need help getting started

[Jeniferdwn]

I finally had time to get my scrapbook desk organized and straight so that I can work and leave my pages on the desk when I have to get up and do something else. I sat down with my boxes of pictures and I was so overwhelmed that I haven't been able to get started. I've been scrapbooking since I was in school in the 80's. It was a different kind of scrapbooking, but I started with pictures and embellishments probably 10 years ago and I have problably 10 different books, each for a different theme. But I can't seem to get started now. Too many pictures. Also, if you have pics from a trip to Disney or something, do you use them all in your scrapbook or do you put some in a photo album? We have around 250 pics of Disney and I don't know what to do with them. Please give me some ihints or tell me how you would get started?

 

[jacky b]

I was like that too, lots of pics and no ideas. For our trip in 07, we took 2 week trip driving from E. WA to MT to pickup family and drive to DL and then back. I took over 1100 pictures. So I picked all the ones that weren't blurry or duplicates and put them in photo albums ( I love to have alblums of trips), then I went back through and found the ones I wanted to use in the scrapbook for the trip. I only selected the ones I really wanted to scrap. I like having a photo album and a scrapbook from each trip. Just my personal choice I hope this helps a little.

 

[frzndaqiri]

What I do is section them out first - just like breaking it up for a TR. This gives you just one event (a meal) or one day/park to start with and is less overwhelming.

Second - because I'm just not inclined to do the photo album thing, but I DO have a lot of photos, I don't do the full on scrapbooking on every page. The best photos will get featured and embellished and the rest are just laid as many as I can fit to a page with a minor frame (just a slightly larger square of paper) around it, or corner accents (so it doesn't look too bland).

If you prefer - they make pocket 12x12 album pages where you just slip photos in as well.

 

[DisneyIsTerrific]

What I've found that works for me is organize the photos first. Let's say you are going to do your Disney trip. Pull just those photos. Now, decide how you want to scrap that trip. Do you want to do it by day, or by park, or whatever? Then, sort your pictures into stacks for that. Now, narrow it down even further. Let's say you are going to scrap by Park, maybe you want to narrow it down by attraction? Sort the stack for each park down by attraction. Once you've narrowed things down to how you will be scrapping, it's time to go through the photos and choose the best ones and the ones you definitely want on the page. Any that you know you will not use (blurry, heads turned, looks too much like another photo, etc.) set to the side. You should now have a pretty manageable stack to work from.

What I did for our last trip was to put page protectors in the back of my scrapbook album that hold 4x6 photos and that's where I put my extra photos that I liked but that I didn't put on a page.

 

[LindaBabe]

What story do you want to tell? After I divide my photos by topic, I think about which ones have something I want to say about them (other than a caption) - Those, I scrap - the rest go in pocket pages behind the scrapped 'story' pages.

 

[Jeniferdwn]

thanks for the suggestions everyone! I actually completed 3 pages last night! I was overwhelmed looking at the whole stack of Disney pics, but when I seperated them out and took one group, I felt much better. Also instead of printing all of my pics as 4x6. I printed alot of them 2 to a 4x6 pages or 4 to a 4x6 page. The fireworks and parades were done this way and it saves alot of room. We don't need a whole picture of each firework and character. That leaves more room for pics of the family/kids. thanks again everyone!

 

[jacksmomma]

Also instead of printing all of my pics as 4x6. I printed alot of them 2 to a 4x6 pages or 4 to a 4x6 page. The fireworks and parades were done this way and it saves alot of room.

Plus it adds visual interest! When I first started scrapping I printed every picture 4x6 and I was totally overwhelmed, now when I add different sizes it is so much easier and the pages look better! Good job getting over your scrapblock!

 

[katied]

I always plan my photos first. I will break them into categories - character meal, meet n greet, rides, pool, etc. Then, I select the ones I'll actually use- anywhere from 3 - 15 for a two page layout. I don't use all my pictures - maybe 10 - 20% at best. I only print what I'll use, in the size I need once I've planned my layout.

Once I know my pictures and theme, I plan my page and layout. If I'm stuck, I look through some of my layout books for ideas.

