SYW136 – My Way with Summer Triompo

Summer Triompo 0:01

I think it's okay when you have dry moments, but I think the key is not feeling like you have to go back and tell the stories you've missed. Because by nature, you're more excited to tell what's happening currently. Like if you take a Disney trip right now you're going to be super excited to tell that versus going back to 2018. And telling the story then. Now certainly you can go back but just don't feel like you're held to that. Like that you can't move forward until you've gone back and told that story.

Jennifer Wilson 0:33

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 136. In this episode, I'm interviewing Summer Triompo for the My Way series. My Way is all about celebrating the unique ways Memory Keepers get things done. We're so excited to have Summer as the October featured artists at Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer Wilson 1:05

Hey summer. Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

Summer Triompo 1:08

Hello, how are you today?

Jennifer Wilson 1:10

I am doing well. I'm excited for back to school and maybe some new routines. And yeah, things are feeling good.

Summer Triompo 1:18

Yeah, my kids actually start back on Monday. So we've been doing all the back to school shopping and the open house. And I think we're all excited to go back.

Jennifer Wilson 1:28

Yeah, yeah, it feels a little bit normal again, I guess.

Summer Triompo 1:31

Yeah. Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 1:33

All right. Can you share a little bit more about yourself, where you live, how many kids you have and all that?

Summer Triompo 1:38

Sure. Yeah. So of course, my name is Summer, Summer Triompo. And I live in a little town called Denver, North Carolina. It's north of Charlotte. So Lake Norman is the area. And we've lived on the lake for about four or five years now. And we actually also own an Air BnB on the other side of the lake. So that's kind of another passion of mine. And I work for Sirius XM, and Pandora and Stitcher. So I kind of joke that I've done a lot with podcasts haven't been on a podcast by sell podcast. So this is kind of exciting. And then I have two kids, my husband's Neil. And then our kids are Sonny and Sawyer. And they're eight and ten. And then we have two dogs and the cat just to round out the chaos, you know?

Jennifer Wilson 2:23

Ah, that sounds awesome. Yeah, I love lake life. We don't live on the lake. But we have, you know, a couple lakes within half an hour to an hour. And you know, we like to go out and just my husband loves to fish and I just want to like, chill.

Summer Triompo 2:39

Yeah, that's kind of me. Let's see, here's the beautiful part, Jennifer is I can't swim. And I know which used to really bother me. But now it's great because the kids will expect my husband to be the one that plays Marco Polo and like does the tubing and jump in the water. And I can just kind of like you said, relax and chill a little bit.

Jennifer Wilson 2:58

Yeah, yeah. Well, maybe it's a benefit to you.

Summer Triompo 3:01

That's right.

Jennifer Wilson 3:03

All right. So what's exciting you right now in scrapbooking? It really could be anything at all products, app, class, person, even just an idea.

Summer Triompo 3:12

Yeah, you know, one thing that I've been doing the summer actually probably started about in March was documenting my wellness journey. So I had went to the doctor and my cholesterol was super high. And I had decided to just change my diet completely. So I gave up meat. Pretty much went full, whole food plant based vegan. And I was like, how am I going to do this? Well, I started just a little traveler's notebook, and I've been documenting the whole, you know, the whole journey. Recipes I like, taking pictures and writing down how I'm feeling. And that's just been really exciting to think of, like, memory keeping and scrapbooking in a different way like that, where...

Jennifer Wilson 3:52

Yeah, yeah.

Summer Triompo 3:52

Help, helping me along my journey, you know.

Jennifer Wilson 3:56

Well and so much for thinking about, I think Project Life is probably the closest you can get to that. But even that tends to not be solely about you. It's about what's going on in our family's life. And other projects definitely have more boundaries. But I think this kind of ongoing thing can be really encouraging and a fun way to both stay connected to, you know, whatever personal journey you're on, as well as the hobby. So those projects are super fun.

