SYW149 – The Best Thing I Did This Year

Jennifer Wilson 0:00

The doing less and letting go is as much about making sure you're doing the right things but also allowing you to say yes to other things later. It's when we're so overloaded and over planned that we then try to add things on top. And I think that's where we get in trouble. It's not because we had a plan that was really full and fulfilling. It's because we took that plan and tried to add seven more projects on top.

Jennifer Wilson 0:25

Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a Memory Keeper today. I'm your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is episode 149. In this episode, I'm joined by Kim Edsen to reflect on 2021 and the most transformative things scrapbookers did for their hobby this year. We also look forward to 2022 inside of the Simple Scrapper membership. This is our monthly peek behind the scenes at Simple Scrapper.

Jennifer Wilson 1:02

Hey, Kim, how's it going?

Kim Edsen 1:03

It's going well, we were just talking before we started recording that my children have their last day of school before winter break. And my husband's gonna have some time off, and I am looking forward to it.

Jennifer Wilson 1:14

Oh, yeah, 100%. I just did my bit, last big round of grocery shopping already this morning, I got up at 5:45 so I could get out of the house, and be one of the first people at the store. So there were no crowds. It was fully stocked, there are only a couple things I couldn't find. And so I'm, hope to not go to the store again till after Christmas.

Kim Edsen 1:33

That is a plan. I was, that was my, that was me yesterday. And it was I was up very early, not necessarily by choice. There was maybe a cat involved and just once you wake up, then you can't go back to sleep. But I went to the store and it was a lot busier on your average, you know than your average Tuesday afternoon for sure. So nice.

Jennifer Wilson 1:50

Oh, yeah.

Kim Edsen 1:50

Nice to get those out of the way.

Jennifer Wilson 1:52

Yeah. So what's been going on with you recently?

Kim Edsen 1:56

Oh, you know, I'm just, I've been busy. I've got a little something in the works that I hope to talk about next month on the podcast. Kind of goes back to Gretchen Rubin had a thing? Oh, I don't it's been a few years that I remember her talking about it, whether you're a concealer or revealer. And maybe that's something that people can think about when they're looking at setting goals and habits and resolutions for the new year. Like do you tend to do better if you kind of keep those cards close to your chest? Or do you like to like, you know, Sing it loud and clear for everyone to hear. And then that's motivating to you. So I'm a concealer. So I've been working on a little project that hopefully I'll talk about soon. So I guess come back next month. But other than that, it's just kind of your holiday. You know, we traveled last weekend for a family holiday celebration, and we're traveling over Christmas itself and girls are busy with band and now Winter Guard has started. Grace's very excited because they're doing a Coldplay song. So that will be fun and...

Jennifer Wilson 2:59

Oh, nice.

Kim Edsen 3:00

You know, puzzles and fires and all the things. So just you know...

Jennifer Wilson 3:04

I love it.

Kim Edsen 3:04

It's full, but it's good. How about yourself?

Jennifer Wilson 3:08

Yeah, a lot of the same for sure, though we added an actual vacation in there. We took Emily out of school. And we had a really amazing place to stay that our friend's own in Key West. And so we took a week long vacation. And it was literally the most relaxing vacation I've ever had.

Kim Edsen 3:28

That sounds amazing. I saw some of your pictures on Instagram, it looked lovely.

Jennifer Wilson 3:33

Yeah, we got up for the sunrise a number of days and watched a lot of sunsets. And it was just it was just so nice. And I think part of it was just like, first real vacation in two years. But also I think just where I am personally, I was actually able to relax. And I read two books. And it was just, it was much needed. And looking forward to doing it again sometime.

Kim Edsen 3:56

That sounds nice. We've kind of learned over the years, depending on the destination and where we are like personally like what we identify what we want out of any particular trip. So like when we did a trip this summer, it was more about being out in nature. And then just like the relaxed downtime, it sounds like that you get to experience in Florida as well. So I think in the past, sometimes we'd go on vacation, and I'd want to do all the things but I'd also want to relax and then they would conflict and then it was just frustrating. So I think it is nice if you can identify going in like okay, yeah, this is a city vacation. We're hitting all the museums. It's Go Go Go versus, you know, let's sit on a beach and read a book. I think they're all perfectly valid, but I think it's good to know that going in.

Jennifer Wilson 4:42

Well, you know, it was interesting. So we actually went snorkeling twice. And then we went fishing another day. And then we did some like shopping in the downtown area. And so we actually did quite a bit of going. But A my husband planned all of it because I've learned I do much better following along and these types of things, because it just, it stresses me out to have to make the plans. But I'm more than happy to let go along. And then as long as we build in enough buffer time, so we like did two things and had a break, then we did another thing and had a break, and then we went home. So as long as there's a nice balance of the stuff in the downtime, it seems to work out.

Kim Edsen 5:21

Good. That's awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 5:23

Yeah, yeah, no, it was great. And I think we just we know how much we love traveling together, just the two of us or as a family. And, yeah, it just was a nice reminder of all that.

Kim Edsen 5:34

You have mutual kind of understanding of what makes an enjoyable trip for the both of you are as a family. And I feel like that's the same case, you know, in our family as well. Dan is primarily my travel agent. But he, like we when we were in Utah this summer, and we were like I could like walk in the woods, like all day. But our children are not of that same opinion. So when he was looking at trails to take, it was very much like, Okay, we want no longer than like a certain distance. I think at the end, there needs to be some big, you know, alpine lake or like something to a destination. It can't just be like, Oh, we're at the top and now we come back down. Like there has to be something in it for them. So I think over the years, you just kind of learn as you go and it definitely makes for some enjoyable travel.

Jennifer Wilson 6:24

Oh, you know, that's a really good point because I love hiking but I get so bummed if there's not some sort of like destination big reveal. A great view it you know, obviously a lake, waterfalls, something like that is ideal. So I definitely pick those types of hikes.

Kim Edsen 6:41

Yeah, because we're out there. We're driving past this, like literally, just mountainous, it was like a giant boulder thing. And Dan's like, Oh, that was on my list. I'm like, Well, I'm glad you took it off. Because I it was just like exposed rock the whole way. And I'm sure it was amazing view at the top. But yes, we I had to remind myself a few times on that vacation that it was a family vacation. It was not a Kim vacation. So we did a little bit for everybody. But it sounds like you guys have figured that out as well.

Jennifer Wilson 7:14

Yeah, we tried to. And I'm excited to scrapbook it, that's one of the things I'm excited about is to actually put that trip as part of my December Daily project, I'm gonna do like a two page photo collage spread, a little bit of journaling. And then I think I will also represent it in my photo book too, because it was part of what happened during December. And but it was also a, you know, part of our holiday season as well. But the one of the big things is exciting me is totally unrelated. And that is one of our members pointed out that Cocoa Daisy has journaling prompts that are for free in their shop every single month. And I've been getting the Cocoa Daisy planner kits for a long time and all their stickers. And I did not know these prompts were there. And so I will include a link in the show notes to the one for January. So if you want to check it out, it's just a printable PDF that has these, you know, just fun little prompts to help guide your journaling. And I've found that if I'm not in like, I either have to be like in a totally sour, awful place, or in a pretty good place to sit down and journal. And I think the prompts are going to help me sit down and write regardless. Because I don't have to be in one of those places. I don't even have to start with how I'm feeling I can just start with whatever the prompt is, it takes some of my emotion out of it to at least get the ball rolling.

Kim Edsen 8:34

So are these kind of memory keeping focused prompts.

