Feeling Overwhelmed with my unfinished albums

A

adriablack

New member
Hello everyone! I am not a chronological scrapper. I tend to jump to whatever feels inspiring me or a story that is demanding to be told right now. I also scrap paper, hybrid, and digi....However, I like my albums to be by year. My problem begins when looking back through my albums...there are so many gaps or half started projects, or photos stuck into a page protector (so I know what order they will eventually go in). Then, add on the digi pages that need printed and I just come away with a headache.

So I'm looking for some tips on how you balance non-chronological scrapping with actually finishing up years/albums. Right now I have partial albums for 2013-2016, and probably close to 150 digi layouts that need printed from 2016-2019. I am also a prolific scrapper (when I'm doing it actively.. - last month I did about 50 pages), so this problem is only getting larger and harder for me as time goes on... I also have the problem of being on a very fixed income so there is not a possible way to print all my digi (12x12s anyway - I do have some 8.5x11 that I could and should get to printing at home..) without breaking it in much smaller chunks ;)

Specific questions:

How do you choose what to scrap, so you actually finish up albums/years?
How do you choose what to get printed (if you print pages vs albums/books)

Any other tips on finishing projects, prioritizing printing, organization - whatever you think might help, 'cuz after scrapping so many pages, I am SO overwhelmed and keep kicking myself with - why can't you just focus and finish that project!

And sorry for my rambling...
 
I'm right there with you - the last time I counted, I have 26 albums started. *sigh*

What I've challenged myself to do this year is to pick one album and just sit and do it. Usually on the weekends I sit down and putz at it, getting pages done. Then I put it in to print folder - sometimes I wait until there is a free album to print... other times when I feel like I'm loosing mojo, I will print an album (or look at things I've printed) and remind myself why I do this. :) I've always been in the mindset that if I can get the project life done - or the "big events" everything else is just sprinkles.

For pages to get done (I don't scrap in order, either) - what has been helping me is that I pull out the photos into separate folders. I name then with a key word... so when a kit comes up about say beach - I can search that section and see what pages need to be done with that. I also list the number of photos, so if I see a template I really like I know what I have to scrap.

I hope that helps somewhat... just keep scrapping and enjoying the process. :)
 
Oh I wish I could help, but I've only done one album for Disney. The rest is all out of order and the children don't mind at all.

There was a post started a couple weeks ago that asked about printing single papers and then being able to move the layouts in order as they are scrapped. Maybe that's something you could do? Print single pages and put them in albums, moving them around as you print?
 
I scrap as I like... my digi photos start in 2000 until current....I am finished with 2000 - 2007...almost finished with 2008 and 2019 is current....I tell you this because I have NEVER scrapped chronologically but printed many....I don't scrap paper any more..my digi files are fairly organized and when I am done with an event within a given year, I mark my file as done... that makes it very easy to see what files I still have to do to finish that year...hoping to finish 2009 and stay current in 2019 this year but I am sure I will complete a few pages are the years in between....I hope you find a resolution!!!!
 
I LOVE the feeling of a completed album, but i HATE to feel like I have to scrap in a certain order. So I have solved this dilemma by keeping lists.

First, I go through my pictures and take any pictures I want to scrap and paste them into a folder that I create for the album I want to finish. (i.e. I have a "2018 album" folder, and inside that folder are folders with the names of the layouts I want to make & the pictures are in those folders, like a "Christmas at Mom & Dad's" and "Elf on the Shelf" and "Saying Good-bye"). This helps me SO MUCH because i have it all sorted & then when I sit down to scrap, I can just look through the folders to see if there is anything that matches the kit/template I am using. I also keep a written list of layouts I still need to make for an album to be complete and also ideas for random layouts, like movies/books I love, how I feel about things, etc.

For me, taking the time to think through all the layouts I "need" to make helps me be so much more creative when I actually sit down to scrap. Plus, I love scratching things off a list!
 
I am in the same boat as you so I am not much of a help.
I do create (and finish) smaller themed digital scrapbooks for:
Family Vacations
Kids Sports
etc

So getting those completed makes me feel better about ALL the unfinished projects :)
 
I feel for ya. I scrap all over the place too..... and I am so far behind that I find it VERY overwhelming at times and I just don't want to scrap because I don't know where to start. I tell myself every year that I will keep up with the current year's photos as they happen, and then pic at past years after that. I have the "best" photos of everything that has happened on my facebook sorted by year.... (most of which are set to private or family only). I refer back to these albums CONSTANTLY to remind me of everything that has happened in order.... it's also a place that holds a lot of my "what happened" and other journaling at the time which ends up being very helpful when I finally get to scrapping them YEARS later LOL. I then do the same thing with my completed pages.... I have an album for each year that I upload them to so I can easily refer back and see what I have already completed. I also keep a list in evernote for each year of the photos I have, and I put preview images in a table of kits and templates that would be perfect for the photos and mark what I own and what I need to purchase. I am ashamed to admit, that I have never completed a year, and I have NEVER printed a page before :O BUT I at the very least keep everything as organized as possible so that when I get hit with the scrappy bug I can keep myself rolling without having to think about what to use and where everything is and just scrap basically until I burn out. lol
 
I'm right there with all of you!! When I paper scrapped, I scrapped chronologically because I had to because I used CM albums. I was so happy when I found digi because I could scrap what I wanted, when I wanted.
However... I need to get organized so that I have an idea of how this will look when it's done.
There are so many fantastic ideas in this thread!!
 
