organising my albums

I've been working on my Project Life a lot lately and haven't been doing much ordinary scrapbooking.

Today I decided to do something that I've been meaning to do for quite some time - start to put all my layouts into three-ring binders.

Until now I've been using the "snap load" albums, which are expandable but you have to take them apart every time you want to put in a page. That starts to get painful after a while, unless you work out all the layouts you're going to do for that album put in exactly the right number of page protectors and then stick exactly to the plan, or things start to get messy.

This, for the uninitiated, is a snap load binding. It's a lot easier to use than a post screw binding.

Basically you just lift up those little tabs, pull the cover off the album, take out as many pages as you need to put the new page protector into the right place, and put it all back together again. One of these albums can hold a lot of pages. My largest is about 2.5 inches thick (and I just noticed tonight, the expandable spine has come loose from the rest of the album. I wonder how long it will stay together for.)

The only thing that was holding me back was the fact that I really like the look of double layouts in these albums, as opposed to the ring binder albums, because they have that uninterrupted look.

Exhibit A - snap load album

Exhibit B - ring binder album

See what I mean?

Of course I could keep all the double layouts in the snap load albums and put the singles into the ring binder, but that would upset my chronological sequence, and we can't have that!

So today I started to attack this shelf.

I transferred all of my 2009 layouts into two of these albums from Pioneer Photo Albums.

(Photo from a retail site that I now can't find again  . . .)

So this reduced the number of albums for 2009 from three to two, with a lot of room for more layouts.

The reason I started at 2009 is that it's the final year I used these albums. From 2010 I've been putting my layouts into my Project Life album so that the whole year is in one place.

I'm not sure what I'll use the 12 or so empty albums for. Probably some smaller projects where I do several layouts on one theme, like a holiday, or else random pages that don't really fit anywhere else.

I expect this will take a while, as I'll probably need about eight of these albums. And they might also become my Project Life binders for future years. If I haven't got them all by the end of the year, they might end up on my Xmas wish list.

And that was about the extent of any productive activity I did today. How was your Saturday?

100 things to do in 2013

I've been sort-of trying to get my mind and my life back into some sort of order now that I'm back at work. I thought I was making progress in getting things back on track after the disruption of moving house last year, but then along came the festive season, ad my will-power went on holidays too.

One of the things I've been working on over the last few days is a list of 100 things to do in 2013. I'm struggling to get to 100 and, of those that I have, I'm worried that a few of them sound awfully like New Year Resolutions, which I resolve not to make.

Whatever, I'm working through the process and have come up with a list of (almost) 100 things to do this year, including habits to get into (or get back into in some cases). The habits will be things I'll work on during the year - they aren't things I expect to start all at once in January and stick to all year. Rather, I hope that by the end of the year I'll have made progress in them.

So, to keep myself honest, here are the ones I'm prepared to talk about. Maybe even blog about.

