I am overwhelmed

Erica - posted on 09/17/2009

Don't stress about it. I used too and I found when I did, it sucked the fun right out of it!!

I own my own store so you can just imagine what I have in my room. Its scary sometimes. And with running it, I find I don't have time to always work on my stuff. So it just sits in piles until I clean and then it sits in storage. Once a year, I go through it all and donate but I made a pact with myself this year. Use it. So I went through one final purge and got rid of my stuff.

I found two things were holding me back. One, I had way too much stuff. I needed to use it more often. Two, I didn't make time to scrap. I like to scrap in the comfort of my home but thats not always the best scenario. So I found a local group and at least once a month, I get the heck outta the house and I spend the day with them. I get to work on MY stuff, use my stuff and go through some pictures.

I also stopped trying to do it chronologically. I store my layouts in a drawer after I finish them and take pictures for the site. Then at the end of the year, I sort by month and stick them in the albums.

I recommended several sources of backup if you can. I store one copy of the photos on my hard drive, one on my eternal hard drive and one on an online source like Scrapbookpictures.com, Kodak.com or Flikr. You'll have all your photos that way. Some of them require one purchase every 12 months to keep your storage. I don't print my photos anymore so thats easy for me.

You can also try scanning in smaller sections so it doesn't seem so overwhelming. If you have your old non-digital photos organized by event, sit down each weekend and promise to scan that group of photos. I found a great scanner that allows me to scan the actual negatives. So I have those and the program allows me to have prints made from them. They aren't the greatest but they are a copy. I've found negatives and had no pictures.

Jamie - posted on 09/16/2009

I'm just scanning the replies so I apologize if this has been said already!



If you are interested in digital scrapbooking you should check out Heritage Makers! You said one of your biggest fears is losing your things in a natural disaster or a fire. One of the BIGGEST advantages we have over other companies that may have been listed is that we have heirloom assurance! If something happens to one of your scrapbooks at any time, you can get another copy! How do we do that? Heritage Makers is done completely online so there's NO software to download into your computer. It doesn't gum up your computer and you don't have to worry about losing your things! You get your own, personal, password protected account to work with. Check out http://www.frommemoriestobooks.blogspot.... (fun blog with links and info) or http://www.frommemoriestobooks.com (the real website) for more info!



p.s. as far as your paper scrapbooks go, you can scan them into your Heritage Makers account and preserve them for FREE! If something happens to your paper book, you can get another hardbound copy!

Julie - posted on 09/16/2009

Hi Dawn and everyone, I have read most of the posts, and yes, you can very much over analyze and over plan, then it becomes a chore, not a creative outlet for relaxing with too! I have lots of different brightly colored albums, some still sealed, bought as I found them for later. I decided that was the only way to stop myself from replacing the original photo albums that I couldn't get any more but were identical.
I would suggest starting right now with the pregnancy or being organised to start with the first baby photos. As a few others said, start with the now stuff, then go back slowly. Its also not like we cant take the pages out again and put them inside another album if we change our mind how they are to be set out. Ive done that countless times also already ROFL
The other way might be just to start with a photo of anyone, just pick an idea from a scrapping book and copy it or something. Just to start and get your ideas flowing and your style going as this will change a lot over the next few years also.

Having so much scrapping stuff and having not got your hands into it yet, reminds me of the thought of never having used the good dinner set or crystal glasses... what is the use of it if it never gets used?

Hope that helps you some too ;-)
Whens that baby due anyway? We will want to see some photos you know *smiles*
take care
Julie

Kelly - posted on 09/15/2009

hey i hope this helps but i only scrap 6 double layouts a year per child. as my daughters birthdays are mid year i tend to go with christmas birthday and two either side for other stuff like first day of school school pics and any special occasions. i have done more than 6 but if i aim for this i find i dont get over whelmed. and if you find yourseft behind in scrapping always work from most recent and work back its always much easier.

Linny - posted on 09/13/2009

Don't over analyze everything..... you are robbing yourself of creating and preserving memories.. just get started and have fun!

