This is the first layout I’ve made since my son was born. It was quite intimidating to get back into it, after nearly 10 months…even though I’ve been devouring scrapbook inspiration in the form of podcasts and blogs. I was itching to get back into it!
A week or two previous to the day I made the layout, I decided to reorganize my “stuff to scrapbook” stuff. It was stuffed (as neatly as I could) into various Manila mailing envelopes and old school folders, which were in turn stuffed into a unit of the Expedit. I decided to slip each story (or story-set) into a 12×12 page protector in a binder album instead, so that I could flip through what I have to find something that interested me whenever I decided to take time to scrapbook. All of this to say, reorganizing my stuff-to-scrapbook stuff made me excited about the stories–and even reminded me that I had some of those stories’ words composed, and even sketches drawn and photos printed! What a great way to jump back in.
I was still in the midst of the big quilt project when I did that reorganization, but it got me thinking about how I might approach scrapbooking again, since it was more imminent now. The more I thought about it, I realized I needed a guide, a “restriction;” some “rails,” if you will. I got really excited when I had the idea to kill some kits! I have a couple Studio Calico kits, one Gossamer Blue, kit, and several collection packs–lots to choose from.
So when I had reached a good stopping place on the quilt (when I sent it out to be quilted! Hurray!), I took an overlapping nap time to scrapbook. To help me stave off indecision, I set a timer for one hour to see how far I could get. I chose a kit (Mind the Gap Studio Calico kit from long ago!) and flipped through my newly reorganized stuff-to-scrapbook binder to select a story, and I was off!
After an hour, I was on a roll! So I allowed myself to continue (thankfully the kids kept napping! Bonus!!) and I completed this layout (sans journaling– I needed to purchase a new white pen, but the text was already composed) in an hour and a half. It felt so good!!! It took me a week or two to acquire the white pen, but it was the work of a couple minutes to fill in the journaling when I had it in hand.
Working with a kit was a great way to minimize overwhelm. In fact, it was so energizing that right after I finished putting this layout together, I picked out another story to scrapbook with more pieces to use from the kit!
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