Photo Panic Attack!!

IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THE LONG VERSION OF THE STORY, JUST LOOK FOR THE SPOT BELOW WHERE THE SHORT(ER) STORY BEGINS!


>>>>>>>LONG STORY<<<<<<<<

I'm not sure if it was a full-blown panic attack, but I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

That feeling that you just lost something that you can never get back.

I've had the feeling a few times in my life.

Recently, we had a fire and I lost some items. . .and it is the second fire where we have lost things.  Not our home, but places where we had things stored.  Sad.  They are gone. Forever. The end.

I have also lost a lot of my good jewelry.  We believe it was just a series of unfortunate mistakes. I looked and looked, but it was gone.  I had that feeling for days and weeks after I realized I wasn't going to find the jewelry. Ever. And I still have it whenever I think about that jewelry.  

And now I have had it over some photos I thought I lost.

Now, this is all just stuff. . .I realize that. . .but it isn't the monetary value that gets to me. . .its the sentimental value.

I had recently uploaded all of my pictures from my camera from February. . some from January. . .and these first weeks of March.

Not a huge loss in the scheme of pictures.

But, these would have been a lot of firsts for Hadley caught on film.

First Valentine's Day was the first thing that jumped to my mind.

So, said panic attack ensued. 

I searched my two external hard drives that I back up to over and over.

No pictures.

I searched again.

The feeling got worse and worse.

I kept telling myself it's not like you lost her Birth Day photos. . .or your wedding photos. . . it's just a few weeks of photos and there are still photos from that time frame your phone.

I couldn't help it.  I was feeling awful.

Then I checked my photo organizer again. . . which is the program that I upload the photos with. . .and I started clicking around. . .and to make an already long story short. . .I found them.  They had been uploaded to a different spot. . . for some odd reason.

Major relief.

But that made me realize once again how important photo backup/storage is.  



>>>>>>SHORT(ER) STORY. . . START READING HERE>>>>>>>  



Even though I do back up my photos and I do know how important it is. . .I can't imagine the panic attack I would have if I lost everything.

My experience with loss of items is more than I would like it to be. . .

SO. . .I am pledging to myself to do a much better job at backing up my photos. . .

And I ask you to please do the same.

Ask yourself. . .how would you feel if something happened to your computer?  Or the one hard drive you are backing up to?

Let me just share with you what my system is for organizing/storing my photos and how I plan on making it better.  Some of it is overkill. . .I know.  But I would rather be over prepared rather than under. . .if something should happen.




1. My plan is to try and set up a schedule for downloading my photos to my computer.  

   Now. . . I do it whenever. 
   Maybe my card is full.
   Or maybe I just decided today was the day.

   I would like to say every Monday evening I will clear off my 
   camera cards and phone.

   Or the 5th of every month I will do it.

   Whatever.  Consistency is the key.  
   Picking a date and doing it.




2.  I upload my photos to my computer/external hard drive using an external card reader or I plug my phone into the computer. 

    I use PhotoShop CS5 to organize/edit my photos.  I also recently purchased Lightroom and I hear this is an excellent way to organize/edit your photos as well. I hope to start learning its ropes soon.

3.  I have it set up where as you upload, they organize    themselves by date. So each date has its own folder.  

4.  I send them directly to my external hard drive, because my computer doesn't have the capacity to hold even a fraction of the photos I take.  I am still in the process of deleting photos from my computer to free up space. Old computer but I still love it!

5.  I have one main hard drive.  It has all of my photos stored on it. It is what I back up to.

6.  I have two other hard drives.  They are smaller in their storage. . .one is already full. . .so I have them split up.
   The first one is 2003-2008  and the other is 2009-present.
7.  And here is what my hard drives look like
    I have a folder for each year

    2010
    2011
    2012
    2013
    etc. . . 

   In each year folder, I have a folder for each month.
  1. January
  2.  February
  3.  March

I number the months, because the hard drive will organize them alphabetically. . . I want them organized in the correct month order. . .so the numbers work.

In each month, there is a folder for each day I took pictures.

I LOVE that.

I do go back and add more details to these folders names sometimes.  

 Like. . . Brady7thbday  or ridingbike  or whatever we are doing in them.

Sometimes, I will add another folder with the months folder. . .

13.  Colorado vacation

This way I can easily find some big events I may be looking for. 





So. . .

My second hard drive is set up exactly the same way.

To copy the files from one to another. . .I just drag and drop that month into the correct year folder.  

So if I am copying March 2011 folder to the other hard drive. . .I will just drag March to the year 2011.  It will ask if I want to replace files. . .I say yes.  Now I know all of the pictures are on both hard drives.