Lori - posted on 08/28/2009

you mentioned you don't like postbound albums. well from my mechanical husbands mind this advice made sense. He told me that if the album gets moved around or me opening and closing it then the rings wear out and then what you have to get a whole new album, (this did happen before I went completely postbound). Then he said if the posts wear out so you take out the screw post and put in a new one, the album is saved and you buy a couple dollars of replacement parts. i keep my pages in a file so I add a bunch at a time to the album this helps me get less frusterated with unscrewing the posts so often.

Another thing is you sound like me when I was pregnant with my first child. She is almost 6 and her scrapbook hasn't reached her 2nd bday. I didn't start till she was 2yrs old cause I was so crazy (me not you) about wanting everything perfect and ....
Now I wish I just did it then and not have wasted so much time. Your little one will sleep a lot, so you still have time for a while. I can look back at my pages and say the first ones aren't as great as the last ones but I also notice and remember how much more time the first ones took then the ones I do now.

About getting started I liked using kits when I started, they cordinated and they were faster than me designing it complete on my own. There are a lot of websites that have ideas. I am an SU demonstrator and I teach classes now. lorishelley.stampinup.net for ideas.
Let me know if I can help in anyway.
Lori

Kim - posted on 08/27/2009

When I was pregnant with both my kids, my sister put together albums where all I had to do was put a few pics on the page and it was done. It was very very helpful. I was able to get both kids 1st year books done relatively on time. The rest, well scrapbooking is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Take it one layout at a time. I scrapbook most of the time with a group of 4-8 women. We have a blast seeing what we are all scrapbooking and getting ideas from one another.

Cheryl - posted on 08/27/2009

I would recommend that you start out small. Instead of starting a 12 x 12 page and panicing about what to put on a page, start with a 6x6. It will be quicker, and you don't have much to add to the page to make it a great page.

Lisa - posted on 08/09/2009

I have been scrapbooking for awhile now. What I did for my sons baby book, is I actually made the scrapbook ahead of time before pictures were even taken. I knew I was going to take hundreds of pictures so doing it this way, it limited me.

Debbie - posted on 08/09/2009

You know I started scrapping when I was in my 40's. My 2 boys were grown but I still had a teenage daughter at home. I had always been very good about putting photos in albums. But when I started scrapping out they came and out came the pics. I started doing pages of my boys and making an album for each of them that covers all thier growing up. I have also torn apart my wedding photo album and scrapped it. And I have done many other projects. But you just have to do one page or layout at a time. Sometimes when I'm in the middle of one project and I am bored with it, I gather it up, put it in a 12 x12 plastic cover and work on something else, then eventually I get the project out and work on that. Don't stress out about doing things chronalogically (sp?) just do what makes you happy.

And I know what you mean about worrying about losing your pics. We live in a tornado prone part of the country. I use to try to put all my family photos, even the ones on the walls, in the safest part of the house everytime we had a tornado warning. CRAZY!!!!

If it is going to happen, it will happen. And as long as my family is safe and unhurt....I can take more photos:)

Dawn - posted on 08/08/2009

Thanks for all of the advice everyone.

Angie - posted on 08/08/2009

I am also a Creative Memories consultant, and Sara is right. You cannot beat our albums, and they are guaranteed. You won't find that in a scrapbook store. CM also has lots of great products for organinzing and completing albums quickly. A few people said it earlier, and I agree, start with your fresh photos first, and you will be less likely to get frustrated.

Sally - posted on 08/08/2009

start with your most recent pictures and work backwards.

Angie - posted on 08/08/2009

I was feeling overwhelmed with my scrapbooking also. When I started scrapping, I decided to start current and go from there, but I still managed to get YEARS behind! lol! It was stressing me out, so I finally decided to take all the pictures that I had waiting to be scrapped and put them in a photo album. Now at least they are displayed and I am not stressing over them anymore. When I have time, they are all available for scrapping, but if I dont get to them, no big deal because they are all in albums. I have about 12 completed scrapbooks now and even more photo albums that could be scrapped. Maybe I will get to them, maybe I wont, but that is ok!

