... Big Picture Scrapbooking ...

[ Lisamarie ] 8 Alberta is 7 pacific right?
[ joybugger ] 2.5 minutes to go
[ Lisamarie ] ok just saw handy PST clock. tnx SJ
[ Leora ] Hi all (or at least the early birds)!!!!
[ PeggyL ] Hello!
[ Lisamarie ] love LOM, good to see others
[ Canay ] Hello
[ Paparazzi_Mom ] Not an alumni...but wanting to see what I can learn from the repeaters!!
[ joybugger ] Have you all seen the "Living with Your Library" stuff on Stacy's blog?
[ MelissaTX ] Hello from Texas. Also not an alum, so will just be reading tonight.
[ PeggyL ] I saw it on her blog, started to listen, but didn't get too far.
[ Canay ] I checked it out after the Finish Line class but I didn't have LOM on brain then.
[ AprilFL ] Hi everyone!
[ midwestgirl ] There are alumni here, right? :)
[ kimbyrns ] Hello!
[ PeggyL ] I'm alumni
[ joybugger ] Actually the 2nd recording is totally on Finish Line scrapbooking!
[ evalyn ] Hello!
[ Leora ] Alum 2009
[ bcre8uv ] Hi everybody :)
[ stacy julian ] Hello! How are we tonight?
[ Leora ] HI Tami and April. Thanks for being here.
[ SarahAnne ] I haven't seen the Living with your library. Thanks for pointing it out!
[ embracelife ] Hi there! I am a alum from last year. Happy to be here tonight
[ NonaZ ] Alum '09 Dena
[ PeggyL ] Hey stacy - hanging in and very excited about another chance with LOM
[ Lisamarie ] excited w/ FLS playlist on blog too. great motivation speed!
[ Kelly K. ] Hey Stacy! Doing great.
[ stacy julian ] My hope for this chat is that we can primarily address questions from LOM alumni, those of you that are back again for a refresher and might have questions or concerns about fine-tuning your personal systems!
[ stacy julian ] This is not to say that you cannot be here if you are a new student this year!
[ Paparazzi_Mom ] I am a new student...and I am planning to hang out and learn
[ stacy julian ] Thanks Lisamarie -- I have a new playlist I want to add, it's called FLOW and it's perfect for a slower-paced scrapbooking!
[ Lisamarie ] if I started mutiple storage binders last year which one do I rotate out 1st?
[ NonaZ ] My major thing is that I am stalled after making layouts -LOAD- and classes. So, I stalled out somewhere and I am knitting instead of scrapping. I guess I "need" a challenge
[ PeggyL ] I'm still having trouble printing the pictures out, I downloaded to shutterfly last night but didn't place the order and thank goodness, they sent out a coupon today. Yay!
[ Canay ] Stacy, is the FL playlist different than what you played in anaheim?
[ embracelife ] Ok Stacy, being honest here. I still have my 100 pulled and seperated from last year in my office. How strange that a year has passed, I didnt do something with them and can't remember why I pulled them now. I am happy this is being covered this week
[ AprilFL ] Peggy, they are still offering free shipping too, you just have to input the new code again. ($30 or more)
[ stacy julian ] NonaZ -- if you've just done LOAD, you maybe just need to step back for awhile. I couldn't sustain that pace for very long!
[ stacy julian ] embracelife -- do you know what to do now?
[ Kelly K. ] I'm an '07 alum, but haven't done much of the work until this year. Wondering how soon I'll need all four of the (5x7) metal category drawers I have. Will it be years? They take up so much room!
[ Leora ] Thanks Stacy. thanks for having us. I have a fine tuning question of sorts. I am having trouble emptying my binders. Nowadays, I often find myself going to the binders for photos, but I end up scanning them to resize or manipulate and putting the original back in the binder. I may never empty them this way...thoughts?
[ stacy julian ] Peggy -- I saw the MARCH10 shutterfly code (will save you $10 until 3/31/10) so YES, print those pictures!
[ toodles ] My category drawers are overflowing. I guess I have been too aggressive over the last year. Should I do anything to make them more manageable?
[ NonaZ ] I made some pages-US, People, and so on- did Cathy's class about twitter- the categories and binders work. Did LOAD last May! Been stuck for awhile
[ bcre8uv ] NonaZ - it's totally okay to go in cycles with your scrapbooking! I do that all the time.
[ embracelife ] NO but if I can squeeze some time to read the lesson I bet it is in there, jeez. Some weeks, eh?
[ stacy julian ] Canay -- the FL playlist is a little different, simply because in Anaheim I got to jump around playlists on my ipod -- same idea though, fun, upbeat music!
[ happyscrapn ] Just wanted to say I am an 07 Alumni and I have totally embraced this system and love the resuls. Much more meaningful layouts.
[ Canay ] I have 5x7 drawers and last year I bought mead dividers.Between the four drawers I have close to 200. I now know that these are NOT archive safe. I am trying to tell myself that I need spend the $$$ and order archive safe dividers!!!
[ stacy julian ] "Leora, 
Why do you feel you need to resize your photos? Just curious."
[ joybugger ] Kelly, I have problems with space too. Mine are stacked vertically under my work table.
[ PeggyL ] "does anyone else take a pic sometimes knowing it will go in the category drawers 
like you know it will make a connection with a pic you already have"
[ embracelife ] Definitely Peggy
[ jandyman ] This is my 2nd year and i want to say all the hard work has paid off in so many ways. i am so much more relaxed about what i want to scrap not what i think i should be doing
[ happyscrapn ] I am using a Creative Memories box for my category drawers and it is working very well. Takes about half the space as the drawers.
