Speed Scrapping In 11 Steps. Organize Your Scarbook Supplies

Speed Scrapping In 11 Steps. Organize Your Scarbook Supplies

Here is a way to organize your supplies for speedy scrapping even if you have no previous page kits stockpiled. You can get an album done in a week or two this way if you want to! But you need to really follow the instructions or it ends up not being so speedy! In other words, don't deviate so much from the speed scrapping instructions that you are no longer saving yourself time. After all, a finished album that highlights the photos in a creative way is the goal.

1) Plan and Do Only ONE Album at a Time. Here is what I would do for each album I wanted to speed scrap. This is speed scrapping from scratch so to speak. Being able to focus on one project at a time is vital. It is just as important to getting a finished album as good intentions or vast arrays of supplies. Don't get distracted or overwhelmed. The keyword today is FOCUS! :)
2) Get a Container or Tote. Find a big sturdy tote bag or Rubbermaid box with handles to keep your supplies in it JUST FOR THIS ALBUM! There are many great smaller totes designed for scrapping. Any of them would be wonderful. Just make sure it will allow an album and all your papers and tools to fit. However, you don't have to have a new bag for this.

Use a canvas tote bag or plastic bin if you have one. It will need to be big enough for a binder, and album, your photos, and several basic supplies. You will not need 90% of your other supplies for this job! Also try to find a large 3 ring binder for short-term storage of the speed scrapping page protectors as you work.

3) What is Your theme? Is it a specific year? vacations? a child? your heritage? sports events? holidays? Decide on whatever theme you want to put into this particular album.. Pick an album style (top loading, strap, binder, 8.5x11, 12x12) and the cover color. Try to choose this cover and color to further the theme of your album photos.

The album type should be one that allows you to move pages. I prefer binder or post bound for this. They usually come with 10 pages of page protectors. (This means 20 ages for photos if you count both sides. ) I automatically add another set of ten page protectors in the same style/manufacturer. Now you know you will have 40 pages to create for this specific album. Spiral bound albums are a hard one to use for speed scrapping but if you really want to, it can be done! You will need to REALLY plan out the layouts of the pages a little more thoroughly using a spiral bound album.

4) Plan for the Inside of the Album. Based on the album theme and perhaps the color of the outside cover of the album, decide on the album's interior. This is where we keep it harmonious, SIMPLE, and focused!

A) Choose two colors of solid cardstock that are coordinating and harmonious with the cover. Buy at least ten to twelve sheets of these two colors of cardstock. And if you want all the background paper to be identical, buy 40-45 sheets of one color.

B) Choose two kinds of patterned papers that coordinate in color with the two colors of cardstock already chosen in step A.

C) Pick two template shapes for photos to be cut into. Keep it simple. Squares, rectangle, oval or circle. Don't choose cutesy pillow shapes or intricate stars. If using a cutting device, put this in the speed scrapping tote now. If you are doing heritage work and do not want to cut the photos, skip this one step. I kept my shapes very basic... rectangles with some corners rounded and one or two pages with ovals.

D) Select two types of corner treatments . Photo corners come in many styles (corner punches, stickers, laser cut, clear plastic, black, gold, white, etc) . But pick just two that coordinate. You can also decide not to include photo corners at all. Just mat the pictures. For heritage work, I say use corners. Someday a great-great grandchild will have to redo your work-- so use corners and make it easy on them! No adhesives go directly on heritage photos. Save the adhesives for mats and other embellishments.

E) Pick two pen colors to use for journaling. These pens should show well on both solid cardstocks in Step A. Many speed scrappers choose black and white. Put all the other pens away except the pens you choose here. If you like to journal ion matted squares of paper, cut about 10 pieces of each color solid cardstock measuring 2 inches by 3 inches. Use a paper trimmer or see scissors tips in Step G. When it comes time to actually journal, keep it simple. Who, What, When, and Where. Never just put the title "Grandpa". Make sure that three generations from now, they will know his full name, date, and location! Speed scrapping doesn't mean being incomplete!

F) Embellishments should be kept simple. Only use the colors you have already chosen in Step A to create the borders, punch art, paper piecing, etc. Don't get too carried away on embellishments. The same simple flower or two or border throughout a whole album looks elegant and classic and harmonious. AND it saves you time! After you get this far, you might take a look through your sticker binder or punch art stash and be surprised how many things do coordinate with the colors you have chosen. Try to use what you have. If you have to make something extra, keep it simple.

Designate just a couple of pages for being extra-artistic. Do those time-consuming technique pages at the end of the speed scrapping process. You can certainly do a page or two or three that can be time intensive and 'artistic' within each speed scrapped album. Those can take longer and have pop ups, lovely punch art or paper piecing, etc. No problem. . What I refer to here as speed scrapping is for the BULK of the album. That means get 34 pages done in the speed scrapping style and then go back to do about 4 to 6 later in a more 'artistic" way.

G) Chose one Decorative Scissors that You Love. Or perhaps the same scissors in regular and jumbo cut--like deckle regular and deckle jumbo. This keeps the eye from registering the cuts used as too "busy". Using straight edge scissors on some pics and mats and one decorative scissors on others is enough variety in the scissor dept. I chose the mini postage stamp to echo the Norwegian postagestamps on my title page.

5) Clear the Floor! Now for the fun!! Clear the kitchen table or your scrapping desk! Get rid of the family! You will need lots of space for this. Pets and small children love to "help" so this may be a good time for them to be out of the house. :)

6) Lay Out the Page Protectors on the Floor. Place two pieces of cardstock or pattern paper in each protector to be the background. Hurray! You are making progress!

7) Get Out Your Photos. Whether in a box or an old album, bring it to the work area. Arrange them in the sequence you want to use. Most albums are chronological within the event theme. Start taking out 4-6 photos to go into each page protector. How many will fit on each page depends on the size of the photos. Keep it as an estimate for now. You don't have toactually lay them out on the backgrounds exactly yet. Just loosely place them in the protectors. Poor pictures can be weeded out at this time. Keep going until you have all the photos divided up.

8) Use that Binder! Now put the page protectors with the background paper and the photos into a large 3 ring binder if possible. Don't put them into the final album until the END of the scrapping process. This will give you flexibility to move them easily or work with them more than once until you get the page sin a 'final' sequence that you like. The 3 ring binder is only a temporary sequencing aid to a quicker final album.

9) Tuck Your Simple Embellishments into the Page Protectors. This includes any poems, stickers, die cuts, pre-made page toppers or other additions you already have on hand. Save the time intense embellishments for other albums or do a minimum of them when speed scrapping. Need something? Make a master shopping list. Go for the quicker embellishments. Shop for only the items on the master list. You have not actually started scrapping pages yet but you are getting ready.

10) Now Pack Up that Tote. Pack your bag, box, or tote (chosen in number 1) with the adhesive of your choice, scissors, binder of photos and papers, pens, journal squares, extra corners, and the extras of the papers you chose to coordinate in step A and step B. Add your photo corners to the tote. Terrific! You are ready for cropping either at home or at a cropping party!! Put everything else away for a while! Your speed scrapping kit is ready to go!

11) Set Aside Some Time and Enjoy Your Speed Scrapping! Now you know that you are focused. You have all your supplies together. You have a goal in mind. Go Girl! Have fun with it! As you work, keep in mind that you want to FINISH this album. Focus, Focus, Focus! Set aside time to work on it on a regular basis. :) With a start like this, your album will be done in no time!

Source: http://organizedscrapbooks.com/