SYW122 – This is The Summer of…

Jennifer Wilson 0:00

I think sometimes when we force ourselves to continue a project in the way we began it, because that's how we've done it, that's when it doesn't get done. And so you're giving yourself the best opportunity to finish this project and to keep up with it by allowing it to evolve with you. 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 122. In this episode, I'm joined by Kim Edsen to reflect on the past month and explore what's new for July. This is our monthly peek behind the scenes at Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer Wilson 0:45

Hey, Kim, how are you?

Kim Edsen 0:46

I am doing well and yourself?

Jennifer Wilson 0:49

I'm hanging in, yeah, things are definitely very summery around here. Emily is in the backyard right now playing with a friend and the hose and various water toys and balls and things. I just wanted to get them outside and off their electronics. So...

Kim Edsen 1:06

That sounds like a good idea. We have a, well I'm not always implementing it, but we set up some house rules for the summer, we sat down and came up with the list. And one of them was an hour free of tech, an hour of tech free time each day. And ideally, they're gonna have more than that. But just to be intentional about it of right like right now Carolyn sitting out on the deck, reading a book. I don't really know what Grace is doing. But it was, I likened it to when they were little and we'd have naptime. And then when they gave up naps, and we just had like an hour of quiet time in their rooms alone. And then so this is kind of the new iteration of that. And honestly, some days I have to think about it myself, because I will, not, it's not like I'm on tech constantly. But other times we'll be doing something and then you'll like, pop on and do quick email or pop on and check this quick, or even like if I'm working out, like I'm doing it in front of a TV. Right. So yeah, just Yeah, really just unplug for a bit each day, I think has been a good, a good reminder for everyone.

Jennifer Wilson 2:19

Well, I think just to part, I think it's all part of this transition out of pandemic life. Of course, I think so many of us relaxed, a lot of our rules are on screen time and, and what was okay, because there weren't a lot of other options. We were at home so much. And I'm just trying to, we're trying to encourage her to engage your brain in other ways, even though she's super creative with all the stuff she makes in Minecraft and all that. But yes, to get her outside and just doing different stuff.

Kim Edsen 2:48

Okay, well, that leads into one of the things that I'm excited about right now. So for several years, Gretchen Rubin will talk about this idea of like plan on your summer. And she has this quote when it's all about basically like you make, they approach it from a seasonal approach, but you might like make the season your own, like however you decide to do that. So they talked a lot about how summer kind of culturally has this whole like, it's summer it's so great, but most people still have like work and kids and like houses to clean. It's not like when you were a child and it was just open ended.

Jennifer Wilson 3:24

It's not pure freedom.

Kim Edsen 3:26

Yeah, right. Honestly, I've thought about the concept and I've talked about it like with my family, and I never have really been able to fully embrace that a lot of times she'll do like, this is the summer of Virginia Woolf. And I'm reading all these books and then Alissa, who is a member and has been on several times, she was having like the summer of Anne of Green Gables and she's reading all the books and I always kind of struggled to identify what, how I wanted to do that. As far as like the plan your summer maybe I was just thinking too small. I guess one summer like two years ago, we had it was like the summer of Marvel. But that was just very unintentional. We watched like The First Avenger movie, like the first day of summer break, and then we're like, this is pretty good. Let's watch like these 22 movies or whatever in that cinematic universe. So anyways, on the podcast recently, they were talking about it, and they kind of reframed it more along the lines of what speaks to you about summer or when you think about like the season of summer, what comes to mind and for me, it is very much going outside. And I think I liken it back to when I was a kid and we would swim and we would fish and we would camp and you'd bike and you just you were just outside all the time. And as an adult that is not always as pleasant because it gets very hot and very humid here. But I've been trying to be more intentional about going out in the mornings if I need to do garden or yard work or things. And then we recently got some new patio furniture , so we've been enjoying that a lot in the evening. So I'm trying to kind of book end my days a little bit, or just to kind of think about it more of like, I'm going to sit here and you know, read, or I'm scrolling Instagram, like I could probably do that on the porch swing as well as I can, you know, inside my house. So that is hopefully like my summer plants, I think being outside and then also food. That's not like the healthy produce. It's like, right, like, rhubarb crisp. But I made a strawberry cake this week. And but definitely all of either like garden produce, or farmstand produce that very much of summer to me, it's like cucumbers, and watermelon and sweet corn, and all of those things. So I think that has helped me kind of reframe that concept of planning your summer. And so it's got me excited to be more intentional about the choices I make, I guess, for the season.

Jennifer Wilson 5:58

Oh, sounds awesome. Well you mentioned that maybe you're thinking too small. But I think sometimes that's, that's what you really need is to just be really specific about this one small thing that you're going to focus on, because all the rest is going to need to fall in around that. But if you can have one thing to carry you through that it's going to probably have a ripple effect on other things. So for example, we're trying to visit one new park every week. I just kind of made this up. We're two weeks in a row now. So we visited a new park this week and one before that, and it's just it's something super easy. We have plenty of parks in our town to to make it through the whole summer. And of course, there's some you know, slightly out of town as well. And just to keep things different and to intentionally get outside experience something new go for a nice little walk and you know, just to have something different. So...

Kim Edsen 6:49

Yes. I, I always loved that. And even now we still my kids, like I don't know the actual names of these parks that are these neighborhood parks. They have names, we would just make up names based on either what the...

Jennifer Wilson 7:02

Oh, yeah.

Kim Edsen 7:03

Just like the toys or the attractions were at that park. And one goes back to when they were like really little and they were big Dora the Explorer fans, there was an episode that involved a kitty mountain. And so I think shortly after that episode, they went to that park and to this day, you know, probably a good 12 years later, it is still Kitty Mountain Park when do we go past it. So...

Jennifer Wilson 7:27

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, we have the Green Park and the Blue Park and all those too.

Kim Edsen 7:30

My mom had the purple Park. Yep. So okay. And then we talked about, well we didn't really talk about it, but it got discussed a little bit in the membership. I got a new planner. And you said you had thoughts.

Jennifer Wilson 7:41

Oh my gosh.

Kim Edsen 7:42

So I've been using the Panda Planners. This is my third year. And I, randomly a member Natalie, recommended them. I was curious, I got it. And so I had was this September start. So I have a few more months left in my current planner, but I've just identified that it wasn't just working as well for me as it used to. I was finding I was wanting to make lots of just lists to kind of gather my thoughts. And so I was kind of fitting it in the planner and kind of their blank spots or just cramming in, or a lot of times I would just write it on a separate piece of paper and tuck it in the planner and that worked. But it was just, I knew that when time came to get a new one, I did not necessarily want to continue with the same format. But I liked the Panda Planner, comment or comment format, because I like the idea of like a morning gratitude. There's habit tracking, there's at the end of the day, kind of like celebrate what what well, or things like that. So they had come out, was it like one or two years ago? Because I think you emailed me this when this when it first came out. They have become the 2.0. So they are smaller. So my Panda Planners, like a full size, like 8.5 by 11. Size. Yeah, yes. Yeah, letter size. And so these are smaller. And I measured them for somebody, I think they're like kind of half size. It's like 5.5 by 8.5 or something like that around.

Jennifer Wilson 9:09

That's just so small. I don't know.

