Make the Most of Your Scrapbooking Time

It's frustrating and disappointing to finally find a little time to sit down and work on your scrapbooks, only to wind up staring at photos and a mountain of supplies because you don't know where to start. Before you know it, your free time is up and there's little to show for it. No more! This step-by-step approach will help you organize your photos, supplies and layout ideas so that you'll make real headway every time you scrap, even if you can only carve out 10 or 15 minutes at a time.

Session 1: Gather all the photos of the occasions you're planning to scrap. Choose the ones you're going to use, and jot down some notes about each (to serve as journaling prompts later). Crop the photos if necessary. Then, look through them again, and use colors common to several to start thinking about a color scheme for the pages. That done, put the photos away. If you have more time, repeat the process with photos of another event. Working this way serves a dual purpose: you'll get a good start on your pages while also getting all of your photos (scrapped and unscrapped) in order.

Session 2: Gather supplies. Using the color scheme idea from your photo organizing session, pull out papers you think you'll want to use. Collect a variety of solids and patterns, complimentary and contrasting, etc., and play with them a little to see how they work together. Once you've settled on a combination, choose some coordinating embellishments: stickers, ribbons, die-cuts and the like. You're not necessarily going to use everything you put aside, and you might even go back for more later. The idea here is simply to assemble a "kit." Page protectors make excellent kit holders.