breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,596 
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Nov 4, 2022 19:47:10 GMT
I was looking at a pile of photos trying to decide if they were extras or I never scrapped them. I have so many first day of school and last day of school photos (four kids...) I can't tell which year is which, and what I've scrapped before (same background, my porch...) and was tired of trying to guess by the kids heights compared to the height of my front door. So, I went through my albums back to 2018 looking to see what was missing, and realized I never scrapped Christmas 2018, or my dd's 15th birthday, or Halloween 2019 etc. So I made a checklist, and went searching for the "missing" photos on my computer --which is it's own mess, I finally have a hard drive just for photos but they're not very organized-- and printed the ones I could find and WROTE THE YEAR on the back of every photo so I don't have to try to find them again. And while I was doing all of this the cap to the marker I was using to write everything down disappeared... How do you stay organized, because apparently I need help  |
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pantsonfire
Drama Llama
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 6,297
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Post by pantsonfire on Nov 4, 2022 19:49:55 GMT
I make a list as events happen that I want to document.
I then cross off when the layout/pocket page is made.
I also print from home so that helps a lot too.
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pantsonfire
Drama Llama
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 6,297
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Post by pantsonfire on Nov 4, 2022 19:50:53 GMT
So like I added Cabazon Dinosaurs Oct 2022 to both ds and dd's running list. There is also swim lessons 2022 for both. And 10th grade 2022 for ds.
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Post by sarahsprettypapers on Nov 4, 2022 20:03:04 GMT
I have a spreadsheet that I try to keep up to date when I add more photos to my computer.
The spreadsheet has different sheets for each year, and the events from that year are organized in chronological order. Once I complete an event, I mark it as complete.
The spreadsheet also keeps track of whether or not I have made a page kit yet for that event, if I have any special memorabilia I want to include, or other random notes I may have.
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Post by jennoconnell on Nov 4, 2022 20:58:27 GMT
First of all, good for you for going back through those albums and finding the gaps. Before I started paying attention, I scrapped the same event multiple times and also forgot to scrap super important things. Here's what I do (I use a Windows based laptop). I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
1. Upload photos to computer. (I use Dropbox)
2. Create a folder in the Pictures section of the computer for the current year and name the folder according to the appropriate year. For example, this year would be called "2022".
3. Create a subfolder for each month and name each one according to the number of the month. For example, January would be called "1", February would be "2", etc. (The reason I use the numeral instead of the name of the month is because if I use the name, my computer alphabetizes them and they don't stay in chronological order.)
4. I also create one subfolder each year called "Printed".
5. Move the uploaded photos into the appropriate yearly and monthly folder.
6. Print the photos when you are ready to scrap them.
7. Once you print the photo, move it to the "Printed" folder. Anything left in the monthly folder hasn't been scrapped yet. The printed photos will stay in chronological order in case you need to go back and look for a photo you previously printed.
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Post by BSnyder on Nov 4, 2022 21:17:39 GMT
For me the answer is easy… I don’t sweat it. Scrapbooking is my hobby, not my job. I do not enjoy organizing, reorganizing, and then working within systems. I do that enough in other areas of my life and if I applied it to my hobby, I would have quit years ago. I print what inspires me either because I saw an idea, a photo, or remembered an event or ignited a memory, and scrap the stories I feel like telling. Anything I get into an album is more than I had in there the day before.
Recently I got a bunch of photo albums from my childhood, borrowed from my mom. That is what is inspiring me now. As I scan I will place them into an “all about me” digital album and that will be the extent of my organization. When I scrap them, they will be mixed into the album I am currently working on filling, as I don’t keep my albums by theme or chronologically, other than when the photos were scrapped.
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Post by scrappyrabbit on Nov 4, 2022 21:27:17 GMT
I send a batch of photos to be printed, and then I separate them into little dividers but not in any particular order. As I scrap, I go thru the dividers and see which pictures I want to use. I wouldn’t be able to scrap the same thing twice because once I scrap it, it’s not in my pile anymore!
