Scrappin' The Stash: August Update

Hello All! It's Tammy here with an update on my "Scrappin' The Stash" Challenge that I issued last month. I challenged myself to "get-to-scrappin" and to complete 7 layouts a week for the last 6 weeks of the summer. My goal was to limit the overwhelming number of choices in the areas of supplies and inspiration and photos and to simply enjoy the process of creating layouts and documenting memories. Well, I am coming to the end of my 6 weeks, and I have a few insights to report:

**I LOVED having only 7 sketches to choose from! It made the process of getting started on a layout so much less overwhelming. I think I will continue with this parameter in the future - perhaps rotating my 7 sketches every quarter or so. (I created the layout below from Sketch #8. I tweaked it a little to show off the camper paper. Check out my baby's cool stance in the lower right photo. Precious!)

(Oh, and consider this an early Sneak Peek of the September Doubleshot Kit!)

**I LOVED only working with already printed photos from a specific year. Selecting photos from a specific time frame made me feel super-productive as the photos began turning into completed layouts. I am now about halfway through with my 1999 photos and staring into my 2001 photos. It did help that I had all of my 1999 and 2001 photos printed out and slotted into photo-sleeve protectors. I could easily see everything in chronological order. I am definitely going to continue with this chronological photo storage going forward. It made scrapbooking so much more fun when I didn't have to spend all of my time looking for photos on my computer, optimizing them and attempting to print them out at home or waiting for them to be developed at the printer. For me, printing a year's worth of photos at one time and slotting them immediately into photo-sleeve protectors for scrapbooking later is going to be the way to go!

(These photos were pulled from my 2001 photo-sleeve photo collection. I love this memory; so glad it is now scrapbooked and journaled for Jeremiah's kids to enjoy someday!)

**I LOVED the IDEA of setting the timer for 70-minutes scrapbooking stints, but I found that 70-minutes sure did seem like a long time when I was trying to plan it into my day. There were many days when I wouldn't spend any time scrapbooking because I didn't have at least 70 minutes to devote to it. I also discovered that once I got started, I could rarely walk away when the timer went off after 70 minutes. I was always enjoying myself so much after I got into the process and wanted to finish instead of walking away mid-layout. My 70-minute stints would frequently turn into 2-3 hour stints, and once I saw this pattern emerge, I kind of stopped allowing myself to scrapbook unless I had a 2-3 hour block of time available, which was rare. Going forward, I will have to tweak this parameter - or at least tweak it during the weeks when I am busier.

So, as a wrap-up, I'm glad I issued this challenge. I got a lot of layouts done, and I enjoyed working within my parameters, which definitely made the process more enjoyable for me. I found that I didn't have hardly any time at all once August hit because I was trying to do CHA ordering and get the August kits shipped out and get my boys ready for school and get myself ready for my upcoming 2-week missions trip to Serbia. (I leave tomorrow.) Not having any time to scrapbook for the last two weeks was frustrating, but that's part of life. I will be tackling this challenge again through the end of 2013 after I get back from Europe. I'll post again if anybody wants to plan to join me for a 4th Quarter "Scrap Your Stash" Challenge. Start thinking about your parameters!