Memory Keeping Systems

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Hello Shabby Shoppe readers!  Rosy, here today to discuss memory keeping systems!

We’re approaching the end of another year and if you’re like me, this is a good time to take a look at the way you organize your scrapping and see if there is something that you’d like to change as you start a new year.

At the beginning of the year Kim did an awesome post on her top 10 list for organized memory keeping.  Her advice to set aside certain times to sort through pictures and pick what will go in your scrapbook is one that has greatly improved my own system.  If you haven’t read that post yet, I’d encourage you to do so!  Today we’re going to focus more on what we do with our layouts after they have been scrapped.

I asked the rest of the Shabby Artist team some questions about their own system, and hopefully as we go through some of their answers you may glean some new tips and ideas of your own. (or simply be encouraged that we aren’t all super organized, either!)

First of all I asked them …

Casharina I have been doing my best to scrap pictures in order just so that I can keep track of what has/hasn’t been scrapped.

Amber It’s SO random!  When I started scrapbooking, my oldest was 7 years old.  If I did all my pictures chronologically, I think I’d still be trying to scrap 2003′s pictures. I have to take the pictures/memories that I love the most- and I suppose remember the best- and scrap those.

Kim I scrap chronologically.  This is probably because #1 I am one of those super organized people who couldn’t do it any other way – lol!!  And #2, my goal is to have a yearly family book printed, so it does make sense to scrap the year from start to finish.  And #3, this way I don’t forget about pictures.

 There are times that I just feel like doing another one-off page for some reason, and it’s usually just to enjoy the art of scrapping or express something important to me at the time.  Those pages don’t necessarily fit into my normal books.  They’re just for fun.

Aubrey I usually try to stay within the same year that I am finishing for printing, but I do not scrapbook those chronologically. I go by what tickles my fancy to do or whatever sparks my creativity at the moment.

The reason I asked this question first, is because I think the way you scrap will determine the way that you will want to print or vice versa.  If you are like Amber with many years of photos that you want to scrap, but are not planning on printing them in yearly books, then random is great.  If you think of your memories in terms of when they happened and would like to have them printed that way, then chronologically will probably work best for you.

I personally, am much more motivated to scrap recent photos than older ones, so I’ve developed my system with that in mind.

It has been very helpful for me to go through my pictures monthly and decide which ones I will scrap and whether they will have their own page or go on the month’s Project Scrap spread and copy them into folders accordingly.  I don’t have to scrap them in any exact order, because it’s already been planned where that particular page will go in my book, but I am usually scrapping June photos in July, July photos in August, etc…  I always name the page files with the date yyyymmdd in front of the title, so that they are automatically arranged in order in my folder.  If the page is about a subject and doesn’t necessarily have a date, I just make one up according to where I want it to be.

Casharina I tried once to create separate albums for each kid, but most of the time my pages are about both of the kids.  So instead of separating out the pages, I’ve developed one folder and I name the pages like this: 11/24/2012 Khylea Jumping in the leaves.  This will allow me to go back and separate the pages later if I decide to do separate books for each one.

Amber I have folders for each of my children and me and my husband.  My plan is to first get each person’s pages done, and then printed in a book.  So, sometime, when I actually get done, I hope to have a book for each child.

Emily My children have their own 0-1 baby book.  Once a kid turned one, all layouts regardless of subject/person were put in the family album for that year.  Now that my oldest is graduating from high school, she is picking out the layouts she would like compiled in her own “life album.” I have been digital for only the last four years so this will require some scanning in of older traditional pages.  Every once in a while I will make a themed book based on an event or trip and I have those printed in a book, usually 8×8. 

Lego I only have one child and will only have one ;-)) 

I do books per year or better said per half-year of about 110 pages each.  (I was a SAHM for two years … soooo much time to scrap)  They are in more or less chronological order.  The first year I did single pages and really had trouble with finding matching ones when it came to have it printed, so they were not really chronological, for I tried to find coordinating pages.  For the second year books I entirely scrapped “two-pagers”.  These were not spread sheets, but two layouts that matched.  It was a challenge, but I’m really happy with the outcome.  The books are still far from coherent, which is more than fine with me, but at least the two pages facing one another match.