Michelle - posted on 08/07/2009

Scrapbooking is suppose to be fun and creative, not overwhelming... I have a walk- in closet full of supplies and I just do it when I feel like it. That way I can enjoy it. I have the rest of my life when my children are grown to do all the crafts that I want to. I would possibly suggest to do one project at a time and take all the time in the world to do it. That way it will not be so stressful. I hope this makes sense. But I do understand what you're saying and how easy it would be to feel overwhelmed. Remember, there are no deadlines or wrong or right way to scrapbook. Good luck to you and I hope this helps.

Cindy - posted on 08/07/2009

start with the current photos as your memories will be the freshest. don't worry about being in chronicalogical order. as for the new baby, congrats and take photos during your pregnancy an how big you are and write down any feelings you have. I did all of that on a scrap calender for mine. on the top of month i paster a photo taken then

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

I've been jogging back & forth doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, mopping the kitchen floor, folding laundry in between posts!

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

All of this talk really urges me to start working on my scrapbooks. However, today I am supposed to go grocery shopping and do my housecleaning. I am not getting very far with those either since I have been chatting on FB all morning.

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

That is what I thought I would do. I think I will tackle it that way first and see how it goes. However, we went to Hawaii twice. First trip was for our wedding and we visited 4 different islands. I thought I would put the actual wedding stuff in one album and then create diffrent albums for each island we went to. We just have to many photos and stuff from that trip to cram in one or two albums. Then we returned to Hawaii to renew our vows for our 5th anniversary so I think I will do a separate album for that, too.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

hahahaha we're over thinking this aren't we?

Sara - posted on 08/07/2009

Yeah, how you chose to organize really comes down to what you want to do. So many people do different things. Personally I have our family album that I start a new book every year, I have an album for each of my kids - usually 2 years can go in those books, and then I've done a seperate album for each big trip we've taken. I've also done a couple small (7x7) albums for special things - like an ABC book for each of my kids. and I made a digital album for a long weekend trip to visit my sister in CA. For me, I prefer the chronological idea, so each trip would be a seperate album (or two - although you might be suprised how much you can get in one album).

One more thought - you don't have to have ALL the answers before you begin. Just figure out a plan of attack for one album and go for it. It's so much fun and so rewarding that it might inspire you to figure out the rest of your plans. Or just by working on one book you may find what you do/don't want to do on the next one.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

Maybe do it by place with notes about when and what happened in that photograph?



My mom has been to Hawaii several times. I put one album together for her. I used photos from all the trips but dated each one and if something special happened on the trip at the place of the picture, I put the story there with the date (this was combined with my boys trip with her).

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

That sounds pretty good. I may have to break up some of my albums into even smaller albums. That is another issue I am having. Like I am not sure how to organize my travel scrabpbooks. We have gone to multiple places during one trip and we have gone back to places on different ocassions. So, I don't know if I should do each trip separately, sort by each individual place, etc.. Right now I have things organized by state. I may have to break it down by city. However, doing scrapbooks that way makes it a little more difficult to follow chronologically. However, there was one vacation where we visited like 4 different states and I know I would not be able to get that all in one album. I think about all of these things trying to come up with a plan of attack before I actually start.

Sara - posted on 08/07/2009

Our scientists say about 8 lbs, or about 45 pages- so if you use a lot of matting and paper bacgrounds etc, it would be less, if you keep your pages a little more simple you can get more pages. But honestly I usually just do my albums by topic or by the year, not really by the weight. Most of my books have around 35 pages or so, but my kids' first year albums are at about 45. They are pretty full, and might be over the weight suggestion, but I figure we'll be gentle with them. :-)

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

Thanks Sara. I will definately have to consider the creative memories albums. Do you know about how many pages you can fit in an album? I know it depends on the depth of the pages, but I am just wondering in general.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

Yeah email is great especially when family is far away or when you're in the middle of sorting and designing and need a quick clarification of pic. LOL I'm not even THERE yet and I'm projecting ... lol

Sara - posted on 08/07/2009

HI Dawn,

I just scanned over these posts - you guys have had so much info, I'm sure I missed some. Just wanted to check in about which albums to purchase. I am a Creative Memories consultant, and I will tell you without a doubt that our albums are the best. We use strap-hinge. You're right, I don't like the post bound either. The other great thing about our albums is that we've recently added side-loading sleeves as an option if you want to be able to move pages around or scrap out of order. Or we still have our traditional pages that you scrap right onto and slide protectors over. You can even mix and match them in the same book.