Jennifer Wilson 8:40

Um, they are just kind of short phrases. They're not really memory keeping focused, I'm going to pull some of them from December here. So for example, today is the 23rd. It says project list. So you know, all the stuff I still have to do. Tomorrow is a winter day, the 25th is in the kitchen. Yesterday was let's see, oh, yesterday was winter Bucket List. So it just like really like simple prompts, that you really could take lots of directions depending on how you feel about it. But it's that starting point, and sometimes that's what we need is that starting point to sit down and one that is that easy entry point. And that you can kind of get out of your own head long enough to get started because once I get started then you know all the emotions come pouring out. But I need that permission to sit down in a way that feels intimidating.

Kim Edsen 9:43

Well, I mean, I could see how maybe some things would turn into scrapbook layouts and some things don't. But one it's like you said the habit of getting there and actually doing the writing or the journaling and then to maybe makes you start to think about things in a little bit different way like for me a different angle, which I think generally makes for more interesting journaling anyways.

Jennifer Wilson 10:05

Oh, yeah. 100%. And yeah, I can see some of them turning into layouts, like, once you realize, oh, there's a lot to explore on this. It can create new ideas, but I'm definitely not. I'm not really approaching it from a memory keeping perspective, but just more of a, this is a personal need that allows me to be a happier more productive Memory Keeper in general.

Kim Edsen 10:30

No, I have not. I'm definitely made a note check those out. Because that sounds really interesting. Well, I am excited about our, Your Way Workshop that we had earlier this week about morning habits. And I think I need to explore, we talked about this idea of looping. That I have used in other areas of my life successfully, but not so much with my like, day to day routine. And I think I talked about, at the end of the workshop, the idea of you had talked about identifying like 1 to 3, kind of key stones for your day. And I said, Well, I have like eight that I want to do. But they don't happen. Because you know, or if on they day they do, then nothing else happens, or you know how it goes. I have big aspirations. So I think a way to still honor those intentions and preferences is that that you have like, yeah, maybe they don't happen every day, maybe it's like every other day, or every third day or whatever. Somebody talked about having like, an A day and a B day and a C day depending on what your schedule is, since it kind of is varied, for me very much dependent on what my family's obligations are. So I am excited to explore that some more, I think that could be very pivotal for my like, day to day life. So I'm excited. And then also with my scrapbooking, because I've tried. We've talked about like, you know, crafting morning and I'll do it for a while or like maybe I'll switch to like reading in the morning or, you know, like things just everything has evolved. And nothing has necessarily stayed consistent for you know, longer than like several months at a time. Because eventually something like the school schedule changes, or now we're on vacation, and then by the time I come back, it's off or whatever. So I think this looping technique might be kind of a more gentle way to introduce those sequences. And yeah, so then maybe it's, you know, two days out of three, I exercise, but on the third day, then I get a really like dig in and scrapbook for an hour or something. So I am very excited about this concept. So we'll see where it takes me.

Jennifer Wilson 12:40

I have some, I have some questions.

Kim Edsen 12:42

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 12:42

So what, first of all, are the eight things on your list, are they all like fairly desirable things?

Kim Edsen 12:50

Yes. Well, sometimes it's one of them is journaling. And yeah, I think all things I think I enjoy it when I do them. And I don't know that there's specifically eight things, but it's the concept of like yeah, journaling, meditation stretching, kind of like the daily tidy, exercise. Trying to like what else is on there. So maybe it's not eight things. But if you break them down, right, it's like pet care, and whatever. So they're definitely things that when I do them, I feel more centered and calm. And it like the whole point of a morning routine is it just like sets you up to have a good day, right? But sometimes I perceive other things to be more important, or like say like, oh, yeah, I forgot I need to do this. But I need to be out of the house at 9:30. So I have to do it now. Or I prioritize some things differently. Or I'm just not always very good about, like stopping and stretching for 15 minutes, which I always feel good when I do it. And sometimes I always put it off too, because like, Oh, I'll do that like later tonight when watching TV. And then maybe I do and maybe I don't whatever. So um, they're all good things. They're all things that I enjoy the result of, but I don't, I'm not always good about stopping like the train at the station to take the time to do them.

Jennifer Wilson 14:18

So certainly. Now, I think you mentioned pet care, because it seems like there's this whole realm of things that are the things we have to do. And then the things that you want to do. And maybe those are very separate, because you have to take care of your pets everyday.

Kim Edsen 14:35

Yes. And so identifying that, yes. And sometimes, right I can outsource some of that. Part of it too is our pet care seems to always be evolving. So we had like the weird skin issues with the lion cat and that seems to have resolved and now we're focused on the one that's kind of a chubby cat and we've tried different foods. So she's just now on a very expensive prescription cat food. But of course, the other cat likes the new prescription cat food. So it's like It's always something. So anyways, um, yeah, so I think identifying, like, the, like, what type of intent behind it? Is it something like for me personally? Or is it something for like the greater good of, you know, the animals and people and world around me. I also at one point in time had heard this concept of try to try to spend it within your morning routine, something that's good for you like physically, mentally, spiritually creatively, like whatever you want to like, insert there. But maybe that's where I have like the three key stones that I try to at least hit the highlights. So maybe if I, you know, go for a run one day, then the next day the physical health is stretching, and then you know, so we'll see. But yeah, I think I get I don't always, it's always coming back to the idea of like taking the time to pause and to evaluate how things are going. I feel like especially the last few months, I've just been, like bullet train. And so again, coming back to like being excited about holiday break and winter break. We'll do some traveling. But then yeah, we'll have a few days at home. And I think I want to really take time to reflect and kind of see how to set myself up going into the new year. And it'll be a good, a good pause.

Jennifer Wilson 16:19

Yeah, I think a lot of people are in that same boat, when this episode goes out, it'll be the 27th. We're all in that interim period. It's sometimes a little squishy. But it also feels really good that we have this opportunity to exhale and think about what you might want before it's the first and you have to actually implement some of those things. It's a good time to marinate in those ideas. And also experiment, I think with this with incorporating looping into your morning routines you're going to have to experiment with, do you need to? What is a realistic number of things maybe to do in a day or amount of time that you want to spend to figure out okay, how often am I going to revisit certain items. And it'll just take some practice to figure out and also to figure out what the the feelings benefit is to you like, which ones make the most difference? And then you might choose to do some of those more often. Because you realize, oh, I really miss it when I don't get to do that part.

Kim Edsen 17:18

I think the idea of approaching it as an experiment is very beneficial. And we've talked about that, with like habits and a lot as well. Yes.

Jennifer Wilson 17:26

Yeah.

Kim Edsen 17:26

And I because and I know just like thinking back to like how we're talking like, I'm gonna set myself up for a great year. Well, I mean, maybe not, but like to be open to the idea that it can evolve, I think is probably the key.

Jennifer Wilson 17:42

Well, I think keeping, having an open mind to learning and trying new things is a way to set yourself, set yourself up for a year, and accepting that you're, you're not going to have all the answers on January 1.

Kim Edsen 17:56

True. And I am excited. I have not had a chance to read yet the next book club book, the Soundtracks by Jon Acuff. But yeah, during the workshop on Wednesday, Judy mentioned that she had started it and was really, really enjoying it. And it was similar type things where it's like the stories you tell yourself about like, right? Like, I have to do this in the morning, or like, I can't do this, or I don't have time for this or whatever, like, whatever the story is that you're telling yourself to maybe question some of those. And so I think that could also be key to really evaluating, like, what is true, versus what is just something that, you know, maybe I've made up in my head, or I've just, you know, accepted as truth, whether that's the case or not.

