I spent the month throwing away some scrapbook layouts

I am still here! I haven't done much scrapbooking this month, just doing some scrapbooking organization. Let me explain:

I have been meaning to remove the Christmas pages from the family albums and put them in their own books that will be stored away once Christmas is over. I started taking the pages out, then started removing the pages of my husband too--not for any nefarious purpose, just to give him his own album.

Once I was done, I started moving the pages together so that there were no blank spots. This freed up a couple albums, which became my husband's. (I still have to find nice albums for the Christmas pages.) As I moved pages, I found some that I hated. Not for the design, though that did happen occasionally. No, I hated pages for a few reasons:

1. I tried a technique that was HOT at the time that just looked like junk when I tried it.
2. I had created the page just to use up supplies, mostly with kit remnants.
3. I had created the page, not because I had a story, but to use up photos left over from other layouts.

Some pages I just threw out. Some, though, had some photos I liked, so I redid the pages. Here are a few of them:

This photo came from a page that used a technique I didn't care for. I think I also used up a kit to make it too. I kept the design simple and subdued and picked weathered products to fit the Instagram filter I used.

And here was another one I did a technique I hated. I used wintery colors to fit the time period and picked products that seemed a little vintage-y to go with the whole castle motif.

Finally comes a page I made with random photos I loved from various pages, pages that I hated. Many of these were table of contents pages I no longer needed; some were from pages without stories (here the boys are eating watermelons! Or eating popsicles!) I kept the photos and put them on a page and reflected on why I loved them. If you can't read the stickers that I stitched down as journaling, here's what it says: "When I look back at these photos, I love to see how happy we are and what good times we spent together." If you can read it, you'll notice I forgot to put one of those words on the page. Oh well. :-)

So you know, Paperclipping Roundtable recently talked about this issue, throwing away or redo-ing pages. Go listen to the podcast to hear what they had to say about the issue.

I have one more page that I redid, one with photos I loved but a technique I hated. I used products I had just gotten for a guest design team spot I'll be on in November. I'll share that one next month!

Time to rejuvenate

I've had a few deadlines pass recently, and this coming week I have another deadline: grades for the trimester. I've been doing little else this week but grade and sit, exhausted. I'm so tired I can't even do my unwinding activity, reading in bed. My eyes become nonfunctional after about 3 pages.

Sadly, my lack of energy includes scrapping too. I'm working on a page about me as Wonder Woman at 5 (heh), but I have to take it slow. Let's just say I'm not inspired.

So what am I doing to regain my energy? Here's a few things:

Organize my photos. I printed some that I want to print and burned a CD for my mom.

Organize my stash. I broke apart some kit dregs and am sorting through patterned paper and scraps to donate to my boys' former day care.

Wish list. Yes, I've been going through online stores, Archiver's and an LSS called Scrapbooks Too thinking about what I could use. Well, and what I lust after, scrap-wise. Right now it's this misting template from Crafter's Workshop, this paint dauber from Jenni Bowlin, this mist from Studio Calico, and this collection from My Little Shoebox.

Plan layouts. I've been jotting down ideas for pages, even though I lack the creativity to make them.

Read scrapbooking magazines and idea books. I love online galleries, but my eyes are tired for staring at computer screens, entering grades. A book or magazine is nicer on the eyes. Plus, I can take it in the hot tub at Lifetime Fitness. Bonus.

I am nearing the end of the big, time-consuming grading, so I will become more productive this weekend, I think.

I have an idea to share tomorrow regarding my Wonder Woman page involving embellishments and finishing touches. Please stop by!

Now it's your turn: what do you do when you lack mojo? What snaps you out of it? Do share!

Supply challenge

One of the best things about organizing my supplies is the rediscovery of old stash. I find that inspiring, and I try to jot down those creative ideas in my notebook before they float away. I did this with the following page a few months ago:

I had felt guilty about not using my rub-ons much lately, so I sorted through them and found a frog holding a balloon. My son had received a frog Pillow Pet for his birthday, so I had the inspiration for my birthday layout. (I won't even mention how ancient those cloth brads are--but mixed with current stuff, they don't look so old!)