This year, since I started working again, I’m planning on doing one more or less “elaborate” page full of scrapbooking fun and the facing page would be very simple with photos and the same background paper.  I only do two scrapped pages when I have time.  I decided on this because I don’t like getting behind with the pictures.  I just don’t like the feeling of “having to do something” when it comes to my hobby!!!  So far, it’s working out great.

Lindsay I have gotten only one scrapbooking album finished about a special event.  I LOVE that little book, but I have NO family/yearly albums printed (due to my random scrapping style!).  I am trying to get a system going to get yearly books done, because one of my favorite things to do as a kid was to look through the family photo albums.  I have started making more traditional photo album pages for the photos I don’t want to scrap, with very little embellishment and neutral backgrounds.  Then when I put together the yearly book, I can stick in any layouts that I’ve done of fun or special things from during the year, and hopefully they’ll look ok with the more neutral photo album pages.

It looks like most of us scrap somewhat chronologically and print yearly family albums with the occasional baby book, special event, or vacation book added.  If scrapping chronologically feels too restricting to you, consider separating your pages by subject instead of date.  (example: places we go, things we do, people we love, etc…) or printing them in loose pages and arranging them in traditional albums/binders as they are printed, which brings us to the next question…

Amber Okay, so, I’ve only gotten ONE book printed – it was the Project Scrap 2011. (LOVE it!)  I have had a few pages printed, to put in d-ring binders – but, I have to say, after getting that first book printed, I don’t EVER want to do loose pages again!  

Kim I print my pages in bound books.  I like to do this because I really like the feel of a real book in my hands and they are thinner and lighter than printing pages to put into an album/binder.  It’s true that printing books costs a lot, especially as I have gotten pickier about the printing and gone to a better quality printer.  But the way I look at it, I’m only printing one book once a year, and that’s my investment in my own work (I get to finally see my layouts printed) and my investment in years of looking at the books.  

Emily I save and compile all my layouts until December/January of each year.  I end up with a total of about 60 layouts.  I create a year album of all the layouts and have it bound and printed as a book.  I do not print multiple copies for my children. 

Lego No loose pages.  I print bound books and so far I only have made one copy for us parents … maybe I should print one for little p. as well?

Lindsay I like books myself, and I will only print one for the family at this point.  Too expensive.

Aubrey I print one book per year and it’s a bound book.  I do not print multiples for my children because it is just too expensive, and I don’t think they would want to haul around 18 scrapbooks for the rest of their lives! Lol!

I also have done mostly bound books, but I did recently get pages printed for a smaller book that will be for the children.  I feel more comfortable letting them look at a book with page protectors and knowing that I can replace individual pages easily if something happens to it.  I love the compact bound books, but the quality of the single photographic print is hard to beat!

I love the fact that I can do my yearly albums for myself, knowing that if my children later want their own copy of “their” pages, it will simply be picking them out and reprinting.  This is a huge benefit of going digi!

Casharina I would NEVER go back to anything but 12×12…I just LOVE how the pictures look on the page and I love how it really takes me back, it makes a big impression even on my husband who’s not so into scrapping! 

Kim 12×12 now, although that’s not what I started with.  I use the “standard” scrapbook size because I know I won’t have to change templates and there are more printing options if I need them.

Emily I did my first digital scrapbook in 8×8 because I thought it would be so much more convient and travel friendly.  I missed the large format of the 12×12 size though so my second album was 12×12 and I was hooked.  I actually went back and printed my first album as 12×12–the beauty of digital!  Although the dimensions are still the same as my old traditional albums, the thickness and weight has been reduced drastically and I LOVE them! 

Lego In 12×12, but this year’s holiday book and my mum’s anniversary book is quite smaller and I really like their handy size.  I thought the images, the scrapbooking etc. would not be as visible or impressive, but I kinda changed my mind.  They are really very nice, too!

Lindsay My one and only book is an 8×8.  I like it, but I think for the family albums I’m hoping to finish, I want 12×12 so the pictures are easy to see.

