Getting things finished - step two

Having made my not-so-small list of unfinished projects, I've then subdivided each project into the various parts needed to complete it. Each project has the same basic steps, although these vary slightly depending on whether the project is paper or digital and how much I've already done.

Here are the steps:
1 - choose (and print) photos
2 - sort memorabilia/ephemera
3 - get album and page protectors together/set up folders on computer if digital
4 - collate any products bought specifically for that project (more on this later)
5 - sort photos and ephemera into topics
6 - get scrapping!
7 - title page, closing page and check the album tells the whole story

And how they apply to my America albums:
1-6 basically done, apart from 2 pages which I really don't like (and never have).
7 - not really. There is no end page, it just suddenly changes to another completely unrelated topic.  There's also no story - nowhere in the album have I explained why we were in America and where my parents lived. I'm not really surprised by this, as they were my first ever scrapbooks and journalling wasn't as big then (certainly not for me anyway, how much was everyone else writing in 2003?).

So that means I need some new pages, and some new photos. I've ordered a couple of prints, and my mum is bringing some with her when she visits next week. They will allow me to add two additional pages to tell the story.

So I end up with a to do list of:

• redo 2 pages
• end page
• 2 story pages
• rearrange abums and take out other layouts

I've already done the last part, and I did the end page yesterday. I used this idea from Kelly Purkey, and made a map of the places I visited during the two years.

Washi tape from Whimsy Designs
Tags from October Afternoon Travel Girl Miscellany Pack
Dymo LetraSet printing
Rest - too old to know!

I'm quite pleased with this page, although I wish I'd made the map bigger as some of the smaller states (like the one we lived in!) were a bit fiddly. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to show you the two redone pages, and then the end will be clearly in sight!

Starting out...

Just to be clear, I'm not starting out scrapbooking. Or blogging for that matter. I'm starting out blogging about scrapbooking. I figure this will allow me to post layouts online (for challenges etc.), join in with some fun memes (like Abi's time for tea), keep a record of where I'm up to with my scrapbooks - and be accountable for my progress (or lack of it!).

I've always crafted, mainly focussing on card making and calligraphy when I was younger. I started scrapbooking in 2003, when my parents lived in America. I was at university at the time, which meant that I often didn't have the space to scrap. I did a lot of my layouts in the holidays, working alongside my mum at her dining room table. When they came back from the USA in late 2004, I did what I could in my shared student house.

In 2006 I graduated and had a whole room to spread my craft things out in - but I was working between 56 and 90 hours per week, so again not much got done. In 2010 my now husband moved in, and I lost my scrap desk to his computer. Then in 2011, we really made crafting difficult.

We moved to New Zealand. With only 8 boxes for 2 years. there was no space for craft things. I though scrapbooking was once again on the back burner - until I discovered it could be done digitally. Hooray for photoshop elements!

I started my digital layouts in November, and managed to be "caught up" by the time we left our apartment just over a year later. I have continued to scrap digitally since we came back, and am looking forward to getting my first book printed soon (I hope!).

So where am I at now? I've started doing digital Project Life this year, using Becky Higgins' digital templates. I'm also completing digital layouts from early 2011, and trying to complete paper albums that I started years ago. I'm hoping to share all of these here, so we'll see how it goes.

To start with, here's my Project Life layouts for June. Hopefully I've managed to resize and save them appropriately! I do PL monthly rather than weekly, and a month takes as many pages as it takes, which is working for me at the moment.

Fonts: DJB tell your story (Darcy Baldwin freebie @ Sweetshoppedesigns).
Papers/cards: A Shaw Happy day freebie,  DHD this is why, M Bennett sunny days.
Elements: Love stamps,  flutter swirl, A Shaw happy days bow, KD Brushed up life sentiments.
Templates: Becky Higgins Design A as above.
Some are unidentified as I downloaded them before I realised I should keep track of where they came from!
Sorry for any lack of credit, if someone can tell me where it came from I'm happy to amend this.

Getting things finished - step one

For me, step one is obvious - define "things." I've done several courses about goal setting, and how targets should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timed). I know some people work best when they can chop and change between projects, but I don't really get anywhere when I do that. My motivation is driven by progress, so breaking up a task into smaller sections means more things to cross off the to-do list!

So here's the list (in no particular order) of scrapbook projects currently in progress.

1. New Zealand 2011   (digital, almost done)
2. Our wedding            (digital, a few pages, fairly organised)
3. America 2002-2004       (almost done)
4. Family events and holidays        (few pages, no organisation)
5. South of France          (no pages, some organisation)
6. Paris              (few pages, some organisation)
7. Dublin            (few pages, some organisation)
8. University           (Few pages, no organisation - however I'm very excited about this one, having listened to this episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable several times)
9. India and Nepal 2005           (lots of pages, well organised)
10. Thailand 2008           (few pages, quite well organised)
11. Project Life 2013        (digital, few pages, kind of organised)
12. Project Life 2014         (digital, ongoing, up to date, well organised)
13. Toulouse            (few pages, some organisation)
14. The journey home 2012-2013            (no pages, limited organisation)

Hmm, that's quite a long list! You may notice a theme - prior to this year I only scrapped travel/vacations. I travel a lot, so that's still a lot of layouts to do! As you can see, some of these projects/albums are almost finished, and one is ongoing but up to date. The rest are in various stages ranging from lots of layouts and pretty organised (more on this later) to only a couple of pages and just been defined as it's own topic!

In order to keep me motivated, I'm going to start with the albums that are the closest to being finished - America and India & Nepal. I've already started working on these albums, so I'll have to blog that in retrospect. 

I've decided that anything I haven't started at all (no photos printed or layouts made) will be done digitally, whilst anything that has physical photos or the start of a 12 x 12 album will be done with paper. Yes, that does mean there's another list of projects I want to do but haven't started yet!

Next up - step two - make a giant to do list!

Time for tea

I'm joining in with Abi this month and inviting you in for a cup of tea. I love the idea of this, and have read various 'tea' posts over the last few months, and now I'm ready to join in.

If we were sharing a cup of tea right now, it would have to be iced tea! It's so sunny at the moment, and I'm not good with hot drinks in this weather. My husband is - he'll have a cup, so I'm happy to put the kettle on! Would you like an apple to go with it - they're freshly picked from the tree in our garden?

It's lovely to be able to relax with a drink and chat to friends. It still doesn't seem real that I've finally finished with exams, and I have time to do what I enjoy. We met a friend from New Zealand for coffee yesterday (iced mochas, yum), and it was lovely to catch up. Between her exams and mine, we haven't seen her for a year!

I've got so many projects I'm excited about at the moment. I'm having to rein myself in and concentrate on a couple at a time - or none of them will get finished. That's what got me into this mess - starting too many projects, so I'm determined not to start more until at least one is finished! Are you good at finishing things? I'd love you to share any tips!

We're choosing photos to put on the wall in our house - we have six photo frames for the spare bedroom,  so it seemed fitting to chose a photo of each of the six continents we've visited. I got that idea from Natalie - she's been to all seven. We wonder how many people will realise that's what we've done - do you recognise  the locations? Hopefully we haven't been too obscure!

In our bedroom we're choosing picture of us - this is much harder! Maybe I can show you the short list so you can help us choose? It will be nice to have some photos on the walls so we're hoping to get them printed this week.

I can't chat for long, as I'm still recovering from being unwell. It was nice talking to you though - see you again next month?