Just Scrap It

Hey all! I rarely know what to post about at any given moment because I am never at the computer when I think of something to write, and when I am at the computer, I draw a blank. Well, the other day I was commenting on a friend's blog over at Cardiff Central and as I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote, I realized that I should just blog about it myself instead of leaving the longest comment known to man. The issue of scrapbooking came up. There is always worry about where to start and how to know what "book" to make first and feeling like it will never all come together. Well, here is how I make it fun and not just bearable.

I used to feel like it was such a daunting task to scrap all of the pictures that I take, but I have come up with a solution that has changed my scrapping world!

First, I decide what brand of pages and books I want to ultimately use, whether it is creative memories, or others that you can get at Target, or Michael's. Once I decide what brand I will use, I buy a bunch of pages and page protectors and don't even worry about buying a book yet. Then, I just scrap things as they come to me. I do not let myself get wrapped up in a theme, or the idea that I have to create a whole book at a time. The end result is that I have scrapped all of my pictures, and they are no longer stacked up to the moon and back, and when I feel like I want to, I can organize the pages into the book of my choosing.

For example, we went to Sea World, Anna Started School, and Anna had a birthday all in one month's time. Well, instead of feeling like I had to make a book about Sea World, a book about her first day at Kindergarten (sniff, sniff) and a book about her birthday, I just scrapped each event and down the road I can put them together into books. I will not have a whole book for her first day of school, but down the road I will have enough pages for a book of ALL her first days of school. I will not have enough pictures to do a whole Sea World book, but we go every summer and one day I will have enough pages to make a Sea World book over the course of several years. Then it does not seem so daunting because you have been making pages as you go, and you just go buy the book and fit all of your pages in. Clear as mud?

Last but not least, I want to address all of the pictures we have that are PRICELESS, but do not fit into any category, they are just fun. Well, I mixed several ideas I have heard of and came up with a solution that works for me. Just as I mentioned above, I decided what pages and book I wanted to use, and then gathered up all of my random pictures. Then, I went to my husband and asked him to make a list of his favorite scriptures, then I went to Anna and asked her the same thing (yes she has favorite scriptures at age 6! Thank you AWANA) Then I made a list of my favorite scriptures, and my FAITH BOOK was born. Each page has a scripture written out and the initials of the person whose favorite it is. Then, you just add any random family fun picture, and it does not have to "match" the scripture. It has been so fun making this book, and the greatest thing is that as we continue our walk with the Lord, we will add scriptures that He has laid on our hearts, and add pictures as we go.

Oh, and as far as embellishments go, I think, personally, that less is more. As you can see in my pictures, I don't spend all my scrapping energy on the major embellishments. I want it to be about my pictures more than anything. The cool thing about scrapping is that you can make it as plain or as busy as you want.

Also, as far as journaling goes...I am so bad at journaling(surprise, surprise) I use books, and scriptures to journal with. Stealing ideas is the best form of flattery, right?

This may have just sounded like a big dumping of thoughts, but I hope it makes sense. Srapbooking should not be frustrating! Make it fun! The minute it gets frustrating, put it away for a while. Anyhoo, that is all I have for now. Remember to pray for my dear friend at Cardiff Central as she and her family await the arrival of their 3rd baby girl! Sooner than later, right?Happy scrapping!

Here are 3 pictures of my Faith Book. As you can tell, I have put in the verses and made the page layout but have not added my pictures yet. Why? Because there is no hurry:)

Here are a few pictures of a book I made for Anna. I had her first 2 years in photos, but no real theme, so for her 2nd birthday, I just stuck them all together, and the Journaling? I used Max Lucado's book "Just In Case You Ever Wonder" and it is a story book that she reads to this day!

And here are some of my random pages. We did some traveling before we had Anna and we do not have enough pictures from one trip to make a whole book, so here are my scattered pages, that I will probably put into one big travel book one day. You will notice my lack of big embellishments. Just paper!