Jennifer Wilson 18:42

So, one, I think, even if you have a longer list of things that this is what I want for myself in the new year, you don't have to start all of those at the same time.

Kim Edsen 18:56

Yes and I thought about that too.

Jennifer Wilson 18:57

Pick one to start with. Yeah.

Kim Edsen 18:58

Yeah and stack it or the whole James Clear of like, create the habit or create the routine in this case, before you kind of optimize it.

Jennifer Wilson 19:08

Yes, yes. Because we I think we often try to do everything at once and like create this perfect day, and then we realize it does take time. And maybe if we're not in the groove yet, it's harder to stick with it. And so it's much better to like building slowly over time than to try to perfect it all in the first week of January.

Kim Edsen 19:27

Yes, I think that's where I've hit snags in the past because like I said, it would be fine for a few months, and then something would throw it off and then, you know, just didn't stick because it wasn't fully implemented yet. And then obviously, things are going to evolve and change and I'm not actually going to have the same morning routine, you know, the rest of my life here. But, but again, I think being very mindful about that because yes, I like to build all the grand plans and all the great aspirations and then you know, that comes to a halt pretty quickly.

Jennifer Wilson 20:01

For sure. All right, switching gears here to Bucket List Stories, do you have a story that you're itching to tell?

Kim Edsen 20:10

So this concept has come on my radar somewhat recently, once again, I think it was a James Clear thing on Instagram. But it was the idea of what do I want to be known for? Which I'm still kind of thinking about. And I find it interesting because it's like, what do you want to be known for as in the present day, as opposed to like, what do I want to be remembered for? So it's less about the legacy that you leave and more about, like how you show up in everyday life? And I find that really interesting. And I don't have the answer. But I'm excited to kind of explore that. And maybe that should be a journal prompt for me, and we'll write and see if it turns into a scrapbook page or not. Or maybe it's just really informative about the day to day choices that I make. I don't know. But I love James Clear, obviously, and his Instagram account, if anybody's interested, I feel like there's all sorts of good little gemstones that he sprinkles in there. So that's where I got this one. But what do I want to be known for?

Jennifer Wilson 21:14

I love that idea. And I think in particular, the initial reaction is like something related to your career, or your work or something like that. But it's so much deeper than that. It's like who, like, how do you want to be perceived as, what you value, how you treat others? Like how how you make people feel. And that's so much more subtle than, you know, the big splashy of here's, you know, Jennifer is known for Simple Scrapper and Scrapbook Your Way. So it's not...

Kim Edsen 21:46

40 under 40, or whatever, or over 40. Well, you know, um, but yeah, like the idea, do I want to known for being kind or for being helpful? Or? But yeah, I just thought it was a really interesting question. So I've been pondering it.

Jennifer Wilson 22:02

Yeah, I had a conversation with my husband recently. We were so you're trying to, I feel like we were hiking, but I don't know where we were, we might have been walking somewhere. And it's like, you know what, because he is always, like, meet strangers, loves to like, learn about their histories, has great conversations. We've talked about this in the podcast before. And I've realized over this pandemic of avoiding people that I actually do, maybe like people more than I thought I did. Because I do miss a certain degree of that. And because I'm a scrapbooker, and a storyteller, like I is, there's a curiosity there. And, you know, for the most part, people are nice and generous and kind. And I'm actually looking forward to the post pandemic world in which it's safer to meet those strangers. So it was just kind of a weird observation.

Kim Edsen 22:52

And maybe it also is indicative of, like, personal work that you've done. Like, I feel like sometimes my interactions with other people is less about the other people and more about maybe the boundaries, or the expectations that I have around that interaction. So if you can kind of honor your needs. In general, it probably makes those interactions with other people more enjoyable. So maybe that is also part of the whole journey.

Jennifer Wilson 23:22

Yeah, I mean, I'm not suddenly not an introvert. I'm still an introvert. But there's just honoring that. It doesn't mean that I'm hating other people, introverts that I've I can, I've learned that I can create better boundaries that protect my quiet time, that allows me to then interact with others in a way that is joyful and fulfilling. So...

Kim Edsen 23:45

That's awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 23:45

That's a lot of deep. That's a lot deep talk for early morning on a Wednesday.

Kim Edsen 23:48

I know. Okay, so what do you have that's maybe less like, life shattering, I don't know.

Jennifer Wilson 23:57

Well, that one of my overarching focus for next year is definitely tidying up loose ends, I just feel like there's so many littler and slightly bigger projects that are just kind of hanging out there. And I kind of want to wipe the slate slate clean. So 2022 Feels like a finishing year. And 2023 is gonna be the bursting out with trying new things here. But one of the big things for me is that I have to get this photo book of our Sweden trip started and then finished. I had all the intention to do it immediately after our trip. I just didn't expect to come back to a pandemic and be in quarantine, away from my daughter for two weeks and like, I just didn't expect that world that we've lived in for the best two plus years. So it just kind of just fell off. But I'm just so afraid of our memories fading too much. And kind of just lose in touch with the experiences because there was so much family history documented, and we did take a lot of good notes, we did some things in the moment. We even have some audio recordings. And it's it's time because we're approaching the two years for this trip to sit down and get that book done and printed.

Kim Edsen 25:20

Well, I think I can definitely see the advantage, especially like you had said that there's so much family history and notes and things that take. But also I think now you can maybe look at it as the advantage of you've had time to reflect on the trip and the lens of looking at through the pandemic. And kind of what that it's almost like the before and after of how the world has evolved and changed, right?

Jennifer Wilson 25:45

Oh, totally.

Kim Edsen 25:46

And to be glad that you went when you did, because I don't I don't know about Sweden, but in a lot of countries aren't letting other people in at this point. So who knows when he would have even gotten to go. So definitely have that lens of gratitude with that, too. So you said photo book. So kind of collage focus, then maybe with like bigger chunks of journaling for some of the stories that go with those accompanying photos? Or do you have a format in mind? Or is that still evolving?

Jennifer Wilson 26:13

I think it will probably end up being more similar to my Project Life photo book, which nobody, nobody's seen yet. I talk about it all the time. But nobody's seen it yet. Because really, I need to print the 2021 book. And then I can share it on Instagram and YouTube. And you guys can see it and have more of a concept of what this looks like. But I'm imagining it's going to be similar with a lot of photo journaling pairs, some photo collages, some full page photos, a good mix of it. But just because when you're pulling in photos to a photo book, particularly if you're doing a collage and you're like, Oh, that one like stands out because there's something off with the colors. Because I'm in Lightroom, I can so easily fix that without having to like, I don't have to ever export the photo. So it's just all connected. And so I'm just continuing to lean in that direction because of the ease for me, because for some reason I hate exporting photos and then having to like, do something else with them elsewhere.

Kim Edsen 27:13

No, it's an extra step. Yeah. And then I feel like it opens the door for errors. I don't know, like, right, like...

Jennifer Wilson 27:20

Oh, yeah. I mean, I've accidentally I had it like set to, you know, export for the web at 800 pixels for something. And then I've, you know, done all my high resolution photos that way and tried to send them off to a printer and turns out Oh, they're all too small.

Kim Edsen 27:37

Yeah. Well, it sounds glorious. I'm excited to see it. And I think we've seen some sneak peeks through the year of you working on your Project Life book. So yeah, we've definitely seen kind of the trend is going in. I like what I've seen so far. So this sounds like it'll be just as glorious.