SOMETHING I NEED TO IMPROVE ON. . .

So I am prepared if one hard drive crashes.

But what about a fire?  Tornado?

Nope.

Now, I should take one of the hard drives and put it at my parent's house or in a safety deposit box.

It's bothering me that I don't have it somewhere else.

But that doesn't sound like a time saver to me.  

One idea would be to switch them out yearly.

I would need another hard drive for that.

Once every year, swap the hard drives out.

If you did have a major catastrophe, you would only lose a year's worth of photos.  Better than everything.


Another idea would be to use an online photo storage system.

I've heard Drop box is a great choice, but unfortunately our internet is the pits, so this isn't a great option for us.

I do use Snapfish now to print a lot of my photos.  

What I like about Snapfish is they will also store my photos and I can share them with family and friends.

The downside, is I don't always love the way their photos look.

I've been using Mpix for some special photos and I love them.

And I have also heard of websites that will allow you to upload/store/share your photos and I will be looking into that as well.

The last thing I am going to say today about this topic is this. . . I am completely in love with the new digital age of photography.  I love that I can take as many pictures as I want and store them on these devices.

But, I don't exactly trust all of that digital information either.

I believe it is important to have a hard copy of your favorite photos as well!  

SO, remember. . .you can use Studio J as a fast way to get layouts done OR for photo printing!  I am working on getting many 3x4 pictures printed. . .which is perfect for Picture My Life Scrapbooking!  Fast, easy, done! And during the month of March these prints are on sale!  $5 for all you can fit onto two 12x12 pages!  

Stay tuned. . .

Picture Overload.

I struggle with picture overload and I am guessing a lot of you do as well.
I have even gone so far as to "forget" my camera, so I wouldn't have to deal with all of the photos I would take.

I love taking pictures.

I love working with those pictures.

I hate them sitting in a box or on my computer.

But that is exactly where a lot of my pictures are.

I want to see and enjoy my pictures!

I have been struggling with this syndrome for a while.

There just doesn't ever seem to be enough time!
Who can't relate to that?

And if I do happen to have time, sometimes I just don't know where to start!

Well, along comes Close to My Heart.  My dear,old company that I have been a part of for 9 years! How'd that happen??

They had one of their very successful consultants, Lynn Como (thanks Lynn!), post a video about something that works for her.

Flip Flaps.

I was so very excited when Close to My Heart released this product a couple of years ago.

12x12 Horizontal Pocket Page

   I had been using some pocket pages to display my excess photos. . .and that works well, BUT, that can get kind of boring too.  There are just less options when you are always working with a certain size photo sleeve.  Pocket pages are very easy to use. . .no guessing. . .but there are less options!  And I like options!

In the video, she uses Flip Flaps on tons of her layouts!  A great way to incorporate lots of pictures, but to still have the look of a nicely done scrapbook page.

Sad, that I have owned these Flip Flaps for quite a while, but haven't really dug into using them, until now!  I've tried a couple of times, but I wasn't really sure how to use them. . .so that made me give up easy and move on to something else.

My family takes an annual Lake Trip to the same resort (which I have posted about before). . . and I take lots of pictures each year.  I have an album that is all about this trip and I love looking back on each year and seeing how the kids have grown!!  But, I do have a lot of the same types of pictures. . .going down the waterslide, swimmming in the same pool, mini-golf, etc. . . I don't need a gazillion scrapbook pages of each year.  

Enter the Flip Flaps.

I really hate to leave out some of the super cute pictures, just because I have enough.  I am a hoarder by nature and getting rid of perfectly good items is very tough for me!  Not as tough since we have moved several times. . ..but still tough!

Here is the first layout I did using the Flip Flaps. . . .

Above, is the page how it looks in the album.

Here the Flip Flap is open revealing the pictures underneath. 

It is like a complete other page under there!

And it is accessible. . no having to pull anything out.

And here is the Flip Flap partially open, so you can get a better idea of how it works. 

 

Here is the 2nd page of the layout. . how it would look in the album, with the Flip Flaps closed.

The Flip Flap completely open.

And again, as you open the Flip Flap up.

They come in several different sizes. . . 
The Flip Flaps I used was the Large Assortment z1325 4.95.  You get eight Flip Flaps (4) 6x12  (2) 4x12  (2) 8x12  
I used the 6x12 on both pages of my layout.

I have also used the 4x6 Flip Flaps.  
You get 15 4x6 for 3.95 Z4114.

