Tuesday, May 15, 2012

2012 Spring Cleaning Get Organized Challenge - Challenge #5

Still playing catch-up.  This one should have posted on April 23.


Memorabilia, Journaling Notes, and Creating a Holding Album


Our first objective in this challenge was to gather all of our memorabilia in one spot.  I pretty much had that done already ... in a big box in my closet.  So I dragged that box out and started sorting.  Turns out, I had some stuff in there that I couldn't even identify.  Hope it wasn't important.


For my storage system, I decided to use some plastic string-closure folders that I have had forever that weren't being used.  Instead of using labels, I opted for sticky notes so I could reuse the folders after I completed my layouts.  My sticky notes contain the event, date, and location.  I also went ahead and put any related photos (that had already been printed) in the plastic folders with the memorabilia and notes.


The plastic folders fit nicely into a magazine holder, and this became my "holding album."
This challenge was a LOT easier than I thought it would be (thank goodness!)


Now, when I get ready to create the layouts (or head to a crop), I can grab one of these folders, add some paper, some embellishments, stick it all into one of my CropperHopper folders and skedaddle!  Easy peasy!


Next week ... Stamps, Punches, and Cutting Systems.  Uh oh.

Monday, May 14, 2012

2012 Spring Cleaning Get Organized Challenge - Challenge #4

Okay, so I'm playing a bit of catch-up here with my blog posts.  I got a little sidetracked by life, so I actually should have posted this one on April 16.  Oopsie.


A Plethora of Pictures


That was this week's challenge.  I have a lot of pictures.  Fortunately, the genealogist side of my personality has been working on scanning them all into the computer.  Unfortunately, there  are still quite a few that need to be done.


I finally went through the box o' crap stuff that I inherited from my mom and found my baby book (I'm the first-born, so mine is actually filled out!), and a bunch of photos of me.  There were also photos of my siblings and other family members as well.


I worked and worked on sorting them all out, deciding which ones I wanted to keep and which ones I wanted to toss keep in a separate bin until the end of time. (You never know when someone else might want one of those photos!)


My photos serve two purposes.  First (and foremost) is my genealogy.  I attach them to each individual in my family tree program.  Second, I use them for scrapbooking.  I usually don't use them in their original size, so scanning and editing works best for me.  Plus, I don't damage the original photo in the process.


Once I had them all sorted, I started scanning like a crazy person.  I got them all done, too.  The renaming and organizing of the scanned photos?  That's another story.  What a challenge!


Using the photos for scrapping necessitates a completely different organizational structure than my genealogy.  So I decided to just name and organize the photos like I usually do, and then I tagged them with a specific event or other scrapbook page idea.  That way, I can just search for all the photos of my daughter at the zoo and voila! all the photos I need will pop up and then I just have to print them in their appropriate sizes.


I made a list of the pages I want to create (thereby also making a list of my tags) and then I proceeded to narrow down the number of photos I wanted to use for each layout by untagging my least favorite.  The hard part there is remembering if I have any other memorabilia that needs to go on the page as well (that's next week's challenge).  Hopefully, I won't have to revisit the tagging/untagging process once I get ready to actually create the layouts.


Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photos while I was doing my photo organizing.  It was quite the yawn-fest anyway.  I can't promise that next week will be any more exciting ... sorting memorabilia and journaling notes!  Wheeee!