Jennifer Wilson 27:57

Well and I only have a little bit left to finish on it, because a lot of December's obviously going in my December Daily. I also kind of ran out of pages, which I need to work a little bit harder on next year. So there really isn't that much left for December anyway. Because there's that 240 page limit.

Kim Edsen 28:13

How do you gauge that? I mean, I don't know. It's tough.

Jennifer Wilson 28:17

I have a for next year, I am basically using a repeating system. So my goal is for every month to have the same number of pages.

Kim Edsen 28:28

Oh, that sounds like pressure.

Jennifer Wilson 28:31

I don't know, I'm going to try it and see if it works. If it falls apart, fall apart.

Kim Edsen 28:34

Or maybe set the formula to be like a few under where you would have to be and then it gives you a little bit of flexibility.

Jennifer Wilson 28:44

That's true. That's a good idea. And I think that's possible with the way that I've I kind of sketched it out. I ended up, yeah, I did no work on this trip other than on the plane on the way there. I pulled out my planner, I found a blank page and I started sketching out what I wanted the photo book to maybe look like. What the structure I wanted it to be for next year because I want to incorporate some scanned mixed media because I've been having fun just like playing with paint. But I want to just like I love for some reason I love creating my own digital backgrounds that way. And then I know I want to do more type of like currently round up pages at the beginning of every month of saying like, here's the high points, here's some of the news things. Here's, you know, some of the things that we watched, like because I feel like I've not as strong and some of those facts and I want to do more of that next year.

Kim Edsen 29:38

So two things, one, the whole mix media background like you've always liked that from the paper side of things so it's not terribly surprising that that translates to digital. And then two, the currently roundup thing. So right I've done the monthly favorites the last couple years. I'm still enjoying that because I think it gives me boundaries. I tried to do the monthly round up thing one year, and I think I got halfway through the year and because I wanted to include like everything, and I knew that that was not realistic. And that was, obviously, it turned out to be a recipe for burnout. Because that I didn't, I switched gears halfway through the year. So yes, I like those little snippets of day to day life. My personal inclination is always to, you know, include more and more and more. So I definitely think that there's a balance and it's good to have some boundaries like the people in our group that use like the Katie the Scrapbook Lady cards, right? There's only so many slots to put the new stories, right. So it's going to, force, seems maybe like a harsh word, but encourage you to pare down what you list on your card. So...

Jennifer Wilson 30:53

Well, and I think that I haven't figured out exactly what my, basically little formulas, gonna be of what I want to actually document. But I think keeping it pretty minimal. Not expecting long jounaling, because I do put longer journaling elsewhere. It's more of like, like, favorite, listen, favorite watch. More like the currently card probably then a longer round up, but we'll see. Yeah. Still experimenting. Find out what happens when I sit down and do something with it.

Kim Edsen 31:25

All right, so we talked about 2022. Should we talk about 2021 now?

Jennifer Wilson 31:30

Yes. So this episode is really what, we really wanted to focus on this question of what is the best thing you did for your scrapbooking in 2021? Because I asked this question on Instagram, and I have never received so many responses to a question than I did for this one. And it was just so just fascinating. rewarding, and just also just very, like personally gratifying, of course, to hear how many people said that that we at Simple Scrapper made a difference for them as well. So Kim, what was the best thing you did for your scrapbooking in 2021?

Kim Edsen 32:09

Okay, so I feel like my scrapbooing's been a little all over the place this year. The honestly, I think the best realization that I had was during the Planning Party was the idea of, for me, it comes back to words and photos. And that is the part of the scrapbooking process that I enjoy the most is choosing the photos and kind of figuring out what's going where and the words, because I can do that like all day long. But then when it comes time to commit to, or to commit to choose, like pen and paper and embellishments, and as much as I enjoy those things, and I think they're really pretty. That is where I get like hung up. And then something can languish on my harddrive for weeks because like I don't feel content with that ever, like pattern paper choice I made. And then I'll switch it out like 10 times. And it just gets to be ridiculous. So I think that whole realization that for me, words and photos is huge, because I think it's really going to hopefully bring some ease to my scrapbooking process. And I've talked about this before, but Cathy Zielske, man like she is the bomb. And the fact that she's closing down this scrapbook side of her store is making me sad. I think until the end of the year, you can still purchase some of her like scrapbooking templates and things but my understanding is then they're going away. So I kind of need to like go in there and buy all the things or like, throw out like Cathy for a flat fee, can I have everything in your library? Because they're so just clean and graphic. And I feel like yes, they'll be the occasional bit of like pattern paper or small embellishment, but they're just like simple and clean. And I find that, so those are some of my favorite layouts. And they come together really easy for me. So maybe it's twofold. Maybe one I just like that look. And two, maybe I enjoy those layouts because they didn't feel like a struggle. So I still love pattern paper. I still love the embellishments. So I think coming to terms with right maybe like smaller bits of those things are. I don't know. But that's kind of the direction that I'm going. So for my December album, I actually am using one of Cathy's like 30 Days of Thankful album sets that she had created for like Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving, like November Gratitude projects. And it's literally like small spaces for some way you could just do color. I'm gonna put patterned paper, a photo and words each day. Because I feel like it brings a sense of ease and I still get to play with the photos and the words and that side of the hobby. And that's not to say that I won't ever get back to you know, more traditional digital layout to like layers and all the things but maybe leaning a little more heavily on that kind of clean and simple design and honestly, I say clean and simple. But sometimes those are harder, in some ways, because there's fewer things on the page. So you need them to play together really well. But I don't know, that is the direction I'm going. So I feel like the the Planning Party was, again, that opportunity to pause and reflect and to think about, like, what do I enjoy from this hobby. And it's like, I get that little thrill when I sit down to like, start a new layout, and I'm picking the photos and the words and like bringing it all together. Like that's the part that really gets me jazzed up. And then, you know, the next day when I'm, like I said, I'm switched out this pattern paper for the 10th time, like, one, maybe walk away, like take a hint. Or two, just realize like, hey, maybe throw a piece of kraft back there and like, move on with life like, so...

Jennifer Wilson 35:47

I think this idea of personalizing your process comes up again, and again. And certainly, kind of we don't specifically use those words during the Planning Party. But that's the underlying thing is to help you tease out what really works well for you, so that you can do more of that most of the time. And that doesn't mean you're not going to experiment and have fun into other things. But if you know what really works well, what feels easy, what's always fun, what's very fulfilling, then you're going to find that you're getting more stories documented. And so I absolutely love that you started there, because it's really a foundational thing that we try to teach and encourage.

Kim Edsen 36:25

And I like how you pointed out it's not all or none, right? Like, I still like when I finished my Utah photo book and was like bustin back into like my 2019 layouts that I wanted to do during like the finishing project month, or I don't remember. Anyways, um, like it felt really good to kind of come back to those layouts. And now that I've been doing this for a while, I think I want to go back to more of like that more clean and simple look. So definitely bouncing around, but like you said, to honor, it's kind of like the 80/20 rule, whatever you want to make it, 70/30, whatever percentage works for you. But just again, that realization that it doesn't have to be all one way or another. There's room for both. But yeah, definitely, you're gonna lean one way, and to embrace that.

Jennifer Wilson 37:12

Yeah, and like, I've definitely found the kind of same kind of balance and satisfaction with the photo book, because it is mostly words and photos, a few like random embellishments. But then I just ordered a Minc, because I decided that I really want to go foil things. And I'm getting super like crafty with lots of ribbons and fibers and texture and dimension elsewhere. And I just love, I don't know, I love all of it right now. So I'm doing all of it.

