SYW135 – An Experiment in Finishing Projects

Kim Edsen 0:01

And I think for me, I tend to think like, Okay, this is my grandiose plan, and I'm going to embark on this and this will be this way forever. And it's much more realistic to kind of look at it as an experiment of, Okay, I'm gonna try this, reevaluate, tweak it, make changes, what worked, what didn't, because really, I think that's going to serve you much better in the long run.

Jennifer Wilson 0:25

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 135. In this episode, I'm joined by Kim Edsen to reflect on the past month and explore what's new for October. This is our monthly peek behind the scenes at Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer Wilson 0:53

Hey, Kim, what's up?

Kim Edsen 0:54

Like so much good stuff, my kids are back in school and I don't think we really understood how much we were in need of return to schedules and routine. And, you know, maybe we don't always like that early morning wake up call. But I think everyone's just been in a bit of a jollier mood, it's good to get up each day and you know, have a plan. So it's been good.

Jennifer Wilson 1:21

Oh, for sure. I definitely feel more of that sense of normalcy, more of a groove or the the constant attempt at finding a groove and readjusting to the groove, you know, just the way we always do. But it feels it feels solid. It feels good.

Kim Edsen 1:38

And I think, so my girls started high school this fall and going in...

Jennifer Wilson 1:43

I can't believe that, it's so amazing.

Kim Edsen 1:44

Well, it was kind of overwhelming, because I gotta tell you, and maybe it's just because last year was such a weird year that I forgot. But I was kind of feeling very overwhelmed when we last talked in August, because it was all these emails and camps and orientations and whatnot. And you know, they're on their way. And it's going really well. They're both in marching band. And that is a commitment man, like,

Jennifer Wilson 2:08

Oh, yeah, oh yeah.

Kim Edsen 2:08

Early morning practices, we've got weekends, we've got the Friday night games, but they're really enjoying it. And so that is fun to see them, you know, kind of taking on a new experience and thriving in that. So it's been good.

Jennifer Wilson 2:22

Now I'm curious, like, are they both kind of equally having a good time, because you've talked before about how their personalities are quite different.

Kim Edsen 2:29

I think, well, one is more reserved. So she's probably less apt to like, gush, looks it and then Caroline is like, Oh my gosh, this is like my band family. And, like it's so great. And I do think one of the nice things that I guess from my perspective, obviously I'm not like in the weeds with it. But it seems like there's really good leadership of their band where they have upperclassmen that kind of adopt underclassmen to kind of reassure them and show them the ropes and help them if they have questions or confusions. And Caroline really responds well to that. Not that Grace doesn't. I think she appreciates it. And the other thing is when they, those upperclassmen will give them feedback you know like Grace said like I was doing this wrong and Olivia corrected me but you know she did it nicely. Like there's I think those upperclassmen know that a few years ago they were in the same shoes and so that's been really nice. I think the, Grace like I said generally very reserved, and she is out there like doing these routines that I thought would be so far out of her comfort zone. There is some makeup and hair involved that I don't think any of us realized going in for color guard there will be false eyelashes so those things again very far out of our comfort zone but she's doing it. Like you know so I think it's all good and she's you know she's doing it. Maybe slightly begrudgingly but like if she wanted to dig her heels in like she could. And she's not, she's...

Jennifer Wilson 3:57

She would yeah.

Kim Edsen 3:58

Yeah so it's nice. It's like I said, it's been good to see that for them. So how is Emily adjusting?

Jennifer Wilson 4:05

So it's been kind of a wild ride since we last talked because before the show we mentioned that it's been like almost five weeks since we last recorded. We did the last episode a little bit early, just because we knew that that back to school season was gonna be super busy. And after two days of school Emily came back COVID positive and so it was quite a surprise because she had no symptoms and no known exposures and we only found out because we were testing proactively. But that of course triggered you know, 10 days of isolation and quarantine for her classmates and you know, a little bit of a blip at the beginning of our school year.

Kim Edsen 4:45

Yeah for sure.

Jennifer Wilson 4:48

But you know, I guess in some ways, there is, A, the of course the, the great blessing that she was fine and had no symptoms and also that it's this is kind of now out of the way. At least for you know, three, three or four months or so I can feel like she's, we can buy some time until she can get vaccinated. So I'm my I have a tiny bit of worry off my list for now.

Kim Edsen 5:12

How did she do with the quarantine thing? I think that would be tedious.

Jennifer Wilson 5:17

She loved it, more than she should have. Like she was you know, she basically confined to her room or her bathroom and had to wear a mask anytime she left those vicinities. And we fed her many meals a day, like three meals a day and two snacks a day on a tray. And she had her iPad. And there were like zero complaints. And there was no like begging like to come out. Like we actually had to say like, you know, the her time had been up for a couple hours like Emily, you can come out now. And she's like, Okay, I will a little later. So she's very much like homebody, loves her downtime. And so, and there was she did have like a tiny bit of remote schooling. Nothing like we had before when it was true remote, but they did try to, like connect every day with the students for an hour or two. Like catch them up on assignments. And so she did a little bit of school, but she just got a little bit of a 10 day vacation there.

Kim Edsen 6:17

Well, I guess mixed blessing, right, like good that she did well, as I could see how...

Jennifer Wilson 6:23

Well and also that Steve and I didn't get it. Because we had been obviously in very, she's our daughter, we're very close proximity to her. And, you know, we tested many times and you know, fortunately our vaccines worked so...

Kim Edsen 6:36

Good.

Jennifer Wilson 6:38

Anyway, that kind of put a blip in my I'm ready to do all the home projects. Like I had all this momentum, and I was literally going to buy paint the day that she came back positive. And yeah, I'm like, I'm still like, I'm still super into it. But my momentum has been...

Kim Edsen 6:58

Waned.

Jennifer Wilson 6:59

Like stuttered a bit.

Kim Edsen 7:00

Yeah. Okay, so I have a question on the paint buying. Because I think this question had come up in the membership somebody was asking you about it. So it sounded like your plan is to go out and like buy all the paint for all the rooms all at one time? Is this correct?

Jennifer Wilson 7:18

No, I'm actually not, I'm just gonna buy the first couple of cans of paint one at a time. Like, I think I'm going to buy actually two colors at once, because I have a couple projects and I want to work on. And actually the, the paint that I want, the white base has been out of stock forever. So I actually am kind of at a standstill until that comes back in stock for many of the rooms. But I want to start with the ones that actually use the deep base. And so I do have a place to get started. But no, I'm not going to go by all the paint at once.

Kim Edsen 7:51

Ok good.

Jennifer Wilson 7:51

I do have it all my cart.