[ bcre8uv ] Canay - do you have the link for the 5x7 dividers? If not I can find & post to the board. Mine are from archivalmethods.com, and I don't remember them being super expensive.
[ SarahAnne ] "Peggy, yes I do that often. 
I've been taking pictures of my kids that remind me of pictures I saw of me when I was a child. So fun!"
[ Lisamarie ] i take diff pics now too
[ toodles ] YES, Peggyl, all of the time.
[ Leora ] Stacy, I guess I resize, zoom in, alter. You might have to blame Cathy Zielske who has teased me with the idea of working with templates and clipping masks. Go figure!
[ joybugger ] Peggy, I do that all the time! More b/c I have something on a LIST that I know I want to scrap.
[ Canay ] Yes the link I have is from archivalmehods.
[ Kelly K. ] joybugger, good idea about under table -- unfortunately, I'm already using that space! :)
[ NonaZ ] I got some 5x7's and larger for Cathy's classes too
[ stacy julian ] "toodles, 
I would. I would just pull each drawer out at time and spend an evening sorting through them. It's OK to decide a photo doesn't need to be in your drawer anymore! If you read the handout for lesson 3, I've actually started using an interim file box to hold pictures I pull before putting them in my drawers, because I like to come back a week later and see if I really need to keep and triage all the photos I pulled. I'm personally very excited to pull back on my printing, so I'm not tossing so many photos ultimately!"
[ stacy julian ] "Leora, 
Can you do the digital thing with your fresher images and take a more traditional approach with pics in your binders? Your family won't care either way and this will free up some space for you!"
[ Leora ] After living with my system for a year, I am finally feeling like I can print less, too.
[ evalyn ] I'm an 06 alum---then, most of my photos were printed. Now, with digital I have tons more photos but nothing printed. My questions is, where does PSE editing come in? Should I edit after tagging the photos to my HL folders and then print--or print without editing and then reprint if there's something I want in B&W or want to Photoshop?
[ NonaZ ] I found a Martha Stewart box to store my larger photos in. they are reprints. Yes, I print less too
[ SarahAnne ] I'm printing a lot less this year too. Part of that is because I'm scrapping digitally now though.
[ happyscrapn ] I triage my digi pics and upload and print those pictures that I want to 'see' in my photo storage albums and 'place' in my category drawers. It works great for me because I can have the best of both worlds!
[ Leora ] Stacy, that is a good thought on the binders. I am actually only recently digital (as in during LOM last year) so I have a lot of old fashioned prints.
[ Canay ] I am normally a digital scrapper. So I will pull a photo our of the category drawer and scan it in. This week I decided to print digital photos and make a paper layout. It is taking a lot longer to do the paper layout but I am liking it so far. I haven't actually glued anything down yet. But I am arranging the photos on card stock. Does anyone else get paralyzed when it comes to doing paper layouts?
[ embracelife ] I agree Jandyman. I have totally changed how I view pages, pictures, everything. FOr example I just did a simple page, with a grid of 9, added a flower and thought "Hmmm, it will go in my Things we do" album perhaps. But no stress, and I would have felt weird doing a layout in the past so simply. So many stories to tell
[ stampwithsue ] This is my 3rd time taking LOM. The first year I had to get over being a chronological scrapbooker - now I cringe when someone says "they are behind"! However, I am still stuck on the fact that I feel like I need to be totally organized with every photo I've ever taken before I can move on to my category drawers. I need the words of wisdom that will give me the "aha" so I can get over that feeling!
[ Leora ] I think part of my challenge is the constantly evolving technology. As things become increasing digital, the flow changes.
[ stacy julian ] "Leora, 
Yeah -- the printing thing is just hard. There are already so many great filters set up in my system and I still overprint. I think once you have LOTS of layouts and a really nice, overflowing library, you just become more selecting in what you really want to scrapbook -- and that's OK. It means you can embrace other creative endeavors -- as long as you adjust your printing and also embrace some other methods of photo sharing! Make sense?"
[ happyscrapn ] I ordered the Martha Stewart boxes for my heritage prints and my odd sized photos - 8 x 10's etc. I think it's going to work well
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] "My family is already enjoying our HL photos on our digi frame which was still 
in the box prior to last week"
[ SarahAnne ] I do the same as happyscrapn. I only print pictures that will remind me of the things I want to scrap so I can see those in the binders, but I know I'm not going to actually use them on a layout.
[ PeggyL ] Canay - all the time sometimes it needs to sit
[ stacy julian ] "SO TRUE! I think part of my challenge is the constantly evolving technology. As things become increasing digital, the flow changes. 
Leora"
[ Canay ] When I uploaded my highlights to Shutterfly for July-Dec 2009, I accidentally ordered twice. (long story) needless to say I didn't get 218 pics I got 436! So I put them in sotrage binders, triaged some, gave some to friends and "gasp" threw some away!
[ Leora ] Can I say something? I LOVE my category drawers!!! Just had to share.
[ stacy julian ] stampwithsue, generally speaking the Ahas come with practice. In other words, to move past chronology, you had to start building this system, to move past the angst over organization -- you just need to start becoming acquainted with pictures in your drawers and using them. Not sure I said that right -- essentially, jump in -- you'll get used to the water and find it quite refrehsing!