Kim Edsen 37:40

Well, and I feel like that's just kind of carried forward for you since your October project.

Jennifer Wilson 37:45

Yes.

Kim Edsen 37:46

That sense of play.

Jennifer Wilson 37:48

Yes, it's been very fun and freeing and given me a new, just a new joy for the hobby. And I can't wait to see like, I'm also kind of not trying to put boundaries or constraints on where that goes. Next year, I'm really focused on here's the core things, I know kind of how I'm approaching them, and then trying to leave lots of time for that experimentation. And so it's just it's such a balance of like, and this is something we're gonna talk about later, about make, between making plans and planning for play. That was one of the things that was brought up by several respondents to this question. And there's, there's you need that balance you can we love to have control as people in general, not just certain types of people we all have control. And so but sometimes part of that control is drawing this box of emptiness, so that you have space for experimentation, for play, for new opportunities. And I think finding that balance is something gets really interesting.

Kim Edsen 38:56

Okay, so I thought, one you talked about your hobby being fun which newsflash like. Since it's such a personal hobby, it feels like it has so much weight to it, but in the end, you want to enjoy it. So yay, right direction. And then two, I liked what you said about having the idea of like, this is the core. Like this is the foundations and then to leave room for the other. I always say like with gardening like like in a flower bed, like shrubs are the cake and the flowers and the rest, are like the frosting. Because I used to be all about like trees and then the flowers and then you know a couple shrubs whatever. But they weren't so much my thing and especially in like a larger bed I have now over the years learned the value of good shrubs. Because you can put a ton of flowers into something and obviously somebody that is more skilled than I can probably make it look really good, but my house just only gonna look good for part of the year though. Yeah. And then it turns into like chaos and just like you know, like, oh, it's the cottage garden, whatever you you label it, but um, so I kind of feel like the same thing with your scrapbooking, right? Like this is the core. And maybe it's like the cake or the cookie or whatever. And then you have room to add that frosting. That little bit.

Jennifer Wilson 40:12

Yes. Yes, totally. That's exactly it. And I think my best thing for the year really fits into that because it was, it's all about attending a regular crop time. That, this always goes on my calendar, I try to attend as many as I can of this, you know, to me, it's Wednesdays at noon. I'm sure I've broken record and saying that, but that's why I am, you know, almost completely finished with that photo book. Because that's the core. And I, it's, it's a routine now. And I know and I have confidence that I can get that part done. And it gives me the space that I know, any other time of the week, I get to work on something else, because that time is set aside, one hour a week to do that one project. And that's just been so just life changing for me. In feeling caught up, feeling, you know, just in in command of my hobby.

Kim Edsen 41:04

Well, and I think it comes back to that core thing to write like that Project Life photo book was kind of a core of your 2021 project. And having dedicated time to that. Kept it like you said in check. So it wasn't like every time you sat down, oh, I'm behind on this, or Oh, it didn't become a bigger chore. Because you were able to stay on top of it due to your regular crop time. Dedicated time.

Jennifer Wilson 41:29

Yeah. So it was it was very rare that I sat down and be like, Oh, well, I should work on this because I missed the crop. No, I have next week, I can catch up, it'll be fine. And I did. And there were some times where I actually did I took an extra hour, I attended two crops in a day to like, make sure I was all caught up. But I really having that as it just almost put things in a box for me. Because sometimes we can do we sit down and we're so overwhelmed with well, I should do this, or I could do this. But I really want to do this. And oh, there's that new thing that just came. If you can put some of those in specific boxes, not all of them, but put one or two in a specific box. It just changes everything.

Kim Edsen 42:12

I think a lot of our members had success with doing that with photo management, because that's such an integral part of the hobby, but can easily start to skew out of control. So a lot of people I feel like would set aside like Monday evenings for their photo night. And that's when they hop on and deal with that. So that would maybe be another thing, you know, as opposed to like a specific project or an ongoing task like photo management, or some people did like the Ali Edwards just write prompts like that was their thing. So they created a routine around that. So I mean you can put anything, some boundaries around it.

Jennifer Wilson 42:49

Oh, 100%. So we're going to try to go through this list of some of the things that were mentioned in response to this question on Instagram. And I, some of them are like summaries of what multiple people said, but we got quite a number here, and we're gonna bounce back and forth. But it's just it's so interesting. Some of these we do well, and some of these, we don't do as well. And we hope to share some of that. But maybe there's something here that you can acknowledge and celebrate for yourself as maybe the best thing that you did, or other things could give you an idea of maybe what you want to focus on for next year as Oh, that that's something that can really contribute. And so I really want to encourage you to think of just what is the one takeaway that you want to have? Yes, there's, these are all great ideas. But what is the one that really stands out to you as that's the thing, I want to try to make a better difference in my 2022. And that's the whole point of this episode here. So I'll start with the first one. We had a number of people mentioned that they started printing at home. And let's see, I think it was probably around. Well, gosh, it was before I moved. So let's say it was around 2013 when I started printing at home, and it just made a huge difference for me. Because I was able to print custom sizes on demand. And I know it's not feasible for everyone. But if you found yourself stuck, because you want to create different page sizes, or you somehow mess up a photo and then you needed another version of it like printing at home is so flexible for that perspective.

Kim Edsen 44:26

Yes, I before I moved to a fully digital, I had started printing at home and that is key. Primarily, like you said full flexibility or there's always the fear like oh, I can't scrub this photo because you know, it's gonna be two weeks before I get another one, or whatever. And you don't have to worry about that like, oh, that didn't work out well as print another one. So definitely gives you some permission, takes away some of the pressure I think, and to always, I'm a planner, I would always kind of block out and that's how I did it for years. I would plan say like five layouts and kind of do the layout that I wanted, order the pictures, get them, execute those layouts and then move on. But sometimes that took away some of the spontaneous fun of it. And so printing at home definitely gives you that permission. Okay, so next one, committed to 15 minutes a day. So I think I talked about this earlier, I've had some success with that, and then some not so success with that. So that has definitely been evolving for me. But you can get a lot done in 15 minutes a day.

Jennifer Wilson 45:30

You really, really can. Particularly if it's focused time. We all are a little bit more just like increasingly distracted because of, I even had a watch, that was watching a YouTube video yesterday. And that YouTuber was commenting that she's seeing attention spans decrease because of people's attention to being on Tik Tok, and other like short forms, reels, things like that. So it's decreasing our attention span even more than it already was horrible. But so focusing for 15 minutes can sometimes even be a challenge. But if you can do that, you can get so much done.

Kim Edsen 46:05

Well, and I think it gets you to the table or the computer or wherever your creative medium is located. Because a lot of times, we've always talked about how getting started is the hardest part. So if you have that 15 minutes dedicated, you know, maybe some days you can keep the ball rolling, and some days, that's all you can commit to it. But again, it comes back to like having that habit of showing up. And then over time, that momentum builds and you start to see results and that snowball effect for sure.

Jennifer Wilson 46:36

Yes, well and I you know, I've a little bit out of my good crafting morning habit. But one of the reasons that it had worked so well for me, it's not about really what I was accomplishing. In that time, it was about just kind of touching my hobby, so that I'd feel more engaged with it later in the day when I would have more time to work on it. So there's, you know, just when we avoid even touching it for a little bit of time, because we think we don't have enough time, that's when we can create more excuses, oh, I'm too tired, I have other things I should be doing. But if you're, and this goes for anything in life, if you're excited about it, you're going to find the time for it. And so that 15 minutes can create the just like nurture the excitement within us that it's it's kind of always there.

