Click on any of the prompts below for more inspiration! 

Idea No. 32 | It’s so hard to say goodbye

Idea No. 33 | Use up some of those leftovers

Idea No. 34 | Mimic your subject’s movement or shape in your page design

Idea No. 35 | Search for deeper meaning in your everyday photos

Idea No. 36 | Incorporate a popular trend into your design

Idea No. 37 | Showcase your journaling by using a mixture of fonts and colors

Idea No. 38 | Use lines to direct the eye to the most important part of your page

Idea No. 39 | Mix and match themed elements from several kits/collections

Idea No. 40 | Try bringing two different styles together in your page

Idea No. 41 | Focus your next page on someone or something you rely on

Idea No. 42 | Turn heads with a slight turn in your page’s design

Idea No. 43 | Share a secret about yourself

Idea No. 44 | Examine both sides of the story

Idea No. 45 | Where do you stand on change?

Idea No. 46 | Draw inspiration from your favorite fashions

Idea No. 47 | Not picture perfect? That’s OK!

Idea No. 48 | Use stitching to connect the elements on your page

Idea No. 49 | Capture your family’s headquarters

Idea No. 50 | Reference one of your favorite songs in your journaling

Idea No. 51 | Let your photo fill the page

Idea No. 52 | Capture your “One Little Word” for 2012

I hope you’ll enjoy these creative prompts and I look forward to seeing your pages in the Page Idea Gallery!

You can download the set below for use on your scrapbook pages.  They are available in both pdf format and as png files–enjoy!

Download PDF Version to use on your paper layouts

Download the PNG file for use on your digital layouts

These date stamps were created with the use of images from The Graphics Fairy and Obsidian Dawn.  As such they are for your personal use only.  I hope you enjoy using them and would love to see what you create with them

Now let’s have a look at a couple more creative solutions for storing your paper scraps!

Creative Solution No. 1:  A Paper Scrap Clothes Line 

Try hanging your favorite paper scraps in full view where you’ll be sure to see them and inspired to use them in your next project.

  This approach is great for those of you with your own scrap space.  You can use an actual clothesline or even a piece of yarn that is secured to a wall near your main scrap area and then use miniature clothespins to hang all of those “must-use” scraps (big and small) in style!

–AND/OR–

Creative Solution No. 2: A Paper Scrap Swatch Ring

You could save those smaller paper scraps on a swatch ring!

This approach is perfect for keeping your smaller pieces of scrap paper wrangled.  You can punch a hole in the upper corner of your scrap pieces and then thread them onto a ball chain, book ring or even a piece of ribbon for safe-keeping. This also makes it a snap for matching your scraps to your pages–give it a try!

You could also try:

• Some stylish color-coded file crates like these.
• A small mail sorting cubby like this one.
• Or maybe color-coded magazine files like these.

Do you have some fun ways that you store your paper scraps that you’d like to share? Tell us more about how you store your paper scraps in the comments!

I first heard about the idea of a one-sentence journal while reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin over this past year and I was immediately intrigued.  The one-sentence journal looked to offer me the perfect home for my brief and ordinary thoughts.

While you can use this online tool for keeping an electronic journal or even buy journals that are tailored to the “One-Sentence” approach, I decided to make my own–using SEI’s Sunny Days Collection, digital templates that I adapted from Karen Grunberg’s Weekly Gratitude Project and a handful of everyday items including jute and a piece of cardboard.

The things I LOVE about my homemade “Once-Sentence Journal” are:

• It’s bright and cheery colors put me in a good mood for recording my thoughts. 
• At 4.5″x6.5″ its the perfect size to carry around with me.
• Its monthly dividers make it easier for me to refer back to certain entries to use in my scrapbook pages.
• The page layout offers the perfect place to add a little bit of art along with my daily journaling.
• Its got a one-of-a-kind look and feel which inspires me to pick it up every morning and write in it.