Thank you all for your awesome tips! Keep 'em coming! ;) I definitely need to get to work on making some lists of what I have done and what still needs done!
 
I scrap all over the place (based on challenges and CT kits/releases). I do organize my layouts by year and month or by trip, so that I can see how many layouts I have in a specific folder that are finished. I also add "DONE" after my photo descriptions, so that I know if those photos are finished, meaning they are fully ready to be printed if I were to do that.

Unfortuntely, the only albums I've actually printed, are our 2 Disney trips, a Yellowstone Trip, and my youngest daughter's baby album. Well, and my first few years of digi scrapping 2006-2007 are finished too.

We are also on a tight budget, so I only print when they are having flat rate sales, where I can print 100 page albums for a flat rate price! Every once in a while I will get free album coupons or offers, and I will try to print a 20 page album then. These are usually a random thing- trip to the zoo, Spring, Christmas etc where I can see quickly if I have enough layouts finished to do an album.

I try not to let it bug me too much. I know these pages will be printed eventually and in the meantime I keep scrapping away with the hopes that someday I will be close to caught up (ha ha).
 
I'm also with you (and many others it seems like), that I am all over the place and have so many unfinished albums. I have finished our Disney trips (except our last trip in May last year) and I have completed my daughter and sons baby book. For our pics throughout the year I'm having a hard time completing. I try to focus on one year and one month at a time, but then again I come across other photos and then want to scrap those. I haven't printed individual pages yet, although I keep thinking of doing that so I can get some stuff printed at least and then just add to the album whenever I print new ones. I have only printed books using Shutterfly whenever they have a sale.
 
I know you don't want to switch to chronological scrapping, but I finally did that a couple of years ago and like it more than I thought I would. My main motivation was that I wanted to switch to photobooks instead of single pages. During the sales where Shutterfly gives you "unlimited" pages for free, I can stack promotions and get a 90+ page book for about $60. I couldn't even come close to matching that price printing single pages.

But my tips for sticking with non-chronological scrapping and still making progress...

-Pick a system for dealing with the mediocre photos or less important stories more quickly. (Think pocket pages or one of the many other styles that get lots of photos on one page.) There are lots of things I want in my albums but don't need to devote a whole layout to.

-Decide which pages can be scrapped quickly (maybe in a more minimal style) and which are worth spending the time to make amazing. Then make yourself call those quicker pages "good enough" and move on.

-Be more selective about what gets scrapped. I may know I have 12 nice photos from a party, but if I'm able to narrow it down to 5 my family still feels like it has been adequately documented. (Full disclosure--I'm terrible about this. I'm finding I have to be more selective about which photos I take in the first place, otherwise I scrap too many.)

-Keep yourself organized, either through lists or folders on your computer. I do the folders method. I have a big To Scrap folder. Within that folder, there's a folder for each annual album and each other album (mostly vacation books, for me) that I'm working on. I keep copies of the photos and journaling I need to scrap for that album, and if I know what kit or template I want to use I store that there, too.

-When you're close to the end of an album, focus on just that for a while so you can get it done. For me, there's nothing more satisfying about scrapping than finishing an album!

-Subscribe to newsletters for the sites you print with so you always know when there's a good sale you can take advantage of.

Good luck!
 
I’m no help when it comes to being consistent or staying organized... and I haven’t read through al the posts yet, but I wanted to pop by and say iNSD (or is it DSD?) is coming up and there will almost definitely be sales on 12x12 and 8x8 pages. Persnickety Prints allows you to buy print credits to use at your leisure. It’s a great time to stock up!
 
I make lists. First I look through all my photos from the time period I want my album to cover (whether it’s a full year or just a vacation). I pick out the most important stories and photos I want to use and add them to the list. I number my list and have two columns for left and right side of the photo book. So the cover is 001, the first page is in a new line 002, next to 003, and then a new line again. There’s no need to scrap in order. If I think there’s enough photos for a two pager, I can adjust the page order so everything will print together. I highlight off the pages immediately after I save it as a jpeg. It’s super satisfying. When one album starts getting closer to being done, I have an easy visual for how much is left and I can push myself to send it to print soon, especially if Shutterfly has a big sale and I’m close enough to finishing that I can make it. The other nice thing with the list is that if I’m feeling uninspired, I can start laying out out photos in a template, or if I have a good idea of what kit I want to use for specific photos I can add it to the list as well. I’ve completed 15 albums this way; even though I’ve got another 7 or 8 in progress, I can keep track of them fairly easily.
 
I started with paper scrapping and realised it took me too long and I had way too much stuff lying around. So I discovered digiscrapping and have been hooked ever since.

I do make albums for my kids and myself, and I prefer to put the pages in chronologically, but I scrap whatever whenever so that’s not an option if I were to print as I go.

My solution has been to make PL albums of each year, double spread for each week and then I print those when finished. Then I’ll go back whenever I have time and mojo to scrap an individual layout. I save that with the date and who it refers to and it goes in the folder for my complete album one day in the future.



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I keep a category in ACDsee for my photos to scrap. I did a blog on it a couple years back I’ll find the link and post that.

So as soon as I download my pictures, I go ahead and organize them
Based on how I want them scrapped, I usually tag the kit and even the template I’d like to use with them as well, so I don’t forget, or if I do one page right away, when I go back to it, I remember what kit I used when I create the second page. I always print chronological, but I jump around a bit when scrapping.
 
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