***These are old posts, updated and re-published to gear up for Friday’s blog-hop for this year’s LOAD. Enjoy this week’s LOAD overload!***

Let me take you back to the fall of 2009. I had been hearing about LOAD (LayOut A Day for any non-scrappers out there) from people at Big Picture Classes and through various social media sources. Everyone who had taken part raved about how productive and inspired they were during the month-long sessions.

I was intrigued. My productivity had fallen off, mainly due to the unexpected death of my mother-in-law that spring. I hadn’t fully completed any classes I was taking at BPC or JessicaSprague.com since then, and was feeling a bit disappointed in myself. I needed a challenge. A goal. A plan of action.

LOAD to the rescue!

I wasn’t sure what to expect that first day, but I knew what page I had to do first. I’d been mulling over a page about meeting Whoopi Goldberg for days. I took advantage of the wide-format printer that my mother had given me, and printed the title and journaling directly on a piece of patterned paper. A few images snagged from the internet, and I had my first page for LOAD done. I took a picture of it, uploaded it to Flickr, and went on with my day.

I am a rather solitary scrapbooker. I am not a joiner by nature. I don’t have many friends who understand how cool scrapbooking is. So it came as something of a surprise when I went back later, and had comments and compliments about my layout. I had feedback! I wasn’t alone!

This LOAD thing was awesome.

October 2009 LOAD

As the month went along my stack of pages grew and grew. My kids eagerly read each page. They helped me choose topics. Simon even helped me put together one of two mini books I completed that month. (He loves buttons and flowers, just so you know.) I got so much DONE! And my family appreciated what I did. The housework didn’t suffer any more than usual. Everyone was fed, and got to bed and school at reasonable times. And I was happier. I was getting creative every day, and feeling more inspired as the mess on my desk piled up. The people on the message board were supportive, and funny, and generous. I spent as much time as I could commenting and spreading the love around as well. I couldn’t find a single downside to the whole process.

I still haven’t.

February 2010 LOAD

I’m hooked. I love the people who sign up, who take the leap and ATTEMPT to push themselves creatively. There is no failure in LOAD, even if you don’t finish a single page. There’s only the certainty that you have tried, and you have completed more than you would have if you didn’t take that jump.

The theme for this month’s LOAD is all about scrapping happier. Every day you’ll get a link to a little prompt with ideas to get you scrapbooking, just in case you have no idea where to start. There’s even an interview with author Gretchen Rubin, who wrote “The Happiness Project,” and “Happier at Home.” (Both excellent books by the way.) There will be camaraderie, and sharing of the ups and downs of life as a dedicated scrapbooker. And you WILL get more done than if you hem and hah and dither and live in the world of CAN’T instead of CAN.

May 2010 LOAD

To encourage you, and give you some ideas on how to prepare for a month of scrapbooking goodness, and to share how LOAD has made us ScrapHappier, I and a bunch of other LOAD alums as well as some brave new LOADsters are hosting a blog hop Friday, January 25th, beginning at 10am eastern. Join us!

And I said I wasn’t a joiner.

All you have to do to sign up is click my affiliate link: LOAD registration

October 2010 LOAD

What are you waiting for?