1. Improve my eating habits to make at least 90% of my diet free of processed food.
2. Reach my target weight (lose about the same again as I lost in 2012).
3. 15,000 steps per day.
4. Complete my 2012 Project Life album.
5. Keep up to date with 2013 Project Life.
6. Eliminate gluten.
7. Do the One Little Word workshop.
8. Plan a new herb garden.
9. Start a small vege garden (along the lines of the book One Magic Square).
10. Keep the house organised (establish routines).
11. Finish the DVD from our 2011 holiday for Juniordwarf.
12. Make DVDs for Juniordwarf for events from 2012.
13. [Private]
14. Scrapbook more.
15. Get back into routines I'd started last year.
16. Regular weekly "me time".
17. Weekly meal plan.
18. Go to bed before 11 pm.
19. Blog at least three times a week.
20. Learn to make yogurt.
21. Use beautiful stationery.
22. Reduce alcohol intake.
23. Get back into yoga.
24. Sew something. Anything. Just use the damn sewing machine!
25. Keep my One Line A Day journal.
26. Buy decent walking shoes.
27. Go to a National Park I've never been to.
28. Go camping at least twice.
29. Internet-free time.
30. Ride my bike.
31. Get my bike in a rideable condition.
32. Read []
33. Read []
34. [Private].
35. Read []
36. [] project.
37. Make bread. Maybe gluten free.
38. Start DVDs for Juniordwarf's 1, 2 and 3 years.
39. Eat more vegetables.
40. Give Mrs Smyth her mix tape CD of 2011 songs.
41. Donate blood.
42. Use some of my scrapbooking stash.
43. Drink more water.
44. Revisit my Happiness Project commitments.
45. Perspective!
46. New habit: if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now.
47. New habit: put stuff away where it belongs straight away.
48. Make a list of jobs that I can do in 5/10 minutes for when I have a short gap in my day.
49. Laugh more.
50. [Private].
51. Do parent help in Juniordwarf's class.
52. Drink more herbal tea.
53. Get a notice board for the kitchen.
54. Get a notice board for the study.
55. Decorate the study.
56. Order the new blind for the dining room.
57. Take a photo that I want to display in the house.
58. Set up a worm farm with Juniordwarf.
59. Watch the Wizard of Oz with Juniordwarf.
60. Make decent dinners on Sunday nights for leftovers for weekday lunches.
61. Declutter regularly.
62. Go to MONA.
63. Do NaNoWriMo.
64. Be more organised at work.
65. [Private]
66. Make vanilla essence.
67. Make tomato sauce.
68. Enter a photo in at least one show.
69. Submit a layout to Creating Keepsakes.
70. [Private]
71. Appreciate the small things.
72. Notice things.
73. [Private]
74. Visit every antique shop in our town at least once.
75. [Private]
76. Change my hair colour.
77. Decide what to do with the old chest of drawers.
78. Find a magazine rack side table.
79. Go on a yoga retreat.
80. Turn my handwriting into a font.
81. Write the children's story that has been in my head for years.
82. Learn some basic Italian.
83. Use hand cream more often.
84. Cull some more books.
85. Avoid footy tipping.
86. Finish The Mysterious Island.
87. Participate in a semi-regular blog linkup.
88. [Private]
89. Do a cyber crop.
90. Write to my Aunt.
91. Stand up for myself.
92. Investigate ways of making my work environment more conducive to the work I'm doing.
93. Don't buy stuff I don't need.
94. Reduce/reuse/recycle.
95. Use most lunch breaks for walking, not shopping.
96. Keep better track of my spending & the household budget.
97. Take down the not-an-Xmas tree.
98. Stop using the couch as storage.
99. Fix the things that have to be fixed, or throw them out.
100. Don't stress if I don't do everything on the list.
101. Reward myself when I do something on the list.

That's a pretty full list - as I was writing this post, the final few things came into my mind, so the list is now complete. Yay! There should be ample blogging material there for me to achieve #19 at least.

If you have a similar list for 2013 on your blog I'd love to read it - just leave me a link in the comments section :)

Now I'm off to get all my stuff off the couch.

organising project life

In my last post I said that I was several months behind in my Project Life album for 2012. I tried to keep up, but once I got a little bit behind it became easier and easier not to do anything, and the photos built up and up.

If I was less of a perfectionist, I'd probably say something like, "stuff it, I'm just going to grab a few of the most memorable photos from each month and make a couple of spreads for each month and be done with it in a day or two".

Alas, I am not that person. I feel like my album is half full with the style I went with at the start of the year (note I never got around to posting Part 2 of that post . . .) so it would look weird to suddenly do a truncated version for the rest of the year.

So I've made a start at sorting, organising and editing the rest of my photos from July to December.

It's become a four-stage process.

I met a fellow Aussie Project Lifer, @Kelmscott_Girl, on Twitter a few days ago, and her post on catching up had some great ideas about keeping your photos under control.  I also recently discovered that I can create folders in iPhoto (on my Mac), which has made the sorting process a lot easier. (Yeah, I know, I've been using Macs most of my life and I didn't know about folders . . . )

So, on to what I've been doing.

