365 challenge... how was Jan. for you?

How did the first month go for your 365 challenge? Any tips to share that are working for you to keep you on track? Are you keeping with it?

I am keeping with it, but I have gotten too relaxed, and I'm not importing my photos everyday like I should be. I need to get back to setting aside 20 minutes per day to devote to this awesome project.

I love reading about everybody's lives! What a great way to get to know each other even better! TFS!

Keep up the good work, Ladies!

[Amy L]

I love this, but the hardest part is getting the photos in on the days that I work. Which is most days! Also so far I have too many photos relating to food lol! But I love the project.

[jazzmatazz]

31 photos, 0 LOs. Still pondering the design ... ;-)

[cedarhil]

I have been keeping up with the photos but I am importing them and scrapping them on Sunday. I am also journaling some on my pages which has been personal sometimes so I opt not to post them online. I also see all these great pages at DD and wish I had a different page layout... but that is the way it goes with me sometimes. So far, so good.

[justmp]

I did it!! I have taken a picture every day...sometimes they were just with my phone camera, but that's ok...those are the real everyday moments! I have done two weeks worth of photos on LOs, but I'm not happy with them, so I am still deciding about the design I will use. Loving the challenge!

[mugsbigsis]

I am loving it! I try not to worry about having a picture taken on each day. I have 7 pictures that sum up my week so that I can use the pics that I want to use instead of telling myself, "no you can't use that one you already have one for that day". In the end my book will be 365 pictures just like I intended.

When I upload my pictures and look through them each day, I tag my faves with "POD" (pic of the day). Then at the end of the week I bring up those photos and pick 7, trying to make sure I have one for each day (but if I don't it's ok). :O)

For those who are still struggling, I think this project can be 365 pictures or simply represent 365 days. The journaling for most of the pages I've seen is perfect. It sums up the person's week and in the end the book will be "a year in the life" so to speak with photos to support the journaling. Either way, the book will be a real treasure.

[katrinak]

The great things about taking a photo a day is that you can recall things for your journaling even if you don't get a chance to write it immediately!!

I have a few days to scrap still since I've been completely indecisive about my design!

I also learned this month to take photos even when I don't feel like it. Just stay in the groove. My brother in law passed away this week and POTD weren't not the first thing on my mind or to do list, but I found a weird comfort in traveling with my camera and getting it out in the late afternoon to capture something. It was just the bit of therapy and escape I needed. And well, honestly, his loss made me realize how important daily documentation is and will be to those we leave behind some day...

Well done ladies!

[iUma]

I'm loving it and playing it loose, like Kelly. Shoot, stay attuned, for me I'm using it to introspect. Then assemble on Sunday and ENJOY.

[MIDA78466]

the hardest part for me is getting the picture every day. My world seems so limited since I work out of the house---the dogs and the birds are getting old.

I try to upload the pics every other day and drop them in the template. I catch up with the journaling on the weekend. I've been getting the next week's template ready on Sat or Sunday so I'm not behind the eight ball so to speak.

[MeEmMom]

Katrina - so sorry to hear about your loss. My prayers are with you and your family.

I am also enjoying this project. I did manage to take a photo everyday (well, that is if I do today's which I am planning for later today!) It has been so cool to journal a little something about everyday. On days that I don't have anything exciting going on, I try to pick something around the house that is an ordinary, everyday item. I figure that when my grandchildren look at the book they will be amazed at some of the things that we just take for granted.

[blkcow]

I'm loving every minute of it ...so far...it's been easier that I thought. (ask me again in August and I might have a different answer). I am still happy that I chose to do 3 to 4 photos per week, but like the rest of you...I struggle with my design and format. I think anyway we can make it work for ourselves is a good thing. I'm going to adopt Kelly's theory and mine is going to represent 365 days, and I keep in mind, what my family will think in say 75 years when they find this book in a closet somewhere??

[Mary Rogers]

fabulous thread Joey! I totally plan to reply completely as soon as I get some laundry going, hayden out of bed and a PLAN for our day off!

[Denise Gormish]

I'm on track. Almost didn't take a photo yesterday even though it was a busy day. That is probably my biggest problem - I get so "into" what I'm doing that I forget to stop and take a photo.

It really is forcing me to take the more mundane photos of our lives (food I've cooked, the girls studying, etc.) which is good but is going to be a real challenge as things progress.

[kikimama]

I am totally loving the project. I've still to do my LOs for weeks 3 and 4, but because I've been uploading the photos to my blog and Flickr, it means the journalling already exists, I just need half an hour when I can make the LOs my top priority.