Our albums are all covered in either bookcloth or leatherette material - both are easy to wipe off in case something gets on them. You can even have the covers or spines personalized if you choose.

And we may change the colors of the albums on occasion, but our company has been around for over 22 years. We've recently resized our albums to fit a true 12 x 12 page, so the current albums are here to stay (except a few colors - but we're only retiring a few colors that aren't popular - and those are a little "non-traditional" in the color choice)



I hope that helps in the album decision making process. I'd love to help in any other way if you would like. Oh, and we also do have digital books too - so you can try those type albums anytime you want. Just get the free software and create! Then if you like the book you purchase it when it's done.



Ok, let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Scrappin!

Sara

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

Email is great. I admit it is not as personable as talking to someone in person, on the phone or hand writing something to send in the mail, but I love it. It really helps me to stay in touch with family and friends back in IL. It is great when older folk want to learn to use the computer.

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

Yeah my mom's side of the family is kind of like that. My mom died when I was young, but I have heard and learned for myself that that side of the family has problems. I am grateful, though, because my grandma did create a scrapbook for me all about my mom several years ago. The problem is that used a standard photo album which is not good for the pics/momemtos. I like to keep it in tact the way she gave it me, but I want it to stand the test of time. I may have to transfer it all to a scrapbook album one of these days. She also wrote a note for me on the front cover of the album so I would probably have to scan that and include it in the scrapbook if I go that route.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

lol when we got back I went straight to Target and loaded them all to CD with the index prints! I've got the SD cards in their little cases in little ziplock baggies stapled to a piece of heavy duty cardboard in the 'scrap book box"



My MIL wants to learn how to use a laptop so she can get email and what not. My SIL tells her "you don't need a laptop - it will just waste money" same SIL that asked her "so how much longer are you going to live anyway." Will I be hated if I hit that woman with my car? Anyway - email is pretty straightforward - I hope she goes for it.

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

Those are good ideas. I like detail and I like to include a lot of pics and momentos, but I also like my scrapbooks to be clean and uncluttered. It is a balancing act to include everything important without making it too bulky or cluttered.

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

3000 pics...that is a lot! I tend to take a lot of pictures on my vacations, too. We have traveled quite a bit. I guess that is why I don't have all of my pictures printed....there are so many of them. It will be expensive when I do get them all printed.



That is a good idea to work on them during the hottest part of the day.



My mother in law does not use the computer. Eventually I will have to sit down with her and go through pics. So far I have not had a lot of trouble identifying the people in them. She mostly has pictures of her, her kids (my husband) and her grandkids. My husband can help me identify most of those if I can't myself.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

My grandmother was SOOOO stubborn. She told me - "there is nothing special about this family to want to save any of the photographs."!! She was still bitter my grandfather divorced her to marry his fling.... I don't blame her I guess, it was horrible way back then for women to go through that (in society, never mind in the heart) when she passed I asked my dad for the pics, there weren't any, my crackhead cousins (really they are crackaddicts) took them. I've never met them, even as a kid my dad said they were worthless and only caused misery for those they knew.



Ah well - my mom took more than enough pics for a couple of families!



LOL my grandmother - geeze she was really slipping - one time I asked about the cherokee indian my great great grandfather married, she said "who? that dark skinned slut? oh she was a princess." omg, the memories, the memories rotfl

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

The heritage/family pics are so important to me. I am fortunate that I have a lot of them. However, a lot do not seem useful. I only want to keep the best pics and make sure I cover all family members and all important events. Unfortunately, my great aunt cut a lot of the pictures and wrote on the front of some of them. It does seem crucial to find out everything you can about the older photos before there is nobody around to give you any information. I sat down with my grandma and went over a lot with her. She pretty much gave me all of her pictures. Hers were in good shape, too. She told me who everybody was in most of her pictures. It is exciting just thinking about it so I feel guilty that I am doing more with them.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

Yeah I've seen some scrap books that have so much STUFF on each page and its just decoration. It does nothing for the picture, has no sentimental value, its just pretty stuff. They make the albums big and bulky and just plain awkward.



