SYW097 – Six Resolutions for Scrapbookers

Jennifer Wilson 0:00

Find a way to incorporate it into the tools that you already use. Rather than choosing a new tool that then you have to train yourself to use.

Jennifer Wilson 0:10

Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I'm your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is Episode 97.

Jennifer Wilson 0:28

In this episode I'm sharing a six resolutions you might consider for your memory keeping in 2021.

Jennifer Wilson 0:35

Hey, friends, it's been a while since I recorded one of these solo episodes for you. But I've got some great notes here. And I think this is going to be fun. It really wanted to just pause for a second and take some time to think about some new ways of thinking about your scrapbooking for the new year. You've probably already committed to some year long projects or approaches. You've maybe even purchased some supplies. You have kind of an idea of how you'll be scrapbooking in the new year and what you want to get done. And so I want to add these as an additional layer of support, additional layer of mindfulness, and a way to help you have even more success in the new year.

Jennifer Wilson 1:25

So scrapbooking resolution number one, I would strongly suggest that you have a general plan or goal for incoming product. So an example here is I subscribe to the Cocoa Daisy traveler's notebook kit. It's one of several different subscriptions that I have. And so it took me a little while to figure out exactly how I wanted to use it. I knew that I could use the supplies to make layouts. But I don't really have a habit of using traveler's notebooks or creating them on the regular. And that's not part of my everyday scrapbooking plan. So I decided after talking to Kristin in a recent episode that I'm going to be using those for doing daily pages. So every morning, one of the very first things that I'll do is I'll grab that traveler's notebook. And I'm going to make one or two pages just as a creative warm up for the day, just to get the thoughts brewing. And really just to feel more alive and connected. I will be using some of the supplies from the kit for that. And I'll also be using some of those supplies for additional layouts. But I really pause to think about "Okay, these are the supplies that I have coming in. And do I have a clear plan for how I want to generally use those?" It doesn't mean I know exactly what anything's gonna look like. But this is kind of the direction that I'm heading with those products. Another example is I recently made a scrapbook.com purchase. And there was a collection of supplies that I really, really loved. And though I could have purchased them just because I love them, I decided to kind of encourage myself to have a clear vision. So now I have a specific series of layouts that I'm creating with those particular supplies. So I just find this thinking really, really helpful too. It's not even really about justifying your purchases, it's really just about knowing where you're headed and having stuff that excites you along the way. Because we know a scrapbooker is having that combination of product that's fun, interesting and new, and the story and project directions that we want to take when those line up. That's when things get done.

Jennifer Wilson 3:49

All right, scrapbooking resolution number two for you. I want to encourage you to let go of projects that are causing you guilt. This could be a project you've not yet started, this could be a project that you've not yet finished or whatever is kind of weighing on you, you really need to think about, "Okay, why isn't this done?" or "Why haven't I taken action on this?" and "Do I even still want to finish it? Do I still have that motivation behind it? Can I tie a bow on it and call it done? Or do I need to find some sort of course correction to help me get it done in a simpler, easier, faster way?" Now, what that looks like is gonna be so unique to the situation. But if you're keeping, if you keep trying to press forward, and you're not seeing results, you might need to change your approach. And I I want scrapbookers to really feel excited and engaged and just ready to get going all the time. And if you're starting to avoid your hobby because of past projects or obligations that are causing you guilt, it's time to sit down and reassess.

Jennifer Wilson 5:06

Okay, number three is a juicy one, scrapbooking resolution, that I want you to tackle is to tell more of your real stories. Many of us started scrapbooking to document birthdays and Christmases and weddings and babies and all the big milestones in life. And we recognize the deep value in telling the everyday moments in between and capturing our feelings. This past year in particular, had a lot of ups and downs of emotion. And I think that it was even highlight how important it is, for our hobby to be that place of gratitude, a place for processing your thoughts and your feelings. And so I want to encourage you to tell more of your bigger, deeper stories. Sometimes those are hard stories. Sometimes they're just weird, funny stories, but they are been beyond the surface, they go deeper. And they really help you document your life. And how it really, really is there's so much value to that both for your own journey as a creative and as a scrapbooker. But in terms of capturing that legacy for the future, and making sure the full picture of what life was like and who you were as a person is documented. So we like to call these Bucket List Stories and almost every single episode, you hear my guest share one of their Bucket List Stories. So there's always a new source of ideas. You can also head over to the show notes for this episode to grab our Bucket List storytelling worksheet as well.

