Someone at Studio Calico posted the question, "What do you do with pics you want to include but don't want to go all out on?" I'm including my post below because I think people worry about this alot. They worry about being behind in their scrapbooking and feel guilty for doing too little or too much, not knowing enough, spending too much money, or losing the desire to do it in the first place. I totally get it. I have felt each and every one of those feelings. I had to just LET IT GO. Yeah, 90% of my photos are unscrapped but at the time of this posting I have made about 50% of those photos accessible to my family which is a HUGE step. Yeah, I lose my mojo. Yeah, I still crave and stockpile the supplies like they were food and water. Yeah, I still take hundreds of pictures at a time with no intention of slowing. As Ali says, it is OK. Here is what I have tried so far.
(previously posted in Studio Calico Forum )
Last year I finally got all my pics (from my film camera, up to that point) into albums. I found some cheap ones at Target that were decent looking and put most of them in there. The ones that I really didn't care for but they weren't bad enough to throw out I gave to my 6 yo daughter and she scraps them while I scrap the good ones. She loves having her own pile of pics to choose from and she doesn't have to mooch them off me anymore! When I get around to it I might go back and scrapbook my favorites, but I won't feel guilty if I don't because at least they are out where my family can see them now!
As soon as I went digital I definitely got more choosey with what I print. I used to scrap 12x12 two-pagers just so I could fit lots of photos on a layout. I still like 12x12 but now I only scrap my favorites or the photos that "speak" to me. This means I can finally do a layout with only 1 or 2 photos and not feel guilty! But I also love to print my favorites at 4x6 and then resize all the supporting pics that I just couldn't delete down into a sort of index print (sometimes 2x3s, sometimes 1x1.5s). Then I upload it to Shutterfly with all my other photos and print at the 4x6 price. That helps me fit alot of photos on a page but still keep the focus on my favorite shots.
Also, I use those 12x12 divided protectors like Ali. I'll scrapbook my faves and then stick the rest of them straight into the protectors. Done!
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Another thing I should add. I try really hard to stay up to date with editing. I am one of those people who edits every single photo before printing. Some alot, some only a little, but every single one. So I try to get everything edited as soon as I can and then upload them to Shutterfly. As I go through to edit them I also weed out alot that I don't care to save. (As a photographer I take a ton of photos to make sure I get the one I want, but the key is remembering that once you get the perfect photo you don't have to save all those "trial runs". I am forever having to remind myself of this!) So I edit and upload the best. I don't always print them right away but at least they are ready to go. Then later I will go back and print like 200 at a time. I also save everything to an external disc drive that Paul bought me for my birthday. Hopefully I am covered in case something happens!
I am always looking for better ways to organize and streamline the process. Maybe my system will help someone else get started or feel less overwhelmed. If you have any questions about how I do things just ask!