To make your own “One-Sentence Journal” you can follow the simple steps below:

1. Cut your base from a piece of cardboard–mine measured 6.5″ tall by 11″ wide.

2. Cut out (2) 4.5″ x 6.5″ pieces of paper that you’d like to cloak the front of your journal’s cover and adhere them to the opposite edges of your cardboard piece leaving a 2″ strip down the center of your cover for your spine. 

3. If you choose you can cover the inside of your journal cover (just as you did with  the outside) using (2) 4.5″ x6.5″ pieces of a coordinating paper. Then you may want to consider stitching around your papers that you’ve adhered to your cover to improve its durability.

4. Cut out (12) double-sided pieces of patterned paper (or 24 single-sided and then adhere them back-to-back so there is a pattern on both sides) that measure 4″x6″–these will be your monthly dividers to which you can add tabs to for labeling should you see fit.

5. Now its time to make your pages–you can use these printable pages that I made for my own journal or you can download the psd file for Karen Grunberg’s Weekly Gratitude Journal Templates and customize them yourself.

 6. Print out your pages so you have enough for 365 days.  You can print 183 journal pages back-to-back or you can adhere them back-to-back after printing out a total of 365 pages or you could even leave your back sides blank like I did to save room for photos, clippings and follow-up thoughts/ideas.

7. Now it’s time to bind your journal by punching two sets of congruent holes in your spine and setting eyelets in each of them for reinforcement.

8. Then punch corresponding holes through all of your pages and dividers and organize the pages/dividers as you want them to appear inside of your journal.

9. Finish binding your journal by threading  two separate pieces of jute through the top and then the  bottom sets of holes in your pages and in your journal cover’s spine and tying them off.

10. Finally decorate the front of your journal as you see fit and you’re ready to start filling your journal with your thoughts from this year.

Don’t forget to download your printable pages and have fun making your own One-Sentence Journal to keep your daily thoughts in.

Happy Journaling!

Below are a few of my pages with some of the sketches/templates available in the archives and in a couple of days I’ll be giving you a peek at a few of the NEW sketches/templates coming in February.

 Simple Scrapper’s  Premium Membership Collection (April 2011 Template No. 1)

Also Used: Photobooth and Oh Joy by Paislee Press, Neutral Lines by Kitty Designs, Scissor-Cut Hearts, Stitched Fall Mix No. 2 and Stitched White. Borders by Anna Aspnes, Airtime and Billet Doux by One Little Bird Designs

Simple Scrapper’s Premium Membership Collection (Jan 2012-Template No. 2)

Also Used:Generations by One Little Bird, Paislee Press and Traci Murphy, Sorriso by Paislee Press, Tartan Textures and Sophistica Art Play Palette by Anna Aspnes, Denim Pocket and Wild Horses Element Pack by Katie Pertiet, Apple Orchard by Krista Sahlin.

 The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.  Click on the link above to find out more about all of the great features that go along with the Simple Scrapper’s Premium Membership.

Hope You All Have a Great Weekend!

One thing I can tell you about Karen is that she is very humble and when I first approached her about sharing with us she was worried–as she said that her scraps weren’t exactly what she’d call “organized”.  But once we discussed her system a little further it was clear to me that the Karen’s method of organization centered more around the “use” of her scraps rather than the “storage”–which I think we can all agree is still a very important part of maintaining our paper scraps.  And that is why I know you are going to love the ideas that Karen has to share with us today just as much as I did!

Let’s hear from her now!

When Amy first emailed me to tell you a little about my scraps, I was hesitant to reply. My system for scraps isn’t all that organized. I wasn’t sure I had anything valuable to add to the conversation. But then she convinced me to just share whatever I do so I agreed. I hope you will find some of these ideas useful, if not–just remember that I warned you about it first

Just because you keep your scraps–doesn’t mean you’ll use them.

Until about two years ago, I used to put my scraps into a basket under my desk. They sat there until the basket was overfilled and then eventually, reluctantly, I would end up getting rid of them.  What I learned then was that, with the exception of a project for my son’s school, I rarely ever dipped into the scrap stash.  EVER.

So it was just sitting there mostly because I was too sad to get rid of it. But it wasn’t serving any practical purpose and one can even say it was adding to the clutter in my house.

