SYW214 – Developing Your Workflow

[00:00:58] Jennifer Wilson: 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 214. In this episode I'm chatting with Melissa Burnett about finding and developing an effective memory keeping workflow. Melissa is a happy and productive paper scrapbooker who loves 12x12, organizes her layouts into Library of Memories albums, and always wants to include more photos on her pages!

[00:01:32] Jennifer Wilson: Hey Melissa. Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

[00:01:34] Melissa Burnett: Hi Jennifer. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:36] Jennifer Wilson: I am looking forward to our conversation today. Can you kick things off by sharing a little bit about yourself?

[00:01:44] Melissa Burnett: Sure. So my name is Melissa Burnett. I live in, um, Lakeview, New York, which is a suburb of Buffalo. I've been married to my husband Ken for 18 years and we have two kids. Um, our daughter Sadie is 12 and a half, our son Gavin will be 10 next month.

[00:02:05] Jennifer Wilson: Very cool. So your kids kind of bookend my 11 year old. So, we were just talking before we got started. A little bit about the eye rolling of this age. So.

[00:02:15] Melissa Burnett: Yes. There's so much of it.

[00:02:17] Jennifer Wilson: For sure. So this year we're asking our guests to share both a non scrapbooking thing and a scrapbooking thing that they're excited about right now. So can you tell us a little bit about what's exciting you these days?

[00:02:30] Melissa Burnett: So non Scrapbook related, um, I've super excited about postpartum doula job that I've been doing.

[00:02:39] Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm

[00:02:41] Melissa Burnett: I just certified last year. Um, and I'm currently working with like my first official paid family since early November. Um, and they're awesome. So they have three little boys. The newborn is now, um, three months, and then they have a two-year-old and a three and half year old.

[00:03:01] Melissa Burnett: And so with my kids being older now, like it's just so fun their house and having someone actually excited to see me. And getting to snuggle with the baby. And help out the parents because they're really great. So so that's been, a lot of fun.

[00:03:19] Jennifer Wilson: Can you talk a little bit more about what this is? Because you know, for someone who you know, I've only had one baby myself, but I knew what a doula going into your birth was, but I had not heard of a postpartum doula. Can you just share a little bit more about what that experience is with the family and why it's so helpful?

[00:03:39] Melissa Burnett: Sure. Um, yeah, I hadn't heard of it either really until, um, a friend of mine told me that her cousin was a postpartum doula. I was like, oh, really? Cause I, really have a heart for new mom's postpartum. I, um, struggled a lot myself after having both of my kids with postpartum depression and just, you know, I had always been really great with kids when I was younger and babysat and was a nanny.

[00:04:09] Melissa Burnett: And, um, so I was not expecting, um, new motherhood to be as hard as it was. Um, so I can definitely relate to a lot of the struggles. So as a postpartum doula, um, I go into the home, um, you know, pretty much right after they get home from the hospital. Um, and just help with really kind of whatever they need that day.

[00:04:35] Melissa Burnett: So, you know, sometimes it's laundry and dishes. Sometimes it's holding the baby so mom can take a shower or take a nap. Um, you know, sometimes it's playing with the older siblings so that, you know, mom can have time with the baby without being distracted. So yeah, it's a just really helpful to have like that extra set of hands and, um, just to be like a listening ear.

[00:05:01] Melissa Burnett: Um, so my, my, uh, tagline is peaceful postpartum doula. So, um, I've been told that really, um, you know, helps when I come in just to kind of bring a peaceful presence to the home and, um, you know, kinda help the chaos a little bit. That is, um, new parenthood.

[00:05:24] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, yes. I could have used that. I think because there were, um, I don't know, a whole bunch of family members all waiting for us at home when I got home. And I'm like, you realize I am like, bleeding profusely. I'm in pain. I've been up for 48 hours and you want me to socialize?

