The Topic:
Jennifer Wilson joins the panel to share the projects they are planning on doing during 2014 and what they are doing to ensure their own success.
Joining the Discussion:
Jennifer Wilson (Simple Scrapper • Start Fresh)
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
Show Notes:
- Evernote
- Library of Memories approach
- Project Life + Library of Memories
- Katie’s monthly roundup
- Katie’s stories she wants to tell
- Steph’s year in review
- Peppermint’s New 52 project
- Katie’s 2010 roundup album
- Finish Line Scrapbooking
- Speed Scanning (In Photoshop Elements you can divide scanned photos. Go to Image, and then click on “Divide Scanned Photos” and use it on a batch of pictures scanned on the same bed. As long as there is space between all of the photos, it will automatically separate them and load them into new and individual canvases. Also works in Photoshop CS)
Picks of the Week:
Jennifer: White balance filters
Peppermint: Scrapbook Sticker Storage Idea
Katie: One Little Bird desktop wallpapers
Steph: DIY Texting Gloves
Sponsors:
For the best deal in digital scrapbooking, become a member at TheDailyDigi.com.
So earlier this year I wanted to give a “gift subscription” to a friend that I thought would LOVE the digi files… when I emailed Stef and found out they weren’t available in the increments I was looking for, I just sent her the amount of money by paypal to pay for the subscription that I wanted to send, with a link to the the site and a note telling her what I was gifting to her. She loved it! And that worked for me!
Oh my goodness! It’s so nice to hear that other people enjoy organizing, too! I always feel like such a weirdo because there are times I enjoy organizing more than I enjoy scrapbooking
I’ve been wondering lately if I have ADD…I have felt so scattered. I’m the same way – if I’m not organized, I’m not productive. I’ve pushed past it many times, but when I have everything in order, I get so much more done.
Well, you may still be a weirdo, but you’re in good company!
I have so many days where I can’t even start working until I clean my desk off. The mere presence of things becomes a huge distraction for me.
LOL! Well, that’s definitely true!
So for 2014 my goals are: (1) Continue and eventually finish scanning all my old travel slides and associated ephemera so I can make photo books about these old trips. (2) Compile the remaining non-travel photos into chronological-ish (who can tell with some of the photos) photo books. (3) For daily Project Life I am reverting to 2012, the first year I did it and I wrote a card every day and photos (and from time to time I use lots of cards and photos for a busy or significant day). In 2013 I did a lot of different approaches, including at times not doing anything at all! Also I may (or may not) try the original two-page spread per week system.
Then there are the possibilities: (1) Get more serious about assembling and making photos books about family history. (2) Do some special something for our time in Logan with up-coming summer. (3) Figure out what to do with the cool Project Life kits and mini-kits I have collected!
(4) And how could I forget scrap with each and every Digi Files kit each and every month!
Oh my gosh, I nearly forgot one that’s needed doin’ for a long time: (5) Finally write the stories for the 50+ family stories I have notes on!
Merry Christmas Adam, y’all!
I’m loving you list, Joyce!! Merry Christmas Adam to you too!!
My biggest scrapbooking goal for 2014 is to start a Project Life type album, to document the everyday. I’ve been wanting to do this for the last year and just can’t get started for some reason. I thought I would start January last year with the beginning of the new year, then I thought I would start in June with my birthday. Neither happened. I’ve got the supplies, both paper and digital. What I’m struggling with is how to organize my thoughts with what I want to include in the album…what I want to write about, what pictures to include, what activities I want to document. I think once I get started, it’ll fall into place. It’s just the getting started that has been the hardest part for me.
Here’s my advice Karen: Don’t make any big decisions, just make little notes and take some photos. One cool thing I don’t hear anyone talk about is that it’s easy to rip something out of Project Life and put something else in if you get a better idea later on (but that probably won’t happen, you’ll be too thrilled to have anything done!).