Improve your chances of using your scraps by narrowing your collection to those you truly love.

In mid 2010, I decided to change things up a bit. I created what I’ve come to call my “favorites bucket.” In this bucket I stored two things:

1. Products I’d bought and never used but really wanted to
2. Scraps that I loved and knew I wanted to use again

This bucket sits on top of my scrap desk and each time I am scrapbooking, I make sure to take a good look through it. Which helps me use the scraps a lot more often. I am considerably more selective now with what I save since it really has to be product I know I will use again. I’ve been using this system for over 16 months and I’ve only had to clear/reorganize my bucket once in that time (and this bucket is small.)

Here’s a recent photo of my bucket:

I know it looks messy and overflowing but that’s because I use my bucket almost daily now.  Not just on layouts but on a project I just started for 2012.

Put your scraps to use in your daily scrapbooking, art journals or mini albums.

One of the projects I’m doing this year I’ve called  The Savor Project–it’s basically an amalgam of December Daily and Project Life. I create mini layouts that are either 4×6 or 8×6 throughout the week and then store them in a Project Life album. These layouts preserve small moments from that week. You can see more about my project here.  But below is an example of pre-prepared pages I create before I cut them up and put my stories on them.

As you can see, these pages are small and use a lot of little bits and pieces. So my stash of favorite scraps is a perfect place to look for things. Since I started the project in November, I haven’t dug anywhere but my pile of scraps for these pages. I hope to continue that for as long as I can. It’s a great way to use leftovers of my favorite products.

What to do with the scraps you know won’t use but can’t bare to part with…

Besides my favorites, there’s a small set of products I’ve used and loved but I know I’ve used them often enough that I won’t use them again. But I love them so much and do not want to throw or give them away. I can’t bear to part with them. So for this subset, I’ve come up with a new strategy. I put them in a big folder:

And then I use them for another project I am working on for 2012. This one is called “David’s Book of Good Memories.”  My older son, David, is almost seven. He and I are putting a book together of all of his good memories from this year so that if and when he feels a bit down, he can just peruse through his book. We mostly use his ephemera for it but add scrappy items to make the pages more fun.  Here’s one of his spreads:

As you can see, this project is also perfect for scraps. Some pages have a lot of them and others none. And that’s ok. What I care about is that these products I love and can’t seem to part with, but will likely not use again, are going to a great use.

And that’s my scrap organization at this point. Two sets: those I love and will reuse and those i love but won’t reuse. The rest are donated to friends and schools. It makes it so all my scraps have an allotted purpose and I don’t have to worry about creating random clutter anymore.  I hope this is helpful to some of you and thank you for letting me share my crazy organization system with you today!

Thank you Karen for sharing your projects and your system for using up those scraps with us!  You can find more out about Karen and the other projects she’s got going on by visiting her blog Karenika–where you’ll find a pleasant collection of scrapbooking, photography, art journaling and daily reflection.  

If you are just joining us get more ideas for storing and using your paper scraps by checking out the rest of the posts in the series The Organized Stash.  And don’t forget to join me next Thursday–I’ve got a few creative storage solutions that you can make yourself  to help you keep and use your paper scraps.  See you then!

We’ve all been there…

You start out at the beginning of the year with a fierce attitude that has you feeling enthusiastic about your daily goals for photographing or scrapbooking everyday life. Then some of that “new year” energy starts to wear off and you find yourself a day behind–but not to worry–its only a day you’ll get caught back up!  And pretty soon before you know it you are 4 or 5 days behind and you’re down on yourself and have no motivation to get caught back up!

BUT before you throw in the towel…

“It’s not the end of the world!”

Source: Arvind Balaraman | Dreamstime.com

Take a deep breath and have a look at the steps below to help get you refocused on your 365 goals  and get back on track. 

First, don’t be so hard on yourself.

You are not a failure!  We all get behind sometimes…and you’ll never get caught back up with that defeated attitude!  So give yourself a break and acknowledge that 365 Projects are more about capturing everyday life in your photos and pages than they are about capturing a photo or page every day.

