Category Archives: process

Knowing Your Process

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:

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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!

 

Wrapping Up WITL: Title and Section pages

Wrapping Up WITL: Title and Section pages

It’s done!

Here’s a little video for you that shows how I put together the title and section pages:

I used a little bit of technique to add color and continuity throughout the album. A common technique and uniform colors really help put the finishing touch on any project.

A big thank you to Kristie Sloan of Artful Adventures for reminding me of this fun and simple technique. And also to Gina at Messtaken Identity, for the fun and inspiring recycled supplies, and to Ali Edwards for the simple yet profound idea of documenting daily life in detail one week each year. She’ll be documenting her Week in the Life later this year, and you should really follow along as she does. The way she records her stories really captures a moment in time superbly.

If you have any questions, please add them below! I’m off to start on another project now. What are you working on?

 

Step One: Sort What You Have

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!

 

Organizing a Story

Organizing a Story

Well, last week was a wash. The story I thought I would be telling? No where in sight. But I did capture a week in our life, and that’s still precious, even if it’s not the story I thought I would be telling.

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Looking back through the week’s photos, I have not a single picture of us eating dinner together, even though we did. I didn’t take any pictures of my feet up on a foot rest while letting myself recover from straining my back and hip. Or of the book I read, or the planning I tried to do to keep myself productive. No pictures of the kids breaking open the piñata, or attacking big blocks of ice with hammers! (Now that could have ended poorly.) In short, there are lots of pictures I missed. But that doesn’t mean I can’t include those stories in my album.

The first thing I will be doing to start telling this story, is gathering all the photos I took. That includes phone photos and computer photos. (Take a picture of yourself while playing on your computer if you can. You’ll be amused at the faces you make!)

Once I have everything together, I will start deciding which photos I should print small, which should be 4×6, and which should be 6×8. As I gather photos, I’ll also make notes about any additional stories I want to tell that I may have missed writing down during the week. I’ll also pull together memorabilia and facebook and twitter updates to add to the story.

That’s what I’ll be working on today and tomorrow. If you want some suggestions on how to choose which photos to print, check out this post. Feel free to pop any questions for me into the comments   below.

Once I’ve got everything ready to go, I’ll show you how to put it together. This is going to be fun!

Quick Monday Note: Getting Started Documenting

Quick Monday Note: Getting Started Documenting

A quick note to show you how I am using the printables I gave you last week.

I printed out a copy of each of the journaling card prompts and two sets of the stop, drop, and write list.

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I’ve got a copy of the list on my refrigerator, and started the stop, drop, and write exercise as soon as I got going this morning. I’ve also got a sheet for keeping tally marks of how many sodas we drink, and loads of dishes and laundry we do as well. I find it to be useful to keep track of just how much routine stuff I do.

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I’ll use the prompt cards as my family does something interesting. I think I may use the “She did what?” card right now, and document this morning’s fiasco. You’ll have to wait to see what I write till next week. 😀

Have you started documenting your week? You will love being able to look back at this later!