Aubrey I always print 12×12.  I started as a paper scrapper and I just love the size!  I love that I can make my pictures smaller on a page, but they are still very visible when printed. It just makes me happy!

This is where I’m going to be different! I have never printed my digital pages as 12×12, because I just think it’s too big!  I rarely get out my 12×12 paper scrapbooks because the books can be awkward to hold (especially with a child on your lap) and they don’t fit on my bookshelf.  I love the size of my 10×10 bound books!  My only complaint about this size is that not all the companies print them!

Casharina No, I wish!  I am still trying to finish up the end of my last year album.  I used the project scrap pages and inserted them between the everyday layouts so that it split up the months.

Kim The one “special” project I’d like to do is a book with some highlights of my growing up years and some memories from my older family members.  Realistically though, this is not at the top of my list of things to do!

Emily  I just started going through my own childhood pictures (I don’t have very many) and started scanning them in.  I already did one layout about my first Christmas in 1977.  My second oldest daughter is actually earning money towards a One Direction concert ticket by scanning in all my wedding photographs.  This will be my next album project.

Aubrey Every once in a while I do scrapbook a separate book from our family book for a special occasion. Right now I am working on vacation my husband and I took together for our 10^th anniversary

I love hearing what others are working on and you can add me to the list of “I want to scrap my childhood pictures” ladies!  Someday I will start the organizing and scanning process, but for right now, I’m happy to be caught up with my current scrapping.

Casharina So far it’s okay, I just wish I was more apt about getting them put together for the books.

 I think I’m going to start collecting my pages in each “book” and placing them on a CD or flash drive, something, to keep IN the book, for future use.  That way if later down the road I need a page, or someone needs one I can just get that cd out and have the file!

Amber  I like having each person have their own folders for pictures and finished pages.  I suppose the only thing I don’t like about it all is the fact that I waited so long to start scrapbooking.  Now there’s SO many to get done; it’s daunting at times!

Kim It’s been a work in progress.  I like having my PS (project scrap) pages be a recap of each month.  Then after a month’s PS pages, I put in the “extra” pages for that month.  This is working really well for me right now, so I’d say I like it.  The PS pages give me a chance to include some “random” moments and journal about our month, which captures things that might not make it into pages any other way.  For now, I plan to continue the yearly family books.

The one thing I’d add to this is that in order for me to scrap all the pictures I want to include, I do try to be realistic about it.  Not every page has to be the “work of art” that takes hours.  I have pages I’ve spent more time on and pages that are much simpler.  A simple collage template with a few embellishments is sometimes the best way to wrap up a month of pages without being stressed about it :)

Lego  I like my one-or-two-page policy.

I wish I had a better way to remember what scrapbooking items I already have so I would use them more often.

Aubrey I like that I print each year together, complete with everyone’s birthdays and special occasions to everyday moments.  The only thing I would change is uploading my pages as soon as they are done to the site I will be printing them at.

I am liking my way of organizing my pages, but sometimes wonder if I would like my yearly album printed as loose pages.  I’ve never done this, and at this point I don’t know of any company that makes 10×10 binders and page protectors.  I think I would worry less about the expense of adding more pages to my already large book, but I’m not sure that I’d be willing to give up the pretty bound books either.

My advice is do what makes you happy!

This is what Kylie says.  I have NO system! LOL!!  The only pages I’ve ever had printed was my Project Scrap 2011 album.  All my other pages scrapped sit on my computer.  I do plan to have them printed into keepsake albums for my nieces and my mum at some stage…just putting it off.  I scrap a little differently to most.  I guess I’m 90% scrapper, 10% memory-keeper…I wish it was the other way round though.  Everyone is different, hey?!

Yes, everyone is different! and there are no scrapping police!  To some people, enjoying the art of scrapbooking and viewing their work digitally is just fine.  To others who are more like me, having the printed pages that you’ve created in your hands is the ultimate motivation to keep on creating!

Thanks for sticking with me and I hope this post can give you some ideas for what kind of system will make you happy!  Check-in with lego tomorrow for an awesome tips & tricks post.

RosyInspiration, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 12 Comments