Kim Edsen 47:21

Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson 47:24

So our next one is went to a retreat. And this was one that was also mentioned a number of times, and I can echo that, that, you know, after so much time trying to stay away from, you know, beyond our bubble, went to a retreat in Chicago. All with Simple Scrapper members, and it was just so amazing to just exhale, be taken care of. We were you know, fed and pampered and it was just nice to just just chill and not have other responsibilities. I could just focus on scrapbooking and punctuated by lots of eating.

Kim Edsen 48:02

Yeah, no, I think I have there I can think of a couple of Saturdays this year where like, I did not go away to retreat this year. But if I had the intent and can communicate that to my family, I'd like okay, I went to spend today scrapbooking then, right, they are capable of you know, taking care of the pets and doing the meals and all the things and then I can just kind of be in my little bubble. And actually that's kind of a happy place for me because my people around and they're all content and doing their thing. And maybe taking some of the responsibility off of me so then I can also enjoy my hobby. So it may be it takes a little planning and intention but you could even have like a retreat experience at home too. So...

Jennifer Wilson 48:45

Well and duh on me for not mentioning that since we do host six of those a year.

Kim Edsen 48:52

Well Refresh, but and then you have the Finishing dates this year that I'm like excited about.

Jennifer Wilson 48:56

Yes!

Kim Edsen 48:56

Oh, so I think all sorts of goodness coming our way.

Jennifer Wilson 49:01

Well I'm just I'm so glad you brought that up. Because what we've been able to do online, not just a Simple Scrapper, but within the whole community over the past couple years, it was already kind of building on what we what we already had. It's just been so amazing. Next year, we have six Refresh Retreats, which are four days long. And then six Finishing Days, which are day long Saturday events to finish a particular project. And you know, we did Refresh this year, I also did two Crop and Create events. I did two of those prep days one for Week In The Life and one for December Daily. And so if you can just take that time to be in community with fellow scrapbookers even if you're not in the same room, it's just it's so kind of refreshing and recharging.

Kim Edsen 49:49

Okay, next one, added more journaling. And I think anyone that's probably ever like talk to me or see my pages know that I'm here for that. Like I'm all about the words. Sometimes maybe in excess of what they should be, like, edit it down Kim, but. I think that a lot of times the creative process in the photos can tell a lot of the story. But I think like any onion, there's lots of layers there. So I definitely value the addition of journaling to kind of maybe tell the story that isn't visible or to kind of go beyond what is just evident in the photo. And also is a place for reflection. And maybe, I guess it's almost like therapy of sorts, right? Like my whole, like, what do I want to be known for, like, that's kind of a deeper side of things that can't be shown in a photo. So I am all about adding more journaling.

Jennifer Wilson 50:44

I think there's definitely a deeper sense of satisfaction, when you do invest the time in finding confidence in your journaling. And even just like just put it putting it out there. And sometimes I feel like well, I'm not a writer, I hear this from others. But you you're still a human who speaks words. So just record yourself if you have to, but just speak your journaling and put that on the page. You have something to share. For sure.

Kim Edsen 51:14

Yeah, I've always heard that word, the idea of if you were sitting with someone, like your best friend, or your mom or whoever, like what would you tell them about this photo. And that's like a good place to start. But and also to recognize that that not every page needs to be a novel, either. It kind of comes back to that this is you know, my core and then maybe sprinkle in some of like, like, he's like the Bucket List type layouts, like they don't all have to be giant, huge things. And then also that everyone's doing this for different reasons. So for me, I already said words and photos. It's like my jam. And that's what keeps me coming back to the table. And then for some people, maybe it is like the Minc machine and some mixed media backgrounds. And so they're here for different reasons. So no pressure to people. They don't want to get into the journaling. But obviously that was the case for some someone that put that to answer that to the question. But I can definitely see the value of that and how that can enhance your scrapbooking happy for sure. Especially depending on how you started or your comfort level with journaling to kind of get over that hurdle. And embrace it more. I think that's something to celebrate.

Jennifer Wilson 52:21

Totally. So another comment here is on making up kits. And I think that sometimes the the mental parts of your brain that you use for different parts of scrapbooking, I think are different for photo editing, for choosing supplies versus the actual like composition of items on a page. Some are a little bit more left brain and some are a little bit more right brain tasks. And sometimes if you need, if you can separate those in time, it can help you find more creative flow, because you're not trying to get your brain to switch from one type of thinking to another. And so making up kits in advance can really help with that. It's something that I've always done, I call them micro kits, because it's just all the things I need for a single page. But you can make larger kits too, from multiple layouts, and really try to challenge yourself, I love doing a batch right now I'm in the six by eight batches, I will do as many that will fit across my 42 inch table. And so it's like eight of them in a row. And I will just start throwing out supplies, and then make all the pages at once. And it's amazing how much you can get done when you think about okay, here's my kit. I'm limited, I have boundaries. And now I just have to put lay everything out there and then get it here down. So well. I'm all about the kits.

Kim Edsen 53:38

Oh, yeah. Well, and that's why collection kits exist, right? Like that's why manufacturers came up with that. And it definitely, like you said, the different parts of your brain kind of gives you freedom to not have to make, I guess to make different sorts of choices. You're not choosing like what products to work with, which is how you're going to use them. So yes, also a fan of kits.

Jennifer Wilson 54:00

Also think I think making kits from your stash. It's just a nice reminder that oh, yeah, we all have other supplies beyond the kits that were maybe pre made for us. We've been having this conversation with next year we're doing the seasonal summary pages. Our creative team has been working on this. And I even asked our social media followers, would you rather see examples with a collection kit or a kit from your stash? And it was overwhelmingly a kit from your stash. And so now I'm excited to make up some like, Here's what a spring kit from my stash would look like versus here's what a collection kit is that's some sort of springy theme. So we all have supplies that maybe can use a little bit more love. And I think making up your own kits is a really important part of that.

Kim Edsen 54:48

Oh, yeah. And I think it's fun. It kind of turns into a game.

Jennifer Wilson 54:52

Yes, yes. So we've talked a lot about time already. Do you want to jump to the streamlined one?

Kim Edsen 54:59

Yes. So streamline format to catch up. So I think we've kind of also touched on that just personally with the idea of identifying, like, for me words and photos and Cathy Z, and then you with like the photo book in Lightroom. Because then you don't have to deal with exporting and importing and all that. So I can definitely see how that would enhance somebody happy.

Jennifer Wilson 55:22

Well and the same time, the same conversation about it's not all or nothing, you can choose more streamlined formats, some of the time to advance a project to feel satisfied with it, so that you have more time in space to go whole hog and crazy with other things.

Kim Edsen 55:39

Yeah. Or maybe you save the whole hog and crazy for those Refresh Retreat and streamlined is the rest of the time, or ways to, I guess establish kind of that box that you were talking about with within that approach.

Jennifer Wilson 55:57

Well, that's that's exactly why this year, I put Week In The Life in my photo book, and not as a whole separate album. Because I knew that I was already, you know, gearing up buying supplies to start Steve's Before Your Story album. That was going to be a big, tangible project that had a lot of moving parts. And I didn't want to have something like hanging over my head when I needed to transition to that. And so I needed to find what is the most simple format for me that's going to be satisfying and get the job done. And so that sometimes the answer is different. But this year, I chose one particular way for that.

Kim Edsen 56:31

Yep. Lled to some success.