Another option is the Small Assortment of Flip Flaps.
You get two each of 2x2 3x3 and 4x4.  3.95

Or the 6x6 Flip Flaps for 4.95

Flip Flaps have a sticky strip that you glue right to the outside of your page protector.  So you slip your Scrapbook Page into the Page Protector and put your Flip Flap on the outside.  That way, as you are flipping through your scrapbook album, it is easy to access all of your photos!!!  

If you want me to show you how to use these Flip Flaps, I would be happy to show you how!!!  I am so excited to use them! 

Just purchase whatever size flip flaps you would like to use and we can set up a time to go over them!  We can do this in person, via internet, or on the phone.  Whatever works best for you!

Other products used on these pages:

Surf's Up Paper Pack 9.95 x7168b

Surf's Up My Stickease Assortment 4.95 x7168c

Surf's Up Paper Pack 9.95 x7168b

Surf's Up My Stickease Assortment 4.95 x7168c

Family Traditions.

Each year my family and my uncle's family go on a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.

We stay at Tan-tar-a in pretty much the same room every year.

We even have t-shirts made.  Dorky, I know, but I LOVE it!

There are 22 of us at last count.

We swim, eat, water slide, play golf (boys), and go to the spa (girls), and just hang out with each other.

Our dads farm together and I grew up really close to these cousins.  We basically still live pretty close to each other.  But, as time goes by we see each other less and less.

I absolutely LOVE that we spend one long weekend a year catching up, reconnecting, and having a little bit of fun with each other.  We do see each other at birthdays and holidays. . . but those are usually chaotic times with a lot of people crammed into a small space.  It is nice to just hang out with each other!!!

Anyway, my point is. . . I have created a scrapbook completely about this trip.  Each year I add a layout or two highlighting that year's trip to the album.  I LOVE that this is an ongoing project. . . it will hopefully never be finished.  If I fill the album up, I will just start a new one!  I love to look back and see how much the kids have changed and how our family has changed each year!

I know I have posted about this before . . . and I still get a lot of questions about it.  I gave up scrapping chronologically a long time ago.  I now do a lot of albums just like this. I have a Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Birthday, Fall,  School, Family, etc albums.  This system works for me, because I don't feel overwhelmed.  I do a few pages from each of these events and then I can add it to the appropriate album.  There is absolutely no way I am going to scrapbook every picture I have ever taken.  I am now focused on the memories I want to preserve. . . . not just the photos.

I still feel overwhelmed at times. . . because it seems to be harder and harder to fit scrapbooking into my schedule.  I keep thinking. . .maybe things will slow down in a little bit.  The truth is, things will probably never slow down.  They are only going to get crazier and crazier.  So, I am just going to have to make the time.

Enough for today.  I just wanted to share a little bit about scrapbooking and how much I love my family and our traditions!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend.  As much as I love Fall. . . I am very sad to see summer end.

Close to My Heart Ink Organizer.

For those of you who know me or follow my blog, you know I love organizing.  Almost as much as I love actually paper crafting.

So, I really LOVE the Close to My Heart Exclusive Ink Organizer!  It holds all 60 of our Exclusive Ink Colors!!!! And our markers too!  It spins, so each color is very easy to reach!  It is so nice to have all of our beautiful colors right at your fingertips!

A cool thing about this organizer. . . it has a carrying case. . . so you can slip your organizer in the bag and carry all of your ink pads with you, easily.  It is absolutely the best thing EVER!

Also. . .there is a re-inker tray you can purchase that will sit right on top. . .and fit inside the carrying case as well.  But, I keep my most used blocks in this tray.  I like having them right there, ready for me to use!

And it is the time of year when everyone is Organizing. . .or so it seems.

And I must include myself in that group.

Yesterday, I pulled out the P-touch Label Maker (One of my Favorite things) and finished labeling my Ink Organizer.  Now, I won't spend a lot of time figuring out which ink I have misplaced (or actually buried under all of my scrapbooking supplies).  I carry my inks to Workshops a lot for my customers to use. . . this helps them stay organized too!!!  I like having my inks in rainbow order. . .sort of anyway. . .and it is nice not to have to reorganize them when I get home from a workshop!!!

So this is my Organization tip of the day. . . And two Products that are my favorites. . . P-Touch Label Maker by Brother AND the Exclusive Inks Organizer from Close to My Heart! 

Organizing Scrapbook Supplies. . .

Please step away from the P-Touch label maker. . . .and no one will get hurt.

I borrowed my MIL's P-Touch yesterday and boy howdy I am hooked.
I warned my  husband everything not moving will have a label.
He joked even the pile of laundry at the foot of the bed.
Sometimes men don't know what is OK to say and what is not.