I'll normally spend a chunk of time planning and kitting my layouts, and then at other times I'll assemble.

 

[frzndaqiri]

Hurray!! Doesn't it feel good to be back into the swing of it too? Share some completed pictures sometime.

 

[C.Ann]

What I do is section them out first - just like breaking it up for a TR. This gives you just one event (a meal) or one day/park to start with and is less overwhelming.

Second - because I'm just not inclined to do the photo album thing, but I DO have a lot of photos, I don't do the full on scrapbooking on every page. The best photos will get featured and embellished and the rest are just laid as many as I can fit to a page with a minor frame (just a slightly larger square of paper) around it, or corner accents (so it doesn't look too bland).

What I've found that works for me is organize the photos first. Let's say you are going to do your Disney trip. Pull just those photos. Now, decide how you want to scrap that trip. Do you want to do it by day, or by park, or whatever? Then, sort your pictures into stacks for that. Now, narrow it down even further. Let's say you are going to scrap by Park, maybe you want to narrow it down by attraction? Sort the stack for each park down by attraction. Once you've narrowed things down to how you will be scrapping, it's time to go through the photos and choose the best ones and the ones you definitely want on the page. Any that you know you will not use (blurry, heads turned, looks too much like another photo, etc.) set to the side. You should now have a pretty manageable stack to work from.

This is basically what I do as well.. When I first started working on my scrapbooking again right after New Year's (a very, very special Disney trip) at first I panicked when I looked at the amount of photos and memorabilia I had to work with.. I just couldn't wrap my head around how and where to start.. So - the first thing I did was to separate all of the photos by location; events; parks; the airport; character meals; the resort; etc.. I used a large 4x6 photo file box I have to put them all in - with indexes labeled as above..

Then I took a bunch of very large manila envelopes I had leftover from my eBay days and wrote (very lightly in pencil) the category on each.. That's where I placed all of the memorabilia in the appropriate envelope - copies of boarding passes; luggage tags; Disney park tickets; wrist bands from MVMCP; copies of our Pop Century reservations; etc..

Once I had all of that accomplished, it no longer felt so overwhelming to me.. I simply chose an envelope, pulled out the appropriate photos, and jumped in head first - LOL.. It's working out very well for me this way and I've been finishing at least one category every few days.. Of course right now I'm working on the "easier" things - haven't gotten to the parks, parades, or MVMCP yet - but I've finished the preparations for the trip; the airport; arriving at Pop and checking in; a day spent wandering around Pop taking photos and spending time in the pool; and in another day or so I should be finished with our character breakfast at Chef Mickey's and our walk around the Contemporary to look at (and take photos of) the Christmas decorations and such..

I suspected that I would need two scrapbooks for this particular trip, so I planned ahead and purchased two different winter/Christmas themed Disney scrapbooks while in the parks on that trip - as well as some packages of paper that included the year (2006).. I'm not sure if I'll get both scrapbooks completed before I leave for the lake again this spring, but at least I'll have a good chunk of it done..

It sounds like you're well on your way - now that you've broken it down into smaller tasks - and I'm sure you'll have it done much sooner than you originally thought..

Good luck - and happy scrapping!!!!

 

[flamingglobessigmund]

My husband took something near 3000 pictures on our trip to WDW in January. No way those are all getting printed.

What I am doing:

1. Bought the 200 picture photo album for 2011 from WDW. I asked DH to select 200 pictures he wants printed for that.
2. I have the main 12x12 Disney scrapbook (40 pages). In this I'm scrapping some key events with pics and journaling.
3. We took the Sunrise Safari and I'm going to do a 8x8 of just that event.
4. I've got an 8.5x11 scrapbook that I'll probably use for character meet n greets and our stay at AKL if there is not enough room in the 8x8. and our day at DTD.
5. I try to sort my pictures first by people, then by events, then by animals (DH is an animal loving picture taker)
6. I took a blank journal with me while we were there so I could jot down the highlights of the day. I can forget so much if I don't. It's a scrappy journal, and has come to be very useful to refer back to. I also don't feel so compelled to memorialize every single second of our trip because I already wrote so much down.

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...vel%20Journal/