It's got me thinking...

[Keitha]

Listened to the latest Scrap Gals podcast today on my drive home. The guest on the show outlined how she scraps. While primarily a pocket-page scrapper she doesn't do traditional Project Life (a layout a week); she can't abide the thought of all those albums years down the road, assuming she continues to scrap. She readily admits to not having much time and being a slow scrapper, and works retroactively rather than with current photos, which is a big factor in her method. She organizes her photos for a year into folders not based on months or seasons but stories which could be as inconsequential as an event or random holiday - they don't have to be deep and meaningful. She then lists all the groups of photos from the year, i.e. stories, and picks 10-ish to scrap. The perspective of time gives her the ability to see which are the ones she wants to document, and which ones don't matter to her telling of her story. She's not militant about choosing exactly 10, she says some years there might be 12 that she can't live without scrapping, and some years there might only be 8. She then looks at the year overall for the important stories that haven't been told in these individual groups of photos, i.e. a job change, illness of a loved one - things that might happen over time - and adds 2 to the other 10-ish. She then chooses a (very) few photos for each story and has them all printed at once, giving her a year's worth of scrapping to do which in reality is only a dozen or so pages, allowing time for other one-off projects she might want to do from time to time.

Something about that resonates with me. I don't think of myself as a story-based scrapper, but do tend to look at my photos as different events or stories. I've always taken the approach of scrapping whenever and whatever I feel like doing, but admit in the last couple of years I haven't scrapped much at all. As I listened to her I thought how freeing only needing to scrap a dozen pages a year would be, and I'm debating if I want to try that approach for a couple years' worth of photos to see if it makes me feel caught up, for lack of a better term.

About a decade ago I participated in Scrapbook and Cards Today's Project 12, where you created a double-page layout for each month of the year to document the highlights. I said at the time that I didn't care for that project as even though I only included one photo and perhaps a caption I felt like each event had been scrapbooked, and wasn't inclined to go back and do a full page on any particular story from the month. So I can fully appreciate the irony of now considering scrapping only a dozen or so pages a year, but these days am torn between my desire to not only scrapbook, but art journal, make cards, play with paint, etc. Add to that my grandkids are bigger so I have fewer cute photos overall, and like as not when I'm scrapping I'd rather focus on my vacation travels or other specific project album. What to do, what to do...

[Monica]

Interesting thoughts, Keitha. I find myself more and more only scrapping events or moments, not anything daily or monthly. And even with events, particularly Christmas and Thanksgiving, I'm simply not taking the photos I used to when my nieces and nephew were little.

Most of my photos anymore are either random or from trips and other events, and I don't find myself fussed that much about some months of the year not really having any photos at all for it. It kind of depends on what we've got going on any given month.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with in a different approach to scrapping!

[pbp908]

I've noticed that I rarely take photos anymore, and when I do it's moments, not events so much. I completely missed doing photos of my "accident" and haven't taken any of Apollo's growth in ages.

Thanks to Monica's generosity in helping me get the needed G45 calendar embellishments and papers, I scrapped one year as 2 page spreads. I loved doing that and have been thinking about doing it again. That way I was able to do a page that was the biggest event/memory of that month and had notes about birthdays, anniversaries, etc. on the other page. That was one of the projects that I enjoyed most and actually kept up with.

I think that we're all in a state of flux right now and trying to find our way to what feels right for our current life styles.

[Monica]

Pam, I agree with you on the state of flux. I really think the scrapbooking industry is in a state of flux as well, after years of jumping on the next big thing or trend, over and over. So many companies have either gone out of business or been absorbed by American Crafts or another big one, and rarely does anyone seem to break out of the pack on their own. It's all the same colors, full of cutesy, kitsch, or large floral images, and what made some companies unique is now gone.

The trend has gone to planners (no offense, Farley, I do think they're cool) in the same overboard manner that happened with Project Life several years back. I find myself shopping my old stash with fresh eyes and enjoying the papers I'm scrapping photos on now, and every time I go to a store to look at papers I rarely find anything that appeals unless I'm looking for something that works as a card front background.

[pbp908]

Ditto, Monica. Several times I've visited my favorite shopping sites and haven't found a thing that appealed to me. It's all starting to look very much the same as what I have or am purging.

And if I had a planner, it would be empty because I use the calendar on the computer. Doesn't mean I'm not loving what Farley is doing, but I'm just not organized with anything other than doctor's appts. - mine and George's. This past year has proved that old joke: Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.

