I‘ve been finding it hard to find time to scrapbook lately. During the week, my nights seem to be taken up by everything other than scrapbooking, and then I’m left to do a flurry of layouts in just a few days.

Sometimes, I don’t even find time to scrapbook during a week.

It wasn’t working like this, and I needed to figure out how to change it quick. The answer came to me like magic, as I was listening to the This Is Your Life podcast by Michael Hyatt, and I knew it would work.

In his podcast, Michael talks about scheduling time in the Alone Zone. The idea of the Alone Zone is actually from a book called Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Basically, it means that when you are busy creating your schedule, you purposely schedule time in the Alone Zone, time for you and you only.

It’s easy to set aside time for yourself, but we often are so quick to let that time go when something else comes up. Actually scheduling time in the Alone Zone makes that time an appointment that you must keep.

No longer do you have to feel guilty about turning down other commitments because you legitimally have an appointment that you have to keep. Simple, sure, but just enough to trick your mind into thinking that this time is unavoidable.

So I thought, if I scheduled some time in the Alone Zone, what would I do? Immediately I knew that I would want to spend that time scrapbooking. Rather than scheduling time in the Alone Zone, I needed to schedule some time in the Scrapbook Zone.

If I made this time an appointment, and put it on my beloved Google Calendar, I would for sure keep it. I would commit myself to keeping this appointment, viewing it as important as a meeting for school or a doctor’s appointment.

So that’s what I did. On Sunday night, I sat down and worked out my calendar for the week. Once I had all my “must do” appointments on the calendar, I went ahead and scheduled some time in the Scrapbook Zone.

What’s great, is that I’m actually looking forward to these times, already starting to plan what I want to work on. Usually I just start working with the first thing that jumps up at me from my screen, so putting some thought into it is a nice change.

I’m excited for my little dates with Photoshop and happy they will keep scrapbooking a major part of my week.

What types of things do you do to make sure that you are scrapbooking?

Aaron Morris contributes to Simple Scrapper each month, sharing his expertise and life experiences on time management.

Last Friday I mentioned that I’m working on my daughter’s first year album. I’m not quite ready to share how I’m putting it together, but I can relay some wisdom from my process thus far.

She is nine months old today and just yesterday I sent a huge batch of photos from her first 4.5 months off to Persnickety. I culled through over 1000 photos to select less than 100 for her album. Did it take some time? A little, yes. Was it hard? Not at all – and I’ve figured out why.

I had already chosen a few favorite photos to print and frame, but had not selected this large batch for the album. When I sat down to browse the photos, often 10-20 from a given “session” of time, I found myself surprised.

Instead of trying to pick the most technically perfect image with the best smile and glimmering catchlights in her eyes, I simply wanted to print the photo that made me smile the most. I wanted to print the image that flooded me with the best memories of sitting down with my little girl and trying to get her to look at the camera.

One of the wonderful benefits of digital photography is that our images are available, effectively, forever. The freedom to choose this emotionally best image came from the fact that if I like another photo at a later date, I can just print it out. Choosing one image for this album does not lock it in as the only image allowed to represent that moment.

In allowing myself to use gut instinct to select photos and move on, I was able to turn what could have been a challenging process into one I could enjoy and feel good about. By simply making a choice, I made the best choice for me.

This is a guest post from Michele Holcomb, who challenged the team to creatively source page titles and journaling.

More often than I’d like to admit, I reach a point in my creativity where nothing is going right. Most of the time it starts or ends with the title of my layout. I’m stuck and can’t move forward.

So what do I do to get over this stumbling block?

I have my self a little dance party. I put on my favorite songs and just sing to my hearts content. It helps me get a new perspective; then I’m ready to tackle my layout.

This trick I use got me thinking about using music or quotes in memory keeping. These words can help stir the soul. These words can bring about healing. And these words are sometimes…just plain fun!

This month, I asked the Simple Scrapper Design Team to use music lyrics or quotes as an embellishment to tell their story.

1. Use a Quote to Tell your Story

Jean Manis‘s double page spread tells a story of outdoor adventures. The title “The Call of The Wild” just emphasizes her journaling of a sweet summer day outside.