Kim Edsen 7:53

Totally overwhelmed. Like, yeah, that would be a hard project to start.

Jennifer Wilson 7:59

No, I just wanted to feel secure in my color palette. And obviously if I pick one color, that doesn't mean I can't change my mind on the others. But I just wanted to kind of feel like I have the whole vision. So that I could then, like make the first choice.

Kim Edsen 8:17

No, that's fine. Well, they all play together. So...

Jennifer Wilson 8:21

They do. But I've had a lot of like, not only just verbal reassurance from others that like this, this is looking good. You know, some like feedback. So on some of my initial color scheme, like Oh, do I tweak this, I tweaked this because some people are much more experienced at this than I am. And then I started noticing the colors that I ended up selecting are apparently kind of on trend right now. And I wasn't trying to do that. But I'm seeing those colors like elsewhere in the world now. And so that feels I don't know reassuring that I'm not, I don't know, that I don't have like a weird eye, I guess.

Jennifer Wilson 8:27

Well, no. Plus it makes it nice if you're going to the point where you want to add accent. Things like decor items, you know, you can find like a pillow and a lamp and a flower pot. Like those things are going to be out there available in colors that play well with what you have.

Jennifer Wilson 9:18

Yeah, I think, I think that's true. So yeah, we are a little going a little bit slower than I thought. But I still I'm actually it's on my list for today to order those first two cans of paint and pick them up tomorrow and paint this office closet this weekend. So...

Kim Edsen 9:35

Ooh, well keep us posted.

Jennifer Wilson 9:36

Because we've, yeah, we've talked a lot about how Emily was doing school in my office closet last year, and there was some like pros and cons to that. She liked having her own space, but it turned out she didn't really enjoy sitting in a closet. It felt a little claustrophobic, which I tried to tell her in the beginning. But now it's time to put that back into a closet and then start the cascade of okay now all that stuff that went elsewhere needs to go back in the closet. And then all of a sudden there's a lot of space elsewhere so that it just seems like that's the most natural first step in terms of getting things where they need to go. And it's a small project, so I love baby steps.

Kim Edsen 10:17

I don't know I think closets are hard to paint though, because there's so many like weird angles and cutting in and so sometimes I would rather just paint like a giant wall than a closet. Not to like...

Jennifer Wilson 10:29

It basically is like, an entire cutting in project and then using a small roller on like three walls.

Kim Edsen 10:37

Yes, but you also get a big impact quickly.

Jennifer Wilson 10:42

I hope so. Yes. So I'm, I'm a little intimidated because it's been, I would say 2004 is the last time that I painted walls. So it's kind of, other than I guess, I guess that's not true. Now I'm doubting myself. Okay, we painted Emily's room, and then my old office in our old house. So sometime between like 2011, 2012 we painted a couple of rooms. But really the last time I really went, like painted a whole house was was 2004, 2005. So I just feel like out of out of practice.

Kim Edsen 11:18

Well then maybe a closet it's a good place to start too, because, you know, it's kind of tucked away.

Jennifer Wilson 11:23

If I make mistakes you can't see it. Yeah. Totally. All right, let's get in to some scrapbooking. So what's exciting you right now?

Kim Edsen 11:32

So I think I talked when we recorded last time about putting together a photo book about a trip to Utah that my family took this summer and I was doing that kind of in batching. I'm doing much more of a photo book more minimalist style with a focus on the photos and a little bit of embellishing and words. So not like layers and tons of embellishment and so I've been kind of batching that bit by bit and last weekend I kind of pulled up my office for a few hours and kind of I was doing page here, page there. And then I was able to kind of pull together the full vision and figure out like what pages are going where and what order and so this is a single page, I need this single page. And so anyways, that is basically all assembled. I've started embellishing and the titling and now I just need to go in and add words. I have, I' kinda feeling oddly resistant to that and usually that's a part that I really enjoy. But I think it's I have so many thoughts in my head like as I was putting together the layouts and placing photos that like oh I want to make sure to tell this part and this story and this story. So I think I just need to start and kind of brain dump on each of those pages and then I can go back in and clean things up. So super happy with the progress that I'm making on that right now.

Jennifer Wilson 12:51

Well and I've always been the person that kind of writes and edits at the same time and I've had to force myself not to do that especially as I get older and my memory is a little bit shorter. Sometimes like literally, sometimes it all is I need to put a word down on the page to say like this is the direction I'm going or a phrase or a copy and paste from something else that sparked a memory. And knowing that I'm going to come back and edit later but I need to leave myself breadcrumbs. And that not only like it helps me remember it and tell the story but it helps me feel like I've gotten started and so you don't have the same kind of intimidation about you know starting from scratch.

Kim Edsen 13:30

Well and I think I've shared this quote is attributed to Nora Roberts the author and it was the idea of I can fix bad writing but I can't fix a blank page. So it's, you have to have something to work with. And more so what I was doing like hybrid I was still typing things but I think it was more tactile. And maybe that's something I should try with this too, is I would have just like a scratch, piece of scratch paper and it would be like you said like I would literally write down like okay what are what's the direction I'm going here? Like what's the story I'm trying to tell? Like what are a few words that I want to I guess include in this? Like the feeling, the thoughts, the facts, whatever, and like you said it just gives you a jumping off point. So, yeah, I'm excited about it. It's, it's been fun. I always love to do travel books are some of my favorite because it's like you get to relive the experience all over again and it was nice.

Jennifer Wilson 14:25

Well and just getting a bound book in the mail is super exciting.

Kim Edsen 14:30

It is. Yes, it is a day to celebrate. So...

Jennifer Wilson 14:34

Yes, for sure.

Kim Edsen 14:35

What is on your scrappy plate?

Jennifer Wilson 14:36

I'm feeling...

Kim Edsen 14:37

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 14:37

Yeah, I'm feeling similarly excited. You know, I know that summer's always a slow time for me. And it's like, you know, June I kind of do okay, and then in July I'm starting to like Oh, that tends, because that tends to be when we do some traveling. And then August is crazy. And then in September, it's like oh yeah, I'm a scrapbooker, like I should make some pages because I enjoy it and it's fun and I have all these supplies. So I definitely feel that, you know, September is a new January feeling when it comes to my scrapbooking, our Refresh Retreat definitely helped that. Just like playing along with everyone. And I'm specifically excited about trying my own version of an October daily. So a couple of weeks ago, we had Veronica Milan on the podcast talking about October daily and a number of people have started creating these albums, and many of them are taking it to the same degree as December Daily. So a full on album. And that's not what I want to do. What I want to do is take a little collection, I'll tell you in a second what I bought, of some fall themed supplies, and every day, make one three by four or four by six card. Like someday it might be like just decorated someday it might have some words, someday it might have a photo. And just every day I'm gonna like just, you know, do that tiny thing as part of my Good Crafty Morning. So it's more of like a 31 day like, Good Crafty Morning challenge for me, and this is what I'm gonna do during that time. Rather than making like, I'm gonna do all the things and make this giant beautiful, you know, fall and Halloween themed album because I don't have the, I don't have anything for that right now.