Stage 1 is simply sorting out which photos I might want to use. I create a smart album in iPhoto for all the photos I took in the month. Then I made a copy of that album as a normal album, so I can delete the photos as I transfer them into their subject album (this is probably not necessary, but you can't delete photos out of a smart album and I like to be able to see which photos I've allocated and which ones I haven't used).

I create standard albums for each month:

• Little photos (for the Design F summary page - like the card below)
• Random photos (with one or two photos per event)
• Photos of the boy doing random stuff (same)

Then I create individual albums for events or things that will have one or two pages devoted to them.

I make a folder for the month and put all these albums in it to keep the side bar tidy and so I don't get lost.

Stage 2 is to decide which photos I will actually use, and which page protector design will work with them. Here is where I'll work out the structure of the month, because the design I choose for one set of photos will, to some degree, determine which photos I can use on the next page. For example, I can't follow a right hand Design A page (the 6x4 landscapes) with a page of portrait-oriented photos on the left on the next spread.

I write this all down with basic page designs so I know where to put the photos when I get them printed. Then I export the photos into equivalent folders into my Project Life folder ready to edit.

Stage 3 is editing in Photoshop Elements. This could be simply tweaking the levels or cropping and resizing, or it could be creating photo montages, or making hybrid journal cards like this one (from the Little Photos album).

A word about the hybrid journal cards. They seemed like a great idea when I started doing them, but they take more time than I thought they would. I'm not totally sure whether it's any easier than cutting out the photo and hand writing the card. But I kind of committed to the style this year, so I want to stick with it to the end. It also means I have A LOT of my Project Life kit left because I've done so much work with the digital kit.

The final stage is to print the photos and put them into the physical album, filling in any journalling cards that I haven't already done on the computer. This is where I tend to procrastinate, as I'm not good at journalling. I use a date stamper for the dates, as this came with the original Project Life kit in 2010, but I've decided to stop using it after this year. It's easier to hand write the dates.

After all that, as of today, I've got July ready for printing, I've sorted and organised August and September and I've culled October, November and half of December.

My approach isn't as simple as I'd like it to be, so I'm hoping to streamline it in 2013. Also I don't intend to get six months behind again, so I won't need to be doing six months at once!

Sultanas Layout - a sketch challenge

I haven't been doing much scrapbooking lately. It seems every time I go into my craft space I spend more time organising my stuff than actually doing anything.

Apparently this means I have too much stuff. Who'd have thought?!

Every second Friday is scrapbooking night at our local scrapbooking shop, and this is where I pull out a half-finished layout from my "work in progress" album, try a few things out, shuffle a few things around on the page, realise the thing I need to add is at home, sigh, and put the page back into the album . . . where it stays for the next six months. Then I pull out the next unfinished project and repeat the process. 

It's a process very much like the one where I shuffle stuff around in my craft space. 

Last fortnight one of my scrapping buddies published a layout on her blog for the A2Z Scraplets May challenge. I had a look at the sketch and realised I had the perfect photos for it, if only I could find them.

When I finally located them (which was very easy to do because my craft space is so well organised . . .), I was amused to find that they were already in the "in progress" album along with the same sketch.  I'd seen it a couple of years ago, and had decided to use those photos for that layout. I hadn't picked out any paper or card, so they were just sitting there, neglected.

During the week I selected some card, papers and other bits and pieces, and last night I finished the layout. It's very rare that I get a project completed the same night I start it, so this is cause for celebration :)

A note on the products: part of the challenge was to use chipboard, so the letters are Basic Grey micro-chip (milk chocolate). Card is Bazzill (lemonade and one of the Swiss dot range) and Coredinations (cappucino). The paper is from a pirate range, left over from Juniordwarf's birthday card. The dies are by mpress via my Cuttlebug and the pen is a Zig Writer (chocolate). Eyelet and ribbon from my stash (aka the stockpile of "too much stuff").