Jennifer Wilson 6:49

Okay, scrapbooking resolution number four. And this is one that I have done for years, and I'm really kind of leaning even harder into now. And that's to rely on your community for accountability. 2020 showed us how important technology is for keeping us connected. I heard from so many scrapbookers who'd never been to an online crop before that they were so glad to be able to do that. And here at Simple Scrapper we've been doing that for years. And so whether it's our community or another community, I want you to stay connected to like-minded crafters and those who you look up to and really just make friends that are supportive of your creative journey and will challenge you and nudge you forward so that you can accomplish the things that you set out to do.

Jennifer Wilson 7:41

Okay, scrapbooking resolution number five is I would love to see you build a creative hub if you don't have one already. So what this is, is a tool it is could be in physical form and some sort of planner or notebook or binder, or a digital tool in Trello or Asana, Evernote, a Google Doc, a spreadsheet, some sort of place that holds your most important scrapbooking plans. So it could be the projects that you want to finish the pages you want to make the classes you want to finish things you want to participate in. It's just really that centralized location to store your stuff and track your progress over time. Now it is so not important that this is a tidy perfect thing. So really don't overthink it, what I most want to see you do is to put it in a place that you reference often. So if you're a diehard paper person and listening to a podcast is about as digital as you go, then put it in the back of your planner that you use every day and that note section in the back, find a way to incorporate it into the tools that you already use. Rather than choosing a new tool that then you have to train yourself to use. So I'll be honest here and say that's one of the reasons that we don't produce a printed book anymore in terms of a printed planner or workbook. And that's because it was something else for you to use. I want you I I know that you will have the best success taking these taking a framework for gathering these ideas or just even this concept of building a creative hub and applying that to the planner or planning tools that you love and rely on most that's what's going to give you the most success and and with the least frustration.

Jennifer Wilson 9:45

Okay, resolution number six and this just might be the most important and it's why we're focusing on habits throughout the entire year as Simple Scrapper is I want you to focus on habits of taking action. Rather than specific projects, yes, I would like you to have an idea of the types of things that you'd like to work on and the projects you'd like to complete. But it's so much more important to think about the actions you're taking on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, how you're showing up and how you're staying accountable, then what it is you're going to do, it's training yourself to show up to take some sort of action that will help you find that progress and just keep building momentum that gets you back to the table, and allows your creativity to stay vibrant throughout the year. We're going to be reading Atomic Habits for our book club in January. And we're also using Atomic Habits and this idea of habits in general, as a thread for our book club throughout the year. And through so much of what we're doing. We want to build habits into our lives, so that our hobby is consistently fulfilling, and a joyful part of our lives. So if you love to talk more about habits with us, I'd love to invite you to our free Your Way Workshop on January 6, we do these every single month, but January is going to be the big kickoff for the year, we're going to talk all about creative habits that get to meet 12 to 15 new scrapbookers and share your experience of the habits and then we'll all come back together in a large group and share our experiences. And all the lessons learned it's what I love about these workshops so much is that we all go away with something new, a new insight, a new approach, and a new way of thinking because that's the best way to learn is from others who have been there who've tried things and sometimes even failed. We learned so much from our past experiences, you know, raise your hand if you've made a January goal before and you've not kept it by the end of the year. We've all been there. But we've all learned something along the way. We've learned new strategies. We've learned new tools and we all can learn from each other and so I hope that you will spend more time with us at Simple Scrapper in the new year to learn and grow and have an awesome here.

Jennifer Wilson 12:14

Thanks so much for listening. And as always, I hope you remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way.