Category Archives: organization

Jan8

Daily Documenting Resources!

Posted on by
Daily Documenting Resources!

I bet many of you have been bitten by the Project Life/Pocket Page/Daily Life Documenting bug. You love all those pages you see online, and you want to make your own, but you have no idea where to start.

Or maybe you have no idea what all these pocket pages are all about.

Well, there are a few things that can help you get started.

If the idea of taking a photo everyday scares you, check out Katrina Kennedy’s class. She’s got some great ideas that take the intimidation out of the whole daily photography challenge.

If you have time today, you should also check out Traci Reed’s PL planning class. You can participate live today, or watch the replays later. Traci will be sure to have lots of ways to help keep yourself organized in order to be successful with the whole daily documenting project. Traci’s also got a planner you can purchase  to get your daily documenting organized so you can tell deeper and more meaningful stories.

If you’ve already got a ton of pocket page supplies, and want to learn some new ways to decorate them for your  daily documenting, or to use them in other projects, you will want to check out True Scrap: Pocket Pages. That is a full day of classes with live instructors, pre-recorded video, and tons of inspiration. I’m really looking forward to taking those classes at the end of the month.

Last but not least, if you’re running out of ideas, or are painting yourself into the “My life in uninteresting” corner, I have a list of topics to document for you.

Microsoft Word - Photos to take.docx

Photos to take & stories to tell

I originally published this when I did my Week in the Life album last May, but the topics are useful for any kind of daily documenting. You can even print off the PDF if you want: Downloadable Photos to Take Printable

After you get these classes under your belt, you should be more than ready to tackle a daily documenting challenge. You can do it. Really you can.

Jul1

Knowing Your Process

Posted on by
Knowing Your Process

Have you ever taken the time to figure out how exactly you created a scrapbook page? In other words, have you ever documented your process?

Take a look at mine:

IMG_5358

Invariably, I start with an idea: a story or theme I want to add to our scrapbooks. This inspiration usually leads me to start thinking about the journaling in the back of my mind, while creating the rest of the page. This allows me to plan for enough space (lots of story vs a few words) which I can plan for while designing.

I then pull in photos and paper, and start building the page. (aka paper shuffling!) Sometimes I pull in reference materials like sketches or technique instructions and use them to adjust my design. I then pull in the rest of my product (like letter stickers or embellishments) add some journaling, and end up with a finished page.

It’s a fairly straightforward process for me, and you’ve probably even seen me use it if you’ve watched any of my process videos. (Using a sketch/starting point, and limiting product.)

The point is, what is YOUR process? What inspires you to sit down and scrapbook? How do you go about creating your page? Think about that, and write it down. Create a flow chart if you want! If you don’t know what your process is, sit down and make a page, and take notes while you make it.

There are lots of reasons to do this, and I’ve got two big ones to share with you a little later this week. So think about your process. Share it with me even. I’d love to hear about it!

 

Jun7

Choosing Photos to Scrapbook: Back of the Closet Edition

Posted on by
Choosing Photos to Scrapbook: Back of the Closet Edition

Anyone here have old photos? As in photos taken with a film camera? As in most of the visual record up until the turn of the century?

Me too.

What should you do with all those old photos? (and negatives, let’s not forget the negatives!)

First, bring them all together. Get all your photos in one spot. Get them out from under the bed, and the back of the closet, the photo album you had planned to put them in but never got further than slipping the envelope of pictures behind the front cover.

If you have negatives, and they are still packed with the associated prints, make a quick note on the envelope that describes what the prints are about, pull out the prints, and start stacking the negatives, still in their envelopes, together. Don’t worry that the negatives are no longer associated with the prints. What you are accomplishing here is creating a quick archive that you are going to get out of your house. Take them to work, or have your spouse take them to work. If you have a safe deposit box, throw them in there. Leave them at a close relative’s home. They don’t need to be sorted or organized in any way, just put a label on the container so if anyone comes across them, they will know who the negatives belong to. Any old box will do to store them, although if you want to spend the money, something fire and water resistant would be a good investment. The goal is to create an archive so that if you ever have a fire or flood that ruins all your photos and scrapbooks, you’ll have some thing to start over with, if you are so inclined.

Now that you’ve got your negatives safely stored, let’s look at the pile of photos you have left. Look daunting? Insurmountable? I bet it does. That’s okay, we’re not going to sort it all today, or even most of it. Today, we’re going to take a trip down memory lane, and just look through some photos.

As you look through your pile, you’re going to find some pictures are horrible, and you’re wondering why you still have them. Other photos are going to make your heart go pitter pat, and help you recall a really wonderful moment. And then you’re going find some photos that are just “eh.” They don’t excite you, but they’re not completely dark and out of focus and full of people you don’t remember.