P365 - Day 353 - posting

Remember how I said that normally we have most of our Xmas wrapping, posting and cards done by now and that, for some reason, Xmas has crept up on us this year and found us somewhat disorganised?

I wonder where we'd be without Express Post?

All of the interstate family and friends' gifts are now posted.

What a relief.

P365 - Day 349 - silly season

According to Juniordwarf’s count-down tree calendar there are 10 days till Xmas.

Normally by this time of the year we've finished all our shopping, sent our Xmas cards, and mailed our gifts to our interstate relatives.

As of today we haven’t written in any Xmas cards or even wrapped any presents, much less posted them.

I’m not sure why, because this is one area where I like to be on top of things and get everything out of the way early.

This year, Xmas has kind of snuck up on me and I’m not ready for it. Maybe because I’ve been so busy at work up until now, I haven’t had time to think about it.

It feels even less like Xmas this year than it has done at the same time other years, even though Juniordwarf is the most excited he’s ever been. My lack of interest doesn’t seem to be having any effect on him, which is good. I’d hate to be putting a dampener on his experience. I want to make a bit of an effort to be enthusiastic now, so I can enjoy this time with him.

However, before I put on my enthusiastic face, tonight will be a frenzy of wrapping, writing on cards and packing up boxes.

If you look closely in amongst the cards, you might see some very cool cards by my friend Samedog, who designs some wonderful Xmas cards, and some equally wonderful tshirts. Go and buy some!

P365 - Day 303 - spice jars

I've been gradually buying new jars to store the random packets of spices and spice mixes that are lying round in what might loosely be described as our spice cupboard.

I've also been replacing some of the old jars (jam jars, tomato paste jars, coffee jars) with the new ones for no reason other than that I quite like the idea of all the jars being the same (or at least similar).

And finally, I took great delight tonight in emptying several jars that contained completely unidentifiable spices or spice mixes into the bin. I have no idea what these were, and have a feeling I've had them for more than five years. I figured if I've had no need for them in that time, I'm not going to now. Plus they're going to be well past their best-by date.

Into the bin!

The re-jarring project will continue for a bit longer, but after that the next step will be to create some steps or something in the cupboard so I can actually see what I have and find what I need without having to pick up every jar. I'm thinking labels on the jar lids as well as the jars themselves might help here.

So that was my well-spent Sunday night. How was yours?

P365 - Day 297 - stationery stash

Waiting for me at the Post Office this morning was my latest stationery order from the lovely people at NoteMaker.

My diaries for 2012 and a mini Delfonics pen. I am totally in love with these pens. I want more!

I have a vague plan for keeping myself more organised, and these particular two diaries fit the bill for what I think I need to do.

Fortunately they both start in October 2011, so I have time to get used to them and work out exactly how I want to use them before next year. And really, if I already know what I want to do, why wait two more months before putting the sort-of plan into action if I have the tools all ready to use now?

Just get on with it!

While I'm on the subject of stationery, several weeks after breaking my ruler at work by running my chair over it, I decided it was time to get another one. I thought rulers would be in plentiful supply in the stationery cupboard, but how wrong I was.

The only one I could find was this one.

I have no idea how it got there, since we are not a Commonwealth Government department, but it looks like it's been around for quite a while. An antique in the world of government office supplies.

I think it goes pretty well with this handy little device.

P365 - Day 278 - sticky notes

Last week I mentioned that my counsellor suggested for me to make a to-do list, but to only put three things on the list.

The idea behind that was to put three things that I wanted or needed to do that day, and that without overwhelming myself with a huge to-do list, I might actually get some things done, rather than finding it all too much and not doing anything.

She suggested using sticky notes – presumably so I couldn’t keep adding and adding to the list and making it so big that I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere.

So for the past two weeks that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.

I’m pleased to say that most days I’ve done – or started – everything on the list for that day.

I’ve been sticking the notes up on the side of my bookcase just as a reminder of all the things I’ve actually achieved over the past two weeks.

It really has made a difference.

P365 - Day 268 - let’s talk about housework

I loathe and detest housework with every bone in my body really don’t much like housework.