[00:05:47] Melissa Burnett: Right, yes. Yeah, yeah. It can also be like cooking and getting food ready for them. You know, making sure that just kinda taking care of the whole family. You know, um, making sure that mom has what she needs and can just sit with her feet up and rest and, not have to worry as much about the other stuff. So, yeah, it's definitely super important and I hope it's something that, um, catches on and grows.

[00:06:12] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, for sure. Thank you. Thank you for telling us more about that. So it's nice to know it's a, a resource that many will want to look into if they're still in that, uh, season of life. So what is, um, the scrapbooking thing that you're excited about?

[00:06:26] Melissa Burnett: So it's kinda more of a, a process that I started doing this year and, um, I think someone in Stacy Julian's membership had, uh, know, like stated this idea. Um, but I keep my photo library in Lightroom on my laptop and, um, so every, usually morning, but every day, I try to go in and, um, filter the metadata.

[00:06:52] Melissa Burnett: So I'm just looking at all the pictures that were taken, on that specific day. Um, and go through and delete extras. Um, so it's like, it's a fun way to kind of cull down my photo library, but at the same time, like be able to look back, um, all the way from, you know, like scanned photos from like my childhood and then from when, you know, my kids were babies and all the way up to, you know, like the previous year.

[00:07:22] Melissa Burnett: Um, so yeah, it's just fun revisiting those photos every day. And then also, getting that extra photo management time in.

[00:07:33] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. I absolutely love this technique. And those of you who have already listened to a previous episode that should go out at the beginning of March with both Amy and Peggy, we actually highlighted that whole approach that you just described. In the episode as one of the really awesome things that members are doing to find more ease, and especially for going back to older years. Because it's hard enough to manage photos for this year. But to go back to a previous year and to look at all your strange clutter of screenshots and weird things, um, and go and delete those. It's, uh, I like, I like how you've made it so doable and very put some really clear boundaries around it.

[00:08:19] Melissa Burnett: Yeah. And it's funny, like looking back now, like 2011 was, you know, when my daughter was pretty little and I feel like I don't take quite as many photos anymore. But um, you know, it's like that year,

[00:08:33] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, yeah.

[00:08:33] Melissa Burnett: I have like 15 photos of her sitting at the table eating, you know, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Like I don't need 15 of those.

[00:08:43] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. That is very true. We, uh, we tend to tend to do that. And I think we can become more discerning as we look back on photos and say, okay, here's the one where I like the look, or this is the, you know, the best technically perfect one. Um, whereas they all seem precious in the moment, um, even though they're very marginally different.

[00:09:05] Melissa Burnett: And it's really fun seeing faces that she made back then that she still makes now.

[00:09:11] Jennifer Wilson: Mm. Yes. Yes, yes. So, Melissa, what's on your memory keeping bucket list? This is a story that feels important to tell for one reason or another, and for some reason you haven't told it yet.

[00:09:24] Melissa Burnett: Um, so I have quite a few of these, but I was kinda looking at my list to try and come up with something that was different than ones that have been mentioned previously. So one I was thinking about wrote on list telephone stories. So, I love doing sort of like through the years, um, overview layouts anyways. But this one would be like, know, my grandma had a rotary phone for a long time. Um, and then being so excited when I got my first phone in my bedroom, like this pink corded phone. Um, when I was, I dunno, probably 13 or something. And then getting my first cell phone and um, how, you know, like at that time was a TracFone where you had to like buy minutes. So I hardly ever used it. And um, and then when I was in college and my husband and I met, um, I had been living in a dorm and then I moved back home. And when I moved back home, one of the things that, you know, when I was discussing with my parents, um, like, well, I wanna have my own phone line cause I don't wanna be, know, restricted to only talking on the phone when somebody else is not using it. So, um, so I got my own phone line installed. So I had my own answering machine and, um.

[00:10:49] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, wow.

[00:10:50] Melissa Burnett: Yeah, so the first time my husband called me, like after we met and I gave him my number, he, um, left me, uh, a message on my answering machine and I kept it until like I got rid of that phone. When we got married. So I had that message on my answering machine for four years.

