It’s been a while since I mentioned The FotoInspired Project.
That would be the documentation of every-day life with an artsy twist, and a project I have pursued for the past 4 years.
You can view many of the pages I have created here.
2015 was the first year I failed to complete the project.
I spent some time over the weekend in the archives, revisiting the place I left off, and assessing what needs to be done, in order to salvage this much-loved project.
FotoInspired 2015 | Week 24
You can only do so much in a day, and as much as I love this project, something had to give last June which was when I created my last page.
A website launch, 2 children out of school for the summer and the arrival of those awkward teen years were enough to throw me off the wagon.
It’s hard to tell stories that are not so cute as they used to be, and I’m no longer in a position to be able to share those more difficult tales that are just not mine to tell.
The daily captures also interest me less, reflected in my lack of photo taking. I find my attention instead wandering back to the playing and artistry in Photoshop that got me started in this *sport* in the first place.
Good news for those who like taking my classes, but not so much for my FotoInspired pages.
I have been here before, and experience has thankfully taught me, that everything is a phase.
You give up one thing to focus another, always based on what’s most meaningful to you.
And every transition has a season.
My desire to complete unfinished projects has kept this task on my list over the passing months – This is a clear indication that it’s time for some damage control.
So how exactly to you catch up on 28 double-page spreads?
The simple answer is you don’t. You assess the photos you have, modify your expectations and concoct a more realistic approach to achieving the end goal.
And I believe might just have done just that.
FotoInspired 2015 | Week 25
I established that I have enough photos, and more importantly *the want*, to complete a double-page spread for each week in June 2015.
However, the number of photos drastically drops in July when I launched the new Anna Aspnes Designs website and aA LIVE Education venture.
The new plan is to create 1-2 double pages per month (instead of 4), depending on photo availability. This drops my page count down by at least half, possibly more.
One page per month is more than creating none at all.
I’m now looking at 6-14 pages to complete the project.
Completely doable? I think so.
Especially if I take the tandem approach, and create 2 spreads at a time i.e. Create a 2015 page every time I create one for year 2016.
That was my approach this weekend. Week 25 of 2015 (above) preceded the creation of January 2016 round-up (below).
FotoInspired 2016 | January 2016
With any luck, I’ll complete both projects by the end of the year.
And hey presto, we’re back on track.
I really like your plan, life brings constant change, and this sounds like a great way to keep you enjoying your artistic play! I know it’s inspired me as I think about where I want to go with my scrapbooking this year!
Perpetual change. I don’t always love it but life would be boring otherwise 🙂
I was in a similar situaion. Completed a double spread (very simple using a Cathy Zielske template) up to Augus 2015 then stopped. It would have been the first year I didn’t complete it in about six years. Thanks to some time off after Christmas and relentless rain in Sydney I sat down and got going again, just to see if I could finish. Thankfully, I had enough photos except for one week and I always write a small narrative about our week on a Monday morning so I had that too. All done in two days, including uploading the pages for a Blurb book. So happy I got it done.
Good for you Shannon. That’s a TON of pages in just 2 days.
I like your plan, I think it will bring you satisfaction to complete the project, even if it is in fewer pages, which is fine! But I had another thought…perhaps consider simpler pages, a representative photo, and some words about what’s going on…eg “A website launch, 2 children out of school for the summer and the arrival of those awkward teen years were enough to throw me off the wagon.” Several years from now, or perhaps many, this will be nice to look back on and an explanation as to why the project changed. This has been an influence for me this year, in my 6th year of ‘photo per day’/project life. Perhaps no one will know what I ate every day, but I want them (meaning my children and hopefully grandchildren) to know what I was thinking 🙂 Thank you for the continued inspiration!
Good thought. Something to consider as I move through, and likely modify, this project again.
I still love this project and i am picking away at 2015. I love the FI Templates so much!
Me too! It’s just a matter of fitting it into my life and maintaining that life balance. Live to scrapbook and not the other way around 🙂
I am inspired by all of the people that dedicate time to scrapping everyday things, daily, weekly or monthly. I am still trying to figure out what I would like to do. I don’t have children at home anymore, so I am not sure even weekly is necessary. I have 9 grandchildren, 4 children and so many ideas to scrap . . . I am still working 3-4 days a week. Maybe a monthly layout would be doable. Thanks everyone for the inspiration!!
Definitely. I find a layout per 2 weeks is my sweet spot.
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