These are the first labels I made. . .

Inside the 12x12 Iris Containers (I purchased these at Michaels and Joanns) are all of my stickers.  Well, my non-CTMH Stickers anyway.  See the pink just slightly showing above?  I used to keep my stickers stored in pretty pink baskets on top of this cabinet.  As you can expect, I never used said stickers.  This shelf was really a hodge podge of stuff that I never used either.  SO. . .I broke up my stickers into different categories.  I pretty much had this done already.  If you click on the image, you should be able to read the labels easily.  I LOVE this size of label.  Easy for me to read!

Next up, some of my fun stuff. . . Embossing Powder, Re-inkers, and Paint.  Plus other inks, older CTMH inks, non-ctmh embossing powder, stickles, other distressing stuff. . . I used these 12x12 Sterilite draws from Walmart.  I was bummed at first, because my re-inkers and other things didn't fit inside standing up.  Well duh. . . they certainly fit laying down!!   Works just great!!!!

These are 12x12 Iris containers again, but in the Cart this time!  I use these to store my CTMH embellishments. I have them organized by color (thanks Tresa Black for that tip!)  So all of my Red buttons, brads, small ribbons, etc are in one drawer.  I REALLY love this!!   I also have ribbon in three of the drawers.  Two are CTMH only and one is some new ribbon and ric-rac that I picked up recently.

I picked up this container at an Orschelns of all places!!!  I keep all of my plain CTMH Chipboard in these bins.  Love it!!  If I wasn't a CTMH Consultant, I would keep all of my chipboard in these bins.  All colors shapes etc. . . but I like to keep my CTMH and other stuff separate. . .

Even my Scrap Paper couldn't avoid me and my label maker!!!!  I have shown you this cart before.  I LOVE it very, very much!  I keep all of my CS scraps in each of the bins.  I search here first before I cut into a new piece of cardstock!


I really can't believe it is Friday already.
Once again, it has been a super busy week.
Any crafting time I have had has been spent on my Workshop Projects. . . which will be happening this Sunday at 3pm or making lots of labels!

The Scraps. . .

This is what I organize my Cardstock Scraps in. I love this cart!! Each of the containers are a bit bigger than 12x12, so my big scraps fit in here too!! I have them organized by the rainbow. . .or Roy G Biv. My top drawer is for white and off-white. My second drawer holds other basic colors like blacks, browns, and tans. Then I have a Red/yellow/orange drawer, a green drawer. a blue drawer, and a pink/purple drawer.




Here is a drawer pulled out. . .


I love this system, because my scraps don't get all bent up. It is relatively easy to find the color I am looking for. And I am saving cardstock! If I need a small piece of a certain color . . .then I just search through the appropriate bin instead of cutting up a large piece!!!!

And lastly, here is Brady on his very first day of Pre-school. It was raining cats and dogs outside, but it luckily slowed down a bit and allowed us to make it to school on time! I will have more pictures posted on my other blog www.meredithburgess.blogspot.com

Organizing Ribbon. . .

Another rainy day and another day of sharing pictures from the Scrap Shack!


I love jars and baskets. . .as you will see as I share more pictures! The above picture is of my Canisters full of CTMH ribbon. . . I keep the different color families in each of the different canisters. This is not convenient if you are an "on the go" scrapper, but is sure does look cute! I do most of my crafting at home, so I like to be able to see my stuff and I like for it to look cute! The other canister is full of Glitter . . something I love! This is new to my room . . . .I needed a spot for my glitter and of course they look beautiful displayed!

This next picture is of locker baskets I picked up at a flea market on top of my metal cabinets. I absolutely LOVE the locker baskets!!! The first one is of all my Bulk Close to My Heart Ribbon. . . like to have it all in one spot, so I know exactly what I have. I have to keep my CTMH stuff and my other Scrapping supplies pretty much separate. . .it just works easier for me that way. And the other two locker baskets have some Halloween things I picked up at a Garage Sale. . .and the last one has Chipboard letters.


And this last picture is of some Other ribbon I have that I have wrapped around embroidery Floss bobbins. I picked these up at WM after my cousin Sara shared this tip with me. It is perfect for those of you who scrapbook away from home, because it is very easy to take with you!! AND it allows you to see what ribbons you have at a glance!



I read somewhere that it is easier to store things if you get rid of the packaging they come in. . . I know that the packaging is sometimes as cute as the product itself. . .but I have found for most of my embellishments this is true! Now to find a way to store all of my chipboard letters. . . this is something I have been thinking about for awhile, but I just don't know how to incorporate yet!