Then revisit the purpose of your goal.

Remind yourself of why you are carrying out your 365 project.  Not sure what your purpose is–find one! There is no purpose too small or too great–but having a purpose will help you to stay motivated and focused on completing your goal.  For more ideas on examining the purpose behind your 365 projects check out this article from Katrina Kennedy: Project 365-What’s Your Purpose?

Next, step back and reflect on where you got hung up.

Ask yourself why you think you got behind:

Did life just get in the way?

Is your approach not working for you?

If you begin to understand where things got off track then you can not only have a better idea of how to fix things but you might also be able to prevent yourself from falling behind in the future.

Now sit down and make a plan that involves getting caught up and staying caught up!

Maybe you can set aside a part of your day tomorrow to tackle those back days and get back on track.  Maybe you can do an extra photo or page each day until you are caught back up. Or maybe you’ll decide to shrug those few lost days off  and move forward from where you are at–no shame in that!

Once you are caught up consider the following as a means of keeping yourself on track from this point out:

• Remember what it looked like when you got behind so that you can spot signs that it may be happening again and make the necessary adjustments.
• Arrange for some type of daily reminder–a visual reminder, an email or a calendar appointment set on your phone–something that will remind you of your daily goal.
• Work ahead–there will most likely be days in which you will take more than one scrap-worthy photo or have time to create more than one scrapbook page.  Take advantage of these opportunities as a backup for the days when you find yourself in shortage of time or creativity.

I wish you all the best of luck with your 365 Projects and remember–life happens–if not there wouldn’t be much for us to document!

Have a great day!

Click Here to Download Jan. 2012 Sketch Pack

Click Here to Download Jan. 2012 Template Pack

If you’ve never used “tiling” it can be a fun way to introduce several colors or patterns into your pages in way that doesn’t have to be overwhelming.  Or you can use it to create eye-catching lists of journaling to your page.  Below are two pages of my own in which these two sketches were based off of–in order to give you a better idea  of how you might use them and the tiling in your own pages:

With Sketch A I’ve used the tiles to create a cascading list of colorful journaling strips.

 

With Sketch B I’ve used my tiles to create a quilted collection of colors, patterns and texture.

I can’t wait to see how you use this month’s sketches and the titling technique in your own pages!  I’d be delighted if you’d link me up to your creations in the comments!

Tami Taylor is a dear friend and colleague of mine who I have had the privilege of knowing and working along side for the past three years.  She is one of the most creative women I know and when I decided to start my new organizing series this year–she was one of the first people I thought of approaching to share with us all.  I love the way her mind works and I knew she’d have some great tips for all of us on this month’s topic of ”Organizing Your Paper Scraps.”  

When Amy asked me to share with you how I handle my scraps, I was excited!  It’s one of the few areas that I have organized into a system that works for me and my system has worked for me for quite some time.  Below I’ve shared a glimpse into my system and a few ideas to help you organize your own paper scraps in a way that will help you to use them.

Odd shaped scraps are great for using in collages.

When I have odd shaped scraps or if I only have the negative spaces of a scrap that I punched on, I will take these scraps and glue them down on a piece of paper I leave laying on my table.  When the paper is full I’ll cut shapes from it, use my punches on it or cut strips for layouts with it. Here’s a sample of a heart I cut from one of these scrap sheets.

A BIG thanks to Tami for sharing with all of us today! For more ideas and inspiration from Tami you can check out her class Get Inspired By Words at Creative Passion Classes or you can visit her personal blog, The Taylor Life.  And for a closer look at how Tami organizes the rest of her supplies check out her Scraproom Tour video on the Get It Scrapped! blog.

 Join in next Thursday for more great ideas for using up your scraps from Karen Grunberg–see ya then!

PHOTOGRAPH one little word

 You can get started with your own Project 365 with help from Katrina Kennedy’s Capture Your 365 too!   Head on over and download your monthly Photo lists, sign-up for daily email prompts or receive great inspiration and support from the articles on Katrina’s blog!