Not only is this the first week of doing my photo journal scrapbook but it’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. In the past I’ve done 100s of digital scrapbook pages, kept journals, put together photo albums. This Documenting Moments 2013 project that I’m embarking on is a combination of all those creative activities rolled into one. And so far I’m loving it. It’s been a learning curve as I discover what works and what doesn’t. And I think it’s going to be like that for a few weeks as I get into a creative flow and routine.
Organising my Photos
I have a pretty good organised system for all my photos on my computer. And they’re backed up on a regular basis. Oh and the back ups are backed up. Yep, I do get a little worried about losing my beloved photos. The point is, getting into a good habit of keeping your photos in some kind of order and backing them up is a great way to get started if you’re about to embark on digital scrapbooking or other similar digital creative endeavours with your photos.
For my Documenting Moments project, I set up a folder in my Photos folder called “Documenting Moments”. It could be any name, for example, Project Life. “Documenting Moments” was what came to mind when I was talking to Steve about creating this scrapbook project. Ok, so in my Documenting Moments folder I then created folders for the months, January etc. and within each of those folders, I created WIP and Complete folders. In Photoshop, I created myself a couple of photo templates in case I wanted to add digital stamps or embellishments to my photos before sending them off to be printed. I created a 6×4 (portrait and landscape) plus a 3×4 (also portrait and landscape).
I then organised the first week’s worth of photos into the folders. I copied the Complete folder to an SD card ready to go to my local supermarket, Tesco, to get prints of the photos. I did think about sending them off to PhotoBox but it was just as cheap and quicker to get my photos printed at Tesco.
Getting Started
Once I got my photos printed, I honestly could hardly wait to get home and start putting my first pages together. As I mentioned previously, I decided to use Becky Higgins Project Life products/system. And these are the products that I initially purchased:
Now, it seems that the only place you can buy these products in the UK is from Scrapbooker’s Inner Circle and while I can’t fault their service, I’m really hoping some other UK retailers will start selling them too.
Ok the first thing I did was put together my first main page and for me that was all about me and Steve on New Year’s Day. I initially thought I would add the photos and then journal on some cards. In actual fact, I found I wanted to draw and write on the photos which was interesting to me. Although I used a couple of the photos I got printed, I ended up going into Photoshop and adding my own text and doodling to my photos and then printing them out myself.
Note to self: prepare the photos, add text, doodling or whatever before getting them printed
I absolutely love the Core Kit cards. There’s a very good selection of 3×4 and 6×4. What was interesting is that I found they were quite inspirational when it came to doing my journalling. And they’re extremely good quality. I think they add something quite subtle to each page. Kind of finishes it off without being obtrusive or the main focus and taking away from the photos or journalling.
What Worked for Me
- Efficient and reasonably quick way to put together a scrapbook of photos and journalling of your every day life
- Allows me to be creative if I feel the need
- Love the simplicity. It feels like you’re adding photos to a photo album which is easy but then when you look back at what you’ve put together, there’s a lovely little story to each page
- I’m not a scrapbooker but I love taking everyday life photos and journalling and so this system works perfectly to keep everything in a logical order and place
- Scheduling time to do your week’s pages. Yes, I added it to my diary and calendar so I knew I’d have an afternoon or evening to work on my album.
What I Need to Re-Think
- Preparing my photos ready to be printed. There are some photos that just beg to be doodled or written on and so I need to prepare them before copying them for printing.
- I don’t like printing at home but it’s ok for an emergency
- Storage. My album, the core kit, photo pockets and bits and pieces are all on my living room sofa. I need to figure out somewhere for easy access and storage.
- Making more use of my Silhouette Cutting machine to make some fun word art and my own 3×4 cards
In Conclusion
So far, so good. Every year I’m disappointed that I didn’t do more with my photos and journals. I feel good that I’ve actually started something to change that. It feels like the right time for me to do this. Maybe it’s got something to do with losing my parents, my divorce and the whole “I’m moving on with my new life” thing. I don’t know. I love how easy it is for me. That’s important as I don’t want to spend hours doing a scrapbook. Actually, let me re-phrase that; I’d love to spend hours putting together a scrapbook of my life; however, the irony is my life is so full and with our business in it’s infancy, I can’t afford long hours working on a scrapbook. This is a great solution to my problem of not enough hours in the day. Becky Higgin’s is a smart lady to design something so simple as a solution to what is a huge problem for many people nowadays.
I just want to put together a simple album that tells the everyday story of my life. It’s something for my children and grandchildren in years to come. It’s something for Steve and I right now.
So cool Diane! !
Thanks Tasha