I have one more place I store ribbon, but I didn't have a picture of it for some reason. . . I will share it at a later date!

Organization has begun. . .

As I warned several days ago. . . I was itching to do some cleaning/organizing around my Scrap Shack Studio and my house. Well yesterday was THE DAY! It rained all most the entire day. . .I awoke around 5:30 to the thunder. . . I ran to unplug my computer (I am always scared that my much beloved computer is going to be struck by lightening!). . .anyway. . .no one else was up and I was wide awake, so I made me some coffee and dove right in! It helped that I left the computer unplugged for most of the day AND that my internet didn't work until late in the evening! This saved me from distractions!!

Brady did have his very first day of Pre-school. . .so I had to break to take him and pick him up. He absolutely loved it and I am so excited for him!!!!

Anyway, back to the organizing. . . .so the first picture I am going to share is of some of my Close to My Heart embellishments. I do have the My Accents Organizer too. . . but it is full and most of these embellishments won't fit. They are too big or I have too many of them to fit in a container. I had this little organizer already, so I decided to use what i own. I love having everything here in one place that I can just grab and look through. The only down side to this and upside to the Accents organizer. . . is that they sometimes mix together. The bottom of each section isn't completely sealed off, so some of the little doodads do escape!!!! But, it was fun. . . I like organizing my stuff as much as I like using it and shopping for it. I tell my hubby that this is a three parts hobby. . . Actually doing it, buying it, and organizing it!!!!!

But seriously. . . .I do like to organize my stuff every once in awhile. It helps me remember exactly what I have. . . It helps me use what I have. . . I am also able to purge some of the older items that I know I won't use. . .

I will be posting different organizing pictures over the next few weeks. . .with pictures of my space and the scrap shack included. If you have trouble locating the posts or just want to see them all in one spot. . .just scroll down to my labels and click on Organization or Scrap Shack Studio (or something similar)

My Accents Organizer. . .

http://www.craftcritique.com/2008/06/close-to-my-heart-embellishment-storage.html

I just ran across this site above. . .they review Scrapbooking related products. The above link will take you to a review of our Accents Organizer! I have organizing on the brain. . . since summer is starting to wind down just a bit. . . and my house and Scrap Space are in complete disarray. . . I am looking forward to reorganizing my stuff. . . making room for the new CTMH goodies I have ordered. . . AND making my space more user friendly!!! If I really find more time (since the little guy is starting pre-school next week!!!) I will try and post some of my organizational choices. . . sometimes it just helps to see how others do it!!

Album Organization. . .

FINALLY. . . I believe I have figured out a system for storing my finished scrapbook pages!!!! I have been a student of Stacy Julian's Library of Memories Class for the past few weeks. I have followed along pretty good, but it is hard to keep up when there is so much going on!! The class ends next week and I will no longer have access to the lessons! I really wish they would give us a couple of extra weeks to get caught up! But, I guess it would probably NEVER be enough time!!!

Anyway, through her class (as I have discussed in previous blogs). . .she has taught us how to set up a system for organizing, storing, sorting, and scrapbooking all of our photos. . . and also housing all of the layouts!

So, today I moved some of my older layouts around and labeled all of the albums I have. . . the label holders are CTMH and are wonderful!!!!!!!

This is how I have my Albums Labeled. . . Places, Family, Seasons, Fall, Halloween, Christmas, Holidays, Brady's Birthday, Celebrations, Brady, and Easter. . . whew. . .that seems like A LOT of albums!! And the thing is. . .I am ready to place a BIG order for more albums, so I can have my Library completely set up!!! Do I need more albums right now? Probably not yet. . .but I know I will need some more in the future and I am not a very patient person!!! 97% of my albums are Close to My Heart. . .and for the ones that are not CTMH, I plan on switching them over. I have been lured into the good sells Hobby Lobby has had on Albums in the past. . .the problem is I can definitely tell the difference in quality!!!!! Now, maybe it is just the brand I picked out and not all are like this. . .and maybe it is just because I have them side-by-side to my CTMH albums. . . BUT I can tell a difference!!! Most of my albums are linen. . .which I really like!! I love the variety of colors. BUT if you want to splurge a little, the CTMH Leather albums are wonderful!! I have the English Leather and the Black. . .both are so beautiful and rich looking!!! They would look great sitting on a coffee table. . .full of your favorite or most recent layouts (an album I plan on adding very soon!)

Here is a breakdown of the kind of layouts I have in each Album (this is different than Stacy Julian, but I did base my organization off of the ideas that she taught!) Click on the picture above to see it larger!

