Many of my clients are stuck in the muck of their scrap booking projects. Scrapbook inertia is a common phenomenon. It often comes from wanting to make your pages perfect or simply not knowing where to begin.
Perhaps you can’t figure out how to sort your photos. Chronologically seems daunting. On top of that, once you build a page you might feel like there is no turning back, so you don’t even start. Sound familiar?
Well, a very smart client of mine asked me to pass on these tips to all of you who are stuck in the muck of your scrap-booking project.
If you are not sure where to begin, use these categories to begin to sort photos and make your pages.
- People we love
- Things we do
- Places we go
- Our Family
Sometimes coming up with the chronological timeline is just not fun and scrap booking after all, is supposed to be fun!
There is one more great technique that my client suggests. Instead of using the standard bound books, use three ring binder scrapbooks with clear drop in pages. This way she can make a page, drop it in and if there is another page that later makes sense to place before it, you can simply open the binder and insert the new page where appropriate.
She also likes the fact that she can do pages as they inspire her and not have to follow chronological order. How smart! I just had to pass this one on to you!
PS: To all of you who feel guilty about not scrap booking or making photo albums for your kids, go easy on yourself. I hear about this guilt all of the time from my clients. Not all Supermoms are made alike. Some of us aren’t good at art projects. Never fear, we are all born with special and unique talents that can foster incredible memories for our children. Simply figure out the most fun and rewarding way for you to create special memories for your kids and go for it!
Ready to see more? Click here to see a scrap-booking area get transformed from crazy disorganized to ultra-organized!
Just today I was working with a client who scrapbooks. We agreed that from now on, when she purchases supplies for a project, she will pop a note with those supplied stating their intended purpose.
I love that idea! We get so caught up in buying supplies that we often forget their intended purpose when we finally get around to working with them!
Isn’t that the truth? Let me know if you have created any tips yourself to help keep you on track with your projects.
Great article Kathy! I particularly loved the “don’t beat yourself up” message for those of us who are behind the 8-ball a little bit on the whole scrapbooking project.
Thanks for the kudos. Don’t worry about being behind the 8-ball and even let the project go if it constantly lingers in the back of your mind. I found a great quote just yesterday:”I find it helps to organize chores into categories: Things I won’t do now; Things I won’t do later; Things I’ll never do.” Cartoon Personality Maxine
One of the problems is that we are perfectionists. My kids are teens now and lately I have done two things: I am just putting pictures into the kind of albums with sleeves and not art needed. Simple and it makes the pictures easy to go through. I still have an era to finish where I was behind in the scrapbook and I’m just not worrying about the exact balance, stickers, or themes. I’m putting them in with love and being done. I found my kids loved looking at the scrapbooks more when they were little than now that they are teens so I wish I would have just stuck them on the pages just to finish than having left them undone. Better to get them in the book any way at all than not to see them. Good enough is a great thing! <3