Some dress up is necessary.



LOL I saved menus, postcards, pieces of toys (like the sequins of my daughters jasmine costume) to help accentuate some of the pics. I'll use other disney themed things too. Maybe I'll scan the cover of "Monsters Inc" to go with the pics of Sully (big blue monster) you know stuff like that, lol maybe I'll go trim that furry blue sweater that is REALLY similar Sully and tell the kids I pulled it off him when they weren't looking... hahaha

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

It does seem easier to create a standard digital scrapbook on the online sites or at the stores. Just pick the pics, arrange them and choose some of the backgrounds. However, I want to experiment with the actual supplies first. It seems like a lot more fun. You have a lot more choices, too, with all of the different supplies out there which should make your scrapbooks nicer. However, sometimes simplicity is best. I tend to get caught up in details, but you get more done if you look at the big picture and just start working...starting slow and learn as you go.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

you know doing the inlaws stuff - if they have computers you can send the pics to them for an explanation.



This being Arizona and I'm a SAHM - I keep the hottest hours of the day for picture editing (we took 3000 pictures at disneyland). Now I'm ready to order and my lazy ass husband is asleep - I think I'll go pinch his feet.

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

I agree and I am trying to write down the things that I want to remember to include in my scrapbooks. I guess I take it for granted sometimes that I will remember everything when the time comes to actually do the scrapbook, but I am a note taker so I try to write down the important things.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

Yep. I gotta do my MILs pics too. I don't have a special room for my stuff so I might take the scanner to her place and work on it. I wonder if she can type... I KNOW she'll sit right next to me telling me about all the pics as I pick each one up... if she can type, she type little notes I can stick to each picture, huh I can also put notes attached to each pic via my scanner... kind of a bitch though having to relabel each one ... I'm tired now.. hahaha

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

I actually started scanning pics awhile ago. I go in spurts. I get started on a project and I don't want to stop, but eventually it gets overwhelming so I have to take a break. I, too, started scanning some of my mohter-in-law's pictures. I have a lot more from her that I need to scan and I feel bad keeping them for so long. In fact, we moved to AZ from IL and I took the pics with me. I have become the family historian, too, so I have accumulated a lot of heritage photos. I may need to get some of them restored. I have tried getting together with family members to go over pics, but there are still a lot of unidentified people/events/etc... I probably should work on those first since I don't want them to detoriate further, but that seems to be the most complicated project. I like to start with easier projects.



I have not had my baby shower yet. We are actually having the big one on 8/30 back in IL.



Even though scrabooking seems like a lot of fun it is a lot of work, too. I wish I could manange my time better so I could do a little here and there instead of putting it all off.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

Yeah I wasn't TOOOO impressed with the post bounds, but I was warned vehemently against the loopy things and the D-rings don't expand enough...



LOL kind of limited my options. hhmmm maybe I should ask here...

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

I guess the problem I see with post bound albums is that they don't stay together very well. I like to include a lot of things in my scapbooks so I have a lot of pages and I noticed that the pages start to fall out of the post pound albums if you have too many. So, I want to make sure that I get expandable albums and, yes, I will probably do the standard black for most of them. Maybe I will do school colors for the school years. White or off white for the wedding scrapbooks. I am even contemplating the scrapbook papers I use. I started buying all kinds of cute and different papers, but now I am thinking solid, simple colors used consistently throughout the album may be best. I think I just need to go simple at first until I get more experienced.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

I did a digital book of my boys trip to hawaii with their grandmother - I had it printed, lol its not cheaper than a traditional book but maybe its a bit easier.



OOHHH for the stuff you have online... its so easy to make straight albums on a photo site, then use their "book" service to organise an album and figure out layouts. It isn't perfect but its a great jumping point.