Kim Edsen 14:54

Oh, no. Okay, so I was really fascinated by that. So because I am also a super big fan of October. I enjoy Halloween, though, I thought it was interesting that her album was a little more Halloween focused. I think I would have be all like, all in on the fall. Because I'm all over like the foliage and the cool leaves and the pumpkins and the apples. And I know there's some of that element in some of the Halloween things but so I'm excited that you went like the fall route. Are you going to be numbering these little masterpieces?

Jennifer Wilson 16:58

There are numbers. So what I did is, Feed Your Craft just came out with their their latest collection and I think it's called October Moments. And so I bought that and they also had, it comes with a an autumn stamp and all this stuff designed by Geralyn Sy of In a Creative Bubble for Feed Your Craft. So it's all like very typography, clean. And then so there's a fall stamp and then a Halloween stamp that I added on. And then I also added on some tags just to make sure I was gonna have enough things for 31 pockets. You know, plus photos. So what was the question you asked?

Kim Edsen 17:38

Numbers, you're good.

Jennifer Wilson 17:39

Numbers, yes! The kit includes some numbers. So I think I am gonna number, I'm gonna like experiment in the beginning, like kind of laying some stuff over and see like how I like how it's looking. But I probably will just for the the continuity of it. And you know, I just want to have like a fun little creative experiment. And then see how that's because I'm, you know, I'm not a traditional like, rah rah holidays person of any holiday. But I'm like I'm trying. Like I see how much Emily loves it. And I see like this, that the excitement within the creative community is kind of infectious. And while I do love my pumpkin spice latte, I'm trying to kind of just get in the mood of it by using my creativity to do that.

Kim Edsen 18:28

Okay, so what, does this kit come with an album, or what size and format to use in pocket pages?

Jennifer Wilson 18:35

Yeah, so it comes with some three by four cards, four by six cards, some die cuts, the little number sticker she and this stamp set. I think that's it. And so it doesn't come with an album, I'm going to put it in pocket pages. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to do 12 by 12, or six by eight, probably six by eight. And I'm just going to just put it in my six by eight album, I'm not going to like do anything separate for it because I'm only going to have 31 pockets total. It's not it's not going to be very thick. So it'll just be you know, just a little insert in one of my albums.

Kim Edsen 19:12

Cool. I think that sounds super fun.

Jennifer Wilson 19:16

Yeah, I just like I I really liked the kit, but I always feel like when I buy something new, I have to have a plan for it. Like even if it's you know, a plan that I might implement later. I wanted to have a clear plan to justify where what I'm going to do with this. So it doesn't sit there until next year, when I realized oh, I bought that last year and now it's the season again and I haven't used it yet. So I wanted to make sure that I was going to tackle it right away.

Kim Edsen 19:42

No and I, you talked about kind of being excited related to the holidays. I think for me, it is more of the changing seasons. And Halloween is part of it. But part of that was also like I just loved being like you're out and like the crisp, cool evening. Hopefully it wasn't snowing, kind of a thing, like walking through the town. You know so I think for me it was more the sensory of like you we live in like a farming area so it's right like they're like the entire landscape changes in the matter of like weeks. Because like they're taking out fields and then there's hay bales and the leaves are changing and like it smells different and...

Jennifer Wilson 20:22

Oh yeah and that's just last night we were coming back we were like went out to the lake because it was 90 degrees yesterday and the farmers are taking out the corn and I'm like this is like weird contrast.

Kim Edsen 20:33

And I kind of feel the same way about May. And I think that's because around here too that is like a giant shift between kind of like spring waking up and then by the end of May like everything is just in full blossom and you're kind of entering that summer season. So I think that is part of the reason why kind of those these shoulder months kind of thing appeal to me so much. So...

Jennifer Wilson 20:56

Oh yeah, for sure. I mean I love fall festivals. Let's be honest here I like fall festivals because I like to eat the fun foods.

Kim Edsen 21:04

Oh, apple cider doughnuts.

Jennifer Wilson 21:07

Yeah, so good. But this I have some of my best memories from even like my younger years of just like it's just crisp enough to like maybe put on a sweater. And yeah, and you're walking around and it just that that feeling is what I hope to capture. Because I don't know if we're gonna, I know some of the festivals here are still like still canceled for this year. There are some that are happening and so I don't know how much we're going to do because of our own personal crowd tolerance right now so I want to kind of bring some of those moments into my life.

Kim Edsen 21:44

And I will say this kind of goes back to what you're talking about with like the beginning about here comes September again. That is something you've talked about for years the idea of like in past years your goal in the summer was just to like maintain your photo library because you knew that that was just a hard time to scrapbook for you. So...

Jennifer Wilson 22:03

Yes.

Kim Edsen 22:03

You I mean, with your Good Crafty Mornings it sounds like you've kind of stayed more kinda on the train this year than maybe in the past. But have you also kind of found that still, you're still taking focus on the photo library so that it's in good shape now that you're kind of getting into more your creative season? Is that helping you still or like can you talk about that?

Jennifer Wilson 22:29

Yeah, so Okay, there's I have some yeses and some nos. So yes, I feel like I have having the habit of trying to touch my hobby sometime in the morning. And you know, I don't know if I've, there's been some weeks where I did do it every single day. But I'm certainly not consistent where I do do it every single day but I say four or five days a week I do. And that as soon as I started doing it, I was, I've been pretty consistent with it. But I don't always do the same thing. Like sometimes it's you know, opening up the Lightroom app on my phone, deleting some photos, sometimes it's like journaling or putting some stickers in my planner. Like it's like there's always thresholds of like what, how much effort I can put in this moment. And so whatever is that minimum that I can do, that's what I choose in terms of my photo library. Like it definitely still suffered over the summer and I am like there's like this break of like I was caught up on all of my projects through like May. And then like June between my photo library, my Project Life, my One Little Word, it's like things kind of are now behind and I'm okay with that. Because I anticipated it, but now it's time to catch up. And I know that it's because between like travel and work things I didn't go to as many Wednesday crops and that's when I worked on my photo library. So if I think I'd been able to make that you know, a completely non negotiable priority that I'm going to show up like, you know, like I'm getting surgery, my photo library would have been in better shape. But like I kept saying, Oh, I'm too busy. I can't I can't go to this because I need to finish this thing. And it's kind of a BS excuse. So...