My Places Album: RIght now it has pictures of us at the Park, at a Water Park, and an Amusement Park. It also has layouts from Family Vacations we have taken recently. I plan on having a special Vacation Album one of these days. I will also put layouts about our home or my Parent's home (etc...) in here.

My Family Album: This is an Album I know will be divided up soon. Right now it has layouts about Myself and Brady, Dad and Brady, Cousins, Family. . .any layout I have done that shows a family relationship. I pulled one of my Grandfather at Easter stealing candy before the Easer Egg Hunt had even began. Believe me, I had plenty of Easter Layouts. . .I decided I wanted this one to go under a Grandpa Tracy section in my Family Album. I also have the birth of my nephew in here and special relationships Brady has with his cousins. . . just to mention a few.

My Seasons Album. . . RIght now it has layouts that are specific to a certain season. . . winter, spring, and summer. . . I am sure one of these days that each season will probably have its very own album. . .like I have done for Fall. We tend to have A LOT of Fall pictures with the pumpkins and everything going on. . .so I went ahead and gave it its very own album!

Holidays. . . here I will keep layouts of special holidays we celebrate. . . I have Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day in here so far. Easter, Halloween, and Christmas each have their own album. We have a huge Easter celebration and hunt each year at my Aunt's house, of course there are endless celebrations and traditions with Christmas, and I love the idea of having a special Halloween Album (something Stacy Julian has) and since Halloween is such a big deal to us with Brady's birthday and all of the pumpkins we grow!!!

Celebrations. . .my side of the family loves to celebrate. . .anything and everything!! My husband thinks we have a party for everything. . isn't he funny?? But we do like to get together!!!! This album will house layouts documenting those get togethers. . .from birthday parties, to family dinners, to weddings, and other special occasions. . . both with family and friends!

This fall I will be adding a School of Life Album since Brady will be starting Pre-school. . . each year I plan on doing 3-4 pages on that school year's activities and adding it to the album. Hopefully this will be a nice and easy way to showcase his educational experience!!!

I also plan on adding a Things we Do album. . . for sport's pictures, Mizzou games, life on the farm, around the house, and other things we enjoy to do!!!

Obviously, a lot of these layouts could overlap in which album they could be placed in. Sort of like the Easter picture of my Grandpa Tracy. I could have left it in the Easter album and that would have been just fine. It was taken at Easter and he is eating Easter Candy in it. BUT. . . I wrote about how he has such a big sweet tooth, as did his Mother, his son (my Dad), and myself. And it described a bit of his personality. . . .SO that is why I decided to move it to the Family Album.

This has been a bit of a journey for me. . . one that I am still on. I believe I have the frame work in place for a system I am going to LOVE!!! I just can't wait to fill my albums up with pages. . . I kept thinking OH. . .I can put a page about this here and a page about that there!!! Before. . .I would some times stick my pages on TOP of my albums, because I just didn't know where to put them!!!! And I must confess. . .at one time I had over 50 layouts in a pile in my cabinet, because I just didn't know where to put them!!!!!

Year by year scrapbooks aren't for me. . . I know some people love them. . . and I like them on a mini-scale. . .but not for the majority of my books. In the event I have another child, I think this system would work well for incorporating them into it. I don't plan on duplicating every event for scrapbooks for both of my children. . .I know people who like to do this, but this just seems like a big chore to me!! I don't want scrapbooking to seem like work! I want it to be FUN!!!! They will have an album all about them (or two or three!) and a school album! The rest of the layouts go in the designated albums.

I know some of you have been interested in how I organize my albums. . . I am sure I will tweak this a bit from time to time as I see how it could work better! I am sure my Library will expand and I will add new Albums to the mix. I really like the Theme Albums. . .I like that the colors usually coordinate (but not always!), that I can see change over time, relationships are present, and that I am not searching through piles of scrapbooks looking for a particular layout or picture. If I want to see a Christmas picture. . .I just open the Christmas Album. . .if I don't remember what year we went on a particular trip. . .it doesn't matter. . .I just open my Vacation album!!!!

Please let me know if you have any questions about this. . . I am happy to share!!!

Thinking about Organization. . .

OK. . .I am LOVING my Library of Memories Class!!! Right now I am like, well duh!!! Of course that makes sense!!! Most of you could probably figure this out on your own. . . but I needed the class to hold my hand and walk me through the process of organizing my pictures and albums. . .and to see how I can make more meaningful pages.