[paddlegal]

Pam, I agree with you on the state of flux. I really think the scrapbooking industry is in a state of flux as well, after years of jumping on the next big thing or trend, over and over. So many companies have either gone out of business or been absorbed by American Crafts or another big one, and rarely does anyone seem to break out of the pack on their own. It's all the same colors, full of cutesy, kitsch, or large floral images, and what made some companies unique is now gone.

The trend has gone to planners (no offense, Farley, I do think they're cool) in the same overboard manner that happened with Project Life several years back. I find myself shopping my old stash with fresh eyes and enjoying the papers I'm scrapping photos on now, and every time I go to a store to look at papers I rarely find anything that appeals unless I'm looking for something that works as a card front background.

No offense taken Monica and Pam. I get it. And I am also amused at this conversation since we have it pretty much every year! What is often touted as the latest trend is typically a remix of what we’ve done before. I got bored with scrapping CS papers and style. Samo-Samo! I pretty much stopped scrapping when I finally cancelled my membership there. Cards/stamping going that way too but we press on and find a style we like, though tough to label for me. Eclectic comes to mind, LOL.

We shall see how long I keep up the BUJO-ing. For now it gives me relief when my card mojo is stalled. Plus it has gotten me into brush lettering which is seriously relaxing for me but useful too.

[pbp908]

We do talk about the designers every year.

What I meant was a move away from scrapping every little event in our lives and doing it with at least 40 photos. Heck, just a move away from scrapping, period. I'm finding that I enjoy cardmaking more than anything else right now, and projects as a close runner up.

And ^ that statement ^ after all of those years saying "I'm not a cardmaker."

[Monica]

Just say you're a papercrafter, that will cover it all!

And I agree that there's definitely a shift away from tons of photos for events. I say this as I'm on the 4th album for my WDW trip, but knowing that I might never get there again inspired me to take tons of pictures. I also took a lot of photos during our road trip the end of June, but again it was a memorable journey I wanted to fully document. Month to month I so seldom take photos that aren't just random things to text my mom or sister, or something like that.

[Keitha]

I'm still pondering the overall direction I want my scrapping to take moving forward in the long term, but right at the moment I've become intrigued by the idea of scrapping in Traveler's Notebooks. Yet another bandwagon that so far I've resisted jumping on, one reason it appeals to me is the seemingly more ephemeral nature of it - the books feel less precious than my big scrapbooks, therefore shouldn't take as much planning and forethought to execute. At least that's how it seems in my mind - no idea how I'll find it if I try it for reals. I'll warn you all though - it's another rabbit hole you can get sucked down on Pinterest and Instagram. Who knew there were sketches made just for TN's? The thought did flit through my mind that if I ever did have to pare my stash way way down, I could scrap in those little books without needing any 12x12 patterned paper, LOL.

Pam - I, too, declared for years that I wasn't a cardmaker. Right up until I bought my first stamp and die sets designed for cardmaking. There is something freeing with playing with paper and ink and glue and not having photos in the equation. Now, I'm wondering if some of those stamps and dies that just never felt like the right fit on a 12x12 page might have another life on a TN spread.

[Debbie J]

I went the TN route and while it’s fine for a 3 day trip etc, I find myself wanting to do the 12x12’s more.

[Monica]

I do a variation on a traveler's notebook for our road trips. Having my little wireless Zink printer makes it really easy to document with some journaling and a few select photos for each day, and when I go back to scrap in 12x12 I've got all my notes right there to help jog the memory.

[Keitha]

I went the TN route and while it’s fine for a 3 day trip etc, I find myself wanting to do the 12x12’s more.

Debbie, I can only hope that having a go at TN's will make me want to get back to full-size scrapping.

[Keitha]

I do a variation on a traveler's notebook for our road trips. Having my little wireless Zink printer makes it really easy to document with some journaling and a few select photos for each day, and when I go back to scrap in 12x12 I've got all my notes right there to help jog the memory.

Sounds like a great system, Monica.

[Monica]

I do a variation on a traveler's notebook for our road trips. Having my little wireless Zink printer makes it really easy to document with some journaling and a few select photos for each day, and when I go back to scrap in 12x12 I've got all my notes right there to help jog the memory.

Sounds like a great system, Monica.

It is... although I wish I'd have really started it prior to last year!