[ bcre8uv ] Ditto, Leora!
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Stacy, 
I have many pictures of my kid's dad (who is deceased) in three categories (Dad and Matthew, Dad and Andrew, Dad and both. I can't seem to lessen the number. Is this a problem down the road for my system?"
[ happyscrapn ] Canay - you say that like it's a bad thing! LOL
[ NonaZ ] I haven't tried a lot of Digital- except ECWAL and I liked that. I want to do more but have to load and buy Snow Leopard, PE 8 and havent' done it
[ stacy julian ] Canay -- these things happen! sorry!
[ PeggyL ] my dd goes to the category drawers all the time to see what's in there
[ Kelly K. ] That's cute, Peggy!
[ stacy julian ] "purpletinkerbell, 
I don't think there is a problem in this now -- there will be a problem though if you are not scrapbooking some of these photos! Are you OK doing that?"
[ NonaZ ] We haven't sat down and looked at the binders in awhile- maybe this weekend.
[ stacy julian ] What's ECWAL?
[ AprilFL ] Everyone Can Write a Little :)
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Stacy, 
I want to scrapbook these photos, but because they are so important I am paralyzed with wanting these books/pages to be perfect for my boys."
[ toodles ] A happy thing about a sad thing...When my Dad died I was able to go right to his tab in my category drawer for photos. I made the most awesome picture board to display at his service. It took 30 minutes!
[ midwestgirl ] Everyone Can Write A Little - Cathy Zielske's Twitter/Facebook class
[ Schatz ] "Canay, I know somewhat of what you feel about precious photos. I lost a son and every photo of him, blurry, arms chopped or whatever are precious. Right now they are in their own storage binder. Still a little hard to do anything with. I'm hoping as I get the rest of things set up that I can make the kind of connections I want with the life lesssons that were learned in his life time. Hugs to you. 
Mary"
[ happyscrapn ] purpletinkerbell - I have some photos like that that I have held onto for 5 years! I'm just so afraid I can't do them justice so I haven't done them at all. That's just wrong! I've got to get them scrapped!
[ stacy julian ] "Dena (right?) 
Looking at binders is the best cure for scrapper's block I know. Look through your binders and then browse a magazine or online gallery. Jump up, set a timer and make a page. Use OK photos and decide to just create an OK page -- then make another one and another one. Pretty soon you'll find your groove again!"
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Stacy, 
I also have these special photos in a separate little box. They do not interfere with my other categories."
[ Leora ] Stacy, have you figured out how you are going to do School of Life for your high schoolers?
[ Canay ] If there is one thing I have learned from LOM, it is to let go of perfectionism. If you follow Flylady she says that imperfect housekeeping still blesses your family. I think that the same philosophy applies to scrapbooking. Family would rather see an imperfect scrapbook than no scrapbook at all.
[ embracelife ] Great advice Stacy, think i will jump on that myself tonight
[ NonaZ ] Thanks for the encouragement Yes- Dena
[ stacy julian ] purpletb -- this is a problem. your boys don't care one bit about perfect pages. they NEED stories. They need to connect to their father. Dump the perfection thing -- it's so NOT worth it!
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] I sorta worked backwards last year after getting derailed and reorganized my albums, I look forward to having the photo organization to match, but found just the album reorganization incredibly liberating
[ NonaZ ] I am so ready to tell stories.
[ stacy julian ] "purpletb, 
Just pull out 3 of each boy and his dad and make 3 layouts -- one for each boy. On each layout make a list of characteristics and personality traits that each boy has that reminds you of their father. Can you do that?"
[ AprilFL ] purpletinkerbell, I think you could also consider putting them in a traditional photo album until you're ready to scrapbook them. This way, your boys can see them, and you can view them more frequently until you're ready - kind of like a "cold storage album" And you can think of the stories you want to tell and get on pages and inspire you more
[ joybugger ] I am having so much fun right now. I'm pulling photos for a Finish Line scrapbook on Laughter highlighting our family. I have a crop next week where I can put it together and I'm planning to give it to DH for his birthday later this month.
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Thanks stacy, I will print out your words and tape them in my art room. You are so right. The funny thing is that I am not a perfectionist in any other aspect of my life. 
Bea"
[ stacy julian ] Great idea April!
[ Leora ] I think I am ready to pull in pages from my old albums. I couldn't quite do that last year. Now, I think they will blend in just fine.
[ jandyman ] I do love those PERFECT scrapbookers, and i also love and am ok with the simple not-so-perfect lo's. Isn't that how we all started? Remember anything goes?
[ stacy julian ] "Leora, 
So glad to hear this -- adding in older photos a little at a time is a very FUN thing to do!"
[ PeggyL ] purpletb, to keep on with what April said, if the pics are in albums. And the boys can look at them maybe they can help you, by asking you questions, maybe if you know what they want to know it would help, does that make sense?
[ Schatz ] PLEASE do not teach your children these perfectionistic tendencies!!! As a teacher I am dealing more and more often with 9 year olds who can't complete things because they fear that it won't be perfect!! This is a serious thing in all schools. Please do not teach this to your children you are paralyzing them!
[ NonaZ ] I can't wait for the school albums and memoribilia. We are in our 2nd year of Homeschooling. I have some very interesting pictures of our grandson (we are raising him- he's 9)
[ Leora ] The old scrapbooks had so many holes. I don't care about filling them in anymore. In the new albums, the holes won't even exist.