Kim Edsen 9:12

Here's the thing. So I haven't broke them out yet but I photocopied some of the pages to try to try them out. Because okay, so I was going to wait and order one to try at the end of whatever September. Or when that became around. And these are three months in a planner. And so there's smaller and I got, there's a weekly 2.0 and a daily 2.0 and I got the daily 2.0. And then they had a sale and it was I think it was buy two get two free. So if you were paying like the regular full price, it actually comes out to be more expensive for a year to do the daily 2.0 than it would compared to like their traditional letter sized one. And that that that would be deal breaker. It's not like that much drastically different. But this actually makes it very, very comparable to do the deal on that sale has ended. I don't know if they'll run it again. But it was kind of my impetus of why I was gonna buy one anyways to try it. So why don't I buy two and then get the two free and then I'll actually get me a full year. And so I went ahead and did it. And so they've come. And so I was trying to decide like, well, I start these, you know, in the new month comes around in July, or my original thought was, I could probably just finish out my current planner and then start things. But I, so I photocopied some just to kind of trial. And I really, really liked them. I don't think I'm going to wait until September, I think I'll start in July. There actually more room per day, because before with the setup that I have, it's like a two page spread is your week. And they are vertical. And what I really liked about that is like, if I didn't get something done for one day, I would just draw an arrow to the next day. And I wasn't just constantly rewriting things all the time. But I have found recently, I like to just do a brain dump. And it's even just like, very minor tasks like scoop cat litter, right? Like, I will write it down, because I just want to be able to like go through, I don't want to have to like remember about it later. And I just like checking off. So I am just kind of brain dumping everything for my day. And sometimes I'll categorize them. So like, these are the things that need to be due for, you know, outside yard type tasks, these are my indoor tasks. These are like personal self care tasks. These are like Simple Scrapper tasks or tasks that are on the computer. Sometimes I'll even divide them by like, these are fast tasks, like less than 15 minutes, these are going to take longer than 15 minutes, and then I'll kind of like pick and choose. So it's whatever. It's just kind of a way for my brain, I think to just not have to keep track of things. So I'm really liking these lists. So long way to say that actually, even though it's a smaller sized page, I get more per day than I would in that the bigger spread, right? Because there I would just get one little column. So, it feels bigger.

Jennifer Wilson 9:20

Okay. I have questions.

Kim Edsen 12:12

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 12:14

So okay, let's thinking back to the original 1.0 format, though, you were using weekly. So if you had gone with daily before...

Kim Edsen 12:24

I originally used the daily, and it was full page per day. And my problem there was I would just list like everything as a priority. And maybe that's part of it, too, because I was probably making too many lists then. Or I was finding it overwhelming. So this made me kind of forced me to like select, like through the three priorities. And then I was using Tody to track everything and they still do. But that was the other thing was trying to get away from like tech. I don't want to have to be constantly like checking into Tody because I would check into that. And then oh while, I'm on here, I'll just pop on Instagram. So this way, I can just put my phone down. And I just have everything in like a paper list too.

Jennifer Wilson 13:03

Well and you know that I love my paper planners.

Kim Edsen 13:06

Yes. And the other thing is I found, so in the current planner that I have the weekly, like the full size weekly. And also I think the daily had is too, there was it was very much like a funnel effect. So there was kind of some questions to help you think about planning out your month, and then you go for week and then daily. And I have found in like since the beginning of the year, so six months, I have not filled out my monthly planning like I've just and I'm not really interested in doing it. Like at first I didn't kind of few months went by I was like oh yeah. And then I think this last month came up and I looked at it and I was like I actually don't want to do this. So that is not in the 2.0 planner. If I'm remembering correctly, I should have brought them with me to look at but, so that's not a big loss for me. So I still get like a daily gratitude, I still get like a what went well. It's a little more condensed. But even as it was like if I wanted to fit more than I just made more like space for it, I wasn't concerned about it. There's a spot for schedule. And then there's just kind of a note section. And that's kind of where I did my brain dump when I've tried though. And the other thing that's interesting about this, I know you've brought this up about other planners that are three months or like shorter duration ones, they have an annual planning page. So if you want to put down like dates or things for out into the future, there's a spot kind of a holding spot for that. And I will say my scheduling when I do my scheduling, I do it all on a phone calendar. I will transfer it into the monthly calendar just so I can kind of get an overall feel or spread but I can also just look at it on my computer. So again, that was the only thing I was kind of hesitant about I don't feel like for the daily pages, I'm not really losing space there if anything I'm gaining. But when it comes to the monthly spread, I am definitely losing space. But I don't think that will be as big of a concern for me because it's just redundant from what I have digitally. Usually.

Jennifer Wilson 15:19

Sure. And I think back when I tried, oh gosh, it was an Inkwell Press quarterly system. And, you know, I liked the overall kind of the design and the feel of it. But the quarterly system wasn't working for me because of those future dates. But that time I wasn't keeping a digital calendar as like, the central hub of dates. Yeah.

Kim Edsen 15:40

Yeah, and you go and have to make a dentist appointment in six months. And you're like, well, I don't know. But yeah, now it's just electronic for me. So...

Jennifer Wilson 15:49

Yes, 100%. So especially with Emily getting so much busier and like appointments and things like that. You know, we just keep a centralized family calendar now that we can all access and, you know, the digital is really what you need when you have multiple people and multiple schedules. And so really when I'm doing my regular planning, I'm barely thinking about, like, on paper, barely thinking about more than just this week, I'm sitting down. Okay, what is on deck for this week? And then the next week, I start fresh, and I just reference both my electronic calendar and Trello. For okay, what needs to be done?

Kim Edsen 16:24

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 16:25

So from that perspective, I do see how the 2.0 planner could, could work just as well. But some of my concerns are like, they're almost they seem trivial, but I know some people they are. So for example, one I really loved in the original planner, that it was a bound book. And I've had the most success over the years with bound planners because I am a right hander. But I write with a bit more of a bent wrist and so it's harder for me to get to that middle space. And now, of course, I know left handers especially like these bound books because of you know, their hands and where their hand needs to go to get to the to the page. So adding a spiral and switching from a bound book to a spiral seems like a really huge change to me. And it makes me like, feel a little nervous about it.

Kim Edsen 17:20

I hear ya.

Jennifer Wilson 17:21

How do you feel about the spiral?

Kim Edsen 17:22

Oh, well, I haven't used it yet. Right? Because I just photocopied like the double page, but I don't, I don't have a problem writing and just like our regular spine, like spiral bound notebook. So...

Jennifer Wilson 17:33

Okay.

Kim Edsen 17:33

I don't think that's going to be an impact for me. And then it folds back on itself. So then you just like, depending on it does this like. So like a spread will be like two days. So you could just flip it. For one side or the other.

Jennifer Wilson 17:49

Yeah. And so when you are working on a daily planner, it's like having the one day at a time and being able to fold it back that makes it really compact and handy. Now I'm curious what you also think about the cover, because the cover now looks plasticky versus the kind of..

Kim Edsen 17:49

They are plasticky.

Jennifer Wilson 18:03

..the other look,

Kim Edsen 18:06

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 18:07

Okay,

Kim Edsen 18:07

So I would, definitely does not look, or look as high end, but it's feels very sturdy. Like I don't think it's going to, it doesn't feel like it's going to be cracking or ripping off or anything like that, that. Talk about trivial, this is trivial. They have like the little pen, where it's an adhesive thing. So you can apply it wherever you want. But like a pen holder, so you can like stick it inside your cover somewhere that you have your pen because I'm always just like tucking mine in mine and then looping it shut with elastic. Because otherwise I wouldn't have a pen when I needed it. So I actually like that there is that's incorporated into this now. And in the current planner, there's ribbons, there's different, so these should all be the same color. I think my original, it was like a black cover. And that was all black ribbons. So the one I have now I have it's like a black gray and white ribbon. So in theory, I have them, right like the black ribbon is my monthly divider. And then whatever week I'm on is my gray and then white. So these have plastic little insert things that you can like snap in and out that you can place your different, like this is the week this.

Jennifer Wilson 19:16

Okay, okay,

Kim Edsen 19:17

So that's a little different. They're a little awkward. I have never used those before. So it felt a little...

Jennifer Wilson 19:21

More like dividers.