Kim Edsen 24:18

No, Wednesday's are an early out. Well now that my kids are in school that can be kind of hard because it's an early out day so like when people are cropping like I'm literally going up to pick up a child and the other child still in volleyball. So they still practice so then I you know, a couple hours later I have to go and pick up the other child so it's a lot of so maybe it's just not like the best day for you. I know. But people keep adding all these awesome crop times. So maybe just a different time of day and date maybe that'll be a better fit.

Jennifer Wilson 24:45

I have been experimenting with like putting some other dates on my calendars and seeing which ones I'm most able to show up for. So yeah, no, I definitely think that and I but I know that I need that structured accountability to do, especially with the less the less fun stuff, because it's not, like yes, I like my photos. But it's not all fun to delete all the junk photos, which is mostly what I'm doing.

Kim Edsen 25:12

Okay. And then not just like, talk about this topic to death. But how is the Good Crafty Morning transition going, now that Emily is back in school and you're back at the university?

Jennifer Wilson 25:25

Yes, so I am going in two days a week, about eight to one. And then I, you know, take my own lunch at home, and then Emily comes home at two. And then I usually kind of get her settled and make sure she's actually doing her homework and not being distracted. And then I come back upstairs and finish up some work before dinnertime. But the two days a week seems like enough change of scenery to like, connect to humans again. And I have a standing desk there, so it's a little bit of a few steps also. And just it's just nice to have two monitors again. I've had, I had one monitor and a laptop, which has been fine. But having like the full setup is very like, can be very cozy and helpful for doing some of the work that I do there. So that transition has been mostly like fun also, like putting on a real outfit, like real pants and real shoes to go somewhere. You know, makes you feel, gives you a little bit more confidence and some pep in your step. So I've liked that part. And then the Good Crafty Morning definitely like as soon as my family went away, and basically because of Emily having COVID, September 1 was our new back to school date, because that's when she went back. I definitely have thought more of that. Okay, I have time for this. And often she leaves at 7:30 and if I'm going to go to the office at 8, I make sure that I'm ready so that I can come to my office between 7:30 and 8 and like grab my planner, do my Good Crafty Morning, take a photo of it, and share it. And you know make sure there's nothing else I need here and then I head to the office on those days.

Kim Edsen 27:10

Smart.

Jennifer Wilson 27:10

So it's been good. Yeah, no, I feel, I don't know, I feel more settled now. And I'm excited to use all these supplies that I've been collecting.

Kim Edsen 27:22

Yes. Well, we're excited to watch you use them. Cause that's always fun to follow.

Jennifer Wilson 27:27

Thank you. All right, let's talk about Bucket List here. What's a story that you really want to tell Kim?

Kim Edsen 27:34

Okay, so last month I talked about, my one daughter and I have a photo I want to use and I have the supplies I want to use, I just need to like make the layout. So this month I'm going to talk about my other daughter Caroline. And so I took this picture in 2015 and it's one of those where I just love it and I've never used it because it's not even like a great like technically great photo but it just, there's like a meaning to it. So my, I want to talk about her connection to animals. So she is like a super empathetic person and just really bonds very strongly to our pets and like other animals and just has a really caring heart. And this photo that I want to use, like I said was taken six years ago, so she would have been eight and one of our cats would always sleep with me and it was a morning and she, so I was up probably drinking coffee and she went to go visit the cat that was still asleep on my bed and is the evening there's like the lamps on and like the curtains are still drawn but there's enough kind of like warm kind of glow from like the morning light. And she has her head like she's going to kneeling at the side of the bed. And she has her head like bent down to like kind of snuggle the cat and the cat's kind of like looking at her adoringly and she's in her little like polka dotted night gown you know it's just like such a sweet moment I feel like it really encompasses her and her relationships to like our pets and animals kind of in general. So I would like to get that on a layout finally. Because you know sometimes I think we have these photos that we that really kind of have a connection that we feel with it. And and I don't know, that you don't like screw it up or you know you have to do it justice or what the thing is with it. But...

Jennifer Wilson 29:28

Sure.

Kim Edsen 29:29

You know those the photos I want to use. I want to scrapbook those photos, so that's my plan.

Jennifer Wilson 29:36

Well one thing I sometimes do though, is if I am feeling intimidated to scrapbook it because it is so beautiful. Those the photos that I print and put it in a frame.

Kim Edsen 29:49

I don't even think it's like a beautiful photo, I think it's...

Jennifer Wilson 29:52

Okay.

Kim Edsen 29:52

The magic of memory

Jennifer Wilson 29:53

Story filled photo.

Kim Edsen 29:53

Right, yeah. So like the Ali Edwards, Lisa Varshine had done this magic of moments photo course like in August. And I didn't keep up with it and so I'm still visiting it and so the lesson I just finished was kind of the value of bad quote unquote bad photos and how bad photos can tell stories too. So it's not even that it's like a beautiful photo in itself but it just has a lot of story and meaning to me. So I mean like not that I couldn't like you know frame it but I don't really think it's a frame candidate especially because like her polka dot night gown's lime green. Like it's like weird colors so maybe...

Jennifer Wilson 30:01

Ok, I get it.

Kim Edsen 30:33

Yeah, maybe it's like a black and white. I don't know. But I do feel like it is very indicative of her. And just kind of that moment in time because you can see like my nightstand in the background, I've got like a Cook's Illustrated cookbook and like my Contigo water bottle and so even beyond...

Jennifer Wilson 30:51

Wait, we have to pause here and I have to appreciate Kim that you're the type of person that has cookbooks on her nightstand, because you're my people.

Kim Edsen 30:58

Yes. Anyway, it's Cooks Illustrated. It's not even like pretty pictures. It's just like text.

Jennifer Wilson 31:04

Yeah.

Kim Edsen 31:05

Yes, because it's like my giant, you know, every recipe we've ever had on every episode. It's kind of sacrilegious but I call it the Bible of cookbooks because it's enormous and it has like everything in it. But yes, it's not like a pretty glossy photos. It's literally like why this recipe works and how to make it. So yeah, so it's kind of even beyond that moment with her. It has those little kind of like easter eggs in the background that are indicative of that for sure time.

Jennifer Wilson 31:42

I love it. I just love you know, I thought it was like not that it's not a beautiful photo, but I thought it might be a frame worthy one because of the emotion you put into describing it. But I think that's such a great indicator of this is a meaningful story when you can portray something and the beauty in it regardless of whether the photo is technically perfect or not.

