Make It Count!

Hi Stampers! Today I want to share an article about scrapbooking that I wrote. When I take the time to get out my pictures and focus on getting them in an album, I am a woman possessed. And it took me a while to realize not everyone does it like me. Case in point: the first time I went to a "crop", we all shared our progress at the end (of 4 hours). Most had done 1-5 pages. I did 22! Having 2 small children at home, I was not about to waste a minute of my time!!
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So how did I do it? I have gone through my process and hope my steps will help you as well.
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Getting The Most Out of Your Scrapbooking Time

As with anything, organization is key. And you have to plan ahead. Scrapbooking can be such a fun and fulfilling hobby or it can be frustrating, expensive, and messy. If you are way behind, or just starting from lots of pictures I recommend picking a year. It doesn't really matter which year you do first, you're going to get them all done eventually.

Well before your scrapbooking time, you need to get your pictures ready. For many of us, that means getting them printed. I know lots of families that take lots of pictures that never make it out of the camera/computer. If time is an issue, consider looking through them quickly and simply removing the definitely bad ones. Don't get bogged down, cropping, editing, and deciding which one is "the best" because they will look different in real life--trust me. Then get them printed!

Now that you have pictures printed or gathered up you have another prep session which involves sorting your pictures. This is the first of:

5 Steps To Dominate Scrapbooking

1. Sort your pictures by month. Have a folder or page protecter or envelope for each month--labeled. That way if you have to put everything way, it's easy to start right where you left off. Still best if you can do this before your scrapbooking session.


2. Using the pictures from just one month, sort them into events or categories: Bob's birthday party, swim lessons, picnic day. Evaluate the pictures in each category and choose which to use. Guess what? If you have kids at home, they will like to have those leftover pictures.


3. Get out your sketches or scrap maps. Working with one event, choose colors and lay out your cardstock. It is so much quicker to have a sketch available to get going. For even faster results you can use a Simply Scrappin' kit which has coordinating cardstock and embellishments all ready to go.


4. The fun part! Put your pages together, get your pictures on, and embellish to your heart's content.


5. Journal it. Do not skip this step! I know you may not be in the mood to reminisce and find the right words, etc. That's ok but make sure you get the date, the subject, and the place. The sappy stuff can be added later. :)

After you complete one event, you just repeat steps 3-5 until the month is done. That is the best feeling! Then grab the next month and start over at step 2. Repeat this process until you are all caught up.

That's really all there is to it. You can break it into bits and do a month at a time or several months at once. Try it, I think you'll be happy with the results.

Author Tasha Hickert owns a rubber stamping and scrapbooking business. She started scrapbooking before the word existed and has been stamping for 11 years. For more tips or supplies, contact her at tasha@thestampinglady.com or visit her blog http://tashasdesignworld.blogspot.com .

I'll be back tomorrow for show and tell. Have a Fabulous Friday and thanks for stopping by! Tasha

Picture the Possiblities

Hi Stampers! As promised, I have Stampin' Up!'s May special to show you. With May being National Scrapbooking Month, this special will help you to get your scrappin' groove on!

The highlights are:

• Buy 3 designer series paper packs, get 1 free
• Buy 3 textured cardstock packs, get 1 free
• Order the not-yet-in-the-catalog Jumble alphabet stamp set at 20% off

And the craziest thing:

• Join my team, the Stamping Circle, for only $75! It's true Stampin' Up! has arranged a scrapbook starter kit option that gets you all the business supplies plus some scrapbooking supplies to get started. Contact me if you are interested by email tasha@thestampinglady.com or 620-960-8490.

I think the Jumble alphabet is genius. Casual, whimsical, fun all in one alphabet at a great price!

You can order this starting tomorrow, May 1, by clicking on My Stampin' Up! website. The alphabet is number 115199 and, for a limited time, the price is $35.16.

Have you gotten out your pictures and started to organize? Are you up for a challenge?

I challenge you to create 15 pages this month--with pictures.