Kim Edsen 19:22

Yes. But you can like pull them out and put them wherever you need them to be. So that's a little bit different. But actually, I feel like I would like that better than the ribbons because then half the time I forget to like move the ribbon and then I go to open it and I don't, again, very small things. But so I'm excited and we'll see if you know I don't like it then whatever down the road, I would just get something else but my initial impressions are positive. And they're different colors. So I think before there were some and like I said it's been a while, it's somewhat limited. I've always just had the black covers. I think they came out with different colored covers for the kind of original ones. I think the last time, I think I stick with black, so I ended up getting, they had gray, like a pinky lavender and a green. And I think I got like two greens, a pink and like a gray or black. I think it's more of a gray trying to remember now. And I thought it actually would be nice, because then seasonally I can change up the color. So that was the I guess the nice thing about thinking if I would do more like quarterly, right? So like, I would do, you know, September, October, November, whatever, like, ideally, I guess I would start in like October. So I would have started or. Anyways! So then I would have I would just easily know like, okay, that's my new one. And like that's my next one as you're like transitioning. So again, very small things. But when you've got like a million of these little planners floating around your house, then I like the idea of the different colors to transition. Plus, and it's just kind of fun to have something, change, something new.

Jennifer Wilson 21:02

Of course it is. And I have to give them some credit for listening to feedback, even if it's necessary, what my personal preferences would be, but to listen to their customers, and to iterate on that. And now it's a actually a much more affordable product. And you know, it is known as your dated are undated?

Kim Edsen 21:21

Undated. And see I actually like the undated because I always like the freedom to just start whenever I wanted. Because like before, right, I always just had the September start, and that never really mattered to me. And I actually liked it because I always had with, I still have kids in school, right. So even though they actually start the end of August, but that was always felt like the blank slate of like, it's a new school year, it's a new planner. So like that was my January. Plus, I feel like as far as not that I'm always like changing up habits or routines or things, but I guess I am changing up routines in Septembe. So that if I oftentimes that's a good time for me to if I want to try to break a bad habit or start a new habit. That feels like a better time of year for me usually then like January, when you're in the middle of like the holidays, you're kind of coming out of all that, I feel. I think personally, just more of that fresh start in the fall.

Jennifer Wilson 22:15

Oh, 100% yes.

Kim Edsen 22:15

So I like that spect of it. But yes, it is undated.

Jennifer Wilson 22:20

Well and with the weekly one that I used. And I think I opened it a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about these new 2.0 versions. That the last week I have in it is like the last week of February 2020, was the last time I filled it out. Because then we left town after that. And we came back to a pandemic. Yeah, so I did appreciate that, you know, even if we did go on vacation, even you know, prior pre pandemic life, that if you needed to skip a week, it was no big deal. And you just pick up and then it makes the planner last a lot longer. So there is something really nice about undated planners.

Kim Edsen 22:54

Well, and actually my first daily planner, it was designed to be a six month planner, I don't remember how that worked, because I don't, they might have had 12 months of like the 12 month, month, monthly pages in there. Because I use that for a full year, because a lot of times, it was a full page, and I didn't need a full new page for planning each day. So I did use that for a full year. And then when I went to the weekly, those are designed for a year. And even if I didn't use a day, well, it wasn't like I lost a whole spread because it was just this two page spread. So anyways, you plan to plan, I will let you know.

Jennifer Wilson 23:33

I can see the attraction to the daily because I'm, I've been using my Everyday Explorer's Planner Pad on days where I just need to focus on just today. And so I like having that view of okay, I don't need to look at the whole week. I don't need to know what's tomorrow. I don't need to know what I've already done. I just need to know, what do I need to do today. And so having a daily view is, can be really, really nice. Sometimes when you're feeling overwhelmed, and you want to write down all those little mundane tasks so that you can feel like you're moving forward.

Kim Edsen 24:03

Yes. And I will say the nice thing I found about the Panda Planner is you can have it's both the weekly and the daily because you do have like kind of a plan your week section where I can say like, okay, what are my projects that are like things I want to focus on this week? They wouldn't. And now I really should grab that because I'm trying to think of what the new, the 2.0 has for the weekly. I think it's somewhat similar. It's a little bit different. But so they're like what is like a personal thing you're working on this week? What is something for work that you're working on this week? What is something for like your relationship or family and friends, and then you would also have a spot to kind of celebrate, like what went well, last year week. So it was kind of a reflection opportunity and then also to look ahead, and then so I would usually do that at the beginning of the week, like Sunday or Monday, and then I would go into the fall, like day to day. But I would, always could refer back to kind of like my weekly plan if I needed to and I usually ideally that's what I would do. I'd be like going through day to day. I'm thinking like, oh, yeah, like, what did I want to do this week? Refer back like, oh, yeah, I'm on track with that, or oh, yeah, I forgot I should probably get that started. So that is what's worked really well, for me with this whole system is, like I said earlier like that, that funnel concept of like, starting big and then kind of working my way down, like from month, to week, to day. Though, yes, definitely, like day to day. I use the daily aspect of it. But I do appreciate having that kind of reflection period. And also the opportunity to kind of plan with intention that I think the weekly section offers. Obviously, I used to do it more at the monthly and then that's kind of gone off the wayside. And, and maybe it's just the season that we're in right now, as far as like you said, with kids. And I don't know, but I'm very much feeling that needing to focus and just be able to like, progress through the day. Very, like my newly, because we talked earlier about like, yeah, thinking too big or thinking too small, like, I am at a point where I just need to think small for like getting through the day. And then but over time, all those small steps add up to something big. So...

Jennifer Wilson 26:11

100%. So I was just reminded, I'm, I'm looking at the website, and you know, the different layouts. And of course, we'll include the link in the show notes to the planner that you purchased. And I was just comparing it to the Rocket Book Panda Planner that I have. Yeah, so Rocket Book is that reusable notebook where it has their kind of slick pages almost, it's really hard to describe, and you write on them with an erasable pen. And it's a very kind of slick, almost like writing on a photo feeling. It does smudge a little bit too easily for my preference. But it's neat, because you can then take a photo of it, and it will, if you have it set up right, use the QR code automatically send it to your destination of choice like email, Trello wherever you want. And reduces paper because you can erase it and start over. I've had I've used it here and there. But it is that same kind of half size, but it is the older format where it's actually for each day, you have two full pages, which is a lot of...

Kim Edsen 27:16

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 27:17

Like not every day do I really want to do that much like reflection goal setting priority, though. Like, I don't need to get that deep every single day. So as you mentioned, I think on a weekly basis, that's really nice. But on a daily basis, sometimes you just want to get to it.

Kim Edsen 27:34

Yes. And I will say even that with the planner that I have now. So I'm going to pull these up too, because this will help refresh my memory. In the weekly pages. There are sections that I never fill out. It's like what do I want to improve on my you know, I just need to like, make it through. So I'm, I like, very rarely will I fill that out, though there should be there are things like like, what am I looking forward to this week. So like something like that? Sometimes I fill it out, sometimes I don't. I think it's nice, because if I go through like a period of time where I'm just not really excited about anything, like maybe I need to, like create that myself. But, and even within that period, right, like, what am I working on with like, my relationship? Like, I don't know, are we gonna watch a movie, like sometimes I don't actually need to write those things down. So why I appreciate it. I think the streamlined version that's in the daily 2.0 that I got will be adequate for my needs now and you know, maybe that will change but so even though I do appreciate like I said, like some of the reflection opportunities I don't use them all. And even on like the daily where it's like what could I have done better? I just put another like what thing that went well, like, I guess apparently I'm not looking at improving. I'm just using it to like, right it's like what can improve, what can I do better? I'm like, yeah, whatever, I'm good. I just need to like make it through. So I don't actually use that either. So again, I think the new version has what I do want and less of what the stuff that I don't use. So...

Jennifer Wilson 29:01

Well that makes sense. And it sounds like that's consistent with what other customers felt as well.

Kim Edsen 29:05

Yeah. Cool.

Jennifer Wilson 29:06

But you're, you're such a hoo, so they. Oh, you are such a hoot. So thanks for diving into that. I know we want to, we planned on like following up on Panda Planner. And being mid year here people are trying to think about okay how I want to get my my rear end gear for the second half of the year. And some folks may be thinking about what, what planner they want to switch to especially as we do get to that, that fall time of the new new year in September and that. So...