Summer Triompo 4:21

Yeah, and the other exciting thing is, we've been quarantined recently here for about 10 days and so I've been completing a lot of Project Life spreads. And you know, once you complete one, it gets you excited to complete another one. So that's for sure keeping me motivated.

Jennifer Wilson 4:37

Oh, awesome. So shifting gears from maybe that topic to another one, we love to talk about our Bucket List Stories. So these are pages we want to make or maybe even projects that we want to create with a little bit deeper, more important stories that aren't always like serious, but they just feel like something we need to document. So what do you have on your Bucket List?

Summer Triompo 4:59

Yeah, I love that question. And I was thinking, like, that's really what I should ask myself. Every time I come up to my scrapbook area, you know, I just think makes you think about the story you want to tell first, which is really the way I like to approach it. But so my mom passed away three years ago, from a brain tumor. And after that, my dad decided to learn how to bake cakes, because that was something my mom always did. She always had a fresh cake sitting on the counter, you know, in particular pound cakes. So my dad, who literally doesn't know how to scramble an egg, decided to start making pound cake. And so now he's like, kind of almost become famous for 'em. You know, like, when we have a church event, everybody wants him to bring his pound cake. He makes them for people when they're sick, or for celebrations. And so I was thinking, I would like to tell that story, maybe include him in the kitchen, like a kind of action shot, with the recipe in there that he uses. Maybe a close up of the hands, I could just see that being a story that I would want to refer back to and that I know my kids would love to refer back to. I'm, I in general, like seeing things that have like, like a recipe, for example, or specific memory that ties into that. So I think that would be a really good one to have on my Bucket List to tell.

Jennifer Wilson 6:21

Oh, yeah, that's, I mean, such a beautiful story. And maybe there's like a companion page that has something about your mom and her baking. And yeah, that's, that's awesome. I love that idea.

Summer Triompo 6:33

I mean, I can't believe he decided to do it. I was like, you're gonna make pound cakes? And I'm telling you, they are so good. Like, I mean, everybody asked for 'em, and requests 'em. So,and it's a way for him to connect back to mom, and it helps me to remember mom too. So...

Jennifer Wilson 6:51

Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah. And I'm hungry for some cake.

Summer Triompo 6:56

Yes, I'll send you one.

Jennifer Wilson 7:00

All right, so this is a My Way episode, because you are our featured artists for October. And we're gonna just kind of dive beneath the surface of your hobby. We know you are online on Instagram. We'll have a chance to share a little bit more about where we can find you. But let's kind of start by going back and how did you start scrapbooking?

Summer Triompo 7:20

I don't know how many of your listeners are like me. But I've been scrapbooking, probably since I was like 12. I mean, I'm talking construction paper, stickers, it was just something I always love to do. And that was before you had the supplies and Michaels and everything to go get. But then I probably stopped about my freshman year in college, but rekindled it in my early 20s and have been going ever since. So I mean, at least for the last 18 years have been very consistent with it. In fact, my husband even asked me to marry him via a scrapbook. He created a scrapbook with like all these things he had saved of our story and pictures in there. And he gave it to me like at Christmas time. So I thought it was just a scrapbook here that he had made. And I was super impressed. But I got to the last page. And he had like actual ring box in there with the ring in there. And had used like sticker letters to say, you know, will you marry me? So...

Jennifer Wilson 8:14

That was epic.

Summer Triompo 8:17

I mean, and the fact that he went to, he actually went to Michael's to create it. He would go sit that you know that little room when you go into Michael's on the right. So that's he went in there and created I can't imagine him doing anything like that now. But you know, back in the courting days, he did that. So, and ever since then I've just been journaling, you know, memory, keeping our story. And then when we had kids, it's totally changed over the last 20 years, as you can imagine. I'm sure it has for everyone. But I still love going back and looking at those original books and just seeing how I told the story then.

Jennifer Wilson 8:53

Yes, yes. So can you tell me more about what has changed? I imagine it looks a lot different especially if we go back to when you were 12. But even from you know, your early adult years, you know, how has your hobby evolved?