[ stacy julian ] jandyman -- I remember. And frankly, I LOVE it when I let myself work that way again. Anything goes. I say to myself (alot) "You can't mess this up!" and I also remind myself that my very BEST pages (most innovative) are generally pages where I had to "cover up" a mistake!
[ happyscrapn ] purpletb - I've started an album called "Tell Me A Story" and it is exclusively for the stories that my grandchildren will want to hear. Maybe you could approach it by thinking about what your boys would like to know about those pictures.
[ SarahAnne ] I'm looking forward to the school albums too! My oldest starts kindergarten next year and I want to get that set up.
[ TracyBzz ] In Stacy's handouts she has some old pages that might have been nice then but are dated now. Whatever you do no matter how perfect today won't matter tomorrow because family just wants the photo + words captured.
[ stacy julian ] happyscrapn -- great idea! Love the idea of "Tell Me A Story"
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Thanks Peggy and April. Yes it makes perfect sense and would make their books much more personal. The photo album for now is a wonderful idea. 
Bea"
[ Leora ] I love that idea, too. Have to write that down.
[ Schatz ] "happyscrapn 
LOVE that idea!!! How lucky they are!"
[ NonaZ ] I did some pages for my g'son from preschool through 2nd grade. He fortunately had teachers who scrapbooked!
[ embracelife ] hi nona, we homeschool as well and I created a folder on my computer just titled "school 2010" etc. and this might help you keep them organized until you are ready to print
[ jandyman ] My school of life file box is one of my favorite things!
[ joybugger ] Stacy your Living with Your Library podcasts are helping me see my category drawers in a new way.
[ PeggyL ] this year I want to focus on getting the school of life albums together. I have my dd's preschool pages - she's in 4th this year. I do have the memoriablia set up but still need to pull the pics. and just make the pages
[ Canay ] I don't have grandkids yet but it isn't too soon to start a Tell Me a Story album Thanks for the great idea!
[ AprilFL ] Hang in there, Bea. :) Getting photos + memories is what's important. You can do it!
[ purpletinkerbell ] Thanks happyscrapn. That is wonderful idea!
[ happyscrapn ] Stacey - My granddaughters developed that idea for me. They are always saying "Grandmommy, tell me a story" and they want a real life story so I thought those are the exact things they will want scrapbooked.
[ stacy julian ] TracyBzz, exactly -- no matter how cool (perfect) you think a page looks today. It WILL look dated in the future. There are pages that are more timeless than others, but they all end up looking old at some point. And after they look old, they look retro/vintage and are super-cool again!
[ stacy julian ] joybugger -- so glad to hear this. I have several more I want to do. Just have to make the time!
[ Leora ] That's it! We should all strive for post modern retro!
[ happyscrapn ] You guys are welcome! HOpe you enjoy the Tell Me A Story concept.
[ NonaZ ] retri.vintage! Does that work for what I look like too
[ AprilFL ] ha, that layout in the welcome message today made me laugh. Not because it looked dated, but because weren't those frame ups and they're doing their 10th anniversary release (what was old is new again?!?)
[ happyscrapn ] NonaZ - love it!
[ Canay ] Nona - I like that. I'm not old I'm just retro!
[ bcre8uv ] Yes, those frame-ups were on display at the last CHA and I couldn't believe they were bringing them back!
[ stacy julian ] jandyman -- me too. I LOVE that I can come downstairs and file a school-related piece of memorabilia away. I am terribly "behind" too -- oooh, did I just say that? The good thing is I have everything in place and I know what I need to do!
[ Schatz ] Yes I laughed too when I saw the frame ups back! Makes me realize that I've been scrappin for a long time. When something old is new again that means you've been around!
[ Kelly K. ] I never made it to category drawers in past years (bought my 5x7 metal ones in '07!). Do you think I'll need both sets soon, or will it be a few years? Is it just nicer to have a separate drawer for each category?
[ kimbyrns ] I set up my School of Life filing system two years ago and I can't imagine not having it! I haven't started the SOL albums yet, though. I want to do that this year. Oldest is in 3rd grade, so I have a bit of catching up to do, but not too much.
[ Canay ] My kids are grown so my school albums are already done. But I need help handling other memorabilia. That is a future lesson right?
[ happyscrapn ] WOW! hair styles, clothes and now frame ups! What's a girl to do?
[ stacy julian ] April -- is that right? 10 years of MME Frame UPs, wow! So cool. And seriously, I loved using those!!
[ bcre8uv ] Kelly K. - you can absolutely start w/ just two drawers. Mine are nowhere near full yet, and this is my 4th year.
[ stacy julian ] Kelly K -- it is pretty nice to have a drawer for each category, but honestly if you can't fill them, then wait!
[ AprilFL ] Kim, that's great! Those pages will come together quickly when you're ready to start.
[ TracyBzz ] Kim ~ your girls are in grades 3 and ? and ? Mine are grade 3 & 1.
[ Leora ] I have two drawers. They are each about 1/2 full!
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] I'm finding it painstakingly slow getting all my photos purges, tagged, keyworded, etc. Should we realistically hope to complete that in class if we have 10 years of digi?
[ kimbyrns ] Hi Tracy - grades 3, 1, and 1st year of preschool.
[ TracyBzz ] Kelly K ~ I just have one catagory Sterlite drawer for all 4 catagories.
[ Canay ] I have us and people we love in one drawer because I use the other drawer for my pets. But my pets drawer has turned out to be just storage. That is one of my projects for this week.
