Catching Up on Scrapbooking: Slow but Steady

Emphasis on SLOW.

Very slow, actually.

Awhile back, I shared that I had finished loosely scrapbooking all of my 2004 photos, but still had to go back and add the journaling. I wasn't sure if this way of doing things would prove to be faster or slower. I do think there are efficiencies working this way, but OH, MY GOODNESS... 

I can't seem to find my way out of 2004! I'd like to be able to finish a page and not have to revisit it.

I am not going to do this again! Going forward, I won't move on until the page is completely done, with embellishments and journaling.

ANYWAY... here are some thoughts.

I've had to do a lot of "speed scrapbooking" with pocket pages to make everything fit in two albums for the year. The pages are very flat (no pop dots allowed!) with very few lumpy embellishments. Super simple. Most are so simple that they are not even worth sharing! LOL But my goal here is to just get the darn pictures out of the boxes and into the albums -- not to win any prizes! :) 

Here are some examples:

LH: Random kitten and camper photos -- on one page!

RH: Girl Scout trip, with newspaper article

  

Below are 3 super-simple, minimal embellishment pages. Journaling is always the most important thing to me. But when you wait 14 years to do the scrapbooking (AHEM!!), it's a test of one's memory! :) 

 Luckily, I've been diligent about keeping my memorabilia organized. That's my saving grace! For instance, I had saved newspaper articles about the new school that opened in 2004 and reading those articles reminded me of the excitement we felt at the time. During those years, I also had Bailey fill out a little "form" at the beginning and end of the school year. It's interesting to see what she looked forward to -- and worried about -- each year!

I've found several fun items in my memorabilia file. At left is a list of the Halloween candy Bailey collected on Trick or Treat night. Although she claimed the list was to keep track of popular candy trends, I really think she tallied up the totals so she'd know if someone (her father or me!) snitched a piece or two! :)

LH: Here's a 6x12 page using the only (poor quality) photos I had for an honor band event. If I don't have many photos, I find it helpful to just use a smaller page protector. The 3-ring binder makes that easy to do. Next to the 6x12 page, I included an 8.5x11 sleeve with the program.

Going back through these photos, it's evident that we were very busy during those middle school years! Bailey was involved in all kinds of projects and activities. Girl Scouts took up a good portion of our spare time, as I was a troop leader for many years. I have so many scouting photos that I've had to pare them down with minimal journaling, but I have kept some favorites including a few pictures of regular troop meetings. (When deciding which photos to keep, I try to save some that are representative of all of our activities. I also think about the kinds of photos I WISH I had from my childhood today!)

Until we lost my parents, we camped at the fair every year. Bailey would camp during the entire duration of the fair, so we have TONS of fair photos. These are precious pictures to me, so I tend to keep a lot more than I probably need to.

In addition to attending the fair, in many years we entered competitions so I have lots and lots of great stories in my scrapbooks. 

For a few years (LH page) Spouse was a judge in the chili competition. RH page: Both my aunt and mom entered exhibits in the dollhouse competition.

 

At this particular fair, Bailey entered the junior sewing competition with a pajama top and bottom. Looking back on these photos is a great reminder of how much fun we had during those years!

And that's really why we scrapbook: To preserve -- and re-live -- our stories. So no matter how long this process takes me, I will continue to work on my scrapbooks! 

jp