Summer Triompo 9:07

You know, I think Project Life is the change that like really turned the corner right? It went from these huge like spreads that may have one picture on it and lots of embellishments to really focusing in on what's happening in our day to day life. And capturing like even you know my kids artwork and just seemed like things started to have a home inside of my albums. And I love that. So I would say Project Life was kinda where the hobby changed for me. And then from there, I've added in you know, Week in the Life. I do that every year, December Daily. There's just certain projects that are cornerstones for me throughout the year.

Jennifer Wilson 9:53

Would you say that working on Project Life also influenced how you approach layouts and other projects.

Summer Triompo 10:03

Yeah, I think so. Well I think it even affects how you think about your day and your weeks and the way you're taking pictures and documenting different moments. You know, yeah, I mean, I've often thought about leaving Project Life just because I've done it for so long. And you have so many albums, and just so much of it. But every time I think about that, I realize how much that project allows me to focus on what matters. And I'm sure other scrapbookers can relate. But something about being able to take the pictures, print them out, write about them, is like what completes the moment for me. So I just, I just don't think I could leave it. And every time I've tried, I've been very unsuccessful at leaving.

Jennifer Wilson 10:51

I understand. And I've only done it over a number, a small number of times, but the ones, the albums that I do have are some of my favorite. And one of them is just monthly. So there's literally 12 spreads, but those are literally 12 of my favorite spreads in all of my albums. So I just appreciate that, that alternate lens that we can use into our lives. And I think Week in the Life definitely provides some of that same type of like, let's, let's peel back the curtain as we're doing with these conversations, but really to look at what happens in everyday life and what it means to us. And yeah,

Summer Triompo 11:27

Well I think about what's changed is that in the beginning, it felt strict, or I made it strict. I'm sure it was me. That it had to be like okay, Monday through Sunday, but now I'll just look at what pictures and stories that I have and sometimes maybe it's two weeks, or maybe it's three weeks that put into that, you know, that date range. And sometimes maybe it's even just a weekend if we're taking a trip, but I'm okay with it not having to be week one, week two, it's more like this is our story during these dates. And this is what that look like. And yeah, I'm just I'm okay with the flexibility and giving grace if I skip a whole, you know month, it's fine.

Jennifer Wilson 12:10

So let's talk about your style today. How would you describe it?

Summer Triompo 12:15

You know, that's kind of a tricky one for me. But I think probably like clean and structured. I do like bright, colorful layouts. Like I feel like my house is really classic kind of farmhouse with neutrals. And I feel like scrapbooking is where you can just bring in all your colors and brightness and do exactly what you want to do. So I would say clean structured with lots of pops of color. When I think about style for scrapbooking, I just like to do what I like to look at. I mean, kind of the same way I decorate my house, you know, like, what, what appeals to my eyes is how I think about it. And I don't really worry if it fits into, you know, what's trending, more just what is pleasing to me so that I'm motivated to put it together and work on it.

Jennifer Wilson 13:09

I think there's a really valid point there, whether we're talking about scrapbooking or home decor or even like fashion. Like if you identify something that you like, and then really give yourself the patience to sit down and look at it and examine. Okay, what is it do I like about this? Is it a shape? Is it color? Is it texture? Because it's probably not even all of those, it's probably you know, one or two of those things? And then to really just pay attention. Okay, these are the things that I like and then what, where do I see those trends? And that can just help you make better decisions as you go forward. So yeah, brilliant. How do you stay motivated to create? Are you someone that kind of ebbs and flows over time? Are you always super jazzed about scrapbooking?

Summer Triompo 13:56

Oh, friend, this question hits right for the heart. Because this has been a big struggle for me in 2021. I mean, I already mentioned, I very much work full time, I have two kids, and we all have so much going on. And I felt like 2020 I had so much time to work on my scrapbooking because we were home often. And so 2021 has just been hard because life came back like super fast. And it was hard for me to get motivated to go to my scrapbook room. Like just to take the time to do it. I didn't feel motivated to do it. And I don't know just recently over this last six to eight weeks I've like hit a stride and I've been in there almost every day. So I am back at it but it has definitely been a struggle for me this year.