Jennifer Wilson 56:35

So learning new techniques is another thing that was mentioned. I know that I have 100% become this, like I love learning from others. And I think it just comes from having done so much teaching over the years, that sometimes you just need to pause and follow someone else's instructions. And I've just learned so many new things that I didn't even know. Because I've really started to pay attention to how others do things. And to just really appreciate not not having to be creative, I guess sometimes I just want to, like play with instruction. It's very satisfying that way.

Kim Edsen 57:15

But also, on the flip side of it, I feel like it sounds like it's really led to bring new joy with your hobby too, with like the Minc, and the mix media like yeah, all the fun things. So I think there's two sides to that, that you've really embraced this year.

Jennifer Wilson 57:30

Well, I think by opening myself up to, I'm not going to try to make this my own, I'm just going to follow along, look, take what I can from it. And it helped me realize I do like dimension. And I do like doing these things that I thought I didn't like, because I kept that open mind to just say I'm just gonna to do with it. And, you know, take it as an experiment. Sure, I've created some pages this year, that don't really look like any of my other pages. And that's okay, I learned something from it. It's still in a new another story in my album. But it's what I've taken away is so much more than that single layout or that that series of layouts.

Kim Edsen 58:10

Okay. And along those lines, the next one, we have decided to do less better, or to let go. And we kind of were laughing about this before we started that is probably a lesson that I could continue to learn.

Jennifer Wilson 58:24

Oh, yeah.

Kim Edsen 58:24

And I think I'm getting there, right, like I transition from my all encompassing monthly roundup novel to my favorites, monthly layouts. But I think that is very freeing to recognize that and to kind of give your self permission to, I guess, cut some of that weight away from your hobby. If there's this idea of like doing it all is weighing you down, then maybe it again comes back to that core of identifying like, well, what is most important to me? And focus on that. And then yeah, let go of the rest. So bravo to whoever answered that one.

Jennifer Wilson 59:01

Yeah, this was definitely a common theme. There were multiple responses related to this, because this is this is a theme of our Planning Party this year. It's definitely been an ongoing theme at Simple Scrapper to is just how can we pare back to what's essential, so that we can find that joy and ease but then also create space. The doing less and letting go is as much about making sure you're doing the right things, but also allowing you to say yes to other things later. It's when we're so overloaded and over planned that we then try to add things on top and I think that's where we get in trouble. It's not because we had a plan that was really full and fulfilling. It's because we took that plan and tried to add seven more products on top of it.

Kim Edsen 59:53

I think there's a balance and that was something I commented during a Refresh or one of the journey journals or something about the idea of If I'm not necessarily feeling inspired, I feel like my default the last few years has been like, oh, well, I just need a class. And sometimes that will jumpstart the process. But actually, what I probably just need to do is scrapbook. You know, just get there and start showing up. So I think definitely a balance for sure.

Jennifer Wilson 1:00:15

So the next one is thought about the big picture. And if you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, even if this is your first episode, you've probably already gotten a sense that we talk about the big picture a lot, we're trying to get you to take that pause, take a deep breath, step back, and really look at what you're doing and how this fits into your life. And that's why lifestyle topics are so much a part of the conversation is because Scrapbooking is just a part of what we do. And your choices elsewhere are gonna make a big impact on how much time energy and motivation you have for your scrapbooking.

Kim Edsen 1:00:55

Well said. Okay, next one reorganized their space. Mmm, yes.

Jennifer Wilson 1:01:03

That's a little bit different here. But also really, you know, impacting, impactful, I guess,

Kim Edsen 1:01:10

Well, yeah, because I think about my space, when it starts to accumulate like the piles right, then one, if you can't find what you're looking for or two, just feels less inviting, I feel like we've talked with members or some of the Your Way Workshop 's where people talk about, you know, lighting a candle or playing music, or they have like a hot beverage, like they create almost a ritual around their hobby. And I think your space has a big, like, your environment has a very, very impact, big impact on your experience of that hobby. So it is organized and easy to access, and you can find what you want. And that's just going to lead to that sense of ease and enjoyment in your hobby. So for sure.

Jennifer Wilson 1:01:54

I think this connects back to the big picture a lot too, because there's some like, we all have fundamental preferences of whether we like emptiness or fullness around us. And there's it's tends to be very, like almost polarizing, you're either really you like, streamlined or you like stuff and it makes the stuff makes you feel good. And I'm sure there's some people in the middle, but paying attention to that and then figuring out okay, what, how can we baby step more towards that natural feeling? I think is a really a healthy way to approach it. Like I know, I love when we stay in a hotel because there's so little stuff. And I'm like, Oh, I only need my clothes, and some of my electronics and I'm good. And that when I get home, it reminds me, we have so much stuff and I don't really need this much stuff to be to be happy to function. And I always just then go back into okay, what can we pare back. And so we all have these little voices that we maybe need to pay attention to a little bit more that will guide us and how, how we need to organize. And I'm just looking forward to lots of conversations this year with this because on as part of Refresh, we're going to do Stash Bash Saturdays. So six Saturdays, this year, we're going to have some great organizing conversations.

Kim Edsen 1:03:13

Yeah, Gretchen Rubin talks about that sense of abundance, how some people prefer that. And I would say probably for most people, like you had mentioned, there's probably something in the middle between very, like, spare, but also I think sometimes there can be a lot of creativity from limiting your supplies as well.

Jennifer Wilson 1:03:32

Oh, yeah.

Kim Edsen 1:03:33

So okay, that kind of brings us to the next one. Do you want to go over it?

Jennifer Wilson 1:03:37

Oh, sure. Yeah, so this person said they bought stuff. And you know, there's, there's so much truth to that I actually went through more than a decade of my business financial records to figure to track my spending over the years. And, and then I compared it with kind of my productivity and you know, the business results as well. And the years that I buy more stuff, guess what, I make more stuff. And I also make more money. And it's just so interesting how that aligns. And so we sometimes we're all like, oh, well, I really don't need anything but there's there is such a joy invigorator of the stuff we have. And and I mentioned this on Black Friday, that buying stuff keeps our industry alive. And so I actually encourage people not to focus on us during the holiday weekend, back in November because we only exist if there is a scrapbooking industry if there are products for you to use and buy. And you know, buying stuff is fun.

Kim Edsen 1:04:48

I think it also can highlight buying stuff with intention, and also buying stuff that I guess it goes along with the intention or stuff that like you you, not to say that you can't try something, like you're getting the Minc, like you haven't had. I mean before, like, maybe you won't like it, or maybe you won't use it as much. But sometimes you have to one, like throw caution to the wind and give it a try. But then to also to recognize that the type of stuff that you tend to use what you enjoy that you like, because sometimes I can really admire a product, but I know I won't use it. And if I buy it, then maybe it turns out to be kind of weigh me down. So I think definitely buying stuff with intention. And it kind of comes back to like knowing your process and knowing what works for you, with a little bit of room to like, experiment, kind of back to the, you know, new techniques and things. So again, it always just comes back to like that balance, right to have that core and then a little bit of frosting.

Jennifer Wilson 1:05:49

Well, I think the letting go fits in here too. Because if there's stuff that you're just never going to use that you keep telling yourself, oh, I should use that. But you're still not, then it's just in the way of new possibilities. It's in the way of your creativity. And sometimes we just have to let go and send those items to home where they will get used.

Kim Edsen 1:06:11

Yes, good point. All right. Next one, the best thing I did for my scrapobooking in 2021 was started.

Jennifer Wilson 1:06:19

Hmm. So important. Yes.