Kim Edsen 29:34

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 29:35

We should probably talk about scrapbooking though.

Kim Edsen 29:36

We probably should.

Jennifer Wilson 29:39

So what's something that's exciting you in scrapbooking right now?

Kim Edsen 29:43

Okay, well, a couple of things one, I am getting very close to ordering I think my 2020 book. So my plan, I've been making digital pages is to get them up, printed as like a bound book. I'm not for certain on who I will print that with. But I have a list within Trello of kind of stories I wanted to tell. And I just go back and look, refresh that occasionally or I'll look through. I think one of the spring refreshes, I'd gone through like my photos from last year and kind of tagged or highlighted something that I thought I still wanted to include and getting close. So I'm excited about that. But the other thing that just popped into my radar last night actually, is they are doing sneak peeks or unveilings of some new collections. And I do not know, have you seen Paige Taylor Evans Bungalow Lane collection?

Jennifer Wilson 30:32

Mm hmm.

Kim Edsen 30:33

Big fan, there's houses and leaves and flowers and like, all the colors, like there's, it's just the full rainbow. So I think you could find something that you like, and I always really appreciate her patterns, I think a lot of times are very usable. And like the sentiments are all ones I would use. So obviously that is a paper line, but AC Digital's will, because it's through American Crafts, they eventually will get that line digitally. And so I will definitely be waiting for that to happen.

Jennifer Wilson 31:07

I actually have the email from A Cherry On Top in my inbox waiting because there's some things that I want to preorder. And in particular, the Jen Hadfield Peaceful Heart line is the one that was like, calling to me ever since I got some like, you know, as an industry person, I get a little sneak peeks earlier in the year. And I've been eyeing that one just waiting for the opportunity to, to jump on it. Because it's, they're, it's my colors. It has like a a mauve that's just so like up my alley. It's like my, I feel like it's my, become my signature color. And like lots of like creams and whites and some muted sage greens and it's just like a very you know, as it sounds like a very peaceful, slightly naturey slightly zen little collection. So I'm really excited about that one. I'm gonna try not to buy everything.

Kim Edsen 32:01

I clearly need to be like I said, this just came on my radar last night, when I was waiting for dinner to get out of the oven, and I was flipping through Instagram. And so I have not seen all these different collections. So I will have to do some searching because I really like, I've liked some of her, Jenn Hadfield's past lines too. So I will definitely take a look.

Jennifer Wilson 32:21

Yeah, this, this, I would say everything that's that's come out in the season has been so, so good. I'm so many good collections. I am trying to hold myself back. Because I do have plenty of supplies. But it's hard not to feel the temptation, for sure.

Kim Edsen 32:39

Well, maybe you can find something that you can get a few things that coordinate like if you have like you said your signature color. If you get some new items that still work with those maybe past lines, then you can kind of feel like you get a little bit of a treat without overwhelming yourself.

Jennifer Wilson 32:56

I think the answer is I need to declutter more of my older stuff. So I want room for my new for new stuff.

Kim Edsen 33:01

Okay, so are you going to declutter by using it and making it or passing it on to either Emily or a new home?

Jennifer Wilson 33:09

You know, I haven't, this is literally a thought that I just had like this moment. But I do have and and I realize I don't have a ton of pattern paper. But I probably have a good solid three inches of patterned paper. And the majority of it is Studio Calico from kits. And I really need to like go through page by page and say, okay, would I actually ever use this? Because some of the patterns are just like, a little bizarre. And I think that that was your has been part of their signature style, something a little bit more trendy and edgy. And some patterns are things that I really like. And some are like, no, I'm probably never going to use that. But while I have done that kind of edit with my embellishments, I have not done that with my pattern paper at all. And it's probably time to cut it probably in half, so that I can bring in more of the things that I do like and will use regularly.

Kim Edsen 34:01

That sounds like a plan. Any else, scrappy right now that you're excited about?

Jennifer Wilson 34:07

Well, we are in the thick of working on Steve's Before Your Story album. So Steve is my husband. And we're working on a 9 by 12 album using my class framework. And there's, of course, a lot of like ups and downs to it, because he's not a scrapbooker. He's just organizing everything, choosing the photos, writing the journaling. And then I'm the one putting it together. But I would say the most kind of exciting development here is that he's found so many photos of my stepsons who are now at 26 and 30. And we really want to commit to next summer doing kind of matching photo books for them using the same kind of framework but doing a photo book style and, and having something that we can print multiples of and pass one on to them and have one for ourselves. Because he keeps finding all these photos of the boys and he's like, well these fit in my album like Oh yes, maybe But we can't, it's not about them, it's about you. So you should save those for when we do their project. And so he's been scanning some of those things and a little bit of kind of tandem side by side work there. But that's definitely kind of now on our horizon of we need to get this done.

Kim Edsen 35:18

Well, great. And then he will be a pro, because he'll have worked through his album and he can help you do theirs.

Jennifer Wilson 35:26

Yeah. And he's been like, he's been very, I always say this. I've heard a couple times from other people, like, he will tell someone about it. And then I hear from them, that he has talked to them about working on this project. And so I really feel like he's, there's, there's a certain pride in it, and he's excited to be telling his story. So that feels really I don't know, rewarding because especially when we're doing someone else's story, where they're involved, they're going to have a various levels of interest in scrapbooking and commitment to the project. And I'm glad we waited till this time in which I said, okay, we're doing this now, whether you like it or not, but I knew he would. As soon as I, I kind of sat him down and got him started, he would just relish in it, because he's that type of person. Like once you really get the ball rolling, you know, he dives in and finds his own flow with it.

Kim Edsen 36:21

I think that is like one, the sweetest thing ever. And two, you've been talking about doing his story...

Jennifer Wilson 36:26

Yes.

Kim Edsen 36:27

For years, because I think you were talking about it when I took the class. So I'm sure he was aware that this was on the radar. And the time has just come. So. Cool.

Jennifer Wilson 36:40

Yeah, I think the the development and oh, how do I say this, if I had not participated in Crop and Create Delivered earlier this year, I'm trying to think. I feel, I really feel like there was a certain degree of opening my eyes with that, because I'd not use a lot of cut apart sheets before. Like I knew there were of course patterned papers that had three by four cards on them. But I had not intentionally purchased those with the intent of cutting them apart. But that was a lot of what we did in this class. And I was like, oh, that that's kind of what's available now in terms of pocket cards. If you're not subscribed to some sort of kit club where you're getting a small number every month. But if you want a larger number, you're going to have to cut them apart from sheets, probably. Or you're going to have to make your own, which is what we're doing a lot of as well with pattern paper and cardstock. But you can't really buy like 600 card kits anymore. So it's just kind of a new era. And I was ready to figure out okay, in this new era, how do we tell the story in a similar type of way with the supplies we have available now?

Kim Edsen 37:58

Yes, well, that makes sense. Because, you know, years have gone by and things change. So...

Jennifer Wilson 38:05

For sure. All right, let's talk Bucket List Stories.

Kim Edsen 38:10

Okay.

Jennifer Wilson 38:10

Is it is it a pet, a grandparent, a food?

Kim Edsen 38:14

Okay, I almost did a food one. But I, this is a little take on it. So this isn't maybe a story that I've just been dying to tell. But it's kind of an ongoing thing for me. And that is, I need to update my girls' school albums. So...

Jennifer Wilson 38:31

Hmm.

Kim Edsen 38:31

Backstory is I when I started scrapbooking, they were like one year old. And then I had, always I would go to like these crop events and people were always I felt like there was always somebody there with a child who's graduating from high school. And they were just like, frantically putting together books that they would have out for like the graduation party, it was just this, right, always seems like a lot of pressure. And shortly around the time that my girls were starting school, Becky Higgins came out with a Project Life kit, oddly enough that we just talked about them. That was a school focused ones. And I cannot remember the name of it now. It will come to me. Is it Mayfield, maybe. But anyways...

Jennifer Wilson 39:16

I was thinking of Wellington.

