A Scrapper’s New Year’s Resolutions

Some people like to think of the New Year as a clean slate. I like to think of it as an empty scrapbook. Ahead are 365 days full of new moments to remember in your pages.

While you're probably resolving to become a better person in 2006 by exercising more, eating better, or breaking a pesky habit, why not make some resolutions that will help you in your journey to come a better scrapbooker too.

Following are my scrapbooking resolutions, which I hope will inspire you to come up with your own:

• I resolve to do more pages in 2006. My personal goal is 156 layouts or three per week. This past year, I put too much pressure on myself to make all of my pages perfect and publication worthy. I want to break out of that mindset and get more pages finished - even if they aren't "the best."
  
  
• I resolve to focus more on my journaling in 2006. I really do love to journal, but in the rush of things, I often end up only scratching the surface of what I want to say. I hope that by breaking out of the chronological scrapbooking mindset, I will free myself to delve deeper and deliver the messages I want my children and their children to read one day.
  
  
• I resolve to share my time and talents as a scrapbooker in 2006. Beyond teaching classes and writing about scrapbooking, this year I plan to get involved in a charitable cause that involves scrapbooking. When I wrote "Crop for a Cause" for Scrapjazz earlier this year, I was moved by the impact some of the programs I highlighted are having.

What would you like to accomplish as a scrapper in 2006? Here are five more ideas for areas you might focus on:

• Organize your scrap space and make it a comfortable place you love to go. (Then keep it that way!)
  
  
• Break out of a scrapbooking rut and try new products and techniques you've been avoiding.
  
  
• Learn how to take better photographs. Read or re-read your camera's user manual, check out a book on amateur photography or read the tips in scrapbooking magazines and here at Scrapjazz.
  
  
• Attend at least one major scrapbooking event like a convention or retreat weekend. Getting together with other scrapbookers and learning about the latest trends in the industry will definitely leave you energized and motivated.
  
  
• Create a scrapbook about yourself. If you're the person always behind the camera, this is a great one for you. Check out these resources for creating a "Book of Me."

Here's raising my cyber champagne glass to you...May 2006 be a productive and exciting year for you as a scrapper and beyond. Happy New Year!