[ stacy julian ] Canay -- right! In fact, I've started a memorabilia file that is similar to the school of life for other stuff. I found of all my 'tools' I was using my memorabila notebooks, least often. I'm rethinking the memorabilia thing a bit (for myself!)
[ happyscrapn ] It takes time to fill (if you actually do) the category drawers. Don't rush them - just put your absolute fav pics and those that you want to age. They will evolve and you can add drawers as you need thhem.
[ stacy julian ] "Scrapbook_Girl 
No. Don't try to do 10 years. Please!"
[ Kelly K. ] TracyBzz, what size does it hold?
[ TracyBzz ] Kelly 4x6's
[ Paparazzi_Mom ] I have the Becky Higgins "school" memorabelia packets...they are THE BEST!!!
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] Whew - I've really been very diligently working . . .
[ stacy julian ] "Canay, 
A Pets photo-album scrapbook would be so FUN!"
[ NonaZ ] Is started writing on safe papers and putting them in the category drawers so I don't have to rewrite if I don't want to
[ Leora ] I need to be better about the memorabilia. I think I started too many different "collections" last year and I lost my mo.
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] Paparazzi Mom, I use those too and they rock
[ jandyman ] What is a frame up?
[ Canay ] Stacy-a pets photo album scrapbook is just the thing I need:)
[ joybugger ] Even though I had scrapbooks through about 2003 when I started this, I still find old photos here and there. Maybe that I was "saving" for something? I just stick those in the category drawers if I find them and still want to save them.
[ stacy julian ] Scrapbook_Girl -- you can keep working on it, but I'd just do it 15 minutes a day -- seriously! Put it on your list, set a timer and then be done.
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] I've been doing 1-2 hours a day. Good news is I've whittled 2009 down from 20,000 pix to 5,000 but still . . . lol
[ AprilFL ] jandyman - a frame up was/is a style of die cut put out by My Minds Eye. They came out originally in 2000 - and re-released them this year as a 10 year anniversary thing. The dragonfly and frog on Stacy's first layout on the welcome message resemble them.
[ NonaZ ] I have a lot of event books- vacations and made two or three of the same thing for g'sons/me/family
[ TracyBzz ] Scrapbook_Girl ~ WOW that's awesome how much time you're putting in and how much you've deleted!!
[ stacy julian ] "joybugger, 
be careful not to put groups of photos into your category drawers. I have learned this the hard way. You might want to start a "Lost and Found" storage binder that holds a mish-mash of older photos you want to consider for pages. Keep your drawers for just single pics here and there -- yes?"
[ AprilFL ] That's amazing progress, Scrapbook_girl :)
[ NonaZ ] I may still make some more sometime- wow, lost and found folder! Great idea
[ Leora ] I like the lost and found idea. I overfilled some areas after I ready your book but before I took the class...
[ joybugger ] Yes. I'm talking about a picture I may find that I had "stashed" somewhere b/c I was going to do something "special" with it, and then I never did.
[ happyscrapn ] Stacey - good advice on 'groups of photos' in the category drawers - I hadn't learned that yet! Time to eliminate:)
[ bcre8uv ] I need to skedaddle, scrappy pals! I am actually in the middle of working on something right now, so don't tell my boss I took a chat break. ;)
[ momto4greatkids ] Joining a little late, but wanted to comment on happyscrapn's Tell Me a Story concept. LOVE it. When I was about 20 (ok - 19 years ago) I told my grandparents that for my birthday, I wanted them to write down all their stories they'd be telling me for years. Those notebooks in their handwriting and my grandma's drawings are so unbelievably precious to me now. Not sure what I can ever do to "scrapbook" them...or if I want to, although they do need to be preserved.
[ AprilFL ] haha, who's your boss?? Stacy?? lol
[ bcre8uv ] ;)
[ happyscrapn ] Our lips are sealed!
[ joybugger ] Not a whole stack of pics. If I find a whole stack of pics I'm going to go through it and see if there are any I want for the drawers, and stick the rest in the boxes I let my kids scrapbook.
[ AprilFL ] have fun, Tami!
[ AprilFL ] congrats on "celebrating you" the other day too!
[ happyscrapn ] momto4greatkids - thank you so much!
[ bcre8uv ] Thanks April - sometimes you just gotta :)
[ stacy julian ] "Scrapbook_Girl, 
Are you able to upload, review and delete immediately -- would that work for you at all? That one little step has made a HUGE difference for me. So today, when I snapped 15 pictures of Addie on the slide at the super-fun dentist office -- I came home, uploaded and kept four that were a really cute sequence. I then gave them 1 star and added keywords US_Addie, TH_Everyday Life 
The sooner you can make critical decisions moving forward, the easier your job as Chief Memory Officer will be!"
[ kimbyrns ] I use two Sterlite drawers, and after two years of LOM, I only have 7" (total) of photos in them. Triage is one of the things I really want to work on this year.
[ TracyBzz ] momto4greatkids ~ that's AWESOME! what a treasure.
[ bcre8uv ] See you all on the message boards. Happy triaging. :)
[ Canay ] "momto4greatkids - can you still see the earlier posts if you came in late? 
The posts scroll away on my screen."
[ stacy julian ] Did I miss something funny?
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] Yes ma'am, 2010 is perfectly organized
[ TracyBzz ] Bye Tami. Don't work to hard.