Kim Edsen 39:17

So I think Wellington kind of, there was, that was one of them. And it was like blues and greens and quote unquote, like the boy one, though, I mean, they were neutral. But that kind of had more like the feel of like maps and stuff. And the one I got I think it was Mayfield and see if we can scrounge up the name for you. But um, well, I really, really liked about it was I had all these great prompt cards. So there'd be one that would be like, what grade are you? What school do you go to? Who's your teacher? And then there'd be prompt cards like these are my friends this year. This is what I ate for lunch. This was my schedule. These are my extracurricular activities. These were books I like to read or my favorite class was this and there was one for they would sign their name and do like a self portrait and so I was all in and I. And I quickly learned because I think it was also about the same time that I had, I think I started for like preschool kindergarten, and I was just like keeping way too much stuff. And then I think I did my Before Your Story album, and then very quickly realized, like the sort of things that were meaningful to me as an adult, versus right as like a parent of a child, right. So like, what I chose to keep, versus all the things that my mom had saved. So I went into that project with like, kind of new eyes on to like, I don't really need this math test or the spelling test, but I will keep this, you know, original composition that they wrote about, like their pets at home or something. So that gave me kind of a new approach. So I did Project Life style for all of elementary school, which for my kids was kindergarten through fifth grade. And then I was starting to kind of get the bug for digital or more the idea of, I don't necessarily know that I want to keep accumulating these large 3 ring albums. So I had gotten a Paisley Press digital kit. And that is what I've done for sixth grade and seventh grade. And now my kids have just finished eighth grade. And I was always still on the border of I don't know. So that was always my thing with the school stuff is I loved having little pockets, or I would add in, you know, dividers for, I don't know, right, like the little like the program from the school concert, or they got like a nice note from their teacher, or just the little bits and pieces. So now that they're getting older, there is not as much of that type of thing. First of all, so then I didn't know if I would just simply go to bound books. So I think a few things come into play here is one, it was a really weird school year. So trying to get my head around how I want to have that documented. And then two next year, they're going into high school. So I think my original thought was I would get a bound book for like these three years, and then do something for the four years. So I think where I'm at now is I will continue with the digital pages, I will get them as a bound book. But I think I will do an additional like three ring binder with just page protectors for all those like bits and pieces that I want to keep. So the...

Jennifer Wilson 39:36

Well that's a nice compromise.

Kim Edsen 40:02

Because I still get that feel. And so then in theory, I would think it would be like a three ring album for like both of them for each child, right. So like, at this point, I counted today, because I'm doing my living room deep clean, and I took all of my albums off of my built ins. And like my living room family room areas, I have 28, 8.5 by 11 or 12 by 12. Like full size albums. So at this point, what are two more? So I will do that. And then I think a bound book. And honestly, I don't need to get it printed now for middle school. So maybe we'll just see how many pages we get up. And maybe we'll just do like one giant bound book for like, whatever sixth grade through 12th grade? I don't know about that. But I said I think that's my plan is to continue with the digital pages. And then any like the momento like physical things I want to keep, I will slip into they'll each get a three ring binder for that. So there I go.

Jennifer Wilson 43:19

I'm curious if you were attracted to or not attracted to the idea of of printing out your 8.5 by 11 pages and, and putting them in the album with the memorabilia.

Kim Edsen 43:31

Okay, so that was my original kind of backup thing. But then I think, then I don't think I can get that I think then they would have multiple, they would each have like multiple more like three ring binders, right? Because I doubt, I doubt I can get all the pages plus all the memorabilia for say 6 through 12th grade into like one binder. So then they're gonna each end up with. So then that's gonna be like four more binders, right? Because they each have one for kindergarten. I don't. And that's why, like, I keep I keep putting off this decision. I'm like, well, I don't have to commit yet. But eventually I will. So I think that is my plan for now is the memorabilia binder. But yes, I've definitely considered the printing out and then put them into page protectors because ideally, that's what I would have done and even some of the, like the templates you have, there's a spot for a signature and I actually printed them out so my kids would sign them and then I scan to them so that I have both options. So I'm trying to like cover my bases.

Jennifer Wilson 44:37

Oh, okay.

Kim Edsen 44:38

So...

Jennifer Wilson 44:39

Well what about putting your like doing, are you doing an 8.5 by 11 photo book are we doing something slightly smaller?

Kim Edsen 44:47

8.5 by 11.

Jennifer Wilson 44:50

Because I you know and this may not be something for you, but for someone listening you because I'm sitting here looking at a 9 by 12 album which is not that much larger than 8.5 by 11. But if you have a slightly smaller photo book, especially like a soft bound one, you can easily find several ways to to include that, basically in the album in some sort of pocket.

Kim Edsen 45:12

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 45:13

So that you have your, your big pages for memorabilia, and then you have your photo book as part of that as well. So that's kind of fun way too.

Kim Edsen 45:20

And I've thought about that well, just for existing, like books that I have had printed for trips or like December Daily and some things I have just left a space in the book, and then I would just go ahead and adhere that memorabilia in that space. But I am concerned at some point, how chunky that gets, especially with something like a school album where I think I'm gonna have more than just like a handful of like, this is a receipt or a map that we used or something. I don't know if that will screw up the binding, like, I don't know.

Jennifer Wilson 45:54

So what you're thinking of is more what we've seen Monica, one of our members, has done is putting a pocket in the photo book. I'm saying the reverse putting the photo book in your scrapbook album.

Kim Edsen 46:07

Oh, okay. I did not catch that. Got it.

Jennifer Wilson 46:10

So for example, like the full page, you know, and I think Becky Higgins still has some of those full page pockets. I wouldn't be surprised if scrapbook.com came out with some that are hole punch soon. They do have ones that are not hole punched believe. That adhere into the cover.

Kim Edsen 46:28

Yeah. Okay. And that's what I have those in the elementary school albums for some of like the bigger chunkier type things that I still wanted to include. So...

Jennifer Wilson 46:37

Yeah, I bought some of the slightly smaller ones. For some of Steve's memorabilia for this album. They're like seven by nine ish. Okay, so I mean, yeah, so there are there's both ways to think about it, including physical stuff in a photo book, but as well as including a photo book in a physical album.

Kim Edsen 46:54

Oh, see.

Jennifer Wilson 46:54

If you're feeling a craving to have best of both worlds?

Kim Edsen 46:59

Yeah, I had not thought about that.

Jennifer Wilson 47:02

Something to consider.

Kim Edsen 47:03

So good point. Yes. So anyways, that's my Bucket List. I want to continue with the school stories. I don't want to like just, I usually do it the summer after some summers it gets later than others. It's not my favorite project. But I do really appreciate it when it's done. I think this year, I've been more hesitant just because it was a weird year. And so trying to figure out how I want to present that. But also, I was still I still really liked that concept of like the prompts. And so I obviously I'm not using the Becky Higgins cards anymore, but I can incorporate those into the digital pages. And that's what I've done in the past. But now that my kids are older, I don't necessarily I mean, like, they're in their rooms listening to music, and I know some songs that they like, or some artists, but I definitely need to go to them and say like, okay, like, what were some of your favorite books this year? Like, I can't remember those things. So usually it's like, okay, well, I'm currently reading like these series or whatever. But and I think that's the other part of it is I do now that especially that they're getting older, need to touch base with them as far as the information that I want to document.

Jennifer Wilson 48:12

Oh, yeah, for sure. Well and I love how your overall approach from the design perspective as well. It's a storytelling perspective is honoring the changes in your life, thie seasons, the different seasons of your life, as well as your own creative evolution. That I think sometimes when we force ourselves to continue a project in the way we began it, because that's how we've done it, that's when it doesn't get done. And so you're creating yourself, giving yourself the best opportunity to finish this project and to keep up with it by allowing it to evolve with you.

Kim Edsen 48:45

Well, that's the goal. So what stories are you? Food, grandparent, or partner?