Jennifer Wilson 14:49

Did you take any steps like how did you get back into it this time?

Summer Triompo 14:55

You know, and I think back over my 20 years of doing this and I'm like I had these off moments before and I always come back to it because hobbies matter. And I think it's okay when you have dry moments, but I think the key is first off, is not feeling like you have to go back and tell the stories you've missed. Because by nature, you're more excited to tell what's happening currently. Like if you take a Disney trip right now you're gonna be super excited to tell that versus going back to 2018 and telling the story that Now certainly you can go back but just don't feel like you're held to that like that you can't move forward until you've gone back and told that story. So that's one thing I do try to not get too far behind. It's just my personality like if I if I don't stay up to date on printing pictures then that can get discouraging for me. I do try to go the same time a day. So like at night time after the kids have taken their showers then we'll just kind of convene our playroom which is where my scrap space is and if we have that same time of day that routine just makes it easier. I do also think like having your scrap space be a place that you'd love to be in like if it's organized or colorful or the way you like it then you're gonna be more likely to want to be in there so...

Jennifer Wilson 16:21

Those are all excellent tips. Thank you I think that's such a common challenge and something that I even go through myself sometimes. I feel definitely way more connected and excited and sometimes I have to you know, use all the tools and tricks that I know to get me in there and get me started and then of course it all comes back. But I always, I always trust that it will come back because it always has.

Summer Triompo 16:43

Yeah, and I think something that I'm thinking about for next year is switching it up. I still think I'll keep Project Life as a core but maybe switching up having some other type of more of a journaling album where I put in some pictures but it's it's looser. You know, like maybe it has some bullet journal pages or I just feel that I'm leaning towards that in terms of quick things I could document and approach my story from. As opposed to the traditional layouts that I've been more likely to do. So I'm thinking about that for next year and just maybe switching it up because I do think that would kinda you know rejuvinate.

Jennifer Wilson 17:27

I can't wait to see what you figure out. So...

Summer Triompo 17:29

Me either.

Jennifer Wilson 17:29

So right now we're talking about projects. We do these two months journeys where we really dive into a particular theme. And do you have any helpful tips that you use to get projects finished? You mentioned that you do Week in the Life, I don't, I think maybe you do December Daily too. If there's other projects that you know, how do I say this? What helps you get things done? Because you mentioned you like to stay caught up and get things finished. So what else do you think helps those see to completion?

Summer Triompo 17:58

So I've never not completed a December Daily and Week in the Life. So my personal...

Jennifer Wilson 18:09

Well okay pause here. Let's all take a moment for our brains to explode. Because that's the first time I've ever heard that. So awesome. Congratulations all the all the applause for you.

Summer Triompo 18:23

Thank you yeah, it's my personality that I just have to have everything finished and checked off and the way I do it for those two projects. First off, I think it's key to have your own printer. So I have a Canon Pixma Pro 100. I got it off of Amazon and they always put it on special like right around, right before the holidays like kinda like October, November. And it prints all the way up to a 13 by 19. So I can even do like the larger spreads. But I think that's the key is I print the pictures pretty much immediately. So when I do Week in the Life, you know as soon as Sunday is over, then I print the pictures the next week and I do it on the day coordinating so I print last Monday's picture on Monday, last Tuesday's prints, you know pictures on Tuesday, and then the next week I do the same thing I do Mondays spread on Monday and then that way it's done in three weeks.

Jennifer Wilson 19:19

You know that is genius to really commit that to a Week in the Life being a three week adventure and that you're very much in the zone of that day. I love that.

Summer Triompo 19:30

Yeah and because then it's like you already have your expectation of what you're completing and it seems bite size to me, you know doesn't seem overwhelming when you think of it that way. The way I do my Project Life planning is I there's like some templates you can just print from online but I just draw it on a piece of paper. You know I do the A version. And I do that same version every week. So I know that I'll need seven four by sixes, and then like four three by fours, that's the size of the pockets for that. And I just draw it out and I'm writing the pictures and print them on Sunday nights. And then I put them in the album and I just complete the spread. Whenever I get up into the playroom, it's not as rigid with that part. But I do always make sure I print the pictures.

