Newbie needs some help

[RweTHEREyet]

I am getting ready to get started on my first book, and I have a couple of questions. I have read where some of you like to put together "kits" for your individual pages when getting ready to go to a crop, and I am wondering how you do this, what you store them in, etc. and what all you put in this kit.

It also seems that most folks create the pages and then worry about the pictures later, am I correct in thinking this?

Any other tips for someone brand new to this would be appreciated.

 

[meyernl]

I "kit" my pages. I use either the plastic sleeves you can get from scrapbook stores (I think mine are from Cropper Hooper) or the 12x12 ziploc bags you can now get at the grocery store (orange box). In my kits, I put the following:

pictures I think I will use
all the papers I think I will use
coordinating cardstock
embelishments (stickers, brads, ribbons, ...)
sketch of the page (if I do one)
any other trinkets I might use (ticket stubs, etc.)

When I find I have some time or I am going to a crop, I just grab the bundles I want to work on and then I don't have to take all my papers. I take post-it notes in case I find I forgot something once I start. SO far, it has worked pretty well.

Right now, I am kitting 11 Disney trips (starting with one in 1973).

 

[pjlla]

It took some searching, but I found the Kitting Tutorial that someone (I think rlovew... she is great) posted here a few months ago. It easily explains and shows how to create your own kits to take along to crops and such. Here it is...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2052976&page=1&highlight=kitting+tutorial

FWIW.... I NEVER EVER plan my pages before I have the photos in my hand. It does mean that I occasionally order a few too many photos, but somehow I just CAN'T really create pages until I have the photos there in my hand.

I also rarely scrap away from home, so I don't kit very often, but if I know in advance I might have a chance to attend a crop, I will make up kits. It is hard for me to do that because I usually work sort of on the "fly". Sometimes I think I know what my page it going to look like when I start and by the time I am done it looks totally different! But I usually use a scrap map or sketch (sometimes mine, sometimes not) and I have at least a general idea of what my page will end up like.

When I do kit, I put everything I will need for a 2 page layout into a ziploc and then I stack the ziplocs in a 12 x 12 hard plastic holder of some sort (I bought one at Target) and then THAT goes into my wheelie crop bag... that way nothing gets crinkled.

HTH at least a little bit......................P

 

[ColleenG]

I'm like Pjlla. I never do a layout with out having the pictures. I really let the size and number of pictures I have create the flow of the layout. I like getting ideas from the layouts people do with out the pictures. I don't kit to often either. Usually I get a vague idea for a page and then it totally changes through out the process of putting it together. The best thing to do is what works for you.

 

[SharonLovesMickey]

I "kit" my pages. I use either the plastic sleeves you can get from scrapbook stores (I think mine are from Cropper Hooper) or the 12x12 ziploc bags you can now get at the grocery store (orange box). In my kits, I put the following:

pictures I think I will use
all the papers I think I will use
coordinating cardstock
embelishments (stickers, brads, ribbons, ...)
sketch of the page (if I do one)
any other trinkets I might use (ticket stubs, etc.)

When I find I have some time or I am going to a crop, I just grab the bundles I want to work on and then I don't have to take all my papers. I take post-it notes in case I find I forgot something once I start. SO far, it has worked pretty well.

I do the same thing. I love the 12x12 sleeves from Cropper Hopper. They are only around $5 for 3 which come in so handy. It took forever to finally figure out a system that works for me, but now I can zip through things and be thinking about several projects at once.

Personally, I find it very difficult to scrapbook without photos, but I consider myself a "color" scrapbooker....it's very important to me that page colors coordinate and enhance the photo. Sometimes when I go to crops, especially at a local store, I will take only a small stack of organized photos, my trimmer, and adhesive. I spend the evening finding the right papers for them, putting together a simple layout, and adding the title and embellishments at home. I find that to be easier than running out to the store with 2-3 photos every time I start to work on a page!

 

[LindaBabe]

Hi Janet,
Count me among those who rarely do pages without photos - in fact the only 'premade' ones are class pages or 'boughten' kits. I may throw in way more photos than I will actually use, then cardstock, any patterned paper, ribbon or fibers. I tend not to put my brads/eyelets/buttons in the kit because they get lost, but rather just take my whole little box. The big thing in my kits is the paper/cardstock, because that's what I don't want to lug too much of - and at that point I also make a note of any special tool I'll need - like my big square punch. Or maybe I'll pre crop my photos before putting them in if I have time - I use a lot of 2 inch squares on my pages.

I also throw in my cricutted title letters, or die cuts, and, if I have time and a lot to say, some computer journaling - it's pretty easy to format the words in several different sized text boxes and print them on one sheet.