I also wanted to say how lovely everyone on the Flickr group is. You've all left some great comments on my photos, which means a lot. I've looked at a couple of people's sets to see the January photos all together, and wow, they look great as a collection.

Feel like I've got to know some of you, through seeing snapshots of your lives, which is just fabby!

Here's to us all continuing through February.

[katrinak]

food photos are some of my favorites...we eat every day and have to stop to do it

[mcquadefam]

Had great intentions as I always do in the beginning of a year. But work full-time and am finishing up my Bachelors at University of Florida, so don't have as much time as I thought I would have when I was on Christmas break! Am now thinking that I may just do a "month at a time" until I graduate in August - then will have all the time in the world to pick back up on scrapbooking.

[Amy L]

Katrina you are right...and meal time is pretty much the only time I see my sons!

[earlofoxford]

I'm enjoying the project and so far have taken a picture each day. Usually I take more than one, so I've been downloading the pictures on Saturday and doing my layout on Sunday. I'm using different templates and papers for each spread just to keep it interesting for myself. I may wish later that my album were more uniform, but I think I might get tired of it if it were the same every week. It's kind of fun to rummage through templates to see what would work for the week's pictures. I'm also mixing it up as to one week or two on a spread. Great thread, Joey -- thanks for starting it.

[donitab]

I was just thinking about this before I logged on - I am taking a lot of pictures I wouldn't have taken otherwise that are not all that important to me (don't know about how important they will be to my children & grandchildren though), but it has opened my eyes to some LO's that I think will be important that I don't think I would ever have thought about doing if I wasn't looking around for SOMETHING to take a picture of!

Amy - no wonder I always want a snack after looking at your pictures!

[Lizzerd]

days 1 through 30, managed to miss 8 whole days! methinks when I get around to scrapping, it'll be a month of photos on one page, probably something like a calendar grid ... it's been fun looking for *some*thing to photograph!

[emfullante]

So far, so good. I've missed taking photos on 2 or 3 days, which I am ok with. I am glad, however, that February is coming because I am keeping each month uniform in design...I'm getting a little tired of the January design! But I love having a month of photos that I might not have if I hadn't committed to this project - that makes me happy!

It is so inspiring to look through the 365 gallery - you ladies are putting together some really awesome pages. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your "everyday"! I am also thankful for the great comments and encouragement that you have left on my pages...it keeps me going and I hope to keep encouraging/complimenting your beautiful work!

Katrina, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your brother-in-law. Your family will be in my prayers.

[tylertooo]

I have to admit that I got started late, therefore my 365 is really 355 - oh well. I figured this was my way of at least a 2 page spread each week - as I struggle to get the time, and labor over each page. I don't know how some members can create 2, 3 ,4, or more pages each day - AMAZING.

I am not looking at everyones and realizing it is a great way to document all the little things in life that might otherwise be overlooked. I find that since I have to sit back and think, "what is my big thing today" before I decide to take photos, it will document the important "little" things of each day. I think I will look back at the year and smile.

It may be my first shutterfly book as well, as I scrap out of sequence.

Everyone is doing a fabulous job. Love them.

[LauraBean]

I'm doing fine taking pictures--every day so far--and OK on layouts, though I find the layouts more difficult than I anticipated. I want to keep it simple, but I am also so into my photography these days that I want every shot well represented as I shot it or as I processed it. This means many templates just won't work for me--I never have 7 portrait oriented shots in a week, never have a picture I want cropped square, never have 7 horizontal pictures, and so on. So I'm struggling a bit with that aspect.

I upload my pictures to my computer every evening and clear the card for the next day. I upload to Flickr either that evening or the next morning. Sundays I keep the computer off, so the rhythm is a little off, but I get them off the card Monday morning. I really like seeing what I got during the day. On some days I'll get whatever pictures I've taken onto the computer partway through the day just to see if I have something I like or if I need to take more pictures. I really try to have a picture I genuinely feel good about every day--it doesn't always happen, but that's what makes me happiest.

[Starlite9711]

Fun reading how everyone is doing! I am doing pretty good (much better than I thought I would) at taking the pictures, I have missed a few days, but I am ok with that. I have taken a picture the next day to represent the day I missed, so i will still have my 365 much like Kelly said! I am however having trouble still with the upload/edit/share.... I am way behind on that. Just not enough hours in a day.
Also, I had originally thought I would not do layouts, just blog and flickr. Seeing all the 365 layouts has made me decide to do layouts and a book, but now I can't decide on a format and therefore am very behind on that...lol But I have goals, and I AM NOT giving up!!!

