Scrapbooking!

I wrote the 1st part of this post on March 20th, Friday:

Wow, I have been blogging so infrequently. It's kinda disappointing. When I created the blog I thought I'd be posting almost every day! Oh well, there may yet come a point in my life when I do that. That point apparently is not right now! I will, however, make sure I post at least once a month.

Spring, Spring, SPRING!!! Today is the official first day of Spring. Happy happy happy! Of course, I live in Manitoba so I know the weather can be very unpredictable but I won't let that dampen my spirits! I have the window open to let in the fresh air (and let the stinky air out - why do I have indoor cats again??) and even though it's maybe a touch too cool in the house I really don't mind! Let the snow melt melt melt!

I love scrapbooking but don't do it as often as I'd like for a number of reasons. Currently I am working on THREE scrapbook projects - why do I do that to myself?! I get the magazine Creating Keepsakes which I LOVE and the April issue had a great article in it titled Spring Into Action. It includes 5 strategies to help you accomplish the scrapbooking that matters most. Sounded like an article just for me, and it was! In the magazine there are 5 headings each with a paragraph or two of explanation & advice underneath. I summed up each one and wrote them on index cards and put them up on my pegboard in my scrap space where I will always see them when I am scrapbooking. Here's a pic:

(okay, now the rest of this post is written today, March 25, Wednesday)

Sorry, I know the photo isn't very clear. The first one says Don't feel you need to scrap every event that happens. The original title is Don't feel you need to scrap everything that happens in each child's life, which currently does not apply to me. For this one it suggests that, since a child may be involved in a lot of functions in a school year, to pick your favorite pic from each event and scrap them together on a 2-page layout, journaling about the highlights of each. For me it reminds me that I don't need to scrapbook every birthday party, gathering, holiday get-together, etc.

The 2nd one says Don't worry about scrapping chronologically. For our trip to the States last Fall, I first scrapbooked pages of the grizzly we saw and of Old Faithful, because these were the most memorable for me and because I had already figured out the layout of one in my head. Now I have gone back and started from the beginning. The magazine suggests using a 3-ring binder (I've seen really nice 3-ring binder scrapbooks in the stores) and that way it is easy to insert pages wherever you want. I think I'll buy one of those next time!

The 3rd one says Don't worry about being behind. Enjoy the here & now. More great advice in this one but I won't write all of it here. Sum it up to say that I don't want to be stressing about needing to get things scrapbooked when I could be creating memories instead!

The 4th one says Keep your pages simple. Focus on the memories. This one is about minimizing the time-consuming work on the pages such as placing all the elements just right or printing the pictures perfectly. Instead place importance on getting down the memories through the journaling & photos instead.

The last one says Scrap only a few photos from each event. This is a tough one for me because I take a lot of pictures and I want to scrapbook every one of them! I have to try to pick the best ones, my favorite ones, or a cross-section that shows what happened. I am also learning that it is okay to scrapbook pics that aren't a 100% photographically good, if it is the only shot you got - just print it smaller if it's out of focus, or try and sharpen it the best you can.

Ultimately, remember this: Scrapbooking is supposed to be fun, not a chore! Now, if only I can remember this!

A month of so ago I did something I have never done before but always wanted to try. I have seen scrapbook pages in Creating Keepsakes that people have used paint on and have heard of scrapbookers who just scrap without much planning at all. So one day when I was feeling miserable (if I remember correctly it was PMS and I was feeling down) I turned up the music (I was by myself) and printed off a picture I had previously Picniked. Then I pulled out the paint and did this - with very little pre-thought:


It was so freeing & really helped improve my mood! Immediately after I printed off another previously Picniked picture and created this page:


I admit it was easier doing this since I already had photos that were easy to print off as is and provided a very good focal point. But scrapbooking like this is SO not me. For starters, I plan way in advance what my pages will look like and then it takes days or even weeks to complete. I try and make everything look perfect (or at least look like what's in my mind) and end up buying or borrowing supplies to achieve that. Often my printer doesn't like me so it takes a while to get pictures looking just the way I want. Nine times out of ten I do 2-page layouts. Doing single pages like those above is something I very rarely do. I also pretty much never use plain white paper. I also have never used paint on my pages. And never have I not planned ahead & just went for it! I really like how they turned out.

I have to go now (Lee just texted me that he's coming home soon & I haven't started supper yet) but maybe I will post some pics of my scrapbook pages that show how I usually scrapbook. Of course I'll only show you my best ;)