Scrapbook Idea - Getting OrganizedThe biggest hurdle I encounter in working with my clients to begin their family albums is getting organized. Have you been staring at a huge box of photos for years now? Do you groan and close the closet door saying, "next month"? Let me offer a few words of encouragement and some ideas on getting started.
First, know that consistently people report eliminating one-third to more than half of their pictures as they begin to sort them. Don't panic, you don't have to throw them away – but many may be duplicates or blurry. If you find that you took 3, 4 or even 8 pictures of the same thing hoping to get the perfect picture, you can pick the best one and leave the others in the box, give them away or throw them out. You may find that some photos are less important now – either you forgot what the picture is of or you are no longer in contact with the people in the photo. Your project may not be as big as you originally thought.
Sorting can be the least fun part of scrapbooking. Don't get bogged down trying to remember every date. Begin by sorting into large categories. I am helping one client with her boxes of photos covering 70+ years. We started to sort by generations. The stacks consisted of:
Purchase inexpensive photo storage boxes from any drug store or camera shop as a temporary home for your pictures. Use one box for each large category. You may not have generations of photos so begin by sorting them into years or seasons of life (elementary school, junior high, high school, college, newlyweds, etc.). Do not worry about an order within each box yet.
Unless you are having lots of fun sorting, I suggest once you have completed the sort into large groups you pick one category to work on. What album do you want to start with? Pick one box and sort it more completely by date. This does not need to be exact – if you don't remember whether you went to Disneyland before or after Easter probably no one else will either. I recommend that you start with your more current pictures. You will remember more details so sorting is easier and your family will enjoy seeing your most recent memories in an album.
The next step is to call your Creative Memories consultant to help you get started on your first album. Your photos are priceless – do not spend time and energy putting them into albums that will either damage your photos or will not stand up to years of use. Invest in quality products and supplies. Every thing that comes in contact with your photos - paper, adhesives, stickers and other decorative supplies - should be designed and tested for long-term photo storage.
I recommend using scrapbook style photo albums so you will have more choices for page layout and you can journal your memories next to the photos. Creative Memories motto is "simple pages, completed albums". Do not get pulled into the belief that every page should be a work of art – photos and journaling are the only essential elements to a beautiful album.
Written by Cindy Ragsac |