[ momto4greatkids ] Thanks, guys. It really is so precious to me. LOVE-LOVE-LOVE(D) my grandparents.
[ Leora ] wow Stacy! You really are keywording aren't you? That is new, right?
[ stacy julian ] kimbyrns, You are in a perfect place to do just that!
[ AprilFL ] no, I was just asking if Tami's boss was you? and laughing at th thought that maybe she had another class coming up soon!
[ momto4greatkids ] Canay - I started at the bottom, reading "backwards" and that's all I could get. :(
[ AprilFL ] sorry.
[ happyscrapn ] scrapbookgirl - too funny
[ stacy julian ] keywords are NEW to me -- and I'm liking them. But I'm also going to take the backlog very slowly and primarily focus on moving forward!
[ stacy julian ] "April, 
sorry about what? I'm lost!"
[ jandyman ] I have to go be a mommy. I want to say a great big THANK YOU for inviting me back and the gift of the class. The changes this year are amazing. The digital info is so clear and helped me to finally get it. such a life changing class it has been for me. i wish i had more time to participate on the message board but my little bits of time go to working my system. Thanks for being a great teacher Stacy and all. janet
[ joybugger ] I just love looking through my binders. I'm starting to see things I didn't see before. Like my oldest with a bow on her head -- for the past 2 Christmases. We have pics of her doing that when she was a baby.
[ NonaZ ] I am a grandparent and I like the story book idea. That is what I want to do to share my stories with my daughters and their kids.
[ Leora ] Ditto Janet!
[ AprilFL ] lol, I'll fill ya in through email. I hate to take up time here.
[ joybugger ] And my youngest doing her "Look at ME" pose with her arms outstretched. I had no idea how often she did that!
[ Lisamarie ] SJ did you say what to do with storage binders - I started 2009, filled 8 of 15 but don't know which one to focus on to eventually empty..ie where will my space come from once I fill 15 (almost there as I made a big print!)
[ stacy julian ] "Oh! I guess I missed why she was leaving. Did she say something? 
And now that she's gone. I am her BOSS! :)"
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] I'm so excited by the keywording, a couple of years ago I made digi photobooks for each of my kids (5 of them) for Christmas (for their Christmas Eve hatbox ala Stacy) and it was SO time consuming finding photos from throughout the year - I had planned to make them every year but I gave up after that year cuz it was such a pain - keywords are going to make them SO doable!
[ scrapbunny ] I only have about 200-400 pictures for each of the last 8 years so should I have a lot of photos for my category drawers? I feel like I have over pulled in the past and not found as many connections
[ PeggyL ] I have my digital triage set up by month, mainly that's because I usually remember a picture by when I took it. I did start a photos we love folder but didn't carry it through, I may try it again.
[ stacy julian ] go me a mommy -- that's the best thing to be! Thanks for joining us!
[ embracelife ] Stacy, I received Photoshop 8 for Christmas and need to learn how to use it but the books are so thick. Do you use it for editing only but organize your photos on another program?
[ Canay ] for 2003-2009 I had 5 starred my digital photos for my highlights folder. I decided to start the 1,2 and 3 star system in 2010. Why waste precious time going back and re-doing something that semi worked as it was.
[ NonaZ ] When my husband turned 70 last year he wrote a letter to his (our) daughters telling them about his faith and life journey. I need to document that
[ Leora ] I'm loving the keywords too, but I am still trying to get comfortable with them. I started last year in a general way, and am now trying to get them into an LOM hierarchy
[ TracyBzz ] scrapbunny ~ I only have 3 3up albums for the past 3.5 years so my drawer is not very full. It's more a small percentage of your photos. You don't have to see the connections yet, as they sit in the drawers you'll find something one day.
[ stacy julian ] I think I'm starting to miss questions -- yikes! On storage binders. You empty them as you scrapbook. If you have 8 storage binders for 2009 photos you are keeping too many pictures -- did I understand you right?
[ happyscrapn ] embracelife - I purchased Teach Yourself Visually by Mike Wooldridge off Amazon and it is a super easy and quick book for learning how to use PSE*
[ TracyBzz ] Dena - WOW how did you get your hubby to write that? What a great treasure for your kids.
[ kimbyrns ] With the new digital work flow tool (which looks great!), I wonder if should go back through my storage binders and identify the top five things to scrapbook from each quarter. Any thoughts on that?
[ NonaZ ] Tracy - No, he thought it up by himself and worked on it hours a day till it was done.
[ Leora ] Kim, I have been thinking about that too. I like that idea. Top 5 from each binder....
[ stacy julian ] embracelife -- I don't even have PSE8. Big surprise huh? I do minimal editing in iPhoto and print!
[ Lisamarie ] opps 2009 started LOM! I am alumni from then. 1 book per season 2006, 2008, 2009 so 12 books so far
[ Canay ] kim - I am planning on doing that. I already did 2009 and 2008 and found memories I hadn't scrapbooked. The photo flow lists helped me with that.
[ purpletinkerbell ] For all of you with adult children and no grandchildren, what do you take photos of? I took tons and tons of photos when my kids were cute and little. But now I can barely take ten a year. And seriously, who wants tons of photos of a pudgy middle-aged lady?
[ embracelife ] thanks happy, I will check it out
[ TracyBzz ] Dena - WOW isn't he special!
[ Annette33 ] Hey, I resemble that remark! I will be happy to take photos of me, and my life, lol
[ stacy julian ] kimbyrns. I did just that -- I filled out just the topFIVE list for each of my filled binders. I'm checking these off as I go. I'm really hoping this will help me empty binders and rotate!!