Kim Edsen 1:06:23

And I think again, these so many of these just tie together but of just committing to that time, because if you don't ever start, then it just becomes like a negative thing that weighs you down. So just taking those first steps, I think we've already talked about how they all it all builds like right, so if to start somewhere?

Jennifer Wilson 1:06:42

Well, and I think that for some of our listeners, it's going to be restarting. Because it's not just for a beginner, it's just the actual, like, I need to actually take steps stop consuming as much and actually take action. I love if I have a consumption problem, I love pairing consumption with something that I have have to do or want to do. So if you find yourself like scrolling and watching videos or whatever, okay, put the video on and then sit down and start making something at the same time. Because that kind of bridges a previous habit with a new habit that you want to create

Kim Edsen 1:07:19

Sometimes it's harder to restart something, than it was to start it in the first place because you're coming in with preconceived notions. So maybe that also ties back to the whole letting go thing and being open to a new start or maybe a new format. And that streamlining. So again, these all just tie together.

Jennifer Wilson 1:07:37

Well, that reminds me of one of our kind of fundamental questions we always come back to you is, if you were starting from scratch, how would you scrapbook? If you knew everything you do now and you didn't have any, like, you didn't feel any personal obligations to the supplies you've purchased or the albums you've already created? What would you do? For me the answer was always photo books. But it took like seven years for me to actually sit down and say, I want to create a photo book every year as part of my memory keeping. Because I kept telling myself not to listen to that. And turns out I should have listened a lot earlier. But that's okay.

Kim Edsen 1:08:11

Well, you've learned you've learned along the way.

Jennifer Wilson 1:08:14

Yeah, but that's a such an important question that can help you find more success in the starting. Like, okay, this is where I feel most called to, to shift my memory keeping independent of where you've been in the past. Yes. And that you certainly did that with with transitioning to digital.

Kim Edsen 1:08:36

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I dabbled for years. And then I did hybrid, and then I would do like a one off. And so yeah, that was definitely a process as well. And maybe that's a lesson to learn, too, that. For some people, it's gonna be that lightning bolt that like one change that you make that changes everything. But I think for most people, it's a gradual shift.

Jennifer Wilson 1:08:57

Yes. And then so one of the last comments that we're going to share today, it was actually mentioned quite a number of times, and it was just so gratifying to hear and that's the best thing they did for the scrapbooking in 2021, was joining the Simple Scrapper community. And I know that so many of our new members this year are also we're also podcast listeners, because they've mentioned that when they join I love the podcast. And I'm so glad that I jumped into Simple Scrapper. But I have one particular member testimonial that I've received permission to share that that I really want to read because it kind of hits home to so many of the topics we've talked about today and also what I think that our community offers. So she says this month will be one year since I joined the Simple Scrapper community and not only has it been my most productive scrapping year, but being a member brought back joy into my hobby. And this is actually an in response to our podcast episode with Natalie, back in November. And she writes just like Natalie said in the podcast, I feel like I've found my people too. And I've heard that that sentiment echoed again and again. And I just I appreciate so many people recognizing and celebrating that our community, it does make a difference in your creative life.

Kim Edsen 1:10:16

Well, and I think what is so awesome about our community is it's not just you and I, and you know, the other people that are part of our team, but it's the community. It's definitely like, oh, yeah, the group effort and everyone supporting each other, and that's what makes it so awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 1:10:32

Well and it's, yeah, there's just such organic energy. And I love being in collaboration with our members, so that the community continue to evolve to their needs, and the topics that they want to talk about and what they're saying, Okay, can you do this for us? And almost always, the answer is yes. So we're always excited to, to do more to support the community and create these, you know, smaller containers for specific conversations.

Kim Edsen 1:11:03

Well, and I think also, you do a great job of letting the community evolve and kind of it's the community is, like, you have kind of power to make it what you want. So like, we've had members that worked through an Ali Edwards class. Like, they just did that on their own, like, they banded together and somebody like Peggy took the lead and kind of, they made a plan, and she would post for accountability. And they're gonna do that again next year with the Shimelle class. And, you know, like, that's, like you and I. We're not doing the work behind that, right. I know, we can take advantage of it, we can, like join the group, and celebrate the accountability of everybody together. So I think that is another advantage of like, the community as a whole is like, yes, you give guidance, whatever, but it's, like I said, it just comes back to me like a kind of a group effort, which is really nice. And it goes back. I mean, like, James Clear is gonna be my new, my new Gretchen Rubin, the whole where he talks about if you want to change a habit, join a group that the desired habit is already like the standard, right? So their culture, yeah, and that is so very much like, you know, I mean, everyone ebbs and flows, but like, people in our community are scrapbooking, they are creating layouts. And if you want to also be creating layouts in scrapbooking, you could definitely, like ride that wave and that enthusiasm and that accountability that is offered there. So that is a huge part of the community too, is like if you want to be scrapbooking to be part of a community where that is very much the standard will only benefit you I think.

Jennifer Wilson 1:12:45

Yes, yes. And I love I love it when some of these comments come from members that maybe aren't as, don't have a strong voices, like maybe they're more lurkers, don't attend as many live events. And but they say like, it's still been my most productive year because they're just absorbing some of that and then putting it into action in their own hobby. So if you feel like Oh, I'm not just like a super, you know, extroverted go getter. You know, we're a lot of us are introverts, some, of course, are extroverts. But you can be a quieter participant and still reap the same benefits.

Kim Edsen 1:13:19

Oh, yeah, you don't have to be the person like leading the charge, right, you don't have to like hold the crop, but you can still attend the crop. And you could attend the crop with your video off if you want to, or there's definitely levels in which you can participate. So it doesn't have to be, you know, whole hog,

Jennifer Wilson 1:13:38

For sure. So as we close out here, I do want to remind everyone that the price of membership is going up on January 2, so January 1, will be the last day to lock in our current rates for the lifetime of your membership. So we do always grandfather your rates in for as long as you're a member, we have members that have been around for more than a decade, and are pairing, paying our very original launch prices. And that's something that we're very honored to be able to do to reward our longtime members. And we hope we can do that for you as well. If you go ahead and join before those prices do increase, and it is going to be like it's not a super tiny increase. It's a it's a big jump because this has been more than three years, since we did raise prices and even just the events alone, we have more than 12 hours of open crop time every single week. And we have a Refresh Retreat, and then not to mention like are just about huge libraries of sketches, templates, stories, starter prompts, more than 1000 of those. And then of course, our class library. So there's just so much and it's you know, it's time to make that change. And I hope that if you've been thinking about joining you go ahead and take the leap before January 2.

Kim Edsen 1:14:54

Yes, come join us. That doesn't sound creepy at all right like Shining, come play with us, but, all good things.

Jennifer Wilson 1:15:02

Yeah, if you like the conversations that Kim and I have, it's just that times a million, inside the community all the time, every day. There's pretty much always a time that somebody can find to make their regular craft time and often multiple times. And so that that alone is you know, it's like a cup of coffee a week going to Starbucks. And but instead you get to, to play with your stuff and with people who have similar passions and feelings about their photos and their words and their crafty products.

Kim Edsen 1:15:34

Yeah, it's awesome.

Jennifer Wilson 1:15:37

All right, and then for everyone listening, whether you decide to join us or not, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way. Are you ready to start implementing the great ideas you hear on the podcast? The Simple Scrapper membership offers a welcoming space to connect with fellow Memory Keepers, and find that creative accountability you've been craving. Visit simple scrapper.com/membership to learn more and join our community. It's the best it's ever been.