Kim Edsen 32:06

Yeah, so I'm excited.

Jennifer Wilson 32:09

That's awesome. So mine is a little bit different and I don't know what kind of photo I will use and I need to maybe mine some of my parents photos to see if there's anything. I don't want to necessarily use stock photos but let me tell you what it is. I want to do something about scents of my past. I'm talking specifically about like perfume and cologne and things like that. And I'm not a big scent wearer today. I have a couple that I like if I you know want to feel extra pretty I'll use them. But growing, I can think of like so many different times in my life when I wore a specific scent. So like Middle School was all about Navy because that was like the new thing and that's what all the girls wore and I, every time I still smell that like it takes me back to that time. And then in high school it was this one called New West and it had kind of like oceanic notes it was a little bit, like a little bit much. Like it was a little over the top, but I've been trying to like, I will Google and of course there's lots of websites on how like what fragrances are similar and what has similar notes. And I found a couple that are similar to that and every time I wear them it like takes me back to high school and feeling so grown up to have my own bottle of this you know in my bathroom when I was in high school. And like being like you know 15,c16 years old and then like transitioning to like college and my more of my let's say like hippie dippie days. Like I use the Kiss My Face scent called Peaceful Patchouli for like years. Years and years. I use the body wash, I used the shave cream, like I used everything Peaceful Patchouli and like they discontinted the set but I still love it. And so every time I see like a patchouli something at a store, and Target has one right now, like I buy that body wash and it kind of takes me back to that college days. And then I have one more which is actually I still have this bottle and I bought it in 2007 and it's still like it's, it's a little bit off, but it still has kind of the same scent and it's Ralph Lauren Blue. And this particular scent just totally reminds me of my like, courtship with Steve and the beginning of our relationship and the decision, I mean moving here. And so I just kind of want to like tell the story of my life through these scents. So and it's you know, obviously nobody can smell it unless I could figure out how to do like a scratch and sniff page.

Kim Edsen 34:47

Which would be awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 34:50

It would. I have to figure out how to like protect the individual scents like a little, like flaps or something. I don't know.

Kim Edsen 34:57

Or like litlle pockets. Like could you spritz it on like a thing, and then you can have like little like clear pockets, you could pull it out and smell it.

Jennifer Wilson 35:05

You know, it's worth trying to see how long it would last. Yeah, that'd be really fun.

Kim Edsen 35:09

Okay, so a couple of thoughts.

Jennifer Wilson 35:10

So I want to do something with that.

Kim Edsen 35:12

Is one

Jennifer Wilson 35:13

Yeah.

Kim Edsen 35:13

That I really appreciate the power of scent, I feel like it kind of gets, everyone's all about like touch and what you envision and all those things, but like the power of smell, and how it can transport you to like a time and a place, and is really incredible. So I think that is super fun.

Jennifer Wilson 35:34

Oh, for sure.

Kim Edsen 35:34

And then I also wonder about, maybe it's a photoless page. Maybe you just use patterns and colors that represent each of those different scents, like maybe whatever, like the box color was or whatever, like they were representative of a scents and not photos.

Jennifer Wilson 35:52

I think maybe more, as you say, as you talked about this, maybe just choosing photos of me during those different times in my life might also work well. Just to show like even though the words are about the scent, and I can make, like the icons, the motifs on the page, more related to that. But to just use photos of me over time, too. So but I'm certainly open to doing a photoless page, if that's what that was. If that's what works out best.

Kim Edsen 36:22

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 36:23

But I don't remember what, what struck this for me, I think it was, I don't know, somebody mentioned something that I looked up. Because Aramis did try to make a new version of the men's New West , and it has like mixed reviews whether or not actually smells like it. But everyone's like, please make the women's again so that we can get it. So it's I don't know, I think that must have, I must have seen that somewhere like a Facebook ad or something.

Kim Edsen 36:51

Sparked, sparked the memories.

Jennifer Wilson 36:54

Yeah, for sure. Okay, let's talk about what's going on at Simple Scrapper. So, when we are recording this, it is mid September, and this episode is going to go out at the end of the month. But if we think back through this whole month of September, we started our Projects Journey. You know, what, what do you think's been, what do you observe from our community?

Kim Edsen 37:17

So we also kind of kicked off with Refresh in there, and I think that was huge. Well, I know, it was, for me, especially. We had kind of this theme of reset kind of the whole, right September's the new January. And that is what a lot of the members had just said they just went to be able to like focus on what projects they have going on. And I think that that really helped bring clarity, I noted for myself, but just from what I've seen within the community with others. And I think with that clarity, it's allowing, again, myself, but also others just to make take action and make progress on the projects that they want to work on. One member, Peggy, I'm gonna call you out, she had a really interesting kind of revelation, aside from always focusing on like the end result of what she wanted to work on. So you know, like, I want to learn from this album and this project and tell these layouts, she is now focusing on time spent. So she kind of looked at, you know, I attend this crop each week, and I can do this as part of my routine, and it's gonna end up to like, you know, x many hours per week and multiply that out. And so like now that is her goal. Because as much as we would like to think we could control what our results are, right, some pages are gonna come together more easily, some will not come together, or you're gonna run into problems with right, like your paint base is not available, I don't know. But what she can control is the amount of time, to some extent, that she is putting towards her projects. And so I think that was a really cool revelation to see. And I'm excited to see how that unfolds for her.

Jennifer Wilson 39:01

I 100% agree, because I think part of the conversation has been some things end up taking so much longer than you think they will. And that goes through pretty much everything in our lives, right. And so you can say this is your goal for this week. But then it takes you twice as long, and then you feel bad that you didn't, you didn't reach that goal. But if your goal was I'm going to invest three hours of time or one hour of time or even 30 minutes of time this week, and you reach that goal, then whatever you get done is whatever you get done. And that's something that you can, it's makes it so much more celebratable without having the possibility of disappointment.

Kim Edsen 39:37

Again, it goes back to the James Clear concept of focus on your system, not your goals, because if you've got your system down...

Jennifer Wilson 39:43

Yes.

Kim Edsen 39:43

The goals will take care of themselves.

Jennifer Wilson 39:45

100%. I also think just because we know how just the showing up to that time, not only propagates productivity but propagates your own kind of engagement and momentum. That that like, that time is such a recipe for just actually doing more than the time if you're going to say like I'm going to invest this one hour you're gonna be so excited you'll find the other hour somewhere else to keep going because you're so engaged in the project.