[KarenA]

Originally Posted by mugsbigsis

I am loving it! I try not to worry about having a picture taken on each day. I have 7 pictures that sum up my week so that I can use the pics that I want to use instead of telling myself, "no you can't use that one you already have one for that day". In the end my book will be 365 pictures just like I intended.

When I upload my pictures and look through them each day, I tag my faves with "POD" (pic of the day). Then at the end of the week I bring up those photos and pick 7, trying to make sure I have one for each day (but if I don't it's ok). :O)

For those who are still struggling, I think this project can be 365 pictures or simply represent 365 days. The journaling for most of the pages I've seen is perfect. It sums up the person's week and in the end the book will be "a year in the life" so to speak with photos to support the journaling. Either way, the book will be a real treasure.

This is basically what I am doing. I am not getting stressed if I miss taking photos. In fact I took 3 photos yesterday to catch up, but they still summed up my week nicely.

I have just come from spending ages looking through the 365 gallery and the LO's are all wonderful and inspirational!

I am not sticking to one format for my album, I am using different templates. I thought I would get bored doing the same thing week in week out...but that is just me!
I really want to stick to this project and finish it this year. I started last year but never finished!
Even though when I went through all my photos from 2008 I just about had a photo for nearly every day! I am now in the middle of trying to do something with them.

Karen

[sarahorton]

I'm so proud of all of us - one month down and only 11 to go

So far so good here. My photos are not masterpieces, but it's been really fun to come up with new ideas for each day. I've been downloading mine to my EHD through LR each night, then selecting one to edit and post to the Flickr group.

I've been doing the layout of the week (sometimes 1 pager, sometimes a DPS) over the weekend.
Really hoping to keep this up so we'll have a cool Shutterfly photo book to remember this awesome year.

We'd love to have you all with us at the Flickr group. It's been so great to see and learn from each other. The accountability and sweet words of encouragement really help, too

[beehive50]

Originally Posted by Starlite9711

Fun reading how everyone is doing! I am doing pretty good (much better than I thought I would) at taking the pictures, I have missed a few days, but I am ok with that. I have taken a picture the next day to represent the day I missed, so i will still have my 365 much like Kelly said! I am however having trouble still with the upload/edit/share.... I am way behind on that. Just not enough hours in a day.
Also, I had originally thought I would not do layouts, just blog and flickr. Seeing all the 365 layouts has made me decide to do layouts and a book, but now I can't decide on a format and therefore am very behind on that...lol But I have goals, and I AM NOT giving up!!!

Bailey... I'm right there with ya, my friend! Have photos, will scrap... someday! (I'm actually proud that I even have all the photos! hehehe)

ETA: I forgot, but I'm actually journaling everyday, too, so I will actually remember what I/we did/thought/etc. when I get around to scrapping all those pics!

[dorah]

So far so good. I have managed a photo of some kind or other everyday. I use the same basic structure for the month but change up templates, frames or whatever. Mostly I am just trying to capture the year in a stress free, no fuss, no muss kind of way. I want to enjoy what I am doing and create something that will hopefully reflect that.

[hulseyfam]

I'm wowed by how fun this has been for me when it took a HUGE kick to get me going. I have the first 3 weeks LOs finished, but I'm still unsure of my design.

Katrina-how funny you mention unsure of your design because I saw one of your LOs in the gallery and I told myself I just need to stick with that design. lol And now you're second guessing...so I gotta know what you're second guessing to???

I have found sometimes I have more than one photo that would be a great documentation of that particular day. But I have to remember that's what the rest of my scrapbook albums are for!

[Chris]

It's so good to hear you all so enthused! I wish I could leave more comments to your wonderful pages!

I think my life has been consumed with this thing! I've been keeping up with the daily photos, and since the 1st of January I've taken 1,072 pics. Most of them have no meaning except to try out a camera feature, or there are 60 plus shots of the same thing.

I have two more layouts for January to post. One is of a double page, but I'm not sure how to deal with the second half of a double page that should go after one I've already posted. It looks strange by itself.

It's probably silly for me to worry when I don't think I'll be printing......but who knows?

I did open a special 365 blog to help me practice and loosen up my writing along with my pic a day. I just don't know how to write in my normal cockney accent!

My Brit Thing blog is mainly of layouts for my family to view. They never venture into it though, so I just about abandoned it last year.

I've decided to keep a grungy sort of graphic look with this 365 project. They'll be different layouts, but all with an "I was inspired by, or lifted an ad" theme.

Keep up the great pages!