Simple Scrapbooking

 Step 8 Just Scrap It!

You've decluttered, picked an album project, selected and printed photos, gathered supplies, now it's time to get scrappin'!


My best advice for any of you overwhelmed is to

KEEP  IT  SIMPLE.

really.

For our 2010 Family Album I chose Spargo pages (a light natural shade). The neutral background sets off photos nicely without the starkness of a white page. Notice in the above page spread, I've only used my Trimmer and 2 pieces of paper to mat a couple of the  photos in a coordinating shade. I've left room for journaling and I've added a quote sticker:

I love this page!!  It's one of my favorites and it took just a few minutes to trim and mount my photos. If every page looked like this, it would be a classic album enjoyed for generations.

Here is another Simple Page where I've kept my photos square and added a strip of 1.5"x12" paper down the left side of the page.  I added a little quote sticker in the middle and left room for journaling (to be added later).

Anyone can do this.

Anyone.

really.

So no more excuses....it's time to Get Scrappin'!

:DL



How to Organize your Scrapbooking Supplies

Step 7 Gather Your Supplies...this is the fun part!

I'm going on a retreat in a couple of weeks and this is what I'm bringing:

Scrapbook Album and Pages...I'm using 12x12 for our 2010 Family Album

12 inch Trimmer and Personal Trimmer

my small Personal Trimmer has a handy drawer where I store:

Scissors

Blades for my 12-inch Trimmer

Tape Runner Adhesive

Black Fine-tip Pen

Decorative Supplies...

I use my handy Paper Organizer to hold my paper and ABC stickers sorted

by color or theme as well as my "Additions."

Additions are themed packs of patterned paper, stickers, and Title stickers.

 I've selected a variety to cover photos of 2010 (Winter,

Spring, Summer,4th of July, Fall, Disney, School, Tea Party, etc.)

I also bring colored pens and ABC stickers for journaling and titling:

That should do it!  

If I want to get extra creative I may also bring:

Cutting System (cuts my pictures into ovals, circles and other shapes)

Shape Makers - basically punches that punch my paper into decorative shapes

Paper Flowers and Ribbon

I will also pack:

Photos in my Photo Storage Box

Memorabilia File

Extra Page Refills and Extra Adhesive Refills

Party Bag of Pretzel M&M's 

Something new that I'm going to try:

Page Planners....a set of plastic page templates and Idea Book

to help me layout fast cute pages!  I'll let you know how that works...stay tuned.

What about you? How are you doing on Getting Back Into Scrapbooking?

Have these ideas helped?  If you don't have a retreat getaway planned in the next month or so, then schedule in some time in your calendar for a morning or evening of scrapbooking. See if you can get started on that next album you are dreaming of completing. I would love to know what it is and how you're doing!! 

Happy Scrappin',

:DL

How to Sort your Photos

Step 6: Sort Your Photos. A big fat envelope arrived in the mail last week with all my wonderful photos developed online by CM Photo Center  I also picked up photos from Walgreen's and again, I was disappointed in the color quality. In a future post I'll do a comparison of photo developers so you can see for yourself that developing matters!

When you receive your photos they are all jumbled together in no particular order. So it's necessary to sort them and the best way I have found is using a Power Sort Box.

Using your events list (from Step 4) you can easily sort your photos into piles by date.

Then I store them in this handy box:

The box has 6 individual compartments inside so you can easily pull out a batch of photos at a time while scrapbooking. For my project I've sorted them chronologically Jan-Oct 2010. Notice the box holds both 4x6 and 5x7 photos.

There is even a memorabilia pocket under the top lid.  You'll want to also have a file folder for larger memorabilia. Label the folder with the name of your album project (i.e., "Family 2010" or "Susi: School")

The lid stays securely on with loops on the side. Label the front of the box for easy identification.

It has a stylish look and you can stack these for easy retrieval.  This box holds 1,200 photos. Since I am using it for my current album project, I only needed about 2 of the inside compartments. The other compartments I used to store 4x7 photo mounting paper and extra boxes of adhesive to take with me when I go scrapbook.

Next Step 7 will be Gather Your Supplies!

How to print your photos from your computer

Step 5: Print Your Photos

wow...I've been busy uploading my photos to be developed!  It's fairly easy with my Memory Manager program, because I just highlight the photos that I want to print then either send them to my printer or upload them to an online developer.  

I usually just upload my photos to Walgreen's and pick them up same day. However, I haven't been very happy with the print quality lately. My pictures look dark and the color is off. 

What I do is create a folder on my desktop called "Upload"

I drag and drop the photos that I want printed into my Upload folder. Then I go to a developer's website (Walgreen's for instance) and sign in. I select "Upload photos" and when it asked where the photos are you just browse and find your "Upload" folder. 

 You pick which photos to upload or you click "shift-A" to select them all and then click Upload. Walgreen's website has quick upload. But again, if the quality isn't good, then it won't be worth the quick upload. I'll be sure to do a comparison when they come in from both sources and I'll share them with you here!

I'm really excited because just a couple of weeks ago I was overwhelmed and stuck but today I've got 9 months of pictures being printed and shipped to me as I type this.

Next step will be Sort Your Photos!

Help! I have too many pictures!

Step 3 was Pick your Project! How did you do? I decided my next project will be our 2010 Family Album.

Step 4 is Decide what Pictures to Print.

In today's age of digital cameras, we take thousands more photos than we will ever need to print. That's the beauty of digital but it also can create panic when you go to choosing and printing your photos.  Because some of us still have our photos hidden on our camera......right? your digital pictures are still on your camera? or did your memory card fill up and you just tossed it somewhere and bought a new memory card?

I have found that Creative Memories Memory Manager program (now Artisan) is a user-friendly way to get photos off my camera and into virtual 'sort boxes'. This is where I store my digital pictures:

the column on the left (above) shows my "virtual sort boxes."

I can choose whatever categories I want to sort my photos:

 

You can see (above) that I have a sort box called Family. This is where I will find all of my photos needed to create a family album. Once I click on "Family", I can go to the timeline displayed at the bottom of my screen and choose "2010"...I can view all my 2010 photos in that 'box' or I can view them by month or even down to daily:

Here (above) I've sorted them by month.  When I click on April 2010, for instance, it will show me all the photos I've taken this past April.  Since I'm a 'simple scrapbooker' I will only be printing my favorite shots and just a few events per month (hey, I'm a busy mom of 4 kids, remember?).

So Step 4....I make a list of the events that I want to include in our Family 2010 scrapbook. This list will greatly help me when I'm 

choosing which photos to print

and

when I'm putting my album and supplies together

It would be easier to do a couple of page spreads each month rather than saving this and doing it all at once, but that's what happens when you put stuff in a pile 'to do later'...that pile grows and then you are in the position of catching up.  

Stay tuned for Step 5 when we are going to Print our Photos!

Happy Scrappin',
:DL