Kim Edsen 40:16

Yes. I also was super fascinated by one of our weekly Wednesday questions was about how people go about shopping or gathering supplies for a project. And I was surprised at how many people started with album. And maybe it's because I for the most part have kind of established it was like my decide once, like I'm doing eight and a half by 11 or if it's a smaller album I do a six by eight. Like I don't kind of open it up really and not that I want like purposely close it off, it's just like I'm happy with these choices and I don't feel the need to explore other ones. But for a lot of people that's where they start. It's like okay, like what size do I want to make this? What album am I using? Do I own one of these albums? And they start there, which honestly for me, I that's kind of the end. Like I've got, I guess at some point if I'm ordering product maybe order an album but that is not by any means where I start. Like I usually start with pattern paper and like the colors and then I go from there. So we're all aiming for the same end point here are like completed layouts and completed projects and albums. But how we go about reaching that end point is very different. And I thought that was interesting to read those conversations.

Jennifer Wilson 41:33

Well, I was one of those people that starts definitely with an album and then I go to pattern paper and so I definitely felt in alignment with many of those responses. But what's interesting is that I noticed the people who, there were many many answers that were I always shop my stash first. That was like the heart of their answer. Whereas I go to scrapbook.com or somewhere else to see like what new stuff I can can buy for this new project. And so maybe we're attracted to the responses that are different than ours.

Kim Edsen 42:05

Well no because I saw I noticed the stash thing too and I don't tend to do that because I do tend to keep a very lean stash. And now I mean now things like the game has changed with digital because I can essentially keep those 'til the end of time. But especially with paper, part of the reason why I think I always enjoyed the travel, like projects per se, like a travel album, December album like whatever however I would define a project. Is because I would buy products for that project and then I wasn't really buying other projects for like my day to day scrapbooking like I would have to be very intentional about like okay, I think this collection would work for you know this season of photos or you know, this is what I'm scrapbooking. And I would almost have to turn like my everyday kind of day to day layout into their own project. And we've talked about this many times before you've, I don't know if you've copyrighted this term, the whole Projectify concept. That where you can make anything a project and that's what I would have to do. I would almost have to turn like one off layout into like a more encompassing project because otherwise I wouldn't have supplies. Because I would just buy specifically for these projects. And I guess I know that I tend to be more of a minimalist embellisher and stuff, like I wouldn't tend to overbuy. I'm more of an under buyer for sure. So I think that was also interesting that so many people would start with their stash Where's for me that would be really challenging.

Jennifer Wilson 43:44

Yeah, I think it definitely depends on how much, how long you've been scrapbooking, how much you've saved, how much was that you still like. I know that over the years particularly, oh gosh, like around 2013, 2014, 15 time I was buying a lot of like, I call them more micro kits. Because they weren't as large as like what say like the original like Studio Calico scrapbook kits were. They weren't, they didn't have all these papers, but like one six by six pad, like two types of embellishments, some letter stickers like enough to really get into like five or six layouts. And then I'd make those in a batch because I'm using all the same supplies it just kind of like divvy them out and that really worked well for me and then you know whatever's left over kind of goes into my stash. But I found that with a really small number of new supplies I could make a lot of pages and feel really excited about it because it was all fun new stuff.

Kim Edsen 44:43

Well and I think your buying habits will greatly inform this whole process too because like I never belonged to like a kit club. So I didn't ever like I would buy like one off kits but I didn't ever have like that ongoing influx of supplies. So I mean, if you were a person that had done that for a period of time, I mean, some of those kits were enormous. So yeah, you're gonna have supplies and coordinated supplies at that. So you're not just buying like one off things. So you could get things that could come together for a project. And also, I think it depends on if you tend to be very thematic, or like in your scrapbooking and also in like your product selection. Because if you're wanting to just do like an everyday type layout, and all you have, or like, you know, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, whatever, like themed products is sometimes like, you could just go off the colors and use basic shapes and whatnot. But depending on how you buy, the types of products you buy, and that will also greatly impact kind of how you would approach putting together your supplies for any given project. If that makes sense.

Jennifer Wilson 45:53

Oh, yeah, for sure. Like, you know, I do have one, like, I have one card collection kit that's fall themed, but for the most part, I have no fall or Halloween stuff. Like it's just because it's not something that I really like, been like drawn to in the past. I certainly would have things that could work. I could pull some stuff together that I could make this work. But I don't have like a box somewhere that says like, all the fall things.

Kim Edsen 46:21

So then you needed to go purchase it. Yeah, yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 46:24

Yeah, yeah.

Kim Edsen 46:25

It makes sense.

Jennifer Wilson 46:27

But I think as maybe your your, your tastes and interests change, you may need to then shift your stash to better accommodate that. Because you realize my stash, I don't have this kind of stuff. So then we have to buy new things. So yeah, I mean, this, like, these are the conversations we have every single day in the community. And that's, that's just makes me so happy. And I love that we are, we, sometimes we talk about really tiny, specific things. And it's really fun.

Kim Edsen 46:58

Okay, and then also to some element. It kind of depends on what you're in the mood for, I think. Because if you can, if you want to, and your scrapbooking style, right. So for me, I like to get like a collection kit with coordinating papers and embellishments and go to town. And this is what I'm working with. And if I need to bring something in extra for my stash, you know, that's fine. But it gives me a starting point. Whereas I could see definitely a different field to kind of make it this adventure of like going through supplies and finding the things that are going to coordinate and work together. And so I think from project to project and where you are in life at any given point in time, will also kind of guide your process there too. Because it's like, well, I really want to make this October daily album. But life is crazy right now. And I just need you know, I want this creative experience. So I'm going to take like the easier route and get the coordinated supplies or Hey, my stash is kind of driving me crazy. I mean, I like kind of accepted this or make this my own little challenge to you know, only use things from my stash. So I think that's like a whole 'nother element to it too.

Jennifer Wilson 48:08

Oh, for sure. Well and I'm gonna, I think there's, I have a blog post from long ago where I took all supplies from my stash to put together a Week in the Life kit. Because I realized I have so much stuff that has like numbers days of the week, you know, more every day type themes that I don't need to buy anything new for this. And it was one of my favorite kits that I put together of all time, all from my stash. So I will link that if if it still exists, I think it does. Because you know, if there are things that you tend to buy, then you probably have some things that you could pull to start the new project. So yeah. So on this, on this thing, on this note of projects, I have loved seeing just all the successes that members have been having, not just in finishing projects though, of just so many new members coming in. Who are just wanting to recommit to their hobby whether they you know, took a break from the summer or took a break because of the pandemic or whatever was happening in their season of life. They now feel this pull and this desire to get back to scrapbooking and I've just loved seeing that energy. I just recorded an episode that's gonna come out like towards the end of the year with one of our newest members. And she already feels like you know she's been a member for so long because she dove right in, started attending events and is almost done with this whole album project that we did in June called the Before Your Story album telling her childhood story. So it's just yeah, I love seeing members have success, make progress and not only feel happy with their hobby but just feel connected to each other because you know, I don't know about you, I don't have a lot of like local scrapbooking friends. My friends are all on the Internet.