Jennifer Wilson 20:23

Yeah, I definitely I have the same printer. And I love it. And it's it's not even just having the printer but having a reliable printer because I've had other printers in the past. And I was always like, fussing with it, it would start printing streaks through it like I there was time when I couldn't even get like the cartridges for it. But with this printer, it's just been so reliable. I don't think I've ever had a bad print. There's certainly been like user error, but I've never had the printer fail on me. And that's why I just love it and always recommend it as well.

Summer Triompo 20:54

You know, you're right. I've had that printer for like seven years. And I've never had issues with it. And I am not someone who's like great with devices like that. And I've never had an issue with it. So...

Jennifer Wilson 21:08

Yeah. I think that speaks a lot to it. So what about December Daily? How do you just you approach that in the same way? Do you use the next month to finish it? You know, going day by day? Do you use that same kind of like day by day approach? Or what helps that project get done for you?

Summer Triompo 21:25

I think the key for that project is Hallmark movies. Now I mean, I do actually really look forward to it every night. So I, I tell the story almost of the day prior, you know, because you almost get that one day lag time. But I do tell the stories in 25 days consecutive. So that way it's done probably about like December 27 or so. So I'll take December 1 and like often on December 1, I'll tell the story of getting our tree, which has happened like the week of Thanksgiving. So I normally will print for that day, I'll already know what story I'm telling. And then like I said that same time and I mean, the kids will go up to the playroom, I like to put on Hallmark. I'll play around, and I'll go ahead and get that story done that day. But it's one of my favorite parts about Christmas is doing that project. So I'm super motivated to go up there and do it. And I love the products and the different things I have for that. So it's really easy to stay motivated on that one.

Jennifer Wilson 22:27

You know, so one thing we've talked a lot about this year is habit stacking. And sometimes we're talking about okay, what can you do while the coffee is brewing? Or what can you do immediately after you make the bed in the morning. But if you're going to pair something like the Hallmark movie, you're probably gonna watch anyway. But with the creative process, and it makes you look forward to that scrapbooking even more.

Summer Triompo 22:49

And you layer in a cup of like hot tea.

Jennifer Wilson 22:53

Oh, yeah.

Summer Triompo 22:55

I mean, I just I love it. You know, I think in December for me, it gets dark so early. That dinner is earlier. It's like everything's kind of screwed up a little bit earlier. So it seems to almost make it easier for me to scrapbook in the winter time than it is right now in summer when it's still light at like nine o'clock, you know?

Jennifer Wilson 23:14

Sure. Yeah.

Summer Triompo 23:15

So it is easier a routine to set for me.

Jennifer Wilson 23:18

Yeah, it just sounds like a really cozy ritual. And almost all of these episodes so far that I've recorded, we've talked about whether or not Jennifer should to December Daily this year. And this one is a plus in the maybe I should column.

Summer Triompo 23:33

You definitely should. In fact, I mean just talking about it makes me want to go get my Christmas decorations. I'm like, Is it too early? Is it?

Jennifer Wilson 23:44

All right, so let's bring it back to the present. And talk about some of the things that you are loving right now. So what are all the different kinds of formats and sizes that you're creating? And you mentioned you do design A so that's 12 by 12 for your Project Life. So but what about your other projects?

Summer Triompo 24:00

So for the December Daily, and Week in the Life, I always do a six by eight album. I've really never strayed from that because I kind of like all lined up on the shelf. I am doing a traveler's notebook right now for that wellness journal I mentioned. And that's been a little different for me, but I've really enjoyed it. And then, have you ever heard of PowerSheets? It's like a goal planner. So I use that, too. And I almost use it in like conjunction with scrapbooking, like where the calendar is I'll print out like pictures or some of the different meals I'm making. And I'll put that in there and I'll add some journaling and pictures. So I would say that's a different kind of format and I just keep it together with all my scrapbooks. But it's the Cultivate What Matters PowerSheets.

