OK – BUT WAIT!!!!! – BEFORE you click off this
post because you got married like 30 years ago and you have ZERO interest in
weddings at the moment, bear with me. I
am using my wedding album as an example here.
This same process and ideas can be applied to just about any large-scale
scrappy project, like a baby album, vacation album, senior book or even a
mini-book album to give as a gift. I know this because I’ve used this same
theory over and over – but you would never know it from looking at the finished
products.
Step 1 – Begin with the end in mind.
Close your eyes. Picture what the finished project
looks like. No, not every page – just
the basics. Is it one album? Two? A mini book?
A collage for your wall? Seven
albums busting at the seams (hopefully not this one)? Open your eyes. It’s not nap time! We need to be working on
this project! So, now you know where you are headed. (These are IDEAS – and NOT my photos)
Step 2 – Narrow down this big picture.
Think a bit more about your vision for the project, and what
you are dealing with in terms of the amount of photos/memorabilia that you know
need to be included. In my case I know I
plan on at least two books. One I plan
on being a more formal “wedding album” type book and the other more fun and
relaxed where I plan to mix regular layouts and pocket pages. The more formal book is likely to have more
single-photo layouts that focus more on portraits with less journaling, while
the more fun book will house the bulk of the photos to really tell the story of
our day. (Also, I haven't decide which album is which yet - and I'm not sure the one with the name is EXACTLY what I want, so here they are- thoughts??)
Step 3 – START thinking about product. (and maybe buying
some)
WOO HOO!! Time to
start shopping!! But go slow here. Don’t
just buy everything that says “wedding” or “baby”, or even everything Rose Gold
(hey, I’m giving the advice here, not necessarily TAKING it) Buying too much
will not only waste precious $$ and annoy your spouse but it can bury you in
too many options, which is just what we need to avoid. If you are doing a traditional album, now is
a good time to look for the album itself.
That may help you choose some of the other product to come later. If you know you like the idea of using most
one or two collections, purchasing them at this point is also good. Depending on your project timeline, you may
spend an hour picking some products or if you are like me you will spread it
out over a few months as you work on the project, or plan the event. Just keep
in mind you DO NOT have to buy everything right this minute. You can always come back to shopping later as
you figure out more that you need. For me, this meant buying my two albums and
a couple of collections I plan to use (“Timeless” by Authentique and “Apricot
Honey” by Prima). But this does not HAVE
to mean you buy collections. It may just
mean picking a color scheme, or even finding that ONE product you are going to
use to tie the project together. In one
baby album project I did, I had a large circular embellishment for each month
of the baby’s first year and I worked each layout around those.
Step 4 – Break it down
This is the spot where the work really gets serious. For this step, you will start wherever you
usually start your process of making pages.
If you start with sketches or Kiwi Lane templates and pick papers and in
them and the photos come last, start there.
If your process (like mine) pretty much ALWAYS starts with photos, you
will obviously need to wait for those to really get a good start. I am currently in this phase and already have
a few hundred photos with a few hundred more coming soon from the
photographer. Here is where your earlier
steps are really going to help you out. I
am planning a 20-30 page book for my “formal” album, and know I will probably
want mostly larger single photos. I
intend to basically pick my favorite photos, while keeping in mind that all of
the most important things and people need a place in this album, even if I have
to pick some less “perfect” photos to make that happen.
For this step I create a folder on my computer called “print”
and start dragging or copying all the photos that I KNOW I want in albums into
the file. Then I will have a file for my
“Formal” book, and a file for my “casual” book.
For the formal book, I will probably number the photos for the order
they will go in in the book. For the casual
book, I’ll have photos arranged by the subject of the page(s) they go on and
probably worry about the order later. So I might have “Cake 1….Cake 2….Cake 3”…..”Guests1…Guests
2…guests 3…” etc. Next, I decide on the sizes I want and get the pictures
ordered. If you (like me) have a project
that you are anxious to get started on, be SURE you take notes about what size
you ordered of each photo. That way you
can start scrapping, even if the photos have not arrived yet.
Step 5 – Keep Organizing (or don’t)
I’ll admit, sometimes I have done this step and sometimes
not. When I HAVE done it, I have really
liked how quickly I feel like I am able to get a book to come together – but to
be honest I find the process pretty tedious and there are part of me that think
it’ easier just to get scrapping and let the chips fall where they may.
Essentially what I do here is use the book itself as an
organization tool. I put the photos (If
I have them – if not I make a note – like “Cake 1” on an index card - you can
even use the size of card the same size as your photo to REALLY help yourself
out) and put them in the page protectors of my album in order. That way, if there are any specific papers or
embellishments you want to use, or pieces of memorabilia, you can stick them in
there also and they are ready to go.
If you don’t want to go quite THAT far, but still want to
organize, you can always create a written outline just to sort of keep track of
what you want to do and what order things go in.
Step 6 – Well get to it, already!!
Just what it sounds like – Get to work. You may choose to do every page in order, or
skip around. One of the benefits of
being more organized up front (at least for me) is that it lets me feel more “free”
during the creative part of the process to work on whatever inspires me at the
moment. If I’m hungry, I might choose to
avoid scrapping pictures of the cake at that moment…which BY THE WAYYYY….
As always…if I can answer any questions please shoot me a
message or let Hannah know and I’ll be happy to help. Sorry in advance for all the upcoming wedding
hoopla! (but not really)…
Until next time…..from my Happily Ever After to yours,
Shawn
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