ScrapHappy Informal LOAD Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog.  If you participating in the ScrapHappy Informal October LOAD, you should have come from christie.   If not, go lisa hausmann to start the official "unofficial LOAD blog hop".  I am fairly new to blogging, so I have just the basics here.  I wanted to participate in this informal LOAD blog hop because as a newbie to LOAD, last month (I participated in MotherLOAD at Big Picture Classes), I was grateful to the previous blog hop discussing how to prepare for LOAD.  First and foremost, just enjoy the process!  HAVE FUN!!!  It is not to be a stressful event; it is a time for you capture memories on paper! Feel free to look through my blog during the month of September at some of the layouts I made.  Most were made using the prompts, I love lists, so here is my list of "how to prepare" for LOAD.

1.  Get your basics together: glue/tape, cardstock (your favorite and basic colors), BLACK letters (they go with every layout for a quick title), little letters (quick way to create a title without overpowering your page), cutter blades, glue dots, glue lines.  Whatever your go-to scrap items are, have extras on hand.  (This is very important for me because I live in a rural area; so it is a 2 hour drive to a commercial store or on-line ordering for boutique items with wait time for shipping for my favorite tape.)

2.  Get Organized.  I thought I was, but I was not!  Consider organizing your papers, embellishments, etc. by color.  stacy julian has some fun videos regarding this type of organization. I have all my embellishments on magnetic and/or peg boards.  Embellishments are organized by type and then color. My ribbons are organized by color in jars on a shelf.  I finally organized my pattern paper by color. I also broke down and sorted "used" kits into color.  If I used the kit, I then put the embellishments with like embellishments and filed the pattern paper by color.  I also cleaned my space very well. I pulled everything out, cleaned (including the baseboards), purged untouched supplies and sorted by type and color.  The one exception is I do have pattern papers and embellishments also sorted by events/holidays.  I have hanging file folders; so I have an orange folder for Halloween, red folder for Christmas, blue for sports, etc.  I also created special themed folders for pictures I knew I would scrap.  For example, I have a travel folder with themed papers, some embellishments, etc.  There are all kinds of books, blogs, etc on how to organize. I am visual person, so I viewed Stacy Julian's color videos, Let's Scrap Scrabook Room Forum with tons of pictures of "scrap spaces", Paperclipping Roundtable's organization podcast, Getting it all together PRT 053 and Organization on the Move PRT 081, and don't forget to check out Lain Ehman's site.  Then, I just did what worked for me.  (NOTE:  I did this cleaning spree and reorganization the day before I started LOAD, so it is still possible.  I needed a clean space.  I will say I did have a plan prior to cleaning.)

3.  Print Pictures.  To me this is part of getting organized.  Organize those digital photos, upload to printing service and ORDER those pictures.  Get them ALL before you start!  I typically print photos at home, but I did not know what the prompts would suggest and I wanted to be ready for any type of challenge!  Organizing, uploading and printing pictures is my least favorite scrapping activity.  It did not take a lot of time cropping or editing the photos.  I just printed the pictures I wanted in 4x6 and a few favorites in 5x7.  I made a conscience decision to scrap 4x6 photos or crop them by hand to meet my daily prompt needs.  I did take the time to make sure all the printed photos (I had about 300) were sorted and labeled (event and date) on outside of packet.  This made choosing a photo for the daily challenge easy and creating a layout faster.

 (Below are my go-to scrapping needs. They be of help or not.)

4.  Sketches and/or Inspiration:  I love a sketch and/or challenge!  This is my #1 GO-TO item to start a layout! I made sure I had sketches printed for easy referral.  I also collected and printed all the unaccomplished layouts/challenges/lessons from previous scrapbooking classes.  This was helpful.  It kept me off the internet surfing for inspiration, which would have cost ME valuable time.

5.  Pre-Made Kits:  I LOVE KITS!  I have all sorts of kits.  Kits with matching papers and embellishments,  sometimes with and without a suggested layout example.  I also have beautiful kits with papers and embellishments with directions on how to create the layout EXACTLY like the picture!  Of course, the layouts never look exactly like the picture because I have to tweak it, but the point is, sometimes I need to be able to QUICKLY assemble a layout, put my pictures on it and call it a day.  Another approach is create your own kits, which I did too, pull papers, embellishments, journaling tags, ribbons, etc all together and put into a file folder/page protector ready to use!  Cuts down on the decision time!

6.  Photos To Scrap List:  As silly as it sounds, I have a list of events/theme to scrap. It truly helps me focus.  With 300 photos staring at me, I quickly become overwhelmed.  Plus it is always fun to scratch an event/theme off the list once I have scrapped it!  (Again, my go-to item.  You may find this very restricting and uncreative.)

I do believe I am the last on the blog hop list.  I hope the information helps.  Have fun and enjoy LOAD! See you on the boards!

P.S.  I was so excited before starting my first LOAD that the "Eve of the night before LOAD", I wrote a little poem.  If you want a little chuckle, go here  Twas the Night Before LOAD.
The layout above has the poem with pictures of my scraproom on it.  The layout was based on a prompt received during LOAD.

Here is the official list of Blog Hoppers:

Lisa:                        http://lisahausmann.blogspot.com

Katherine:            http://www.csmoferret.blogspot.com

Tambur:               http://myhearties.blogspot.com

Pam:                       http://dailypamage.blogspot.com

Katrina:                http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

Lynette

Christie

Lisa M.:            http://lisamzepponi.blogspot.com

Happy Scrapping
Lisa M. Zepponi