I was looking at my Album Library shelf the other day. . . and it occurred to me that I had only been scrapping since 2000 and probably not seriously since 2004 (when Brady was born). There are a whole lotta albums on that shelf for such a short amount of time!!! They aren't full. . . .but they are adding up already!!!!!!!

SO. . . I thought to myself. . . How do I make more meaningful pages? How do I streamline the process and not just make pages to make pages?

NOW. . .I LOVE to scrapbook. . .time is an issue. . .but I love to do it. So I will always have those fluff pages. . .as I call them. Simply, pages created because I wanted to make a page. . .maybe I wanted to use some really cute paper ( and that is BIG for me. . .cute paper is hard to cut!) maybe I wanted to try a new technique. . . or maybe I just loved the pictures I was scrapping. WHATEVER the reason this is all OK!!! But. . . is Brady really going to want 900 pages of him in cute outfits. . .no story. . .no memory other than the outfit???

SO. . .it is my quest to begin to make more meaningful pages. . .pages that tell a story. . .show a connection. . . or whatever else I choose!!

Library of Memories Class has you use category drawers for your pictures. . . .so I have a drawer just for Easter. . . or cousin pictures. . .or Brady and Dad pictures. . . you can't believe how cool this is. This is going to make it SO easy to do a Father's Day mini-album for Collie. Just go to my file and pull several pictures of him and Brady together. . . I have also learned that there are A LOT more pictures of Brady and Collie than me!!!! Something I probably need to work on, but I am not too excited about! Now this means you have to separate the pictures from their actual event. . .something I didn't understand and had a hard time with at first. You mean pull pictures away from when they happened? How will I know the details?? SO. . . .I started with pictures I had already scrapped or that were in cold storage. . . pictures I never planned on getting to. . .or at least not for the next 10 years or so. I had LOTS of doubles and even triples. . . .I might put one behind my Around the House Category. . .or life on the farm. . . or Brady. . . . or Family pics. And I only used good pictures! I was very selective with what goes into a category! Only the best of the best! (note: I still have my pictures arranged by season and year in a CM Powersorter box. For example: Summer 09, Winter 07, Spring 06, Fall 05 and so on. This is where the bulk of my unscrapped pictures are stored until I decide what to do with them!)

For example Christmas. . .I don't know about you but I take a gazillion Christmas pictures. . . from cookie decorating, trimming the tree, Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, and the list goes on and on. AND I always have a huge hang up about Scrapping these photos. . .there are just so many of them!!! Now. . .I just kind of fell into this process. . . I pick a few of my favorites from each event and I scrap a page or two for each event . Some people could probably even condense more, but I think this is pretty good for me right now. NOW the rest of the photos. . . .we always take shots of each of the families at Christmas, , , Sometimes I scrapbook these with my Christmas photos. . .but I always take more than one of each family. . . I will now put these behind a Tracy family category. . .and in the future I hope to make a page or 2 about how the family has changed/grown over the past however many years. Just like we take a grandkids picture here and there. . . these pictures really don't illustrate Christmas, but they can show growth or change over time!!

I wasn't sure exactly what this class would entail. . . BUT it is opening up a whole new world for me. . . a way to make some meaningful scrapbook pages. . . .I LOVE pages that show relationships and change!!

I also LOVE that I am not organizing my albums in date order. . .for me, this is just boring. I know for others this works. . .it is not my intention to put anyone's process down. I ALWAYS say whatever works for you is what you should be doing. . . BUT I am saying it wasn't working for me!!! I started to realize a while ago that I wasn't searching for photos by date anymore. I couldn't quite remember what year this event or that event happened and I was searching through different years trying to find it. And I KNOW this will just get worse for me over time. And being a history teacher, I firmly believe in a timeline and dates. . . So my layouts each will be dated. . . I just won't have ALL of my layouts from 2009 in the same album. (or 2 albums!)

I started a Christmas Album a while ago. . .I love to flip through and see a pages from each Christmas all together. I probably will even streamline this more and only put 2 pages from each Christmas in this album and put the other pages in a Things we do album. I am not sure about this yet. . . something I am still figuring out. I also have a Halloween Album. . . and I plan to start an Easter Album, and a Tracy Lake Bash Album. . .these are events that happen year after year and I always have a lot of pictures from each of them.

I KNOW I can't do this class justice here on my blog. I do HIGHLY recommend taking this class. . .no matter how many times people tried to explain to me this process. . . I JUST didn't get it. Even though I knew it was probably just what I was looking for!!!! I am only half way through the class, so there still is a lot more to learn! I just can't believe the light bulbs that went off for me!! Stacy Julian's books are The Big Picture and Photo Freedom. Photo Freedom describes her system in-depth. . .I tried to do that instead of the class, but I really needed the hand holding. . . someone to walk me through the process.

