Finding Time to Scrapbook

I'm sure we ALL have excuses as to why we "don't have time" to scrapbook or preserve our family memories in some way shape or form. I thought I'd share my tips.

1) I'm not the type to worry about dishes in the sink or laundry that needs to be folded. I can leave that for later and spend time in my office if I feel like getting crafty. Although, sometimes I make myself do a chore or two and reward myself with scrapbooking time after.

2) I keep a stack of photos around, but not too many. I typically order 25-50 photos at a time. I also have a nice quality photo printer so I can print off specific photos if the mood strikes or if I want specific sizes right away.

3) The best thing I've done to increase the number of photos scrapped is to give myself more freedom. After doing 12x12 baby albums for each kid I switched over to a yearly family album and went with a 3-ring binder style so I have the flexibility to use different size page protectors as needed. I use 6-slot 4x6 photo album pages, full 12x12, 8x12, 6x6, and even these cool 3-down 4x6 sleeves I found on clearance. Now if I never feel pressured to fill a big blank 12x12 space if I don't want to. Read more about this idea at Ali Edward's blog. Also, there's no pressure to scrap chronologically when you can easily open the binder and insert the pages as needed. Give yourself freedom to scrap what you want when you want, trust me you'll be much happier and more productive!

4) I keep a blog (duh!) and document stories and favorite photos as they happen, I can always go back and reference that for a scrapbook page. I also keep a family journal. I stick little pictures in it, write down stories of the places we go and things we do, things the kids say or do, their current favorite things... Even though I'm not current on scrapbooking my photos I will have this reference when I do get to those events. If nothing else, I'll at least have written those memories down somewhere.

6) Even if you only have 5 minutes, use it to get started. Pick the photos you want to scrap next, pick a set of papers you want to use together, find a sketch you like, clean up from your last session so you're ready for a fresh start when you do have 30 minutes later.

I just got back from vacation Wednesday night and I've done all this. Granted, I haven't really unpacked but I did scrap 10 pictures from 2007! The top two are the 3-down 4x6 slots and the bottom two are 6x6. I didn't spend more than 30 minutes on each one.