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Not only do Krista Wells and her husband like to travel, but they are huge foodies too. Her title is fabulous reflection of how they love and live their lives.

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2. Use Children’s Songs or Nursery Rhymes

Mandy Ross took a literal approach to a beloved nursery rhyme. Her title and photo tell the story of her sweet little ones imagination.

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I love the way Aimee Maddern used her title and the sun flare design for  her sweet pup.

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The soft colors of Amy Kingsford‘s layout and the use of the poem “Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes”  is such an amazing tie-in to her little one’s story.

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3. Use a Song Title or Lyrics

Doesn’t Celeste Smith‘s layout make you want to get up and dance? Her choice of colors and song title paired with an awesome photo of her son make this a stand-out layout.

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Jennie McGarvey‘s photos of her son exercising and the lyrics to LMFAO’s “I Work Out” are simply a perfect compliment.

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Margrethe Aas Johnsen chose the song title “I will tell your story” to pay homage to her husband’s amazing grandmother.

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In this layout Ronnie Crowley also takes a literal approach to her title “The View From The Top” and pairs it with beautiful scenic photos of Point Supreme.

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Briana Marshall took the lyrics to her favorite song “Brighter Than The Sun” by Colbie Caillat and coupled it with an older photo her & husband. Using lyrics as a background can give your page a lot of dimension.

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Michele Holcomb (that’s me!) also used lyrics to one of her daughter’s favorite songs as her main background patterned paper to tell the story of standing up for yourself and what you believe in.

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Jess Forster wanted to tell an amazing story about her wonderful husband. She used the title song from Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars from the movie The Hunger Games.

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Julie Aldridge‘s title comes from the chorus of one her favorite songs called “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. It’s a great choice to showcase the love of her life.

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Using music lyrics or quotes can help jump start your memory keeping. Now it’s your turn to show us how you use music, lyrics, poems and rhymes.

To participate in the challenge, create a new layout that uses song titles, lyrics, quotes or poetry for the page title or the journaling. Upload your digital or paper layout to any public gallery and use the linky embedded in this post to enter the challenge.

One random challenge participant who enters by 9:59pm CDT on Sunday, May 20 will be selected to win a $15 print credit from Persnickety Prints.

Weekly Recap

I’ve been thinking a lot about Emily’s first year album. I have a sorta-plan and think I know what I am doing. Big projects like these are often so much a moving target until you sit down to do it.

I constantly tell myself not to over-think it. I’ve been organizing cards and other memorabilia, just sort of tinkering. I am to the point where I actually need to print a whole lot more photos.

I’ve been pacing myself, working just a short bit at a time in Lightroom. I’m excited though, because in my (over)thinking and consistent tinkering I can see it coming together!

What did you do this week? Share your recap in the comments.

Weekend Reading

• The road to simplicity from Jamie Martin for Simple Mom
• Five reasons I scrapbook from Amy Kingsford
• Get organized for summer from Simplify 101
• Living with our mistakes from Scoutie Girl

Take Twelve Today

Don’t forget to join up with Ella Publishing and friends for the Take Twelve photo challenge. Document your everyday life with twelve photos on the twelfth of the month. This month, I’m sponsoring the challenge with a giveaway of two print versions of Everyday Storyteller.

Every weekend at Simple Scrapper you are invited to join us for reflection on our memory keeping activities as well as our ongoing tradition of  sharing simple tips, tutorials and inspiring ideas from around the web.

There’s something near and dear to my heart that I’d like to discuss with you. Something you’ve heard before, no doubt. Something you already know. I’m here to urge you, push you, prompt you to get into the photo. To remind yourself, you are part of the story.

I know what you’re thinking. I don’t look good, I don’t feel good, I hate my hair. Well, stop. Stop making excuses and start making opportunities. Did you wake up today and feel pretty in the new shirt you’re wearing? Take a self photo with your cell phone camera. Were you happy with the way your hair curled under just right? Grab your son/daughter/cat and take a self timer photo.

I don’t need to remind you that you are part of the stories you’re telling. As a memory keeper you’re not making pages of someone else’s storie; they are your own. You should, at least occasionally, make it onto the pages. Not just your memories, words and creativity, images of you should also be present. You were there on that trip to the Grand Canyon, Walt Disney World or the Wisconsin Dells. Your family (or the others that are part of your stories) remembers it. They see you as a piece of the equation. Don’t you want your scrapbook pages to reflect the true stories?