Jennifer Wilson 48:52

I am food this time. Okay, so I was thinking about this the other day, because we've been, it's softball season. So we're like just running a little ragged last night. We didn't get home till 10:30 because it was a late game. And I had a couple days where I ate a bagel for dinner. Just a plain bagel with cream cheese. And there's something. So such a vivid memory for me of the very first time I ate a bagel with cream cheese. This was in first grade in Mrs. Zabbix class. And she brought in bagels. And we, I remember you could microwave it or you could toast it. And then everybody got cream cheese, and I think she had butter for maybe people who didn't didn't like cream cheese or didn't want it. And I remember tasting that and it's like fireworks went off like oh my gosh, how have I been missing this delightful food for for you know, whatever. It was first grade, so it wasn't that many years but like this was such a new wonderful thing for me. And I remember that moment just so vividly. And then I remember that summer, I asked my mom to buy me bagels and cream cheese. And I would get up early. And I would watch Dumbo on the Disney Channel and eat my little bagel. But every single time I eat just like a plain bagel with plain cream cheese, it takes me back to that memory, like literally every time. And I don't know, I can't explain it. But I have not told that story about how like, visceral that memory is for me. And so I think it's definitely time to get that one in the album.

Kim Edsen 50:30

Yeah, clearly. Wow. That's fun.

Jennifer Wilson 50:34

Yeah, for sure. And of course, I have many other food stories. And at some point, you know, maybe, you know, thinking back to my conversation with Shimelle, and how she will take certain stories out of albums to start a new album when she starts to identify these themes. You know, I'm definitely a foodie. And so it might be time to finally kind of bring those together under one roof as well. So that would be a thing I'm thinking about.

Kim Edsen 50:57

Yeah. always evolving. You gotta keep it interesting, right.

Jennifer Wilson 51:02

For sure. So speaking about, you know, evolving and time going by, we are kind of concluding our Storytelling Journey here at Simple Scrapper. And I'm curious, like what observations you have from the past two months, what stood out to you?

Kim Edsen 51:20

So I actually was kind of reviewing posts from last night, I was going back. And I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was, obviously, we have this kind of central Storytelling Journey, but I feel like members just approached it from so many different angles, right? It's like the whole like, Scrapbook Your Way concept was very evident. So a lot of people were doing like the Before Your Story, but we had people sharing their Week In The Life and people working through different classes together, and we had people, Peggy is continuing with the whole, like, Bucket List Project concept. And some members are working through their own kind of pace version of like the Finishing Project. So I feel like everyone is kind of taking this, like, what's the word I'm looking for? It's kind of this like universal or like momentum that is within the group, and they can apply it to whatever they're interested in working on. So I just think that it's been like a really good variety. I see a lot of people asking questions, especially like with the Before Your Story project. You know, we've had a lot of new people that are like working through that. And we have a lot of experienced people that have already done that. And they're saying like, hey, like, how did you approach this? Or hey, like, FYI, everyone, this is like a really cool resource. So I just feel like there's been a lot of good sharing of ideas and concepts. And even like the smallest things like Sue commented this, it was just this little tidbit about like popsicles. And it's just like taking off this conversation or group about everyone's like, memories about popsicles. So...

Jennifer Wilson 52:58

Yes, yes. I love it,

Kim Edsen 52:59

I just feel like I love it just like this really like positive momentum. I guess. It's like the overall thing that I'm getting from it.

Jennifer Wilson 53:07

Well and I think, anytime we have those little conversations that relate to our memories, we can identify connections between each other as well, the way we're similar the way we're different. And that just even fosters that deeper sense of community. So yeah, things are just like very, very active in such a happy and warm way right now. And as you said, like I love that everyone's really accepting that permission to identify their own priorities and follow them. And sometimes that means following along with whatever kind of we're, we're leading. And sometimes it's just using that kind of collective energy to do your own thing and work on your own thing, whether it's alone or in these like small organic groups that that kind of bubble up around that topic. So that's all good.

Kim Edsen 53:54

Yes. Anything additional that you have?

Jennifer Wilson 53:58

You mentioned the small things like the popsicle example. But some of the specificity of our conversations, we're not just always like talking broadly about how do you get things done? It's sometimes really specific bits that help us move forward. So in particular, because this was storytelling, we were, because we were being so specific about how do you do tackle this particular page? Or what are your Me Before You stories? We weren't ever thinking about? Okay, I struggled with journaling, we're talking about really specific, okay, how do you document this particular thing and sharing, you know, very specific examples. And so it just kind of jumps over that hurdle of Oh, I'm not good at journaling or I'm, you know, I struggle with storytelling. When we go from, you know, intent to actual okay, here's examples of what you can do. Frameworks like the fact, feeling, and memory and I've just I've loved that we just, you know, we're not even talking about the hurdles, we've just jumped right over them. And so it's been really rewarding as a teacher, just to see the community helping one another and really moving these projects forward.

Kim Edsen 55:13

Well, and then this week, we have like a Wednesday kind of discussion, question prompt each week, it was like, What How is your favorite, like approach for getting journaling on a page? And I have to say, so like, I'm all about, like the journal black usually printed onto the background. Like, that's just my go to. So I assume, of course, that's what everybody likes to do. Tons of people we're all about, like the journal card and the tag. And then there's also those people that are like, you know, we talked about like strips, or I mean, some people just do something completely different. And some people do all of them. But yes, I always think it's kind of surprising, but like, in a good way, it's very interesting to me, to see how people approach things, with such variety, it's, and I think you can learn a lot from that.

Jennifer Wilson 56:00

Oh, yeah. And I think the more specific we get the questions and the conversations, the more actually helpful it is. And so it's just, yeah, it's been a really good two month period. And I'm both I'm excited to see kind of how what direction we want to take storytelling again next year. Because my it's kind of the general idea that we're gonna, these are these, these are really big concepts that we're talking about. And that each year, we'll revisit that, that maybe do a little bit different lens or a different emphasis. But I think with each year, we just grow and learn more and get even better at it.

Kim Edsen 56:38

For sure.

Jennifer Wilson 56:40

All right, shifting gears towards the future. So you're entering into the Photos Journey. And these are just as a reminder, these are these two month periods where we have a theme, we first were in storytelling, and now July and August will be photos. And our next Refresh Retreat kind of kicks off the journey officially and that begins July 8. I'm curious Kim, what are you looking forward to about the next Refresh session?

Kim Edsen 57:08

Well, I have a little sneak peek behind the scenes at some of the things and I am super looking forward to the keynote address. That is...

Jennifer Wilson 57:18

Yes.

Kim Edsen 57:19

I'm like waiting, like sitting on my hands like waiting. So I think that will be a good one for me.

Jennifer Wilson 57:27

So as of when this episode goes up, last week's episode was with Ettiene and we just had this delightful conversation about her passion for photography, and she is our keynote speaker for Refresh. And I'm just so excited to bring in different perspectives. We had Audrey last time around for Storytelling. And our team is just so incredibly talented and to bring their voices into the teaching. It's just only making everything more, more fun and more fruitful for our members.

Jennifer Wilson 57:59

Yeah, I thought Audrey's was excellent. And like I said, I'm very, very excited to hear what Etienne has for us for July.

Jennifer Wilson 58:08

Yeah, I also think with with Refresh, like, it's just this intentional pause. I didn't want to make it like this. We've done. We certainly did a week long retreats in the past, and we've narrowed it to four days to really just be this little just blip on the calendar to say okay, I'm going to pause here. And I'm going to reconnect with my hobby, by stretching myself a little bit figuring out what's important to me right now. And we, we have the community behind you to do that. Because we can acknowledge by ourselves, well, I really need to get off this hamster wheel, whether it's a hamster wheel of languishing and feeling blocked, or it's a hamster wheel of, of maybe pushing too hard or purchasing too much whatever hamster wheel you're on, it's hard to get off alone. You need someone to like, hold that thing down and hold and press pause for you. So that you can really feel a true reset. And I think that's one of the things I love about Refresh.