I know this is a long post. . . and I really have A LOT more than I can say on the topic. I FEEL so much more connected to my pictures and to WHY I am scrapbooking. Sometimes that gets lost. . .I know it has for me. . .and I have seen fellow scrapbookers get burned out. . . to me this doesn't have to be an all or nothing craft. SO, you don't have all the time in the wold to get all of the scrapbooking done that you would like to?? Why not just do a page here or there? OR if you just do ONE album ever. . .well that is at least something!!! Who says if you can't scrap EVERY little detail than you shouldn't scrap at all???

Stick some pictures in Photo Storage pages. . .Leave one slot blank and put some journaling on a 4x6 piece of paper!!! Call it good!!! Now you can SEE your pictures and you have recorded the MEMORY!!! Memories are so much more important to me than Pictures. . . . I think I have said that before, though. My pictures are all well preserved digitally on my hard drive, on my external hard drive, on DVDs, and on the web. The memories are stored in my brain and if I don't record them, then they will be forgotten!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK. . .time to get off of my soapbox and record some memories. .. .or do housework. . .whichever comes first!!!!!!

3rd Post today. . .ORGANIZING Photos

SO. . . I am very excited to have started a brand new online class. . . Library of Memories at Big Picture Scrapbooking. It is taught by Stacy Julian and it teaches you how to organize your photos and your albums. . . .and how to never again worry about not being caught up! She shares a lot of this information in her book. . . Photo Freedom. . . But I still wasn't getting it, so I signed up for her class. . . it is a bit pricey and she only teaches it once a year. . .I have been wanting to take the class for the past few years and I am so excited to finally commit the time and money to this class!!!!

So. . . I thought I could share what some of the things we are working on through this class. . .obviously I can't share everything. . . but I will share some of the things I am doing to help myself be better organized. . .AND I know several of you have mentioned organizing your pictures. . . .I know this seems like a HUGE undergoing. . . .but I organized about 3 years worth of photos in under an hour. . . I did it by season and year. . . so I made a winter, spring, summer, and fall pile for each year. I didn't worry about them being in exact correct order. . .just in order by season. For some really dumb reason, I had taken my pictures out of order a while ago. . .don't ask me why, because I really don't remember my reasoning!!! But now they are back in order, somewhat anyway.

The picture shows how I made my columns and that I had a lot of "good" help with the process!!!!!! The class recommends using cheap photo storage albums to store your prints in. . .prior to scrapbooking them. I think this is great, but I don't believe I have room for more albums on my shelf. . .though this is a great way to make your current prints accessible and so you can look through them easily or share them with others!!! I already own one Power Sorter box from Creative Memories. . . so I decided to use something I already own. . .I have also purchased another one. . .hopefully this will keep me organized. . .I just have them by season and year. Nothing more complicated than that. . . it isn't as easy to browse through them this way. . .but at least I know where their home is!! And something I can drop in easily when I have pictures printed!!!!

All those little things. . .

I know when most of us think about scrapping, we think about completing scrapbook pages. Duh, right? Well, really there is a lot that goes into scrapbooking prior to those pages being completed and I believe it makes life easier for me! Like I said, for me. . .I never presume to believe that every system works for everybody! With that being said. . .

The first little thing that helps a lot. . .is an organized space! I am blessed to have a wonderful scrapping space. . .but it wasn't always that way! Prior to January of this year I scrapped on my bed! Yes, that is right. . .on my bed! My supplies lined the wall next to my bed and an armoire a foot from my bed. It wasn't the best of circumstances, but it was the only space I had. I spent a lot of time organizing and reorganizing, but I do believe that helped me know what I had and where it was located! Even in my beautiful new space, I spend a lot of time organizing my stuff. Spending lots of time searching for supplies when you are "in the groove" really takes time away from scrapbooking! I organize when I am not feeling very creative or my space becomes too cluttered for anything creative to take place! Personally, I love my scrapbooking supplies and organizing them allows me to handle them and remember why I purchased them in the first place! A fun thing to relive!

Enough of that. . .what a nice day it was today! Though I wish for a lot more rain then we have received. . .the mist and clouds were nice for most of the day today!! I started this layout yesterday and finished it during naptime today. . .I really like it!





These pictures were taken during a day this summer. . .before melon season started. . .Collie decided Brady would like to play in an old tent we had. He thought it was a lot of fun to lounge in the tent with his Nanny and Daddy, snacks, and Milk! Visit my website to see a complete list of products used! It sure was fun to make!