Craft Warehouse Project Life Design Team Member Jessica Mihm

There is nothing better than finding a person online that not only loves to scrapbook, but lives near you too! Jessica Mihm is a Northwestern who loves to shop at her local Craft Warehouse! What we love about Jessica is that she doesn't hesitate to share her passion of Project Life with others and her excitement is contagious!

How long have you been crafting?

I have been a scrapbooker from the moment I was able to hold scissors and use glue! There has never been a time in my life I didn’t feel the need to create and document. Photos, journaling and little bits and pieces of life—creating scrapbooks and documenting my memories have always been a priority in my life. It’s always been something I enjoy doing and something I enjoy looking back on. I love the creative process and the product is something I love just as much—being able to keep my memories—for myself and to share with others.

My style of scrapbooking has of course evolved over time like everything does. I still use various styles: mini-books, SMASH* books, art journals, and the occasional 12x12 layout—but mostly I am all about Project Life these days. Project Life has changed everything for me. It’s all about documenting the everyday, which is what I’m most passionate about. I love the page protectors of all sizes—I can compartmentalize all the little stories that make up the big story of my life. I love that I have the freedom to print photos of all sizes—to use photos taken with my camera or to print the Instragrams from my phone. I love that I can tell my story every week. Project Life has helped me to see the beauty in all the little things. It’s amazing how much you have to be grateful for when you document the details of your everyday life.

 What inspires you to be creative?

I gather inspiration from so many places it’s so hard to pinpoint exactly what inspires me. I’m often inspired to create based on my passion for photography. I love that photos capture moments and emotion—they capture stories. I love using my photos on my Project Life pages and having a place to share them. I’m inspired to create also because of words—I like to write down my thoughts, things people say, words that I don’t want to forget.

One reason I’m inspired to create with Project Life is because I think about how fun it will be to look back on these albums with my husband when we are older. Also, I think how fun it will be to share them with my future children—to show them who their father and I were before we were parents and to show them the journey we took up until the point they were born, and after. Even more so, I think of how long these albums will be around—how many generations of my family will see them? How will life be different for them? I know I love looking at photos and journals from my great-grandmothers.

I’m often inspired by other Project-Lifers—I love reading blog posts and following the Instagram feeds of others who create Project Life albums. I’m inspired by the creators of scrapbooking products too—I love when new collections come out at Craft Warehouse and I can add new bits and pieces to my albums.

Really, I seek inspiration from everywhere I go—I soak it up from wherever I am, whatever I’m doing. There’s always a photo to be captured, a story to tell.

  
What Craft Warehouse products do you love to use?

Now that Craft Warehouse carries Becky Higgins Project Life products I am super excited to be adding more items to my collection. I’ve recently acquired a few new core kits, some new page protectors and some dividers. I love that Craft Warehouse has it all! I also love all the SMASH* book products carried by Craft Warehouse. I use the journaling pads in my Project Life pages a lot. I also like the various scrapbook collections carried by Craft Warehouse—they change frequently and they usually have the latest and greatest. I use my Project Life core kits a lot but sometimes it’s fun to make some of my own cards and use some of the other scrapbook supplies. I’ve noticed a lot of new products are geared towards the Project Life format and the “document the everyday” mentality—I love that!

How can you encourage others reading this column?

I want people to tell their stories and document their memories. The reason I am so passionate about Project Life is because in its simplest form it is literally a pen, a core kit, photos, page protectors and a binder. You don’t even need glue. Project Life is approachable. Yet, it has the ability to become whatever you want it to be. You can be as creative with Project Life as you want to be—and, you can be simple one week and more detailed the next—there are no rules! You can really go crazy and get creative if you want to. There are so many people who do and their albums are really fun to look at. There are others who keep it simple, their albums are beautiful too. With Project Life, it’s all good.
I think people need that freedom to choose how much they want to do with it, because we are all at different levels of confidence in our own creative abilities and we all have busy schedules. The most important thing to remember is that memory-keeping is priceless and significant. I want to encourage others to use Project Life to document their lives, for themselves and for their loved ones. It’s always the right time to get started and it’s so much fun!

Join us tomorrow when we see Jessica's Project Life pages in celebration of National Scrapbooking Month at Craft Warehouse! In the meantime, visit her Instagram feed and say hi!

*Project Life Core Kits and 60 pack Pocket Pages are only $15 (reg $29.99) until May 18th, 2014