How Do You Scrap…

[karlimarie]

How do you scrap those traditions that don’t change much from year to year?

Do you always add journaling assuming the future reader hasn’t seen your previous pages? Do you use different kits each time you scrap an event or do you repeat kits to keep things consistent.

It’s not so much an issue for holidays like Christmas because it varies for us so much from year to year. But we have these other traditions like our Easter Glow Hunt or July 4th celebration that are almost identical from year to year. It’s a challenge to keep things fresh!

 

[craftytam]

I try to use different kits and journal when something interesting happened.

I don't look at it as important to keep things fresh, but to document the event. I think the fun part is looking at how people have changed year-to-year.

I did small books for my kids a couple of years ago with 1 page for each Christmas. I did use different kits for each 2-page spread, but I think the most fun was watching them grow.

 

[lizziej]

I always add journaling. Some of the time my journaling is in first person and other times it's in second person (mainly to my son), but I don't really think about past events. I focus on that event at that time. Although, I once did a Christmas layout where my son got a Christmas t-shirt. I recall that it was not the first time he got one, and I mentioned something like "in keeping with our tradition, this is your Christmas t-shirt for this year," or words to that effect. Like Tammy, I LOVE seeing changes from year to year. I don't use the same kit. In fact, many times I use several kids per event.

 

[LeeAndra]

I remind myself that it only feels stale to me.

I actually really dislike birthday & Christmas layouts for this reason -- There's some food, there's some gifts, blah blah blah. However, everyone else who looks at this layout inside of an album is only going to see this page about it. The people who look at it are most likely going to be people who were there, too, so they won't really notice what kit I used or the papers I chose or anything else but the photo(s) and the words.

My 16yo is the only person besides me who looks at every single layout I have printed & they make sure they read every word I wrote. They rarely comment on any of the "pretties" but they will point out what a good/funny memory that was or that they are surprised/touched/agree with what I wrote. That's what I remind myself of when I have to slog (and that's exactly how much effort I generally put into it, too -- ha!) through another Christmas Day two-page spread.

 

[AmieN1]

I try to include anything different this year- usually it's different just because the kids are getting older, so some traditions have transformed slightly. Sometimes I don't even journal. If it's an obvious story in the photos- just a title & date suffices for me!

 

[Brendazzle]

I try to tell the story a different way or mix in new kits alongside the same ones I use every year. In my case, very few Hanukkah kits and so many Hanukkah traditions in my family. I also will glance at what I did previously to make sure I'm not doing everything exactly the same and then I just do what feels right. We've been lighting the menorah on the stovetop in this house since we bought it but the pages don't look exactly the same, even if sometimes the photos do.

 

[EvelynD2]

I use different kits for the holiday layouts from year to year. I love seeing who is in the photo and the changes that happen each year. I don't journal a lot of my layouts. Especially if there are photos of our grandkids. I keep personal information about them off of my layouts for privacy issues. I am just thankful my kids, most of them , let me use their children's photos on my layouts. I respect their wishes and don't add a lot of info.

 

[Cheryl Ashcraft]

I don't scrap chronologically, so I just use whatever kits go the best with my photo(s).

I use Lightroom to keep track of ongoing albums, like Document Your December. I have a spreadsheet that I can look at as well to see what photos haven't been scrapped.

I do have journaling that includes the date, place, and names of those in the photos. I also try to include a little bit of journaling, even if it's about a tradition that we've done for years.