I remembered those rub-ons when I worked on my Color Room layout for the week. The colors matched the left-over rub-ons, which went with a recent photo I'd taken of my sons and their friend, so I put it all together into this:


I tend to be an inspired-by-story-and-photo gal, but I find getting inspired by product sometimes leads to greater creativity (and more satisfying layouts). This process of inspiration-by-product meade me ponder: I think we ALL want to use up some old stuff. We bought it, so we hate throwing it away, but it's hard to go back to old stuff when that new stuff is so...delectable.

To help dig into the older stuff, I'm dedicating myself for the next few months to using my stash. Not all of it, of course, but I tend to shop in stores for inspiration more than shopping in my stash--and limiting myself helps increase my creativity.

So here's my categories of stash:

• felt/fabric
• stickers
• die cuts
• stamps
• ink-mist-paint
• buttons and brads (I have tons of these)
• patterned paper (ditto)
• ribbon
• chipboard
• overlays and acrylic
• flowers
• metals
• digi products (the worst organized part of my stash)
  
• tools: rulers, die cut machines, templates
  
• punches
• rub-ons
• glitter/gems
• mini-albums
• pencils/markers/chalk

That covers pretty much everything I have. So how am I going to use it?

1. Each layout I look at my list (it's in my idea notebook), I think about one product that might be good for that page, and I look through that product in my stash for inspiration.I limit myself to just one product to search through in my stash, and I try to pair it with my imagined page.
2. If I get inspiration for another project during my search, I take out the product, leave it out, and jot down my idea. Here's an example: I saw these remaining animal rub-ons and thought I'd use the pig on my Chinese zodiac sign; the stars I'll use as a mask for a 4th of July LO; I can always use a pretty white rub-on flourish; and the dresses (which are new from my Studio Calico kit) I thought I'd use on a LO about how I NEVER wear dresses. Much to my husband's chagrin.
   
3. I also consider my page in process and think of how I can use similar products that I haven't used recently. Case in point? Substitute eyelets instead of brads:
4. If I feel mojo-less, I organize one supply to get inspired by product. It usually works.
5. If I have a product I want to use for whatever reason but I don't have an idea for it, I leave it on my table. I'm a tidy person--not Poirot tidy, but it offends me to see this orphaned product so much that my creative juices inevitably get flowing just to get that sucker off my table.

So I encourage you to look at this list, pick one area that you want to get started on using, and use that product! If you do, please leave a link--I'd love to see what you did in getting inspired by your stash.

The island of misfit toys

I think Rudolph is going to be on TV this week. Wow, do I remember watching that show every year as a child. I want to sit my boys down to watch it, at least partially to get extra enjoyment out of the Yeti when they see Monsters Inc. again, but also to see that classic place, the Island of Misfit Toys.

I'm drawn to that island because the concept applies to my scrapbook supplies, and I have a feeling I'm not the only one. C'mon, in your stash, should there be an island of misfit (and forgotten) supplies? What would it take to get them off the island and put them to use?

This applies because I drew inspiration for a layout from some of those misfit supplies in my stash, specifically some brads I got a couple years ago from K & Co. and Autumn Leaves. I was putting my Big Brads in a new storage container, and they all didn't quite fit, so I pulled three and decided to make a layout. They were green, so I looked for green photos. I had some photos of my older boy in my particular at the Sculpture Garden (Lord, I got a lot of layouts out of that visit!), so I took them, grabbed some Kraft paper, and looked through my green patterned paper.

(Side comment: my productivity has increased since I sorted my brads, buttons, and paper into colors, I don't create all-encompassing color drawers like Stacy Julian--that's too messy for anal ol' me--but it helps to look through many supplies by color since that's how I scrap.)

I found a piece of shaped paper from Pink Paislee that I somehow ended up with two pieces of. I think it's Christmas paper, but that's OK. I trimmed the shapes and used them to bookend the photos. I left enough space for journaling and a title, and added some blooms to fill space. Confession: I never measure right the first time, so I always end up peeling up a photo or two to retrim them. To avoid damaging the photo, I turn the layout upside down and peel the layout off the photo.

Here's the end result:


So yes, this entire layout started with those three brads in the lower left. Funny!