Jennifer Wilson 24:47

Oh, I love that. We'll definitely include the link for that in the show notes. I purchased it one year and it happened to be for 2020. And 2020, as we all know didn't go exactly as planned. So...

Summer Triompo 24:57

Yeah, I've done it for five years and And I really like, I really like tracking my goals that way and kind of refreshing 'em. And I've already mentioned that I'm so type A and accountable so but by putting some scrapbooking elements into it makes it feel more creative and not cumbersome.

Jennifer Wilson 25:16

Oh, for sure. So are you creating many layouts these days? I know you have in the past, but is that like part of your creative process right now?

Summer Triompo 25:24

So this year, I have only done one full size like 12 by 12 layout, that's not Project Life, well, maybe two. And that's different for me, I'm normally doing lots of that. And I think I will as we head into fall, like even the one we talked about with my dad with the pound cake. Like, I only see that as a large layout with some type of large photo, perhaps an overlay. But this year, because of that kind of struggle to get back into the routine of scrapbooking. It's like I've only been able to stay up on these projects that we've talked about, you know, Week in the Life, Project Life, and my food journal. But I don't know, I think that's the challenge is like, how do you tell, how do you have time to tell all the stories? I think sometimes you have to just kind of hone in on what's working the best for you right now.

Jennifer Wilson 26:13

Well, I think the reality is, is that you don't and you know, I mean, that's that's a huge accomplishment. If you have, you know, two six by eight mini albums, a traveler's notebook and a Project Life album for a year. That's so much more than the vast majority of people out there in the world who are not scrapbookers.

Summer Triompo 26:32

You know what, thanks, Jennifer, for that, you know, because sometimes I think in your head, you're thinking, ah, I used to do this, and now I'm not. And you can kind of get down on yourself about that. But you're right. Yeah, it's not looking at what you haven't done. It's about looking at what you have.

Jennifer Wilson 26:47

Yeah, for sure. Well, and trust that there are seasons for that part too. That, you know, just because you're not creating a lot of layouts right now doesn't mean that you won't in the future. You mentioned you might more this fall or maybe next year it's we go through seasons of interest in certain formats and certain styles and the ways that we feel like creating is easy. And sometimes that looks like layouts and sometimes it doesn't. So I think that it's what's in embracing what's real for you right now is what's gonna keep you excited about the hobby. If you're trying to like force it, then that's when you're just gonna start avoiding your craft room all together.

Summer Triompo 27:24

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 27:28

So what products do you love to use? Who are you shopping with, you know what, what really floats your boat when it comes to all the fun supplies?

Summer Triompo 27:38

Well, I do Ali's monthly kits. So I get that every month and that is really the only products that I get. And then I'll occasionally buy like if I see something special, but pretty much 100% Ali's products and I love Avery tabs. I love to use those for like my smaller pages. Phrase stickers, anything that's like repetitive and I've really been using a lot of my kids artwork lately to create like title cards. And or I'll just cut out a piece of their artwork and make like a three by four card out of it because they have so much artwork. And I've just found that's a good way of repurposing it and it always adds a lot of color and kind of personalization to my pages.

Jennifer Wilson 28:21

Oh for sure. Now you mentioned Ali's kits are you getting the Story Kit or the Stories By The Month kit?

Summer Triompo 28:27

The Stories by, the Story Kit. The original one.

Jennifer Wilson 28:31

Yeah, yeah. Because I like I love how there's different options. One's, you know the Story Kit are very much surrounding the theme and and help you explore different stories. And the Stories By The Month are a little bit more you know seasonal of, of what might be going on or what the mood or vibe is of that time of the year. And I think some scrapbookers are more drawn to one versus the other.