[ Canay ] purpletb I take photos of pets flowers vacations etc
[ happyscrapn ] purpletb - take pictures of life! Everyday life, those stories are so important. What do you love, what do you enjoy doing, who are you with daily, what are your dreams. so wide open!
[ Canay ] yesterday I decided to take photos all day and call it a day in the life of Mary Kosanke. A little wierd but it was fun.
[ joybugger ] purpletb - What do you LOVE? What do you see every day? Take pictures of those things and journal.
[ stacy julian ] "purpletb, 
sign up for Tracey Clark's Picture Spring! I think this will help you!! She is doing a class for each season too!"
[ Lisamarie ] I thought I could live with a stor, binder for 5 years and then empty the 1st one filled as I need it for the next cycle....but I guess I need to rush the 1st ones I filled to make room for the next binders in since I filled 3 years in 1 spring? HELP
[ stacy julian ] Canay -- very FUN. Did you get my email today?
[ Leora ] Yes, definitely, I have got to do the top five list for binders.
[ kimbyrns ] Sounds good -- I will do this! I'm sure there are LOTS of things I would consider "top 5" that I haven't scrapbooked yet. And my storage binders are really full. I confess, I'm an over-printer but have not produced a huge number of layouts.
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] I'm having trouble with the "top 5" concept
[ Annette33 ] I am looking forward to taking another class, but I promised myself I would only take one at a time
[ Canay ] Stacy - yes I did and I have replied.
[ stacy julian ] "Lisamarie, 
I'm confused with your situation. Will you post to the Ask Stacy board? I totally want to help you! yes?"
[ Lisamarie ] THanks Stacy. Will do.
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Thanks Stacy, I will consider that class. I have loved all the classes on BPS. 
Bea"
[ stacy julian ] "kimbyrns, 
you are not alone -- the more we are honest with ourselves about how much scrapbooking we are able to do, the sooner we'll adjust our printing and begin to feel more productive. There isn't some magical number of pages that makes you a successful scrapbooker. Some years I make dozens and dozens and some years a dozen! It's really OK!"
[ AprilFL ] Lisamarie, you can scrapbook from anywhere in your binders, and merge them together as there become empty pages. So technically, your empty binder could come from the middle of the system, not just from the oldest.
[ stacy julian ] "Canay, 
perfect!"
[ Canay ] Annette, I just finished Jessica Spragues pen table class while doing LOM. I then found a note I wrote a few years ago. on it I had written "I will NEVER take two classes at the same time again". I apparently forgot my promise to myself!!
[ nmkaren ] Thanks for the discussion. I am late to it, catching up by reading and there are lots of great ideas here for us all.
[ NonaZ ] That is why I love the binders because I can move pages around- also for the scrapbooks!
[ purpletinkerbell ] "Good night everyone, see you on the message boards. 
Bea"
[ happyscrapn ] WOW! What a quick hour.
[ scrapbunny ] On the Tell Me A Story idea one thing I did with extra wedding photos was make a fairy tale type book for my daughter. The journally reads like a Disney book, " Once upon a time a boy named Efrain met a girl named Melissa."
[ embracelife ] another thing to love about the binders, if you have gone through painful events, you can still set them aside in the binder and when you are ready, so are they. I have found some painful stuff loses a bit of sting filed neatly among happy events. Hope that makes sense
[ AprilFL ] scrapbunny - THAT is an adorable idea for a relationship story!
[ NonaZ ] This has gone so quickly but it sure is full of a lot of info!
[ PeggyL ] I'm hoping to accomplish the kids school of life albums and the rest will be a bonus. :o)
[ scrapbunny ] and I also recommend Donna Green's books for story ideas. http://www.amazon.com/My-Daughter-Love-Donna-Green/dp/1883746086
[ happyscrapn ] scrapbunny - I actually did that with a Heritage Album - It began with the Once Upon a Time story of my parents who were married for 63 years.
[ stacy julian ] "Scrapbook_Girl, 
The idea with topFIVE is simply to note which events in each season/quarter feel really important to you. Which pages you feel you really do NEED to create. For example, I just grabbed my Winter 2007 flow card -- it's on top. I need to scrapbook: Addie's adoption being official at the courthous, Clark getting the Chase Youth Award (done), Grandma Addie's funeral, the figure skating event in Spokane and my friend Wendy's visit (done) -- after I've page these pages, I will let myself go through this binder and take a good hard look at what I really want to keep. I'll triage a handful and pull a bunch more for cold storage. At that point, I can condense this binder down and combine it with the next one and free up a whole binder to fill with fresher pictures. 
Does that help?!"
[ NonaZ ] embracelife- great insight!
[ scrapbunny ] april- it is my daughter's favorite scrapbook and the most fun I had scrapbooking
[ joybugger ] I love that Stacy!
[ Annette33 ] Like the idea of the top five, keeps you focused on what is important to you
[ stacy julian ] embracelife -- makes perfect sense!
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] so, you're not limiting your binder to 5 events? Just making a "priority" list of what's in it?
[ Leora ] Stacy, I really think that the TOP5 ideas will help me empty binders. And I need to do this for 2010.
[ stacy julian ] PeggyL -- great approach. Pick the most important things and everything else is ICING!
[ kimbyrns ] Thanks Stacy! I'm planning to move a lot more photos through my system this year -- to layouts, category drawers, and cold storage. I don't have a binder for my latest prints, so it's time to get moving on this!
