Life Documented Manila

Last Saturday, I attended Life Documented Manila's Project Life workshop. I had previously heard about this scrapbooking method on Pinterest, but I never actually considered trying it because I wasn't sure if there were any materials available for it locally. Most of the scrapbookers I saw were from the US, so you know, I figured it just wasn't for me. It didn't occur to me, though, that there was a community for it in the Philippines until Ate Abbey posted a photo of her book on Instagram, so you can only imagine my excitement. I mean, I've been scrapbooking for as long as I remember; my aunt used to work for All About Scrapbooking and would send me packages filled with art materials that I would share with my childhood best friend, Noelle. It always thrilled me to receive them in the mail even though I was never too good at it; I destroyed photos more than I prettyfied them, and my layouts were anything but pleasant to look at. It never mattered to me, though (which present me is envious of). Scrapbooking, or the arts in general, was more of a release than a means of showing off my creativity to gain my peers' respect. LOL. But eventually, like most things, I grew out of it. My works were subpar at most, and with me hitting puberty hard, it wasn't doing too well for my artistic ego. I figured I would be better off pursuing other things, which—back then—was a different form of art: theatre. But that's another story.

Going back to Project Life, I could say that this standardized method of scrapbooking looked easy enough. I came to this conclusion after the first hour of going through boards on Pinterest. I liked that there was literally no way you could come up with something terrible, even if you think you lacked the "necessary" art skills to come up with something easy on the eyes (read: all you need to prettify your Project Life scrapbook are your pictures, time, some scissors, glue [which is actually optional], and anything else you might like to add. Seriously). Going through LDM's Instagram proved it, too, and made me want to jump the bandwagon all the more.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure what to expect from the LDM workshop when I first heard about it. I knew I wanted to attend, but I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to do. Now here's another truth: I was pleasantly surprised. Ate Pinky and Yam exceeded my expectations, and I learned a lot about crafting from their sweet and short lecture. My favorite line of the day, perhaps, would be something that went like this: "It doesn't matter if it's just a photo of a drink you had by yourself; if it means something to you, then it's a part of your story, and you have every right to include it." I loved how encouraging they were; it was clear from the very beginning that discriminating other wannabe artists (such as myself) was not something they practiced. I've said this plenty of times before, but it's always so nice to be surrounded by likeminded people. (Plus, we were listening to One Direction because ate Pinky and Yam are fans, so that's another thing.)

I'm not going to reveal too much about what we did at the workshop as I highly recommend everyone to attend and see for themselves. It's a very hands-on workshop where you do more than you sit still and listen—another one of the aspects that I genuinely adored about it.

My favorite part, however, would definitely have to be the crafting station pictured above. Heaps and heaps of embellishments, a stamp booth, washi tapes, and stacks upon stacks of decorative paper, all waiting for you to use them. If that doesn't entice any of you, I don't know what will. Everyone present admitted themselves to be hoarders, and oh my God, we went absolutely crazy. The assortment of crafting materials drove me nuts, and I remember wanting to sweep everything off the table into my arms and just... dash off with it.
For everyone wanting to learn more about Life Documented Manila, here's a quick low-down:

Life Documented Manila: a some sort of guide by yours truly

• LDM was founded by three lovely ladies: Christine, Pinky, and Yam. Click their names to see their respective Instagram profiles! I go through their accounts a lot when I lack inspiration but want to get crafty. :P
• "We believe in the importance and power of stories. As memory-keepers, what better way to tell the most important ones–the stories from our lives, than through the use of pictures and words? We are so excited to share our memory-keeping projects and experiences with you, and we hope that you join us in building the local community of memory-keepers."
• They have a blog, too.
• And a Facebook page.
• And Twitter. (Follow them.)
• And of course, Instagram.
• They also sell stuff online!

And finally...

They're having a workshop this September! If you'd like to experience the same thing I did, then click here.

In this workshop, we will teach you how to get started with documenting your life using the pocket scrapbook style. Stop storing your photos on your computer and looking only at your photos on Facebook/your phone’s camera roll / Instagram account! Create an album you can look at over and over, share with your friends or family or just keep for yourself.

We will share tips and techniques in building pages for your project. In addition, we will provide tips on organizing your photos and scrapbook materials, telling your stories and more.

At the end of the workshop you will have an album (with at least four completed pages) that chronicles your life, an important event or a special event and most important, reflects who you are. This project is something anyone can pursue, even if you think you aren’t artsy or crafty enough.

We've got another thing lined up for you guys (ahem, click me), but for now, let me know in the comments below if you plan on becoming a part of the Life Documented Manila community with me. Who knows, maybe we'll see each other at one of their crop parties! ;)