Kim Edsen 59:10

Oh yeah, I love Refresh. It's long been one of our favorite events. And because I do feel like at the end of it, you do feel refreshed, or for me even it's a lot more of just like being re energized. And the fact that they are set at regular intervals. I feel like it's always kind of the opportunity to kind of like refill your gas tank, so to speak, right and then keep you carrying, keep you moving forward, you know, for like the next several months until we have another Refresh. So yes, I love Refresh. And all the interactions that we've had. Yeah, they've always been a great, great event.

Jennifer Wilson 59:49

Well we're always listening to the members and seeing what, what activity is really resonating with them which activities aren't resonating and trying to really lean into what's going to build some energy in the community be a little bit different, be more fun. Not necessarily follow trends, but follow the excitement and energy of what people are talking about and try to, to encourage them in that direction. And so it's the same thing we were talking about with, you know, being able to focus on your own priorities, refresh is that chance to just take a break and figure out what is your priorities, and then you can focus on that. If you don't ever stop and think, then you might be on the wrong track. And that's why you're struggling to feel excited or motivated about your hobby.

Kim Edsen 1:00:39

Well, it goes back to the whole like Panda Planner concept, right? Like, okay, take a moment to reflect, like, what's gone well, what hasn't gone well, okay, with that information in mind, how can I intentionally move forward? And like Refresh just helps you do that for your hobby.

Jennifer Wilson 1:00:55

Yes, 100%. I guess more on the technical side, this I mean, this is the Photos Journey. So what skills or systems are you wanting to work on? It could be like, the photography side, photo editing, photo management, we do have a session of Photo Crush coming up in August, this will be our 102 session, where we're really talking about what to do with all your photo prints your digital archive, this isn't about setting up systems, though we do have that curriculum inside the classroom, but we're adding new curriculum on how do you actually go through your old stuff.

Kim Edsen 1:01:33

So I think twofold. Like when we get into Photo Crush, I have digitized a lot of my childhood photos I working through like Before Your Stories and telling like other stories that related to like today compared to then. And I've done some of my husband's but it's been much more specific for certain stories that I've wanted to tell. So I would like to take maybe a bigger overview, consider some of the stories I'd want to tell from his childhood, maybe even do his version of his Before Your Story for him in the future. But to deal with his printed photos, that has not been done. And I think honestly, I'm looking forward to I think it would be a fun project. They are organized, they're in like a photo box by year, but just to like simply go through and kind of you know, choose the ones I think I would want. And then the other aspect of it is less technical. But it's I have talked about this before, and I'm probably talking about again, but I have just fallen out of the habit of photo taking. And I think it's multiple levels. It's for many years, I did Project Life, I first did a daily than weekly, then monthly. And so I think I just felt overwhelmed by like the photos and just like dealing with them and processing them and just not even just like, going through them. Right. I was just tired. So I took I took a break, I have not returned, so I stopped doing Project Life. And then I think the other part of it is my kids are getting older, they're not as excited for me to take their photos as maybe they were when they were younger. Maybe they're not like evolving and changing as rapidly as they were when they were like two to three or something like that. So I have not, you talked about like evolving projects, I don't think I have evolved my photo taking habits as my life has changed through the years. And I still take photos. But honestly, like, there are months when I go to my favorites. And I'm like well, okay, I've got like 20 photos, like Which one, which five will I use, like, I don't know, it just depends. I feel like some of it too, is evaluating with what I take photos of. So it's a lot about pets and nature at this point. And maybe that's just gonna be like my new norm, right? It's not my kids playing dress up or doing whatever cute little thing, though, there is still some of that. I think, um, like, the other night, my daughter and I are playing a game we were having, like a tournament, kind of tongue in cheek. And she beat me soundly. And I asked my husband like, will you take a photo of us? So I think it's also part of that is just one to ask for people. So I can be in photos, if I think about something. And then too sometimes I think about taking photos and then like oh, I'll do that later. And then I don't. And then for whatever reason, right? Like, oh, I'm gonna take pictures of the cherry blossoms. And then you know what happens? There's a storm and the cherry blossoms all falls to the ground or there's a freeze or whatever, like things are impermanent. And so if I want to take the photo, I need to like pause and do so. So I think from that aspect, I just want to kind of evaluate where I am with that and that's where I'm hoping Ettiene is gonna just light my fire and get me excited. And then, also with that in mind, just perspective, I think right? I've been doing this a long time. So maybe to keep it interesting and exciting is to evolve. And to consider, like different perspectives. I feel like right, I've done like the up above and the even in the download and like so like, how else can I infuse some excitement into just the practice of taking photos?

Jennifer Wilson 1:05:17

Well, I can't wait for you to hear Ettiene's episode because we talk a lot about how she's done that and, you know, she like, has lots of fun different camera equipment. And so she's incorporates that into her creative practice with a certain degree of experimentation, including a film camera. And so I think there's, there's ways to dabble in that if that's something that interests you. And it seems like, in this particular season of life, you know, with nature, maybe more selfies, things like that, it's a time to see, okay, how can I see things differently when there's not the fun little kid pictures to take as many of. So...

Kim Edsen 1:05:53

Yeah. Well, and then my other thing was always travel photography, like I still really or even just, like, right like, I'm a tourist in my hometown, I like to do that type of photography. Well, it's not like we've been going anywhere, like very much, right? The last, yeah, whatever, 15 months. So I think that has also come into play, as well. It's like a muscle, if I'm not using it, then it just kind of starts to atrophy. So I need to get exercising my muscle.

Jennifer Wilson 1:06:21

Well, I think there's a certain degree of like, let's just take the pandemic out of the equation. But sometimes some trips, you want to be like mobile and flexible. And I would say like Disney is a good example where, unless you're like a serious, like serious Disney photographer, person, you probably just want to bring your smartphone, because you're going to be often on these rides, and you're hot. And just, you know, like the smartphone is the thing unless you're going on a specific photography journey at Disney for that purpose. But then there's other things like a road trip out west, where it makes perfect sense to bring your big camera and maybe even bring that tripod and really take the time to take photos. And both are perfectly wonderful. But there is sometimes a time and a place. And I think we can get into the all or nothing thinking sometimes. And it's really more of a like a unique fit situation for each adventure.

Kim Edsen 1:07:14

And I think also you talk about kind of like the technical aspects of it. I don't really have patience for some of that, like, I just want to take my picture, like, I've done some photography classes, and you'll kind of get into it for a while. But when it comes down to like the technical things of it. That's not so much my thing. But maybe if I took a little more interest into it, that would also be another avenue to get me excited about things again. So I think there's lots of options. I'll be excited to kind of see where the journey takes me.

Jennifer Wilson 1:07:47

Oh, 100%. Yeah, I've got like three different things here that I'm excited about. Okay, so one, definitely similar to what you mentioned, with tagging, like I participated in Photo Freedom for I participated in Photo Freedom this year. And I was not probably the same A plus student that I was in school, but I think it was a solid B student. And it definitely gave me some new perspective on things that I want to do with my photo library to make those stories easier to uncover. And the most important thing for me is tagging the best photos only by tagging the people in them so that I can do those special groupings of Emily with her grandparents or just Emily and Steve and being able to find those photos easily. That's often how I'm thinking about things when I want to pull things across time is by the people that are in them.

Kim Edsen 1:08:41

Okay. Can I ask as question?

Jennifer Wilson 1:08:43

If it's a place, it's easier to find, like, I know what once we went to Michigan, I can go and find those. But the people ones are totally independent of place, oftentimes. And that's those are the tags that are really important to me.

Kim Edsen 1:08:56

So here's my question for you. Because in the past, we talked about tagging, and you were kind of always of the mindset that a lot of technology can do a lot for you in this day and age as far as like facial recognition. So is that how you will begin to approach that or will you be doing like keyword tag type things in Lightroom?

Jennifer Wilson 1:09:15

So, I am leveraging Light Room's facial recognition to do the people tags. Which I just like click on faces. Yes, this is Emily. No, this is not Emily. But then I go in and the the main no part is identifying the favorite. So kind of my overall goal is to have like 1000 favorite photos.

