Overwhelmed much?

Do you ever get overwhelmed scrapping big events like Halloween, Christmas, or weddings? I love having these pictures in our scrapbooks, but there are always so many photos to scrap that I put it off in favor of other shorter events with less photos so I have that sense of completion. Well you gotta get around to them sometime right?

Another problem I have is, since I print out my pages, I want to make sure I don't have toooooo many to print out. Printing more pages costs money and sheet protectors and books and space and etc.... I like using traditional scrapbook albums because I like having separate books for all the holidays and then I'm able to add to them each year. I love having them out as a "decoration" for that holiday.

Soooo, what I've found is to keep the overwhelming feelings at bay, I try to create the files for each page first, and drop in all my photos for that event. Once I've organized them and placed them in a layout (no resizing, no cropping, just placing),

I put the photo files in a new folder labeled "scrapped" within its own folder for that whole event. That way I know how many photos I have left.

I give myself flexibility to create more or less layouts but at least this gives me a plan. Then I have 4 to 10 layout files all ready for me to scrap at my leisure!

Templates and Looking for Rainbows QP

Well, we went camping this week, but it was a little different than normal. My husband recently got a new job so our vacation plans changed sort of suddenly, meaning he won't be taking vacation right now! So I ventured off into the wilderness with my 3 kids to meet up with my parents and siblings. They did help me out, but I was still the only one in charge of my kids. Boy did it make me feel grateful for my husband and how much he does when we go camping as a family! It was a little harder and more time consuming, but I did it! I know the kids had fun and I had some too!

Wow I am writing this on Friday, trying to be all ready ahead of time. In the middle of writing this my 3 year old son split open his head on a book case. We had to take a trip to Urgent Care, but luckily he just needed glue, no stitches. It's kind of funny with Harry Potter coming out today, because now my son has his own authentic scar on his forehead! (I can't wait to see Harry Potter!) What a day though. As soon as we got back from the hospital we had to get ready for my daughter's swim meet (last one!). But it's over now, so now I can watch Mary Poppins with the kiddos!

I have some new templates this week: Berry Fun Template Set 13, available at Scrapbook Elements and 25% off until Monday night around 10pm, Pacific Standard Time

Here are the inspiration layouts:

I also did a set of Quickpages for my Looking for Rainbows Kit:

There are two sets of the quickpages with wordart, here's what the extra pages look like:

And here are my actual pages:

Don't forget to also check out the Looking for Rainbows Clusters

I also used my Redlands temple from my California Temples Elements Pack

Thanks for looking!

New UBI Summer Serenade Templates

One more week of swim team for my daughter. I have to admit I am looking forward to it. It's been fun to see her grow as a swimmer and learn so much, but it's been 4-5 days a week of swim for almost 4 months now! Now we've been flexible with vacation and other events going on at the same time, but I am looking forward to a few lazy summer mornings. Speaking of summer, Scrapbook Elements has a new U Build It "Summer Serenade" where you build the kit that you like! These are all $1 and $2 products (for the duration of the UBI event) so check them out!

Here's my template pack contribution:

Thanks for looking!

2012 Calendar Templates

We had such a fun week going to the beach a couple of times, my daughter had a swim meet last night-which she did great at, and today we are going to a family swim party. That is not leaving me a lot of time for designing. I thought I'd have more time during the summer, but with 3 kids I'm so busy having fun with them! I also haven't been doing as well with working out this week (and eating lots of junk!). I did run this week and I went on a 10 mile bike ride but that was it. Usually I do pilates and weights and some other cadio. I don't beat myself up too much if I miss a day here and there. My goal is to work out 4-5 days a week and if I just get in 4 I'm happy, but only 2 days is pretty poor. Well, I will try better next week. I did get some weeding done this morning in our sad looking backyard, so that was a little bit of arm workout, right? Anyway....

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I saw in the DST forum that someone was already looking for 2012 Calendar Templates, so I went ahead and updated mine for 2012! If you want to get a head start on your calendars for next year, these are a perfect way to get them done easily! These calendars make a great Christmas gift, so personal and beautiful! These will be 25% off for two days at Scrapbook-Elements.

Thanks for looking!

Berry Fun Template Set 12

Well the first week of summer wasn't exactly what my kids expected. It's been so cool! They've been expecting swimming, splash parks, slip-n-slides, lots of wet. But we've had to replace those with trips to the park, park, and park (all different parks though). It's been nice and relaxing, but not too boring. Just enough activity to keep them busy, but not bug me every two minutes about what we are doing next!

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Okay here's a new set of templates for you! Berry Fun Template Set 12 will be on sale for two days at 25% off at Scrapbook-Elements.

Here are the inspiration layouts:

For the first two I used Birthday Bash by Trixie Scraps and Never Grow Up Addon by Britt-ish Designs

For this one I used Sing a Rainbow Quickpage by Misty Cato and my own Makin' It Rock Kit

This last one is just Makin' It Rock!

Thanks for looking!

30% Off Sale!

Every Friday this month we are having a 30% Off Sale to kick off the summer! So go check out my store!

It's been awhile since I talked about my scrapbooking goals. Probably because I've fallen a bit behind! I didn't do too well in April and May, but I DID scrap so kudos to me for doing a little. I heard on the radio the other day that goals aren't meant to be met perfectly but to move us along farther than if we didn't set them! And I think I was motivated to scrap a little because of my goal to scrap 6 events per month. Well since I fell behind, I've bumped up my goal to 7 events per month. And I can do it! I'm trying to scrap more simply so that I get more done faster. I like a simple look anyways, because I want the focus to be on my photos. I'm off to a good start this month, so I'll check in again next month and see how I did!

Here's a page I just did using my Looking for Rainbows Kit (with a few colors changed!). What a special day this was!

Sale, Templates, and Freebie!

Ahh, last day of school for my kids! I love not having any homework, sleeping in (but not too late), being able to workout as soon as I get up and not having to worry about getting kids ready or making lunches, going to the beach, going swimming, and enjoying California summers!

Scrapbook-Elements is having FunShine Fridays June Event. Every Friday in June

(June 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th) we will have 30% off most items in the store.

Here's my new template set: Berry Fun Template Set 11, which was also available in the Scrapbook-Elements April Newsletter.

Here are the inspiration layouts. I used Seashells, Sunshine and Waves by Jen Yurko

With Father's Day coming up, I wanted to remind you of the freebie I made last year, using my Speedster Kit.

Download HERE