Have you ever looked at a photo of yourself that was taken a few years before and say I looked so thin/happy/young? I have totally had this happen. Time and time again. I realize I didn’t look as bad as I thought I did and I wish I looked that way now. I think that the same will more than likely be true in 5 more years. Get in the photo, even if it’s not how you want to look it is how you look and that is part of your story.

It all sounds great, right?  You want your memories to reflect the story and you are part of the story. There are many ways to actually do it.

1. Hand the phone or camera off to someone else. It could be a friend, child or spouse but it could also be a perfect stranger. Ask someone to take your photo! I am always happy to help someone, aren’t you?

2. No one around? Use the self timer on your camera. Most cameras have a timer that is simple to use. You can keep taking them until you are happy with the results.

3. If all else fails, take a self-portrait. Turn the camera/phone around, stick your arm out as far as it’ll reach and snap the shot! Take as many as you need to find a flattering angle.

I encourage you to not only get out there and take those photos but get at least one photo of yourself into each album you make. Make it a challenge and soon enough it’ll become routine and your stories will start to be told the way they really happened, with you in them.

Journaling on your layouts can be one of the most challenging parts of scrapbooking. Whether you’re not sure what to write or your writing feels boring, I have one trick I use again and again to shake things up.

I change the point of view.

Writing from the third person is often what feels most natural for storytelling, but the result is not very dynamic. I’ll illustrate with an example.

Joey was so excited to receive an A+ on his test. He spent a lot of time studying for this one.

Simply by changing the point of view, we can make this story more engaging and meaningful. Here are two ways:

First Person

I was so proud of Joey for receiving an A+ on his test. He was so excited all that studying paid off!

In this layout I described my feelings about being stepmom to a child going off to college. (Credits: Pop Goes the World by Dani Mogstad.)

Second Person

You were so excited to receive an A+ on this test, after spending so much time studying hard.

In this layout I write directly towards my daughter to tell her how much she is deeply treasured. (Credits: Huntington by Paislee Press.)

I like writing in first person, because it gives my journaling a more authentic, honest perspective. I use second person less, but I love using it to write letters to my subject or even to someone else about my subject.

Writing from either first or second person perspective is often easier than the detached third person. Because it honors your role as a witness to the story, what you write has more dimension and heart to it.

What point of view do you use in your scrapbook journaling? 

Learn how to develop a journaling practice and dig deeper into your stories with the upcoming Scrap Habits mini-course, available exclusively to Premium Members.

In the first post about the memory keeping of my son’s school work, I discussed the organizing process of the project. In the second post I showed the album I created with the items I chose to save. In this final installment in the series, I’m sharing materials that would work for creating a school work album (which weren’t available when I created my son’s album). I’m also going to share some pages I recently created with digital templates. Finally, I’ll reflect on the overall process.

When I put together my son’s album, in late 2008 and early 2009, although I knew Photoshop and had done some digital scrapbooking, I had little to no experience using templates. If circumstances had been different, I might have created layouts using Cathy Zielske’s School Album Layered Template Set (available in 8 ½ x 11 and 12 x 12 format) to capture key events during his school years. The template set also has an add-on for middle and high school years.

Playing “what if?” I tasked myself to try Cathy’s templates with photos from my son’s 2^nd grade year. Photos from his elementary years are non-digital, which means using them in a digital layout requires scanning. I looked through our family photo albums and was able to find only a few that related to school. Perhaps if I’d been shooting digitally, or had been scrapbooking at the time (I didn’t start until my oldest son was in 9^th grade), I would have found more every day, school-related photos.

Supplies: School Album Layered Template Set by Cathy Zielske,
Digital papers by Katie Pertiet, Rockwell font

Cathy Zielske has several posts showing how she’s used her templates to document her children’s school years: A School Album Solution, 2010-style and Updating school albums for another year.

Project Life hit the market after I put my son’s album together. The Project Life system would have been another route I could have taken to store my son’s school memorabilia had I been keeping an album from the beginning of his school years. According to this post, Becky Higgins is at work on a version of Project Life designed for the school years.