My five strict rules are (1) spelling doesn’t matter (I figure it just shows how I spelled that word at the time); (2) similarly grammar doesn’t matter; handwriting and/or printing doesn’t matter (but some of my cards are printed digital ones); (4) write a 3×4 card every day, or more if you want to, detailing what happened that day and/or the weather and/or who you talked to on the phone and/or what you did for exercise and/or anything else. Yeah, I know I didn’t tell you Rule 5 but I haven’t made it up yet — I want to leave room for rule grow.
Highly consistent albums are attractive but highly inconsistent ones are charming. Make yourself a charming album by changing your mind and trying new ideas anytime you’re in the mood. I love many of the charming (I’ll accept the label chaotic) parts of my 2013 album but I got a little out of control and even skipped hunks of the year. I left no space to represent the gap, I just journeyed on. I’m going to dial it back just a smidge for 2014 so I won’t skip days.
I am a big fan of writing a card a day about just what happened that day and writing it that day so you remember the little stuff that happened. Big thoughts can have their own card right next to the daily card, if you want. One unexpected benefit of the card-a-day approach is that I have a diary reference for so much. The doctor wants to know when I got a flu shot? It is mentioned on a card and might even be the featured photo of the day (I live a wild life). Similarly I can find the name of that restaurant we went to in Colorado or when I got my hair cut. When I started Project Life on January 1 of 2012, I had ONLY cards for the first three weeks because I knew I wanted to start and it would be easier to back-fill photos than it would be to back-fill cards. I never did put in photos and that’s fine with me.
Since you have the supplies right now, start right now. Maybe you can think of it as a prelude to 2014. You can tell yourself you’re going to throw these practice pages away on January 1, but don’t do it; let them be part of the charming chaos that is your album.
Love the tip of not making the big decisions at the start – maybe that will be my 2014 memory keeping goal so I get started!
I think studying “the big picture” kills way too many great ideas. My “big picture” is to use the Rain core kit (I was born in Seattle after all) and write a card a day starting with the evening of January 1st. I bet it won’t last though. I will have a 3×4 card a day but they will end up looking pretty random and I will really love it.
Congrats on making a decision to not really decide and just go for it, L Squared. Just to be clear, L Squared is 2,500, right?
Joyce – you make me smile. Thanks for your participation in the forum.
Every once in a while I go nuts at night and write long posts. I should probably be more succinct — but I figure people can always skip them. I enjoy reading a good juicy post myself. Thanks for the kind words and thanks for triggering my brain!
I think a lot of people would echo your questions about what to write about, what pictures to include and what activities to document in a pocket scrapbook album.
I scrap my digital pocket album in a weekly format. The weeks that are the easiest to document are the ones that I do right away because all of the stories are fresh in my mind. When some time has passed, I rely on my social media feeds, my calendar, emails sent, and notes I’ve jotted down in a Google Drive file to remind me of what happened during that week.
Usually deciding what to put in the pockets is fairly straight-forward. I curate a selection of photos that are representative of the activities we did that week. Then I add a few stories about those activities on journal cards. In remaining spaces, I’ll add stories that don’t have associated photos. Or I’ll add fun things like personal Top 10 lists, screenshoots from my iPhone, weather notes, Currently lists, or other facts like big news stories.
It took me a couple of months, but I found a workflow that really does work for me. I can usually put together a digital pocket page in under an hour.
Thanks so much for the advice Joyce and Heddy! I like the idea of writing on a card a day. Great way to write stuff down when it’s fresh and it can go right in the album. I bought a small, cheap weekly planner for my purse and I think I’ll use that too to jot down what I want to include in the album. I’ve tried using my phone for that, but that just doesn’t seem to click for me. I’m excited to get started, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time!
You know, Karen, the phone-thing doesn’t work for me either. Well, in my case it’s the iPod-Touch-thing but for this purpose it’s the same thing. I just can’t be motivated to go to an app to type in on a tiny virtual keyboard notes that I can write so much faster on a piece of paper! I thought I would love it after reading and listening to so many others who adore it but I find I use my iPod mostly for listening to Audible books and playing with phone apps when I’m in the mood.