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

I do sort of have my pictures sorted by subject (scrapbook album). I like to include a lot of detail so it is hard to pick out the best ones. Sometimes you can find creative ways to use pictures so I don't want to rule out certain ones at the beginning. I also need to print a lot of my digital pictures. I have so many saved on my computer and on a backup flash drive that I still need to print and then I have a lot of pics that I still need to scan. They take up so much room, though and yet I want them to be high quality. Then there are issues about digital devices going bad over time so I don't want to lose any of my images. It is so much to consider. I agree I would like to scan my finished scrapbook pages as well, if I ever get to point! Digital scrapbooking I guess is the next adventure, but right now I like using all of the scrapbook supplies.

Tracy - posted on 08/07/2009

Not a lot happens right not, but journal your feelings about being pregnant, how your family reacted when you told them, your thoughts and prayers for your child, etc. They will be priceless memories in years to come.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

hahahah I'm just as anal as you are. Its all gotta be the same.



I've decided that post bound is the way to go. In general - solid colors will be easiest to keep up with, if not just general black or ivory but I don't want something that holds dirt so no fabrics, so that means leather or at least some sort faux leather.



My mom - where my anal compulsiveness comes from - bought 20 velour albums in matching colors when I was kid - lol about 15 of them are still empty. hahahaha

Tracy - posted on 08/07/2009

Well, you have a great start by having a room and supplies all organized. I just scanned all of my photos also because I feared the same thing. It didn't take as much time as I thought (married 19 years....) and I have also scanned photos from my mother and in-laws. you can scan a few at a time as you are scrapbooking them. Scanning them all at once may be too overwhelming....



Personally, I would start with a small event - did you have any baby showers? Just gather up those pics and work on those first. Relax and remember that it won't be the best the first time, but it's not as hard to change things. My mother does a wonderful job from watching the techniques on QVC. She doesn't buy the items (at least not most of them!!) but watches how they put the pages together.



If you try to get it too perfect, you'll see it as a job instead of a fun activity that you want to do. Start small, with current pictures, and relax...you'll do a great job!!!



Tracy, O'Fallon, MO

Dawn - posted on 08/07/2009

I had photo albums that I had put together as scrapbooks. I had all of my school years done that way. Then I tore them apart because I knew those albums were not good for my photos/momentos. That is another hard part I am having trouble getting started with - I like to be consistent with the albums I use, but I am not sure which ones I want to use. I don't like the postbound ones. I am thinking about the strap hinge or D-ring/3 ring ones. A problem I see is that once you find something you like they stop making it! I do try to make notes about things I want to include in my scrapbooks. I have kept a log of all important events and I have been keeping a pregnancy journal. I don't write much in the pregnancy journal because not much happens from day to day...so I just try to note the big stuff - ultrasounds, prenatal visits, etc... Thanks for your suggestions. I know that the best thing to do is to just start already...easier said than done! Not only is it hard to start, but it is an expensive hobby.

Sharon - posted on 08/07/2009

It is time consuming. Sort the pics you want to use into albums and then scan those. Put the others in a box to save. If you have a large scanner you could lay the pics out and cover the whole glass and scan them in as a poster?



first things first, sort out the pictures you want to use.



I intend to scan the pages of my scrapbook so I can remember the layouts and designs.



Get help sorting the pics. sitting down in the eveing with hubby and watching a tv show while going through pictures can be fun.

Brandi - posted on 08/06/2009

Sounds familiar, I've actually torn apart an entire album and redone it because I wasn't happy with it. Needless to say I've only done that once. Just take a breath and start one page at a time is the best thing I can say cause you are absolutley correct, once that little bundle of joy gets here you will have even less time. I'm still working on my sons 1st year album and he's 3. If you already have specific albums vs. a hodge podge album once you get started it will be easier to keep it moving. The best thing to do it pick an album you want to work on, maybe pull all of the pictures out and look through them for inspiration as you put them in order, and then forget about the other albums until that one is finished. If you go back and forth between albums it will begin to feel like you'll never finish, at least that's true for me. Suggestion for your sons ablum as you think of things you want to note in the album i.e. silly things he did, how you felt watching him sleep....write it down on a post it or whatever with the date and stick it in the album you're going to use that way when you do get to work on his album you won't have to rack you're brain to remember the little things that made you smile.