Scrapbooking Meaningful Events

Imagine the most important and meaningful days in your life. What comes to mind? Weddings. Graduation. Long-planned vacations. Earning a special award. All of these are achievements and celebrations but sometimes the most meaningful days can be the hardest ones to scrap. Let's take a look at how to go through the process of documenting in a scrapbook or mini album those meaningful days in your life.

Pre-planning. Have you ever started a project without planning? Doesn't it seem overwhelming? With a meaningful topic, it is important to make some plans for what you want to do. If the event hasn't occurred you have a planning advantage. Take time to do some pre-event planning. Grab a notebook or type on your computer a list of what is needed for the event. What camera will you take? What photographs do you want to take? Where should you stand for the best photographs? Do you need to hand the camera over to someone else? Bring a notebook. Jot down quotes you hear. Make notations of names, times, and meaningful things that happen. Bring home memorabilia.

Photographs. Gather your photographs and lay them out in front of you. Visually scan them. What jumps out at you? What memories of the event remain in the forefront of your mind? Jot these down and keep them with your photographs. If you have a lot of photographs of the event, work to place photographs into important groupings. Consider any sub-topics, individual stories or favorite photographs. Is there something that you want to stand alone? Is there a group of photographs that will really work well together? Breaking down your photographs into groups helps create meaningful sub-topics.

Journaling. Sometimes we get stuck scrapbooking meaningful events because the journaling is hard. We pressure ourselves. We think that if the event is meaningful, then the journaling should be meaningful as well. Reverse that and think about the fun and the accomplishments associated with the meaningful event. Consider the people who were there and what you did. Look at your photographs. What jumped out at you? What stories from the day did you remember? Now, take those thoughts and write them down on paper. Depending on your personal style you can write a couple sentences or whole paragraphs. Writing your journaling before designing a page can often make the process go faster later.

Format Considerations. With photographs and journaling, now consider how to fit it all on paper. First, choose a format. Do you want a large scrapbook album for the event, a mini-album or just an addition to an ongoing album? Look at what you have in photographs and journaling for this event. Which format will fit it best? Think about how you want to share your meaningful event. Do you want it separate from other events? Do you want to carry it in your purse or store it on your bookshelves? Space considerations and intended use for the album can help in choosing on a format.

Embellishments. With your format in mind, consider what papers and embellishments would work for your topic. Before you begin scrapbooking, gather your photographs, journaling ideas and potential scrapbook supplies. Remember you are not bound to use these things, you are just gathering all the possibilities. Depending on the length of the project, you may wish to narrow your papers and embellishments. Sometimes fewer items (and less choices) can make the project easier. If the format is of a mini-album, consider using the same paper or embellishment lines to tie the whole album together. Now, with a stack of photographs, journaling ideas, papers and embellishments, you are ready to start.

Stress Less. The key to scrapping meaningful events is to stress less. Don't get overwhelmed by the size or the meaningful nature of the project. First, do what you can to eliminate stress from the project. For example, if the photographs are precious, make duplicates so you won't have to stress about it. Be organized. Be mentally prepared. Also, take your time working through the project. It's not a race; take time to enjoy the project. You may stall at times but ultimately you need to just do it. You may not like your first attempt. That's okay. You are learning and experimenting with what works and what doesn't work. Start over again if necessary. There's nothing wrong with that. Finally, don't dwell on making it perfect. If it has your photographs, your words and your heart in it, then it will be its best.

What meaningful events in your life do you have to scrapbook? Pick something important and fun. Gather your photographs and supplies. Determine your journaling and format. Finally, scrap. Don't forget - have fun too!

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