Brazil Photo Album || & Why I don't like "Project Life"

This was my first time making a Project Life album.  I was drawn to the "scrap-book-esque" feel of it with the ease of a photo album.  I knew I had a ton of pictures, so I bought extra photo sheets.  I also bought an entire kit of decorative cards and pens.  I spent almost $100 on supplies because I knew I would be using them for many projects.  Big mistake!  Here's why - I didn't like it!  I probably won't use the Project Life system again!
Stop the presses!  What?!  How could I say such a thing?!  All the bloggers looove Project Life!  Am I crazy?! 

All kidding aside - it's not for me.  The albums are way too big, the page layouts are limiting, and I can't display it anywhere.  One of the biggest problems for me was the layout of the pages.  I had an odd number of horizontal and vertical arrangements and they didn't always match up with the page layouts, so I was forced to leave some pictures out.  I also had to cut pictures so that they could fit in two pockets so that they could stay with the pictures they were grouped with.  

See how I had to cut those two middle pictures in half so they would fit with this page?

Notice all those empty cards...

The other issue I had was that not all of my photos were the same size - phone cameras, my dslr, and my waterproof camera all shot photos in different sizes.  It was impossible for me to print everything as 4x6 without distorting or losing parts of my images.  So many of my photos are too small for the pockets.  I tried to tape the pockets shut with washi tape, but I don't really like how that looks.  Also the notecards are a cute idea but I found that I was using them just to fill in empty space, and I didn't write on very many of them.  

The final reason why I don't like the album is that it's too big.  I don't have a huge house with huge furniture, so it actually takes up half of my coffee table.  For me the whole point of making an album is so that family and friends can thumb through.  But even if I found a place for this in my living room, the pages are so huge that it's difficult to flip through.  

Overall I found ways to make it cute, I like the idea of it - the journaling and decorative cards - but it's just not for me.  I'll stick with regular photo albums (or smaller scrapbooks) from now on!  A Beautiful Mess have some photo books available in their store; maybe I'll check those out.

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Want to see most of my pictures from our year in Brazil?  Click here for a roundup of blog posts from our time in Rio de Janeiro.

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