I keep a calendar on my computer and note our up-coming plans, of course, but I also go back and erase anything we decided not to do or anything calendar-worthy that we (that’s my husband and I) did spontaneously. That way my calendar is a planning tool and a more accurate record.
So Karen, how are you doing? I am proud to say I have written three cards and will write number four this evening. How can I have four cards and it’s only January 1? Well, I decided to start with Sunday (these big decisions are exhausting!). I have only two photos so far though – Towels we bought on Sunday and my husband and I kissing with Happy New Year 2014 on the TV for Tuesday. Genius that he is, he recommended that we take the timing stress out of the selfie photo by pausing the TV with the image I wanted on it!
Happy New Year and my wish is that we all have a successful memory recording year on our own terms.
The phone doesn’t work for me in my Project Life album, either. I’ve found post-it notes are about the only thing that seems to make sense for me in the pocket format. I’ve even tried weekly calendar pages or jotting notes in my day planner, but for some reason a post-it note stuck right to the pocket is a strategy that wins.
Merry Christmas! I am so thankful I found your podcast this year, you have been very inspiring to me! I started my first weekly pocket scrapbook this September and have completely enjoyed every episode, yes, I’ve gone back to the beginning!
I am starting a 6×8 pocket page scrapbook all about me. I’m starting with photos of my childhood and therefore need to scan them, so I was interested in the automated way to divide scanned photos. In Photoshop CS4, I was able to follow “File > Automate > Crop and Straighten Photos”. It didn’t work on the first scan (it only separated 3 of the 4 photos, not sure why), but worked on the second. I can see this saving a ton of time, thank you!
Sorry so long! In short, I explain how I use automation to make organizing quick and easy.
I thought I’d share how I organize my photos. I don’t think it’s revolutionary, but it might encourage an idea or two, since lamenting photo organization has been a theme lately.
We have two Androids, my mother in law’s android, and my DSLR in our house. Any photos on our two Androids are automatically uploaded to a “Camera Uploads” Folder in Dropbox. My MIL’s Android is uploaded to “Shared with Courtney” folder. Every Sunday night (My guaranteed scrap time) I bring the DSLR from wherever it is in the house. I pop the memory card in the computer, and pull the photos over into “Camera Photos”. Then I open up PSE11 Organizer. I have it set to watch “Camera Uploads” and “Camera Photos”. I will manually open up the shared folder, since my MIL doesn’t take a lot of photos, and check for any I want. I very briefly tag the new imports. Even when there are a lot of photos, it’s usually the same occasion – Christmas Party, Halloween, birthday. I also will tag the people. Again, this is quick because it’s only 1 week, and usually people are in multiple photos. If it’s a trip, I may tag the place.
It may sound complicated, but it only takes me about 10 minutes from start to finish since most of it is automated. Once I peruse the photos and pull out my Project52 photos, I will move the rest of that week’s photos to a folder “2013” (soon to be 2014). It keeps my import folders clean and organized. Because I tagged the photos, I have no problems going in and grabbing photos for other layouts.
Also, I {over} use my phone’s screenshot feature. If I post a Facebook status or story I want to scrap, I’ll screenshot it as a reminder. If there’s a photo posted by a friend, I’ll screenshot it and use it as a reminder to go download, or ask for the photo. If there’s a news bit I want to include in P52, I’ll screenshot it. My husband has used screenshots this semester on his grades for me to add to P52. I’ll screenshot text conversations between my husband and I, especially when I’m telling him a story from the day. It’s an easy to use feature on my phone, and since the screenshots are uploaded to Dropbox just like regular photos, all that info is readily available for me. I also screenshot my home page or games/apps I’ve been using. It’s neat to see how in just a few months my favorite apps or games might change. Christmas morning I screenshotted(?) my phone when my son got up to go see if Santa came. Last year it was 8:30am. This year 8:15am. A fun detail that I don’t have to remember or write down and lose.
Thanks for sharing your method, Courtney. I really enjoy learning how other people do the same tasks I do. I usually pick up (or relearn) a tip or two — I just don’t use them! I am happy with my current procedure but I know that circumstances can change quickly and the information you shared may help me out of a future “What do I do now?” dilemma. Thanks for all the details and fun stories.
