My Scrapbooking Process - Part 3

Update: I'm now using Artisan 5 and Historian 4 as my previous programs finally bit the dust.

Welcome to my new blog series! I'm a scrapbooker and I've never really shared my method or process for how I create pages to fill my albums.

In my previous post, I explained how I use my digital template for sorting, editing, and resizing my images.

Today I'll share how I actually use my template for scrapbooking my edited images!

I've planned my pocket pages, I've resized and printed my images, and now I have a pile of printed photos to get scrapbooked. This is the fun part!

I tend to scrapbook in front of my computer or at my dining table. I get out all my supplies and settle in for a bit of crafting therapy. ;) My essential pocket scrapbooking supplies are: a D-ring album, page protectors, corner rounder, trimmer, pen, adhesive and refills, photos, and picture my life cards. I keep all my goodies in a medium organizer for easy scrapbooking when the mood strikes.

2022 Edit: Medium Organizer shown is no longer available. Try the new Photo Organizer as shown here.

With my supplies at the ready, I can get my pages made. I open up my album and load it with my page protectors (in the same pattern as my digital template). This makes it much easier to get rolling and I'm not hunting high and low for a certain page design!

Now that my pages are in my album, it's time to trim and sort my printed photos. I open up my saved filled template pages and follow the bouncy ball.

I trim my photos to size, round the corners and slip them into the correct pockets as shown in my templates.

Photos, adhesive, trimmer, corner rounder, and scissors are must haves!

Photos cut and put in place before rounding and cards.

Next up is rifling through my collection of cards and overlays and finding just the right ones to suit my photos. Once I'm happy with how my page looks, I flip over and start the next page. I don't follow the one week to a page, or fortnight to a spread idea. Whatever fits on the page and looks good is what I do. One day may be one photo, or it may be 3 spreads. It depends on the photos and the story!

I use a little bit of tape runner to help keep my cards and photos stuck together so they don't wiggle around in the pockets. I also journal as I go instead of waiting til later. My memory isn't what it used to be and waiting to journal at a later date is not best practice. Write the story down now while you are working with the photos!

Voila! A completed page with printed photos and journaling.

From here, it's really rinse lather repeat until done! When I'm out and about at crops, (or my husband has taken over the computer), I simply save my filled template pages to my phone. It doesn't take long to fill my albums with this method and it means that I can catch up on a big backlog of photos in a relatively short amount of time. It also means that when I go to Scrapbook Camps, all the prep work is done ahead of time so I can create during Camp and enjoy myself!

For this 10am-10pm workshop where I took these quick snaps of my process, I had 182 4x6 photos to scrap. That includes the 3x4s I had to cut apart. I have nearly all my 182 photos done and in place. I'm now out of memory protectors and have to order more. (Oh darn, more goodies to arrive!)

I hope you've enjoyed this lil look into how my brain works and how I scrapbook my pocket pages. If you've enjoyed this series, let me know in the comments!

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My Scrapbooking Process - Part 2

Update: I'm now using Artisan 5 and Historian 4 as my previous programs finally bit the dust.

Welcome to my new blog series! I'm a scrapbooker and I've never really shared my method or process for how I create pages to fill my albums.

In my previous post, I explained how I set up my digital template for scrapbooking.

Today I'll share how I actually use my template for sorting out my images!

With my template all set up and ready to go, now it's time to fill in the blanks.

I download all images off my phone periodically to my computer. At the end of the month (usually) I go into my template and click add photos. I add ALL the photos from the month and then drag & drop into my template as I see fit. I leave space for journaling boxes and filler cards and shuffle around until it looks right.

Once the photos for the month are sorted into my template, then it is time to actually resize my photos. I save my filled template pages as jpgs, open up a new digital 4x6 project and add my monthly photos to it.

I shrink my filled templates to a smaller window, and my 4x6 project too until they're both side by side. From there it's pretty simple. I resize, rotate, and edit my monthly photos as shown in my larger template to fit on 4x6s. I find it's much cheaper to do my 3x4s on 4x6 at home rather than at my photo developer (I am NOT paying extra for "collage prints"!). This editing can take a while and I usually do it in fits and spurts over a couple days.

Here you can see my template on the right, and my 4x6 project on the left. I've added two 3x4 photo wells to one 4x6 page then added my photos. I keep going with my rotating, editing, and resizing until the images for the month are done.

Once my 4x6ing is done, I save them all to a USB and head to my local Harvey Norman. I plonk my butt down at one of the terminals, check each image I upload, and get them all printed at once. I like Harvey Norman's prints as they are the only place around that still develops photos (printing digital images like film prints). Other places near me print photos with ink on paper and I don't like the look or feel of these ink prints. I'll stick with Harvey Norman's developed prints! I've spent all this time collecting my images, sorting, editing, and resizing them, I don't want to get cheap ink prints that won't stand the test of time in my albums! If you like the look and feel of ink prints, by all means use them. I've tried other places and they just don't compare to the quality of Harvey Norman. Please note: I do not use online photo printing services. I've tried that and the quality isn't up to my standards. I make the time to go in person and print. My photo boy Matt is great and rarely do I have issues after my images are printed. If there is an issue, he's quick to reprint for me on the spot!

Now that my photos are printed, come back and see how I actually scrapbook with my template!

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My Scrapbooking Process - Part 1

Welcome to my new blog series! I'm a scrapbooker and I've never really shared my method or process for how I create pages to fill my albums.

I'm a bit picky about how I scrapbook. Before CTMH, I used to buy papers and embellishments then print off a stack of 4x6 photos and freehand it like mad. That ended up with lots of leftover paper scraps, unused stickers, extra photos and reprints as some photos just didn't work out at that size. If you're like me, that's wasted money and effort that could be used creating more pages! After CTMH, I've refined my method and process. This may seem a bit retentive to some, it works for me.

I'm a hybrid scrapper. That means that I do traditional scrapbook pages (think paper, stickers, photos etc) and pocket pages. For me, this is the best of both worlds. I get to do my speedy pocket pages and spend extra time on traditional layouts for special photos. It works for me and actually helps me scrap faster. For traditional layouts, I use the vast range of page ideas from our how to books. I like the inclusion of cutting guides and instructions that CTMH how to books provide. As you may have realized by now, I'm a consultant and I use their products exclusively.

As I scrap in two formats, and I don't like trying to wedge extra photos into completed pages, I have a photo planning tool. I use a digital scrapbooking program to plan, edit, and resize my photos BEFORE scrapping them.

Update: I'm now using Artisan 5 and Historian 4 as my previous programs finally bit the dust.

I use 3 page protector designs when I'm pocket scrapbooking (design 4, design 3, design 5 in that order). These page protectors (and more designs) are available in packs of 10 from my shop, or in a variety pack.

To make my planning template, I created a new 12x12 digital project and called it 2016 PML (the current year I'm working on). I went to my website, found the 3 page protector designs I use, copied the images, and added one to my first page.

Design 4

I duplicated and flipped the image so I can see both sides before adding in photo wells.

I repeated this for each of the three page designs and saved my page.

Top to bottom, design 4, design 3, design 5

I duplicated this finished template page several times. Now I have several pages to use for my album planning!

If you use a different style or brand of pocket scrapbooking, or if you use something like photoshop, this method will work for you too. Simply find the picture of the page designs you use, add it to a blank digital page, copy and flip the design, and add blank photo spots. Rinse lather repeat. Please note, the page designs featured here are © CTMH!

Now that my digital planning template is all set up, come back and see how I actually USE my template for scrapbooking!

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