Kim Edsen 1:09:38

okay.

Jennifer Wilson 1:09:39

And so this isn't, you know, this isn't picking like 100 from a year this is 1000 across like all of my time. So sometimes you may take ones out of there, but I want to have here's the best stuff, the more of the photographic legacy. And those are the ones that I want to make sure are highlighted separately. So I'm actually over tagging with people, but then I have to pick the favorite, so then I can create those pairs using Smart Collections.

Kim Edsen 1:10:05

Okay, so with your marking your favorites, are you doing like star ratings? Is that the plan? Or something different?

Jennifer Wilson 1:10:14

I am using the star ratings.

Kim Edsen 1:10:16

Okay. Cool. I have always loved that approach that Stacy had the kind of the concept of kind of somehow marking your favorites or like the best for whatever reason, technical or otherwise photos. Because that when you go in to see them, then you get all excited about it. And when I'm choosing what to scrapbook, you know, unlike the months where I have more than like, 20 photos, I can start with like, my favorite ones, like these are the ones I 100% know, I want to scrapbook, and then I kind of can use the other ones as supporting photos, if I so desire. So...

Jennifer Wilson 1:10:52

Yes, exactly what you said.

Kim Edsen 1:10:54

I like it. Okay, what else?

Jennifer Wilson 1:10:58

I got a new camera, I guess last year now more than a year ago, it's a mirrorless camera. So it's super lightweight. But it can take some pretty nice pictures, you know, a lot of people are comparing those to DSLRs with their abilities, it just, they're a little bit faster, because there's no, there's no mirror to flip up and down, which was actually good. It took some getting used to but I want to intentionally continue to learn more. This past six months, I've actually learned a lot about using it for video, and I'm doing well in that particularly in in office video, and all that, but I want to practice more video outside. And then just continue to improve my skills with it by you know, just intentionally learning more watching video tutorials trying new things. Because I think the more you do that, the more comfortable you get, you know, shooting in manual and really understanding how, regardless of what device you're using, really understanding what look you will get, depending on your setting. So really playing with that a little bit more.

Kim Edsen 1:12:02

Well. And a few months ago, you talked about kind of nailing the focus using that camera to so you just kind of building on what you've already learned.

Jennifer Wilson 1:12:13

Yes, yes, and, and really, you know, every camera is going to be a little bit different with you know, being able to get to the right setting quickly. And I think just handling it and using it will give me that comfort zone because I had a kind of comfort zone with my own my old DSLR. And this is still a Canon. So there's some things that are the same, but because it is so much smaller, you do have to like hunt for some menus and things are a little bit more hidden. Because of that, but I'm having fun with it. And it's yeah, it's a nice camera. It's not like it's a super fanciest camera ever, but it does what I need at the level that I'm at. So...

Kim Edsen 1:12:47

Yes. And that, that is like essentially because right at some point, if you have like this super, super high end fancy camera, if you're not using all those features, then like what's the point? You're just going to be frustrated? I would think. So, Identify what you want out of it, and then, you know, match up to that.

Jennifer Wilson 1:13:07

Maybe with diminishing returns, I think with like file size. Like, I don't need a 30 megapixel camera, or 40. I think some of those are like they're just they're in the files are giant like, I'm not printing billboards here, like the biggest and probably going to print and most things is 12 by 12. You know, maybe like a, like a 20 by something poster, maybe. But then, you know, at a certain point you really can't tell because you're it's far away anyway. So I just don't think that I don't even know how to say this. If money was no object, sure I'd buy something fancier. But this is more than enough for my needs, particularly since I haven't maxed out its features.

Kim Edsen 1:13:51

Yeah. So I think that yes, meeting finding something that meets your needs with maybe a little bit of room to grow. But yeah. Cool.

Jennifer Wilson 1:14:00

And then my third item is we're actually going to Texas, let's see when this episode comes out. We will not have left yet, but I haven't seen my parents since last March. And I'm excited to do that. But, you know, a sub reason to go is that they have all these photos from my grandparents. And we were hoping to have gotten a handle on them before we went to Sweden to give some context. I think I've talked on the podcast before like there's the secret sister and I wish we'd had that photo in hand, take it to Sweden and say hey, do you recognize this person, because we're still trying to figure out who that is. But I want to since we don't really have any much on the agenda. I want to take this time to gather those photos from my grandparents. Talk to my parents about some of them, you know, capture some things and then also go ahead and bring those back so we can get them scanned and and start that part of our kind of family history photo documenting journey. So that's you know, it's a big project, but it's time to start moving forward on it.

Kim Edsen 1:15:08

And are your parents knowledgeable about the family history? And if they weren't, they want to talk about it. My dad. So I scanned a bunch of pictures that from my, like years ago at this point, but I would ask him, and he would have, if he would get him talking, he would be fine. But a lot of his thoughts were just, ask Judy, like, who is the sister because she's kind of like the keeper of the family photos and memories. And she's more into genealogy. He's like just ask Judy, I'm like well, Judy is not here. But you are like, Who is this? So? And again, like once you got him going, Yeah, then you'd have all these stories and these memories, but he wasn't always, not that like, not resistant to it. But I think he maybe it was a matter of identifying like, maybe he thought I wanted something like bigger or more detailed was like No, like, I'm good with like the little stories about you growing up on like, the dairy farm. Like this is what I'm looking for, like, I don't need the dates and the facts and the numbers, right. So yeah, so are your parents...

Jennifer Wilson 1:16:13

You just want the anecdotes?

Kim Edsen 1:16:14

Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 1:16:15

They are. And I just feel like, I grew up with that appreciation. I remember, being in my grandparents basement, these are my dad's parents like and, you know, watching slideshows of their vacations and, and I would beg them to like, Oh, no, show me the ones from when you were younger again, I want to see when dad was younger. And so like, that was just so much a part of our family life is looking at photos, and talking about those stories. And I mean, that maybe that's, that's a page in itself that I need to document and maybe going through some of these will give me some photos to like, tell that type of meta story about it. But yeah, they've always been really just game for anything. Yeah, no, I definitely have their full support. Now. You know, as a child, you know, you're always like, Okay, this is what I'm doing now. And as a parent, I'm like, is this really what we're doing right now? I'm sure there's some of that, like picking the right time. But I yeah, I'm looking forward to that. And to just to make sure that, you know, my parents are getting older. And certainly there is some of that there's the hardest when, when you're staring, your friends are starting to pass away. And of course, my grandparents generation, they're almost all gone now. And there's that part of it too, but I want to, while my parents are still healthy and active, I want to make sure that we get some of these stories down from what they remember, which are from my dad's childhood and thing and, you know, it's a lot of it's hand me down stories or anecdotes, here's, it may not actually be what this photo is about. But this is what they were told about this photo. So but if that's just in their head, we can't save that. So we need to get some of those things written down. Whether it's recorded an audio or written down by hand, so I want to make sure we do some of that.

Kim Edsen 1:18:04

Awesome. I'll be excited to hear about how that goes.

Jennifer Wilson 1:18:09

Yes, Yes, me too. All righty. Um, anything else we need to cover we've, this is the longest podcast episode of the photo series. We've had a lot of like really joyously succinct conversations. So much goodness throughout this whole series, but they are shorter, kind of, I don't know, summary feel episodes. But of course I love catching up with you, Kim.

Kim Edsen 1:18:31

Well blame it on the Panda Planner, because I think we started down that road. So...

Jennifer Wilson 1:18:37

I'm sure some of our listeners are going to be scouring the website as they listen and trying to figure out if the Panda Planner is for them. So always love to share those tools. All right, well, thank you, Kim for your time and thank you everyone for listening. Please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way. If you like the podcast, you'll love being a member. When you join you'll get access to weekly Zoom crops, bimonthly retreats, and a huge content library. You can head over to simplescrapper.com/membership to learn more and join our creative community.