Kim Edsen 50:00

Yeah. Well, and you know, again, the whole James Clear, because that book is amazing. And reasoning it kind of is our study group this year, but he talks about if you want to make a new habit surround yourself with, right a group where that is where they're what they're already doing is like your desirable behavior, right? So if you are a member of like, our Simple Scrapper community, and we're all excited and creating like that will just help propel you forward, right? It's like you found your tribe, you always say these are my people. I think that's very much the case.

Jennifer Wilson 50:35

Yeah, we've had great conversations about like habit trackers, and I know all like all the stuff that we're kind of talking about now because we're all thinking about, okay, what is next year gonna look like. And even now with you know, if this is the new year, we get a four month fresh start, I like to think of is kind of a trial run of like, what things can you put in place now that you can then even take to the next level, when the clock turns on 2022. So I like having this like little four month container, it always feels really special and exciting.

Kim Edsen 51:08

Well and I think it was Amy Z, she was talking about how she's just like, as far as like, finding what is a good time for her depending again, on like, what specific project she's working on, if it's photos, if it's whatever, like school albums for kids are, like, what is like the time, the day and the time of day, that is working. And she's she's just experimenting, she's like, that's her plan, she's gonna try different times and just kind of see how it goes. Like, and I think for me, I tend to think like, Okay, this is my grandiose plan, and I'm going to embark on this, and this will be this way forever. And it's much more realistic to kind of look at it as an experiment of, Okay, I'm going to try this, reevaluate, tweak it, make changes, what worked, what didn't, because really, I think that's going to serve you much better in the long run. So I think, again, it's very interesting to see people's journey kind of as well, journey, because it's the journey, but right as they kind of make these small tweaks. Because I mean, really, like switching from focusing on like your end goal versus like how much time you're spending. It's kind of a big thing, but really, I mean, it's not earth shattering, right, it's to your day to day life, like, not really gonna have a huge impact, but the results can be so big. So I think that's really fun to watch.

Jennifer Wilson 52:29

And really, I hit on the idea of experimentation, just having an open mind that we're constantly gonna be trying new things. And if they're working, well we can you know, keep doing that and figure out how to make them work even better. And if they're not working well, we can think about why that is, do you need to change something else? Or is it the thing you're trying to do maybe isn't a good fit for some reason. So I think just resting in kind of knowing that things will always change, they always say like, the only constant is change, right? But to know that that's a healthy part of the creative process.

Kim Edsen 53:05

So wise.

Jennifer Wilson 53:08

So one more thing on this note, because I had a member who specifically asked me to touch on this on the episode. Is one of the experiments that I'm doing right now is I'm I've had this little post it note in front of me, that has one scrapbook focus per week, through the end of the year. And just so you know, it's kind of like it's projected, definitely projectifying, because, you know, right now it's finishing the compilation December Daily. I really want to get this done by Sunday. I don't, it's really not that much left, I just need to focus and do it. And then next week, it's a specific Story Kit that I want to dig into. So they all have kind of different scales and different types of containers I'm putting around them. But I want to experiment with the idea of Okay, this is my main focus for the week, it doesn't mean that I won't set aside that time on Wednesdays to work on my photo library and work on Project Life or another time to do something else. But most of my time, I want to focus on this particular project so that I can either finish it or make progress on it. So I will continue to report back on how it's doing. So far, so good. It's just you know, it's just a simple thing to just be able to tell yourself, okay, this is your priority right now. And with the permission then that next week, I get to do something different.

Kim Edsen 54:26

Well, I may think when you sit down at your table, your desk or whatever, then you have intention. You don't have to waste that mental energy and time kind of determining like, oh, what do I feel like today? And like no, like running through your options. You it's like go time, you're there, you're ready to go.

Jennifer Wilson 54:46

Yeah, and I think so often we underestimate the amount of time it takes to prepare. Do you like maybe the photo or hybrid parts of things to put it in the album to clean up if you wish They're online to also take photos of it. So there's like this an extended process. But when you have it as a focus, I think in particular, you can have it ready. And you if you know you're going to work on this later, you can pull something out or start thinking about it, it just helps you make those transitions that often are the parts that take extra time.

Kim Edsen 55:21

And mental energy, man, like I had a day this week where I was just like running from here to there to another thing. And I was telling, like that night, like I was exhausted. And, you know, and it wasn't that any particular item was like that strenuous to do or to take on, but it was just the constant shifting of gears. So I think if you're already in gear, when you go to do your creative time, that will definitely help propel you forward, at least just to kind of preserve some of that mental energy.

Jennifer Wilson 55:54

Yeah, yeah. And I know that like weeks for me have kind of a natural transition, I'm, you know, changing the page on my planner, you know, setting up for a new week. And so I'm thinking this is going to help me stay more, just like, help maintain the creative momentum so that I don't get bored. And I don't start to procrastinate because I've been working on something for so long. So we shall see.

Kim Edsen 56:18

Okay, and not to totally digress. But you talked about your planner, I did, I waited and I started the weekly 2.0 September 1, and I'm loving it. So we do not need to go into this in depth. But I just wanted to throw that update out there that it's been a good fit so far. I will say the smaller one is, especially now we have so much going on. So I ended up just printing out a monthly calendar from like my digital calendar and highlighted color coded depending on who needs to be where when. And that's hanging up in the kitchen for like easy reference. But as far as like the weekly in the day to day tasks, I think I'm finding a rhythm with this that I'm very happy with. So...

Jennifer Wilson 57:00

That's awesome. I will include a link in the show notes. So this is the the weekly Panda Planner 2.0. Right?

Kim Edsen 57:06

Yep.

Jennifer Wilson 57:07

Awesome. I know we've talked about this on a number of episodes in the past. And I'm currently using the Hobonichi Cousin, the I think it's pronounced Avec, it's the half year version. Just because they recommend if you do a lot of stickers and adding things to it, the half year will protect it from getting too chunky, which is actually the problem I had with the Weeks is because I had so many stickers in it, I actually broke the binding. So I have actually asked for the 2022 version as a Christmas gift. So I am kind of pre committing to that because it's been working really well. And switching back to the vertical weeks format, which is what I had used pre pandemic in my own Panda Planner definitely is a good fit for me now that there's more things on my schedule.

