Album Sorting...

Following on from my previous post, my goal with this is to get all my albums sorted in chronological order. A HUGE task. Yes, that means getting every single layout I have EVER done out of the albums! Years and years worth. Gasp! LOL!

I started a few days ago. I grabbed about 8 full albums. And when I say full, I actually mean over full. Pulled all the layouts out of the albums and started to sort them by year. Then each yearly pile got sorted by date. To say that I had a sore back doing this would be an understatement...

When I started scrapbooking I nearly only scrapped in 12x12. Some of them double layouts. Come 2006-ish (?) I swapped to mainly scrapping in A4 size (relatively similar to US Letter size, slightly taller and narrower) and almost all single layouts.

I'm going for American Crafts 12x12 modern albums now to hold everything. Each year is looking to end up with about 2 albums, maybe 3 sometimes, at the moment. I'm really happy to have a mix of page protectors in my albums and I love the divided ones with lots of little pockets :)

I still have quite a few albums which has not been sorted yet. But I'm aware of that this is not something that I can get done overnight so that's okay...

And for anyone wondering... no I will NOT start scrapping chronologically. I think that would be very boring and take away a lot of the fun part for me. Thinking that I "need" to scrap *these* photos next because they are next in order. No. Not for me. I'll still scrap whatever I want, whenever I want, regardless of which year the photos are from, and I will just add the layout in whatever yearly album it belongs when I'm done. Happy thoughts :)

Under Construction...

Yes this is what is happening with my albums at the moment...

For years the layouts have just ended up in my album as and when I created them, regardless of the date of the photos featured. This is something that has bothered me for a long time. I remember a while back (a year? two?) ago when Ali Edwards started sorting her albums out, mixing page protector sizes, and getting them into chronological order. It made me THINK. A lot. This was something I wanted. Scrapping out of order, but having my pages in order in the albums. This thought has grown and grown... A huge and very overwhelming task. But it's been on my mind ever since and it's been something that I've been feeling more and more would be very important for me to do.

Fast forward to some weeks ago when Shimelle suddenly announced she was doing a class on album organisation. Something that I now felt very ready to do anyway. So I went for it, feeling that this might be that last little burst of energy that would make this overwhelming task possible to attack. As it turned out, the system that I had in my head is partly what Shimelle is suggesting anyway. I'm taking the class and using it as inspiration and a boost but sticking to the exact system that I have already known all along is what I want for me.

More on this another day. I'm off out to enjoy the best day of weather which we have had for weeks and weeks :)

Roadtrip...

Well I guess scrapping with a "roadtrip" digital scrapbooking kit kinda makes a "roadtrip" layout rather useful to do :) So a  roadtrip layout is what it became when I started to work with the "Hit The Road Elements" kit by Amber Clegg.

I started working on it and I dug out a photo from 2006. A bit of a change as I have mostly been working with more recent photos.

I have also noticed that I have used a lot of kraft or notebook paper as my backgrounds recently for my digital layouts so I made a note to challenge myself to go for something different. Of course green became an obvious choice then :)

[Supplies: Hit The Road The Elements - Amber Clegg, Find The Joy - Tickled Pink Studio, Springity Spring - Kate Hadfield, Kim Jensen Green Grass - Sara Gleason (all from The Lilypad)]

Rainbow...

Why is it that when you try and take a photo of anything weather wise it never turns out as great on photos as it looks in reality...?

If you take a photo of the most amazing rainbow you have ever seen, it never turns out as big, bright and colourful on a photo as it did in real life. If you take a photo of a fantastic sunset or sunrise it never turns out as amazing on the photo. Even if you take a photo of fog (and yes I have done that!), it looks far less foggy in the photo. I guess there must be some proper scientific explanation for this, right? I don't know why, I just know that it annoys me LOL!

[Supplies: Happily Ever After - Kate Hadfield, Spring Splatter - Jenna Desai, Splatterific 15 - Karah Fredricks, Happy Day Pappers - Sabrina Dupre, Fabric Scrap Stitched Flowers - Sahlin Studio, Happy Stripey The Alpha - Sara Gleason, Happy Thoughts - Valerie Wibbens, Happy Thoughts Papers - Valerie Wibbens (all from The Lilypad)]

This layout, or rather the photos, is a great example. When we saw this rainbow it was one of the strongest and most colourful ones I have ever seen. And the camera came straight out :) Yet the photos do it no justice at all. Admittedly it's better than most rainbow photos (probably because it was so bright) but still nothing like reality...

Oh how I wish I could capture a rainbow with it's TRUE colours and brightness...! :)

Yum, yum...

Yay my order is finally here and I'm soooo happy with it! Feels like it was ages ago since I last had some new stash - so this has put a big smile on my face :)

I got the new limited edition Spring distress inkpads by Tim Holtz. I also got the new limited edition ink refills for the limited edition Fall/Autumn set, the limited edition Winter set and the new limited edition Spring set. I've felt a bit "scared" to use my Fall & Winter inkpads as I did not want them to run out (considering that they are limited editions and also that there were no refills available before) so for Tim Holtz to release all these refills, when the Spring set was released, has made me very happy :)

Apart from the inks, I also got two water brushes (Tim Holtz/Ranger's 'Detailer Tip' and '1/2"Flat Tip'). These have been on my "wants list" since they were released a few months ago... And also some washi tape. Three rolls by Queen & Co (the green & white polka dot, and the pink + blue argyle ones) the final tape is a K & Company Smash tape which has lots of different patterns in short sections after each other - very fun! :)

Bank Holiday Weekend...

Wow it feels so nice to finally have a longer weekend. Feels like Easter was ages and ages ago. But this weekend we have three days again as Monday is a "bank holiday" in the UK. Love it *smile*

[Supplies: Garden Grown - Kate Hadfield, Everyone Has A Story Papers - Captivated Visions, Porch Swing - Gina Miller, Puddy Muddy Touch Of Magic - Kitty Designs, Who What Where Cards - Designs By Lili, Anywhere Alphabet - Rachel Young, A Wonderful Day Mixed Media - Sahlin Studio (all from The Lilypad)]

Above is a layout I did on Thursday to go with some of the BYOC (Build Your Own Collab) releases at the Lilypad on Friday.

I'm still waiting for my new Limited Edition Distress Inks from Tim Holtz...hoping they will arrive next week. I'm so excited about this!!

Right I'm off to IKEA. Love going there so much as it reminds me of Sweden (especially the food shop at the end) so it feels a little bit like "home" :)

Spring...

I'm really excited as my order with the new Limited Edition Tim Holtz ink pads and re-inkers has now shipped from the US. I have had orders placed on a Monday and received here in the UK on a Friday from them but that's exceptionally fast. More realistic is that I get them in a bit over a week or so I guess. So I'm hoping for late next week at the earliest perhaps...

[Supplies: Hazy Morning - Amy Wolff, Journal In Here - Amy Martin, Shaped Up 2 - Amy Martin, Lacy Bits - Gina Miller (all from The Lilypad)]

The layout below (below?! What am I thinking? LOL! Above I mean of course!) is done for the Lilypad CT. I couldn't help scrapping a very spring like daffodil photo with these papers that had some yellow in them :) Hoping for some summer weather asap though...!