| Planning Layouts for Faster and More Efficient Scrapbooking |
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Simple Steps to Quicker Scrapbooking Regardless of Your Style: Making Page Kits |
MAKING PAGE KITS
This step is not strictly necessary, but it can be useful if you frequently have only small blocks of time to scrapbook, and it is especially beneficial if you often scrapbook away from home (at crops, with friends, etc.). Darla says that page kits help her because, “…on days when I want to scrapbook and am not feeling very creative, I can still be productive. If I am going to a crop, it also cuts down on the things I need to take with me…”
Page kits are quick and easy to make, because you will have already, in a previous step, mapped out supplies that will be needed to complete the layouts. The simple steps to assembling page kits are:
- Pull out the notes you had written down while planning a layout and quickly skim through them to get an idea of the supplies you will need to gather.
- Gather the necessary supplies and stash them with the papers, photos, and notes that you already have for the layout. You may want to place smaller embellishments in baggies so that they won’t get lost among the other supplies.
- Revise if needed. You may need to make some changes to your layout plans at this stage. Neith explains, “[I] grab the things I was thinking of and revise if they don’t work or are unfound.”
- Print out any journaling, titles, quotes, labels, and other materials that you wish to include on the layout and put them with the other parts of the page kit.
- Revisit layouts that still need work. When you have more time, go back to the layouts you have yet to completely plan. Pull out any embellishments and supplies that might work with the layout and play with them until you are able to decide what you want to do with the layout.
- Pack it up. If you are making page kits that you will be completing away from home, be sure to take along any tools and adhesives you will need!
HOW WILL THIS HELP ME?
You may be wondering how all of this layout planning will help you scrap faster and more efficiently. It’s very simple, really:
- You will save time if you do one step for several layouts at a time, instead of doing all the steps at once for each individual layout. You will drag out your photos to organize them only once, get over your “writer’s block” for journaling only once, pull out your papers only once, gather up supplies only once, and so on. This method will also allow you to stay productive even when you only have small blocks of time to devote to scrapbooking.
- You will better be able to prevent “scrapper’s block”, because you will be free to work on whatever step you’re in the mood for, instead of being forced to work in a set order for each layout. If you’re in a writing mood, you can journal. If you feel inspired, you can sketch your layout and jot down ideas. If you feel like organizing, you can choose photos or plan out the order of your album. If you feel like creating, pull out a page kit and get to work on your layout! Francine admits, “I think I understand now why I’m not getting many pages done. I do the “try to get it all done at once” method, and then I get stuck. I think I’m so impatient to see a finished page that I fall into that trap.” Starting from scratch on a page is a challenge for many scrapbookers.
- You won’t forget the ideas that you came up with previously, because you will have written them down and placed your notes with the photos, where they won’t be lost or forgotten about. Francine says, “I have always had the bad habit of having ideas floating around in my head, not writing them down, and then forgetting what I want to do.” Layout planning can prevent the frustration of forgetfulness.
- Layout planning will allow you to more fully enjoy the process of creating, because you won’t have to come up with ideas on the spot. You will also be free to concentrate on creating the layout, so it will come together more quickly. Vernell comments, “The initial stages do take some time, but I make up for it when I don’t have to think about what to do when ready to scrap—just open my notebook and scrap away.”
- You will, through making page kits, keep your workspace less cluttered. Using page kits will prevent you from having so much to clean up and put away between layouts, as you will have already decided on your supplies and gathered them up ahead of time. Thus, you won’t need to pull out, and then later put away, a bunch of embellishments, papers, and idea books each time you make a page.
Layout planning isn’t for everyone, but it works well for people who need a more organized method of planning in order to complete layouts more quickly and efficiently. If you feel that your pages aren’t coming together as easily as you would like them to, give these steps a try. Adopting every step listed may not be necessary for your situation, but by incorporating some of these ideas, you could find your stack of photos dwindling more quickly!
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