Using the same photos as above, I created a page with the digital Project Life – Template Design A and the Turquoise Edition Journaling Cards by Becky Higgins.

Supplies: Project Life Template, Turquoise Edition Journaling Card,
Digital paper by Katie Pertiet, Rockwell font

If I were to go back and create photo pages for each grade, with either Cathy Zielske’s templates or the Project Life templates, I would still store the school papers in 8 ½ x 11 page protectors behind the photo pages.

I had a monumental task of creating my son’s K-12 school album because I waited until he was in college to do so. This is not an approach than I recommend!

The Final Word

My recommendations on preserving your child’s school work memorabilia:

• Go through the work on a regular basis knowing your decision style. I could have made this a routine at the end of the school year. For others, going through the work every week or every month might work better.
• When putting together an album, focus on your goals and let go of perfectionism. Know who you’re making the album for – yourself, your child, the two of you?
• Let go of the guilt of throwing away (or paper recycling) your child’s school work. You and your child will have the memories of their school years with or without the papers.
• Date the work! Date the work! Date the work!

Last night a group of 530 women and one brave man rocked out and partied down for three straight hours. There were polls, great questions, lots of “Oh-Em-Gee, you’re my HERO”, and a video dance-off!

Here is a snippet of some of the action:

If you feel like you’ve missed out, you can still capture some of the extraordinary energy from last night by grabbing you copy of Everyday Storyteller. The book is now available for purchase in digital download and print versions!

There are so many wonderful things about scrapbooking, but to me the photos, which represent our memories, are the absolute best! To celebrate, let’s go through a few quick photo tips to make your everyday pictures a little better.

 1. Avoid harsh light for faces

Harsh light on faces often translates to dark face shadows in pictures.  Sometimes shadows can be beautiful, but face shadows don’t have the same effect and can be very difficult to remove.

When snapping pictures outside, avoid the bright, harsh, mid-day sunlight. Instead, try taking pictures at the beginning and end of the day. Or, if that’s not an option (such as when you are traveling), try taking the pictures in the shade.

A picture taken in the shade may be darker overall, but brightness can be edited easily in almost all photo-editing programs. When snapping pictures indoors, avoid lamps, and try to find natural sunlight near a window. This natural light will give people a beautiful glow that you can’t get directly in the mid-day sunlight.

 2. Don’t use flash

This piece of advice comes up again and again. Unless you’re trying to take a picture of someone who is standing in front of lights or is in the dark, let the natural lights provide the glow. Almost all editing programs have a way to correct semi-dark lighting, so most of the time there is no need to worry about the flash.

3. Take pictures of children from below for a big impact

This approach might feel weird when you’re on the floor, angling your camera of phone up at your child, but taking pictures from below gives children a “larger than life” feel.  It shows the story of them growing up.  It is especially effective for toddlers when they are walking or running, but it can work for any age. (Think sports and dance!)

4. Move around

Much like the advice to take pictures from below, the advice to move around is meant to encourage you to try new angles for a new perspective. Often pictures from the side of objects like statues, cupcakes, flowers, and food tell more of the story than a straight-on picture from the top can. Some of my best pictures come from me moving around to some awkward positions to take unique angles. It’s totally worth it!

5. Notice beautiful photography

I am not a professional photographer, but I find beauty in other people’s work. Noticing what they do helps me to be a better photographer. I mentally record any tips or ideas, and the next time I have my camera in hand, I’ll try something new. Often these inspirational pictures are from other scrapbookers. They also come from Pinterest and websites for photographers such as iheartfaces.com.

For further reading, try out some creative challenges based on these tips at my blog, theimaginant.blogspot.com.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Everyday Storyteller blog hop and giveaways. Yesterday was so wonderful!

The winner is #75, Sara Schiller. She offered this advice:

“Don’t lose sight of who you are scrapping for… remember you’re doing it for you and your memories.. not to get on teams.”

Congratulations Sara!

Everyday Storyteller is an ebook of practical scrapbooking ideas, arriving this Friday night. There is still time to get on the VIP list so you can enjoy an exclusive launch discount and attend the big party!