket-pages, and a pen. But I also love to get creative when my schedule allows. Usually, I have VERY little time to work on my pages. I am a busy teacher, a wife and a new home-owner—my to-do lists feel never ending. I know that so many of us feel like that and that’s why I’m so passionate about spreading the word of Project Life! It really does allow you to complete pages, even complete albums in a short amount of time.

As I was brainstorming for what I wanted to share on the blog, I kept asking myself why Project Life matters to me. The thought that kept popping up was how simple it can be to document the everyday AND the big events. You can even complete albums for years past, which I’ve done, in short amounts of time! Then it hit me: my wedding album! If you’re married, and you’ve put your wedding photos into any kind of scrapbook you know it can be overwhelming! For me, I really wanted it to be special. I wanted it to tell our story and show off our beautiful photos. I wanted to look back on it fondly. I also wanted it to be cute, but classy and timeless. Project Life was definitely the way to go! So now, at one of the busiest times of my life—the end of the school year and literally the week we bought our first home, I am scrapbooking my wedding and sharing it with you. Am I crazy?! No. I’m not crazy, because Project Life makes it possible.

I started by deciding which core kit I wanted to use. None of them spoke to me singularly, but when I started mixing cards from multiple kits I saw my vision unfold. I really wanted to use our wedding colors and to achieve that I mixed cards from multiple core kits, all of which can be found at Craft Warehouse.

I used the new Strawberry Edition, it is a beautiful kit that is so perfect for documenting the little moments that matter most in life. I also used the Sunshine Edition, it is a fun, eclectic kit with a lot of bright colors. Lastly, I used the Midnight Edition, which is such a great core kit for keeping it simple. I also love to mix it in with other kits because the neutral colors and cute designs are so perfect for any layout. I pulled out some cards from my Blush Edition too, the pinks and grays, and sweet designs are perfect for a wedding, but I didn’t use any from Blush in the pages I am showing you today.

I pulled out my favorite cards from all of the kits to see what I liked and what I thought would work for the photos I was using.

My wedding colors were white and black, with pink, green and orange accents. By using these kits together I was able to create a custom wedding set of Project Life cards. I didn’t want it to feel generic; I wanted it to feel like it belonged with my wedding photos.

To get started I trimmed the corners of my photos with the ek tools mini corner rounders from Craft Warehouse. I used the 1 in. rounder for my 4x6 photos and the 0.5 in. rounder for the 3x4 photos. I like my photo corners to match the Project Life corners. I think it gives my pages a finished look.

Then I decided which cards I would use in the 3x4 pockets that weren’t holding photos. I knew I wanted to do some journaling, but that I also wanted some quote or design cards. I pulled cards from the pile I had created and once I liked how they looked I got started with my journaling. I always try to achieve a balance of negative and positive space.

To journal I use a Becky Higgins pen, which can be found in a three pack at Craft Warehouse. I like the pens because they come in three different sizes.

Here’s a look at my double page spread—these photos are from our First Look—when we saw each other for the first time on our wedding day. It was a really special moment. Our photographer, Rebecca Dryer, did a really nice job capturing the moment! Project Life really allows your photos to take center stage. The binder I'm using is a Becky Higgins album in white, you can find it and many other colors at Craft Warehouse.

On the left side, I used a card from the Strawberry edition to do my journaling. The wood grain looking card and the black and white quote card are from Midnight and the green geometric patterned card is from Sunshine.

  I also used some really great products from Craft Warehouse to embellish my pages a bit. On this page I used a pink Studio Calico Flag Clip and Studio Calico Alpha Stickers to add some details to the top right photo. The top left photo has an “awesome” sticker from Simple Stories. The sticker on the green card is also from Simple Stories. I wanted to keep my pages simple, but I also wanted to add some interesting details.

These embellishments together let me great creative, add some details but also kept it simple enough that I had the time to do it after work, before dinner.

 On the right side I used cards from Strawberry and Sunshine. The pink and white journaling card came from Strawberry and the quote card came from Sunshine. I printed two of my vertical photos 3x4 so that I could slide them into pockets as well—this makes the process go so smoothly!

Again, I added some simple accents to my pages with products that can be found at Craft Warehouse. I used some translucent washi tape with beautiful white lace designs right on one of my photos. This is one of my favorite ways to add detail. It’s so fast and it turns out beautifully. I also used another Flag Clip to tie my pages together and trimmed another Simple Stories sticker to add to the top right photo. I like to add journaling this way because I feel like I get to say a lot in a small space.

This is my process for completing my wedding album and telling the stories from one of the happiest days of my life.

There you have it—that’s how I’m using multiple core kits (including the gorgeous new Strawberry edition,) embellishments from Craft Warehouse and Project Life to document my wedding. You could use this process to document every event in your life because it’s THAT SIMPLE. Happy creating! If you haven’t checked out the Project Life section at Craft Warehouse I strongly urge you to do so. I LOVE it and know that you will too :)

- Jessica