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miascraps
Full Member
Posts: 379
Jun 26, 2014 15:37:58 GMT
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Post by miascraps on Nov 5, 2022 3:48:15 GMT
7. Once you print the photo, move it to the "Printed" folder. Anything left in the monthly folder hasn't been scrapped yet. The printed photos will stay in chronological order in case you need to go back and look for a photo you previously printed. Love this! Thank you for sharing |
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Alaska_laci
Junior Member
Posts: 82
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Post by Alaska_laci on Nov 5, 2022 5:37:59 GMT
I'm similar to jennoconnell All photos go on the computer in the year and they're in chronological order in month folders. I also print from home and only print a months' worth of photos that stay on my desk till they're done. Any photos I decide I dont need or wanted duplicates of but changed my mind go in my kids' folder for them to play with in their journals. That said, I have tons of holidays, travel, bday, pics undone. I'll randomly start a new TN or mini album for a certain thing like school and not sweat having it in order, each page will have a date but I'm over doing it in order so that now I can finally have fun. I've found the hardest things for me to finish are travel albums, there's so much memorabilia and pics that I have bags full of different trips just waiting to be finished. |
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Post by Embri on Nov 5, 2022 8:35:49 GMT
Make organizing part of your routine. There's really no other way around it. Cleaning up and keeping things organized may not be the most fun of activities, but it keeps the ball rolling and avoids serious pitfalls in the future. Practice and maintain good habits!
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Post by mikklynn on Nov 5, 2022 11:49:59 GMT
When I print my photos, I put them in 8.5x11 manila envelopes and label them. I then list them in a spiral notebook. Once they are scrapped, I cross off the line in the notebook and the info on the envelope. I re-use the envelope many times. I store the envelopes upright in magazine holders.
The only glitch is if I forget to order photos that I want to scrap. I keep a running list of those.
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msliz
Drama Llama
The Procrastinator
Posts: 6,419
Jun 26, 2014 21:32:34 GMT
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Post by msliz on Nov 5, 2022 15:29:03 GMT
When I went completely digital, it was much easier to keep organized, but even then, I still had prints coming to me from relatives, schools, and other sources. And then the kids had their own cameras, so I needed those photos. And then the stills from the videos. It was all a mess, and I got buried in it all.
I've been using my monthly crop day this year to sort my way out, and I'm still not done. There's just a little more for me to do, but I can't tell the difference between a 3 year old and a 4 year old. On the plus side though, it means no one else will know the difference either, lol.
I'm hoping to start scrapping again before the end of the year!
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Post by positivelyreek on Nov 5, 2022 17:24:10 GMT
I usually start to tidy up before and after any projects. I like to keep projects in 12x12 ziplock or mesh baggies. So I can move from one to another.
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Post by grammadee on Nov 5, 2022 18:28:52 GMT
Define "organized"... I keep my printed pic's sorted in envelopes marked with the event(s) or topic(s). Those envelopes sit on my scrap counter until I run out of room for them and then go into a tub of unscrapped pic's. When I finish scrapping that topic, I cross off that item on the envelope, and [usually] pull the rest of the photos for that item and put into my year's worth of unused photos in a bin. I keep my pages in chronological order in albums labeled by season and year. So I can usually check what I have already scrapped if I decide to do a year-at-a-glance or a themed page--say "Cousin Time". Some photos get scrapped more than once on purpose, and some by accident, but those are usually my favourite photos, so I am happy to see them wherever they show up. The unused photos are hard for me to find when I suddenly think of a page to put them on, and sometimes it is easier to find them on my phone or camera and reprint. But most of the time, this is a system that works for me. |
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,688
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Nov 6, 2022 6:15:30 GMT
I keep my photos organised by date (year/month/day) and keep my finished layouts chrono in albums. When I'm working with more current photos I've usually got a feel for whether I've scrapped something or not, but it's reasonably easy to check my albums at that point.
When I've done a chunk of a month I find it easier to print the remaining photos and drop them into page protectors so I know where they'll go, I just need to make them pretty.
On older projects, when I've reached a point where I'm no longer regularly working on it, I'll go through the album and my photo library and make a list of what is missing. I try to give enough info to help me the next time I'm looking at the list, so I'll include page info (double, single, pocket), no of photos, size, and orientation. This helps me find photos easily for things like sketchtember, but also clearly shows me how many pages are left to complete on an album. As I finish a page I delete/cross it off my list. I keep mine in a word document so will often type up the journaling ahead of time in the same file.
I'm a list maker anyway so this really helps me.
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Post by hop2 on Nov 6, 2022 13:37:48 GMT
I don’t, you should see the disaster that my desk is right now. And I know that’s part of the reason I haven’t been doing anything.
As for past pictures & photos, when I came back to scrapping I gave myself permission to not even consider ‘catching up’ ( if I did the overwhelm would just consume me & id get nothing done. ) So I scrap what inspires me and if that’s yesterdays photo or a decade ago that’s fine.
I’m at a point right now where I haven’t even done my memory planner since June, when I moved, I am going to move forward because I want to, if I go back & catch up - fine, if I don’t, that’s fine too. If I don’t make this decision the overwhelm will stagnate me and I won’t even move forward - which I don’t want.