Kim Edsen 57:57

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 58:00

All right, wrapping it up, here we have, we're going to talk a little bit about finishing because the Finishing Project is coming up soon. It starts October 7. And so this is a four week workshop, I started teaching it in 2015. And we've had so many students go through, I tried to like add it up. And I'm almost certain that it is more than 1000 students have taken this class. Because it is not only to help you finish something that you have unfinished, but to help you understand why that project and other projects don't get finished. So that in the future, you can finish even more things and make sure that the projects that you start are truly finishable. So we just dive into, you know, even a lot of the kind of just the psychological things of why things don't get finished. Is it accountability? Is it something about the structure of it? And we really help you figure out how do you make sure that you can be a finisher going forward. So really excited about teaching that in October.

Kim Edsen 59:02

And you talked about how it addresses like these principles to set up a project that is finishable. So I think in the past when we've taught it, people, I'm gonna say confusion that people have always asked, Well, I don't I don't have an unfinished project or, you know, can I use this to work on this new project? And you absolutely can I mean, it's just the structure and the framework, it can be applied no matter at what stage you're in your project. And then you know, ideally, it's going to make that project, you're gonna do the planning work, and it's going to be super easy to finish. So you can still find this class useful even depending on where you're at in your different projects.

Jennifer Wilson 59:39

Yeah, and I would say it's particularly helpful for maybe projects that were kind of false starts, where Yeah, you got started and then you couldn't really get it going to pull it all together. And to help you understand why that is and what you might need to change to make the project finishable. I would say the most common reason is that you set up a format that you needed to repeat that was way too complicated. So it was fine to do it like once or twice, but then it became, it felt tedious and not fun to do it again and again. So that's when you maybe have to rethink it, adjust the format. And we call this course corrections because they can take a project from being, you know, sitting there, sadly, in a box somewhere not being worked on to finished in a weekend.

Kim Edsen 1:00:25

Yeah. Or you can be like me. So I think when we talked about this last time, my potential was either this Utah photo book, which ideally what should be wrapped up and done by then and on my shelf. And then the other option was knowing what was in my 2019 albums. So which is kind of a black hole because I was transitioning more from, so I have a mix of hybrid and digital and who all knows in there. So that's what I am excited to focus on. And I love going through these albums to kind of find like the story gaps and the photos yet that I still want to include. And so to me, it's definitely kind of gamifies it, makes it a fun little project. So I'm excited to dig into that. And since I feel like lately I have I guess I had all my 2020 layouts, but I feel like I've wrapped those up like earlier this summer. So since then I feel like I've been a little more like project focused with like the school albums and this travel book. So I am looking forward to getting back to kind of I say they're one off layouts. But you know, as part of like the bigger whole this this year in our life.

Jennifer Wilson 1:01:30

Well and I think we've had so many over the years, like lightbulb moments when somebody revisits a project and realizes, like, you know, I don't really have to add anything else to this, like I could call it done. And those are some of the most fun finishes, where you can just say, you know what, I'm just done. And that's, that's a totally okay decision to make. And we help you know, we give you that permission to help you learn how to give yourself that permission to say, I'm never gonna go back to this I'm gonna call it done and be, and celebrate that.

Kim Edsen 1:02:02

Or like you took your those three years of December Daily and made a compilation album. So that was like another option to have just like shifting your focus.

Jennifer Wilson 1:02:11

And it has been so fun to use this strategy. So kind of briefly, what I'm doing is I'm doing you know, 25 stories, but really, I'm looking at the for the first of the month over each year, and picking 1 to 3 stories. Sometimes we're like, you know, stories that relate sometimes they're slightly different, like, here's what we're doing this year, here's what we're doing this year. And sometimes there's just like one clear story that I just want to tell from that day. But it narrows the focus so much, I just have to look at photos from literally three different days. So maybe it's like, there's 20 photos to choose from, and many of them are like duplicates of each other. And it has made it so easy to pick what I'm going to document for each particular, you know, quote unquote, day in the album. So yeah, it's been really fun. It is gonna be super chunky. It is so thick. It is a four by six album that is, might be six inches wide. But yeah. If you know, barring any unforeseen things, it'll be done in the next couple of days. And I can't wait to share that on Instagram. So by the time this episode goes up, there should be some posts about it there. And during the Finishing Project, I'm going to finish my husband's Before Your Story album because we made huge progress. I think I said before that we were like two thirds to 75% done, I have a few small things that I can still do. But mostly I'm waiting on him to select some more photos. I think he's done most of the journaling, maybe a couple layouts, he needs to do some journaling. So once he finishes that, then I can do the you know the putting together the scrapbooky part of it. So because he's he's doing all the journaling for the whole album. And yeah, it's been fun. And I'm excited to also work with other members who are still wrapping up their albums during the Finishing Project. Even from the start of the class. I said, you know, this is six weeks, but I know it's summer. You know, we're going to have the Finishing Project in October if you want to come back and make sure this album still gets done this year.

Kim Edsen 1:04:26

Well, and I think the nice thing about the Fishing Project as a class, those kinds of things are universal, you can continue to apply them going forward to like any project that you work on, right like when you put together the class originally, you weren't focused on this compilation album, or your husband's Before Your Story album. But those same principles can be applied. So it's not like a one and done class. Like oh, I took this class and I have this result, which is all good. But I think this just kind of builds your arsenal of strategies and tactics so that you can like finish the projects that you start, because that's a good feeling.

Kim Edsen 1:05:01

Yes, yes. So on that note that I will mention that there are kind of four original finishing examples in there. One is a photo book, there's a mini book, a year of Project Life, and a series of layouts that like filled in gaps in an album. So kind of like running the gamut of formats, depending on what you like to do. You can see examples of how, like, what were the steps that I took in order kind of that's an often often a question I have is when you're going to finish something, where do you start? And I can share how I do it, but some of that's gonna be based on your own personality. Are you more of a batcher or are you more like like to work chronologically? But we will talk about that and help you think about Okay, this is my best finishing strategy for the next four weeks. Alrighty any other thoughts?

Kim Edsen 1:05:58

Why so many thoughts, but probably not applicable to the topic at hand.

Jennifer Wilson 1:06:04

All right, Kim, this was super fun. I look forward to talking to you again next month and catching up on our own creative successes and what's going on at Simple Scrapper. And at that time, let's see we should be talking more about the Planning Party. I'm so excited about that. And hopefully we'll have a link to share when the next time we record.

Kim Edsen 1:06:25

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 1:06:27

All right, Kim take care and to everyone listening, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way. Don't forget our live session of the Finishing Project kicks off on October 7, 2021. You can head over to simplescrapper.com/finish to learn more and become a member to join us.