Those are the photos we’re going to work with today, because those are the pictures that will help you tell more story than you realize is possible.

So this is what you need to do: find five or so that are related that you don’t hate. Look at them closely. What kind of stories can they tell? Start taking notes.

These are the photos I found:

IMG_5342

None of these photos are very good. A couple could almost qualify as horrid, with the poor exposures and focus. But! (and this is a big but) I haven’t told any of the stories I could tell based on these photos. How much music affected my life. The trajectories of friendships. Even the fact that my high school band teacher dated my mom briefly after my dad died.

So, go gather up your photos. Archive your negatives, and find a few pictures that will help you tell a story or three. You can do this. Your story is important!

 

May16

Step One: Sort What You Have

Posted on by
Step One: Sort What You Have

This is probably going to sound like a no-brainer, but the first step to putting together a Week in the Life Project is to sort the photos and notes you have by day. Need a video example?

Once you’ve got your materials sorted, take a quick look at what you’ve gathered, and make a list of what sorts of things are involved.

My list: (in addition to the standard 4x6s)

Monday: lots of memorabilia, three 3x4s

Tuesday: One 6×8, one 5×7, one 3×4 and no memorabilia

Wednesday: Two 5x7s, two 3x4s and a little memorabilia

Thursday: One 6×8 (Actually a 8×10 I will be cutting down.)

Friday: One 5×7, three 3x4s and some memorabilia

Saturday: One 6×8 and Simon’s wish list

Sunday: A 6×8, five 5x7s, a couple pieces of memorabilia, and LOTS of pictures.

Now that I know how much of what kind of stuff I have, I can plan how to arrange my album. I know I won’t need any 6×8 page protectors for Monday, and very little of anything for Thursday.

I am going to need a few more page protectors, so tomorrow I’ll make a quick trip to Michaels, so I can flesh out the interior. Then it will be time to start assembling it.

I will work on each day as a block, so you will have seven videos to check out and refer to once I’m done.

I’ve got a sick kid at home, so between that, and needing to head out for supplies, I probably won’t be able to start posting videos till Monday at the earliest.

Make sure you let me know if you have any questions!

 

Apr18

Letting Your Organization Evolve

Posted on by
Letting Your Organization Evolve

To continue our conversation regarding organization, it’s always good to occasionally reevaluate what parts of your system are working, and what aren’t. Let me show you what I mean, with the small changes I’ve made in the past half year.

Once again, let’s start off with the view from the doorway. Did you notice that the sewing machine and cricut are now on the far table? I found as I settled in and used my space that I was using the table by the door as my main work space most of the time. It only made sense to switch the rarely used tools with my most commonly used ones.IMG_4898

IMG_4900I’ve added a vision board and an inspiration board on either side of my computer desk. They are both works in progress, but they help keep me motivated, and give me a place to put things I don’t want to forget, or things I find fascinating.

Next, you can see a close up of the corner with the sewing machine and cricut, as well as some commonly used items. My most recent papers and embellishments and a bin with most of my alpha horde keeps them handy, and easy to access. Beside them are two project bins (one has my week in the life supplies that I’ll show you next week) and another work in progress is in the bag on top. The location for the project bins and works in progress is new. We’ll see how that fits in with my current systems.IMG_4905
My stamping station has stayed basically the same. I just dragged the binder with old unmounted stamps out of the closet, and added the art prints and paper sorter on the wall above it. There’s another project in it that I need help from the family in order to finish, some organizational stuff, and my zentangle supplies. (I just started playing with zentangle. It’s been fun so far!)IMG_4906
My son’s desk area has expanded. He’s got some storage items he’s barely started using, and cork board to hang his latest creations on. My button and flower supply is there as well. He likes using them as much as I do, so he doesn’t mind sharing his space with me.IMG_4907
Finally we’re back around the room to my current workspace. My current project is on the table, along with a bin for journaling cards and most used pens, and my newest experiment, a bin for my scraps. I have a TON of scraps, and I want to use them, so I’m going to work on using this scrap bin as a first place to look for paper, and hopefully using some up, so I can pull more out of my file cabinet. My trimmers and other most commonly used tools are still within arm’s reach, on the cart where the cricut used to live.IMG_4908

When you reevaluate your organization, you don’t have to tear everything apart. Make little changes as you go. See what works, and what doesn’t. That’s what I do, and it makes being organized so much easier.

Do you have any organizational challenges? Feel free to share them. I’d be glad to brainstorm ideas with you!