I’m not very good at keeping things tidy.

The concept of ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’, while being the cornerstone of every decluttering/home organisation book I’ve never read, is about as foreign to me as the concept of, well, exercise.

I’ve heard of it, and I’m told that it can make your life a lot easier and healthier. I’ve even attempted to do it once or twice, without much success.

Our house is a bit of a mess. All I can say in my defence is that none of us have asthma or horrible allergies and the largest number of mice in the house at any one time has been one. So a bit of dust hasn’t endangered anyone’s health.

I’d like a clean house, but I also have other things to do. Like work, getting to work, cooking, spending time with my family, watching Very Important things on TV, doing (ahem) research online, sleeping, keeping my bench top clean . . .

And I’m not very good at packing things away. If I’m in the middle of a project, the stuff all tends to lie around until I get my next burst of inspiration, which might be three months later.

I think my son might have inherited my inability to tidy up after myself too. I set a shocking example!

I am also a reluctant disposer of things I don’t need. I won’t say hoarder, because that brings up images of that dreadful show on TV about people who really do hoard to the extreme. Trust me, I am not that bad! We can get into every room in our house, we do eat on the dining table, and there isn’t a single cupboard where we’re too scared to open the door in case everything falls out.

My dilemma is that I have other things that I have to do ahead of housework – and I especially include spending time with Juniordwarf in that list – I don’t want to miss out on experiences with him because I’m too busy dusting or scrubbing the laundry floor. So, say those who know, the housework can wait.

But, on the other hand, the messy house makes me feel stressed and tense, and on days when I feel like I’m about to hit rock bottom, having to step over stuff just to get in the front door doesn’t make me feel any better.

And when the whole house is like that, well, the effect is compounded.

My problem is, and has always been, that I am an all or nothing person. And the result of that is nothing.

So instead of saying ‘the house is a mess! It’s upsetting me! There’s so much to do! It’s too much!’ and not doing anything, I need to forget about the big picture for a while.

One of the things the counsellor suggested on Friday was to make a to-do list, but to only put three things on the list. Three things that I could do, or make progress towards doing that day. It might – and indeed should – be as simple as ‘hang out the washing’ or ‘go to bed early’. That way by the end of the week I’ll have 21 things that I’ve achieved or made progress towards.

So with that in mind, my three things yesterday were to tidy the lounge room, tidy the kitchen and get a couple of things for Juniordwarf’s room to store some of his more scatterable items in.

Those three things actually took most of the day, but I took a stop-start approach, so I could make sure I had enough time with Slabs and Juniordwarf, and cook dinner – which I actually enjoyed doing for the first time in a long time  . . . probably because the kitchen was tidier than it had been for a long time!

Today one of my three things was to vacuum the lounge room. I’ll spare myself from the embarrassment of admitting when the last time I vacuumed was and just say that it’s been a while. I was going to do it yesterday, but I didn’t get to it.

The good thing about that was, I didn’t care too much.

This is a huge step for me. A while ago I might have gotten cranky with myself for not having finished the whole job yesterday, and told myself how slack I was for not having done anything.

But yesterday evening I could look at my list and see the three things ticked off. Correction self-critic:   I have done three things today, thank you very much. And I knew I could just put the vacuuming on my list today; it would be the first thing I’d do this morning (after having coffee) and after I’d done it I could go outside with Juniordwarf.

Which I did.

Keeping the lounge room tidy is going to take some work for all of us. There will be days we won’t pack up, but the challenge is going to be to not let that one day drag into two and three and a week.

But I'm not going to worry about that tonight. I'm just going to relax in my tidy lounge room.

P365 - Day 146 let me diarise that

Most of the things I’ve read about time management and organising say that having a diary is essential to getting your life under control.

I have one.

I wrote in it once, on 6 January.

The books also say that you have to actually use the diary. That means writing things in it, then looking at it during the day.

You are also probably supposed to do the things you write down to remind yourself to do.

Hmmmm.