Summer Triompo 28:55

Well in 2008 I cancelled all subscriptions because I was like I have too many products and I had just redone I actually just redid my scrapbook area. And I was like I'm gonna use these products before I subscribed to anything else and I did it for about six months just use up previous products. But I really missed getting it and seeing the new things and so I've added it back but it's already piling up again so...

Jennifer Wilson 29:22

I understand.

Summer Triompo 29:23

It's kind of, I don't know it's like it's like I have to have it but then also I kind of have too much of it. So, but right now that that seems to work and I'll use it in Project Life and then I'll take the extra stuff and just put it you know with my cardboard pieces and different things like that knowing that I can go back and add to it.

Jennifer Wilson 29:43

Ah, yeah, I, I have gone through seasons where I didn't subscribe to anything and then when I subscribe to all the things and you know there's certainly a balance. But I found that I am more productive both kind of personally and in my business. When I'm subscribe to kits, I even like looked at the numbers behind it. Like when I have product coming in, I'm thinking I'm more inspired. So even if sometimes it does build up, I think there's maybe a positive silver lining to that. So...

Summer Triompo 30:15

I mean, Jennifer, I could probably not buy a single December Daily product for the next 10 years, and have plenty to use, but I will absolutely be logging on the day it is available and buying all the things.

Jennifer Wilson 30:28

Yeah. All right, so let's talk about organization a little bit and how you keep all the things tidy. So maybe let's just start first with supplies. How are the all those December Daily supplies stored right now?

Summer Triompo 30:43

So I did tell you, I just redid my scrapbook area. And it is currently so organized. And I remember thinking when I did this, I was like, now I'll scrapbook every day, now that I'm organized. But that is not a direct correlation is what I've learned. But the way I organize my supplies is I have two things, I have a tiered tray that sits, it's like kind of almost like a triangle shape that sits on my actual scrapbook desk. And then I found one from a store that was going out of business. And it was used to hold like greeting cards. It's taller than me, I mean, it's five or six feet tall. And I put everything in like a little zone, it would be like if you were selling greeting cards, they were down in there by keep like the cardstock pieces. And they are the phrase stickers, my letter stickers, stamps, and each thing has like a little space, but I do take the kits and mix them together after I use them and keep them all in those tiered trays and options.

Jennifer Wilson 31:45

And then how does that compare to like the rest of all your supplies?

Summer Triompo 31:50

Well, so one thing that I had wrote down that I just wanted to make sure I said is you know a lot of people have the Kallax shelces from IKEA.

Jennifer Wilson 31:59

Yeah.

Summer Triompo 31:59

Well, there's this thing called is I can't even pronounce it is KBISSL, letter tray. And it like slides out, and so each one has four trays in it. And I have loved that. I would put it as like one of my favorite organizing pieces, because like when I get the kits from Ali, I'll just lay them out on those trays. And you can just pull it out when you're working. I mean, some people use like baking sheets to do that same idea. But this just fits right inside of your IKEA shelf. So I found that to be very convenient for taking the things I'm working on currently, like if I'm working on a current spread, I can just put it on that little letter tray and then pull it out. So I have two of those.

Jennifer Wilson 32:41

Oh, I'm gonna need some of these, I think.

Summer Triompo 32:44

They're really awesome. And like, you can just lay everything flat and see it and then when you're done with it, slide it back. So I like to clean up my space, I don't like to leave things out. So that's really helped with that. And then I do, I made my own desk, I got a countertop from IKEA and put it on top of, it's on my Instagram so you'll be able to see it. But put it on top of a shelving unit from there. So I can stand up or sit down. Because I kind of like to be able to stand up or sit down with my scrapbooking depending on what I'm in the mood for. So that that's been helpful, too.

Jennifer Wilson 33:18

That sounds awesome. So I guess shifting gears here and we talked a little bit about your printing process. But how do you organize your photos so that you always have something to scrapbook?