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,628
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Post by kitbop on Nov 6, 2022 14:02:31 GMT
I'm barely organized. My photos are by month/year in my computer. I batch print (usually once/year!) and the photos are in envelopes by season. When they are scrapped, they aren't there anymore  That way I can go back through old years and if I see photos/stories that spark my mojo, I can scrap them. Like grammadee, my most successful envelopes of photos have a list of events/topics on them. And like msliz, one of my biggest hurdles - and getting worse every year - is the number of phones that have important photos on them but don't belong to me! |
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Post by 950nancy on Nov 6, 2022 16:12:00 GMT
All of my 20028-2008 photos are in boxes by year. Any photos from 2021-2022 are already in page kits or need to be printed. Once I print them, I put them in a 12 x 12 baggie according to event and add paper when I have time.
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Post by refugeepea on Nov 6, 2022 17:57:00 GMT
Before my laptop crashed, I had photos by year in folders. Within the year I would label additional folders like 2022-01 so the months were in order. I typically order photos one month at a time from Amazon. I go to that month's folder, decide what I want to scrap, change the photos to smaller sizes in PhotoSheet or keep them the same size. Upload to Amazon and then order.
When I receive the order, I put the photos in my family album, unscrapped next to the scrapped photos. I either write on the back of the photos or use post it notes to write the dates and maybe a detail I want to remember. Then I might get around to scrapping them.
I also had a lot of the same issues because I have scrapped the same photos of my son twice. With my daughter, I scrapped her 5th and 6th birthday with the same photos.  So, just immediately putting it in the same binder as the scrapped photos has helped immensely. That seems to be the only way I remember what to scrap or not scrap again. |
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Post by Linda on Nov 14, 2022 4:53:05 GMT
Organising is another of my hobbies, lol.
Photos? I keep in folders by year and then by date so photos from Halloween are in the 2022 folder in a subfolder labelled 2022-10-31 Halloween - location. There are three cameras and three phones in my household and 2 cameras and 2 phones in my older kids household so plenty of photos coming in from various places.
Phone pictures are generally shared on FB chat so once a week (ish) I make sure they are downloaded, labelled (for instance 2022_10_31 Person's name - decorating cookies - Halloween - location) and in a labelled folder.
Camera photos - I download mine the same day usually. The others filter to me slowly - I just got some from DH that dated back to Easter 2021, sigh. But they get labelled the same way.
I try and keep up with printing and when the print orders come back, I sort them into page protectors into albums chronologically by layout and I use scrap paper to include date and notes. I have a family album and a separate album for the older kids (they live together). Trips are scrapped separately unless they are small enough to include in the regular album - most aren't.
I don't scrap chronologically but I keep the layouts and unscrapped photos chronologically. I generally have lists (by month or by trip) on Habitica.com to keep track of what's been scrapped etc...I'm a little behind on that right now.
As for my supplies - they are put away as they come home and I clean up between layouts. Everything has a place.
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Post by Embri on Nov 14, 2022 6:05:53 GMT
Resounding YES to 'Everything has a place."
Sometimes I feel like organizing is its own hobby! I'm lucky that it's an activity I enjoy, because it makes everything else so much easier when I can lay hands on any given tool or supply without having to wrack my brain to figure out where it got stashed.
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Post by judyc on Nov 14, 2022 13:25:32 GMT
1. Since all of my photos from my I-phone automatically upload to the cloud, I download them back to my hard drive and organize by year and month, quarter, or event - # of folders under year depends on how many photos I take. I usually take few photos Jan - March, so one folder for those 3 months, but a vacation will get a separate folder.
2. Then once or twice a year I order prints of everything I want a printed photo of since the last time I ordered prints.
3. I put the prints in photo boxes behind index cards. Each card has dates photos were taken and other information I might want to include in journaling.
4. Once I scrap an occasion/event (or all events on the card), I note on the card that the event(s) have been 'scrapped' - I always have leftover photos - I print all the photos I want to choose from to scrap.
One thing I want to change starting in 2023 is that auto-upload to the cloud. It converts my photo format and when I send to be printed I have to convert back. I also take a lot of iPhone photos that I have no interest in archiving ( shopping and ebay photos).
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Post by quinmm14 on Nov 14, 2022 15:15:05 GMT
I like to print my photos at home, the best tip I ever learned for dating them is to use a roller date stamp and put the date on the back of each photo.
I also keep a spreadsheet so I can track what photos are printed; then after theyre scrapped I checkmark the sheet.
I have the spreadsheet organized by year then month.
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Post by don on Nov 15, 2022 1:09:37 GMT
I'm an artist, I don't have to be organized!
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That way I can go back through old years and if I see photos/stories that spark my mojo, I can scrap them. 
So, just immediately putting it in the same binder as the scrapped photos has helped immensely. That seems to be the only way I remember what to scrap or not scrap again. 