What good are the layouts if they don't have pictures? Yes, this is the challenge I have set for myself as well. And busy as May is, it will not be easy but I know that I will be happy to look at them when they are done. So let's get going!

Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day! Tasha

Busting Three Myths About Scrapbooking

Hi Stampers! With National Scrapbooking Month just around the corner, I've been thinking about some of the things people say to me about scrapbooking. And then I found this great article so instead of reinventing the wheel I will let you read what Karen Siegel Fitting has to say.
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Busting Three Myths About Scrapbooking
-by Karen Siegel Fitting
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When I tell people about what I do, I often hear things like; "I am not creative at all", "I just don't have the time" , "I would love to be able to scrapbook". If you have the desire to scrapbook, you can make to happen.
Read on... three common scrapbooking myths are about to be BUSTED!
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Scrapbooking Myth #1: There's no time to scrapbook. Scrapping doesn't require more time than you are willing to give to yourself for other activities (like exercise or the spa), it just requires scheduling. Most retail stores post their scrapbooking times 2 to 3 months in advance. Independent consultants offer workshops as well and will likely have their schedules prepared 4 to 6 months in advance. My friend, Jackie, only scrapbooks twice a year - at weekend retreat events an independent consultant runs. Jackie knows 6 months in advance when the next retreat will happen and works her family calendar around it. She is able to remain up to date with her photo projects by simply making the most of these two opportunities. In my experience, busy people get things done - because of planning.
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Scrapbooking Myth #2: You have to be creative to make a scrapbook style photo album. Putting photos into safe albums is mostly about preserving the memories & stories that the photos represent. Some of my favorite album pages are 'naked'. They lack any stickers or embellishments whatsoever. I love pages like this because they celebrate the memories. Digital scrapbooking and pre-designed layouts make things easier. Just add pictures and your words and you have a beautiful page!
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Scrapbooking Myth #3: Scrapbooks are for families with kids. As long as you are taking pictures, kids or no kids, there's plenty to work on! Look at your pictures, aren't they worthy of celebration? It's time to show off your exciting life! Celebrate your everyday, your family and friends. Your story is worth telling and sharing, putting these stories and memories into a safe album is a great way to do this!
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Now that you know how to bust these myths, it is time to get started. Find a few pictures, find some friends or some help from a store or consultant and celebrate your memories.
To request your free digital scrapbooking software, go to http://karenfitting.wordpress.com/ Karen Siegel Fitting has been helping her clients keep up-to-date with their photos for over 5 years. Since January, 2009 her clients have completed over 10 albums, hundreds of pages, and have maintained sanity in the effort of keeping their photos managed.
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So now that you have no excuses, why don't you spend some time in the next few weeks finding and organizing some pictures. Then you can scrapbook with me next month! Let's see if we can make this the most productive May ever!!
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Thanks for stopping by, Tasha

PS--Not sure where to start? Stampin' Up!'s Simply Scrappin' kits are a great way to get started. I can get a whole album out of one kit--that's pretty cost (and time) effective! These kits are listed in the catalog on pages 163-165.

And don't forget, you can still sign up for May's COTM club here.

1-Hour Simply Scrappin' Album

I have to share my first Simply Scrappin' album. Now I will say it took me two hours since I had to lay out the pages from scratch. But now I can put it together in 1 hour. Super for a gift. This one is for my cousin who got married recently and the colors are just perfect. I haven't fixed up the cover yet but it will be a "First Year of Marriage" album. Best part is you can get 2 albums out of 1 kit!

This page is pretty much a CASE of the sample that comes with the scrappin' kit. The pages are 8x8. These pictures are when I had it in an 8.5x8.5 book but I went to Hobby Lobby and got a nice 8x8 album for $12.99 that is post bound--made it look much better.

Both of these are red pages! Sorry the one looks so orange.

This gives you the basic idea. I will get better pictures and maybe even figure out how to do a sketch of it. But I know some of you were waiting to see the layout so I am posting it "as is".

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Thanks for stopping by!

Till next time, Tasha