Summer Triompo 33:30

Yeah, so like I do draw them out and print them, I normally will just have a handful of envelopes, I'll put them in and I'll write the date range on it, like April 1 through April 10 on that envelope and put the pictures in it until I'm ready to put in the album. Once it gets in the album, I'll just put a sticky note, so I know. In terms of bigger pictures and Week in the Life and all that, I actually just bring the album in here with me to my office and I put the pictures in right while I'm printing them. So that way I don't have a backlog. I try to keep the pictures going immediately into the album. So you don't just have them, you know, laying around.

Jennifer Wilson 34:05

Hanging out. Yeah.

Summer Triompo 34:07

And it's, it's great to print pictures here. That's something that I think people forget about. But like no, once you print it, you will scrap it. Because you've already that's the hardest part, I think, is the actual printing and picking the pictures.

Jennifer Wilson 34:23

Yeah, I find that if I print the photos, and then maybe since I do a lot of hybrid journaling, if I just like type that up, and then I even sometimes even just print it out, I can then if I have photos, I have some journaling already on the page, the layout and I mean it's like 70% there, the 30% is the creative fun part. And now I can just do whatever I want with it. But I've done kind of that initial thinking of what's the whole point of this and the rest is kind of the cherry on top. So I think we all have those those points of if I just do this one part that will cascade and build to a completion, build to a finished page.

Summer Triompo 35:01

I love typed out journaling. But it is the thing that will delay me because just the process of doing that. So I've been doing a lot of handwritten journaling recently. But I love the finished look up a typed out spread, you know?

Jennifer Wilson 35:16

Oh, yeah, for sure. And then what ideas? Do you do anything to like, keep track of things that you want to try? Whether that's like saving things on Instagram or Pinterest? Or even you know, something even more organized? Or do you just follow your own, you know, intuition?

Summer Triompo 35:34

I used to have a notebook where I would keep the ideas. And honestly, I should go back to that. But no, currently I don't, you know, I'll just go through my pictures. See what I want to tell since I'm doing so much Project Life, I guess, you know, I really haven't had to have a lot of that. But when I do start a spread, like for example, if I do tell the story of my dad and his pound cakes, I'll normally go to Pinterest and type in some different things to try to get inspired. Or, like maybe even I would like go and type in like vintage recipe cards just to get an idea of like a design, and then use that like on my page. So that's where I get a lot of ideas, but I wouldn't say I'm great about keeping them organized.

Jennifer Wilson 36:20

All right, this has been so fantastic. You've shared so many awesome tips. And we will try to include some of those in the show notes for this episode. Just because I think this was such a rich episode. Kind of going back 10,000 foot view, what do you think is your biggest lesson learned from your scrapbooking experience?

Summer Triompo 36:37

Well, other than the one already mentioned about not going back to catch up, I would say do it for you and not for anyone else. I felt like I used to make my albums and then like it would be my daughter's birthday. And I would take the albums to the birthday party because I just want people to look at them. I spent time and money into them. And people would kind of flip through quickly. And some point that shifted, I was like, you know what, this is really not about me doing this so that one day my kids will take my albums. It's not really so that anyone will look at my stories. It's just my way of processing my life and my story and I'm doing it for me. And if no one ever looks at it, if no one ever cares to see it, it's still awesome, because it's a story that I wanted to tell and it was exciting for me and it's fun to do. And I think once you can kind of get to that then it takes a lot of the pressure off as well.

Jennifer Wilson 37:33

100% What a awesome way to end the episode. Summer can you share where we can find you online and anything new or exciting you have coming up?

Summer Triompo 37:42

Yeah, so I don't have a blog or anything like that. But I am on Instagram and it's paper_teaandme and it's underscore between the paper and tea so paper underscore tea and me. That's because I love hot tea, as I mentioned. And of course we're all about all the paper products. So I am on there and in terms of anything exciting coming up, in my mind, I'm already thinking Christmas so the next big fun thing will be December Daily. And I do plan to take some pictures of all the different Project Life spreads I've been doing these last six, eight weeks, and post those at some point pretty soon.

Jennifer Wilson 38:26

All right, sounds great. I hope you have a great rest of your day and to all of our listeners, 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.