[ PeggyL ] and maybe "sprinkles" :o)
[ happyscrapn ] Peggyl - good one. btw My name is Peggy too!
[ joybugger ] I find that I either scrapbook from the binders, and then my pages are the same old, same old, or scrapbook from the drawers. Scrapping from the drawers is great b/c I'm filling in some "holes" in my story, but I'm only now (in my 3rd year of LOM) seeing more and more of those "connections" between photos.
[ Canay ] I think sprinkles on icing is a wonderful touch!
[ scrapbunny ] I thought I took a lot of pictures until I took this class :) I don't have enough to fill 15 binders let alone put into cold storage
[ Leora ] Oh yes. SPRINKLES!!!
[ joybugger ] Scrapbunny,me neither.
[ happyscrapn ] OK now craving cupcakes with icing and sprinkles! Let's get together and party and eat!
[ stacy julian ] "Scrapbook_Girl, 
Yes. It's just a list that I can use, especially after a binder has been around for a year or two. You know how you pick one up and think, "I should scrapbook that and Oh, I want to scrapbook that too and what about that?" but ... with topFIVE I know the topFIVE events I really do want to document in our library and then after a few years if the other stuff doesn't get done, I pull a picture or two for my category drawers and feel much better about moving others to cold storage -- is it making sense?"
[ PeggyL ] I don't take as many pics as I used to either.
[ joybugger ] I have 7 full binders from 2005-2009
[ stacy julian ] "joyb, 
connections take time for sure!"
[ joybugger ] Yep, I just had to "live with it" for a while.
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] yes, that makes sense...usually takes me a while to "embrace" it
[ TracyBzz ] The Top 5 is good because if you can't remember 'did I do a page of DD's 5th bday?" or "xmas 06"? You can glance at your Top 5 sheet and see if it's done or not.
[ stacy julian ] "kimb, 
And that is exactly how you know it's time. If you have a season of new prints waiting for a binder, it's time to get things flowing!!"
[ Annette33 ] :-)
[ scrapbunny ] I do take more video now and I am trying to take a good look at what I want to include in my digi scrapbooks
[ midwestgirl ] Before signing off, I just want to say that I LOVE the daily blog posts. They have been very motivating. You and your coaches are amazing! Thanks for all your time and efforts.
[ PeggyL ] love the top 5 list did I miss that in the lessons?
[ TracyBzz ] joy ~ I only have 3 binders since 2006 and I feel that I"m not 'behind' enough for my catagory drawers. Not rich enough connections.
[ Annette33 ] Yes they are amazig!
[ happyscrapn ] Ok - First that I've heard of the Top5 - Great idea1
[ Leora ] I love the blog posts, too!
[ AprilFL ] Peggy, week 2 I think . . . photo flow chart download
[ stacy julian ] scrapbunny -- yay for you! Don't worry about not having thousands of photos. It's OK! As you fine tune LOM, you'll start to understand the kinds of photos you really want to take and that's a cool thing!
[ TracyBzz ] Top 5 list is in Photo Flow List from week 2
[ PeggyL ] hmmm guess I'm not reading carefully ;o) guess I'll be going back to that after the chat
[ stacy julian ] thank YOU midwest girl -- I'm so glad to hear you like the LOM blog. You are right that our coaches and trainers ROCK!!
[ stacy julian ] Any final questions?
[ joybugger ] Tracy, I really relied on those 4 LISTS when I started LOM 2 years ago. If something was on my list then I pulled it. I don't think I over pulled. I also made a few (not a lot) connections as I triaged, so that helped too.
[ TracyBzz ] scrapbunny ~ I might have to borrow your name for my daughter. She loves to make cards/scrapbook and LOVES bunnies :)
[ joybugger ] I'm talking about my US, People, Places, Things, lists.
[ Leora ] Stacy, thanks for being here and thanks for welcoming all of us back!
[ AprilFL ] I'm glad you all are liking the blog posts too. I know all of us put thought into what we want to write :)
[ joybugger ] Thanks, Stacy, this has been great!
[ stacy julian ] "OK, Addie is on my lap now and says it is time for treat. Popcorn and drink she says! 
Guess I'd better go! 
See you on the boards."
[ happyscrapn ] Thanks to everyone. See you on the message boards and galleries! Have a terrific week!
[ Leora ] Bye Addie!
[ Scrapbook_Girl ] Thanks Stacy!
[ Canay ] Goodnight. Thank you Stacy and coaches.
[ TracyBzz ] Already had popcorn with my girls today. Bye Stacy and everyone!
[ kimbyrns ] Goodbye everyone!
[ happyscrapn ] Good night Addie!
[ scrapbunny ] tracy- feel free. i used it when I sold scrapbook supplies
[ PeggyL ] goodnight everyone!
[ NonaZ ] Yes, just had brownies. Put g'son to bed before this started good night
[ SarahAnne ] 'Bye! Thanks Stacy.
[ TracyBzz ] Will do scrapbunny.
[ AprilFL ] night Stacy!
[ Kelly K. ] Thanks! Goodnight ...
[ scrapbunny ] stacy- i already see that LOM has changed how and what I take photos of. this class really is life changing
[ Leora ] Good night all!
[ scrapbunny ] night
[ Lisamarie ] This is a beautiful happy LOM world. THanks for the motivation! Lov ya all

Problems with the website? Please click here.