Have a cool yule, y’all.
Great discussion – really got me thinking about my goals.
One thing I hope to do next year is share more of our memories with our extended family. I was wondering what host Katie uses for her private family blog or one that people recommend?
I’d love to hear a show in the beginning of 2014 with you all talking about trends of 2013 and what you see coming out for 2014 (similar to the one you did about 2012).
Yes, I’ve been hoping for a trends show as well
Geometric shapes and gold have been my favourites this year
Hi Ladies
As the new year starts I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the show and each of you. My scrapbooking these days consists almost entirely of unzipping the Digi Files and filing the kits away into folders (with icons for the folders of course!). But that’s okay, I’m doing what I need to do in other areas of my life and will always come back to digi.
I have learned so much in the last 164 shows. I have received so much inspiration from each of you and the techy stuff you have shared has literally changed my life.
For example Evernote, which was Steph’s pick in episode 3 (I looked it up), helps me to organise my entire life. If you haven’t already, check out Evernote Food (iOS and Android), it accesses the recipes you have saved in Evernote and presents them in a beautiful format that is perfect on an iPad in the kitchen. Swiftkey is the only way to go for Android keyboards – thank you Peppermint. I just got an upgrade to PSE 12 for Christmas and I am always grateful for Katie’s expertise in, and loyalty to PSE. There are many other ways you’ve helped me from the apps and techniques I use, to the podcasts I listen to. I realised recently just how deeply embedded you’ve become in my life when I was talking about something computer-related with my husband. I started a sentence with “Peppermint uses … ” and he didn’t blink an eyelid, he knew exactly who I was talking about
Best wishes for 2014 and once again thank you for every little thing you do.
xx Lyndel
As usual you have provided an inspiring show, I always feel like I’ve a taken a really good class after each podcast finishes! I spent a lot of time in 2013 working out a no fuss organising method after taking Stacy’s Twelve class in 2012. I’ve done everything from Evernote to paper based lists and have learnt that my organising needs to be very close to the raw material of my photos – so that meant ACDSee. I created tag categories for each of Stacy’s categories of inspiration and simply tag photos as they fit them. I have also been writing on digital journaling cards using Photoshop and just saving them as jpegs in the relevant monthly folder and tagging with the inspiration category. That way I can get back to it all together when I have a chance to scrap. Each month I load the photos from the inspiration categories onto a digital photo frame – so I can be continuously inspired!
I’ve really wanted to embrace Evernote, but what I want it to do seems to be different than what it actually does. I use Springpad, Simplenote or the Clear app to keep track of any notes that I want to write to myself. (Springpad and Simplenote are universal; I think Clear is iPhone only.) I am going to try to take more notes this year!
Like Steph, my goal for 2014 is to put more photos into albums. This was my same goal last year and I bought Project Life page protectors to see if that style would make it easier. It didn’t — I ended up with only one two page spread for the entire year and no desire to do any more. (I’m glad I tried it because I wouldn’t have guessed I wouldn’t like scrapping that way.)
I next tried pocket scrapping a vacation that we took in the spring, but had not even gotten through one day’s worth of photos before I quit. (Ran out of time and never got back to it.) Last weekend I tackled them again and I finished up the photos and journal cards for that one day, a total of five 12×12 Project Life pages, in just a couple of hours. (I sent them to Persnickety Prints and expect to see them any day now.)
While I don’t think that I can replace my normal one or two page layout scrapbooking with pocket pages, I do like how much easier it was to scrapbook a large number of related photos in one sitting.
With that in mind, my current plan is to scrapbook a “regular” digital layout one night a week and to work on photos and cards for pocket pages on the weekend. I started January 7 and so far I have managed to do two digital layouts and that one photo day’s worth of pocket pages, which is more than I accomplished for all of last year. Yay!
I’m getting excited about scrapbooking again. Thanks for another inspirational episode and I hope all your goals (and mine!) are met this year.