[00:11:11] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, I love it.

[00:11:13] Melissa Burnett: Yeah. And then just, you know, all the way through today, like, you know, my first iPhone and, um, all, so yeah, I just feel like there's a lot of interesting stories that kind of all tie into like the evolution of telephone technology.

[00:11:30] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. That's such a fun one. And so it's coincidental. So, Emily's had a Gizmo watch for a couple of years and you know, if it broke, so we got another one. And now, you know, she's in sixth grade. She is like, pretty much the only kid in her entire school that doesn't have a phone. And her Gizmo watch broke again.

[00:11:48] Jennifer Wilson: And this time it was just like a, you know, the, the screen is all, pixelated, like old TV used to have like snow in the middle of the night. Um, and so I ordered her a phone and that's kind of like, that almost seems like that's like the evolution of that story. Eventually you're buying this technology for your child that is nothing like that you ever had growing up. Because, you know, we had rotary phones and um, gosh, I remember even just when I was little. I don't know if it was like you still had to call the operator. There was something weird about like, you could still pick up the phone. There might be like, I dunno if we had a party line or something, but it was, there was definitely a very strange experience back then. So.

[00:12:33] Melissa Burnett: Yep.

[00:12:34] Jennifer Wilson: Compared to now

[00:12:34] Melissa Burnett: Yeah, that yes, for sure. I know my daughter's in seventh grade and we just got first for Christmas. But yeah, same thing like all last year she was like everyone has a phone but me.

[00:12:46] Jennifer Wilson: And I don't really like, don't really want her to have it, but it's also like how do you communicate with your, with your child, otherwise, so.

[00:12:54] Melissa Burnett: Yes.

[00:12:54] Jennifer Wilson: When they're not home as much because they're off doing activities and being with their friends and all that. So.

[00:13:00] Melissa Burnett: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:02] Jennifer Wilson: So I wanted to have you on the show because you are one of our members that seems particularly happy and productive and that's really what we want for our community members.

[00:13:14] Jennifer Wilson: And I wanted to kind of tease apart some of which, some of what makes that happen for you. Because I know you haven't always been that way. You felt, you know, a little bit stuck in your hobby in the past and, maybe we're had, had gone through some slumps as we all do. Um, so maybe to start, could you share a little bit about what projects or classes you're focusing on this year and kind of what led to those choices?

[00:13:41] Melissa Burnett: Sure. Um, so I made a list. I have like seven of them, which sort of sounds like a lot, but I think it's doable. Um, and so the first one is, um, a photo book for 2022. Um, so I've been doing annual photo books for a few years now. Um, and I really like it. Cause like I said, I do a lot of like, over the years type stories for my actual scrapbooking. But I like to, and I, I store my layouts in like a Library of Memories category system. But I like having that chronology piece too. So having the annual photo books with like our, you know, family photos, um, for the year of still gives me that aspect of it. And um, yeah, I've done it a little bit different every year, but I keep it pretty simple.

[00:14:38] Melissa Burnett: I do like very minimal journaling. And so that tends to come together pretty quickly. And then I have two projects that I've started previously that I'd like to finish this year. So the first one is Week in the Life, which, I documented in August of 22. Um, and that is started, I think it's like, I think I've done Monday through Wednesday.

[00:15:05] Melissa Burnett: So, I have to do the other four days. And then, uh, the other is my, Before Your Story album, which I'm calling my growing up years album. The time from birth until, I met my husband, which is like 20 years for me. So I've, that's actually been started for a long time. But, uh, last year I did quite a bit of the, what I feel like is like the hard work for it, of like selecting the photos and doing the journaling.

[00:15:37] Melissa Burnett: So, um, I have one more section to do for that and then actually put it all together. And, a new project that I'd like to start is a travel album for my husband's anniversary trip to Maine that we took last September. And that'll probably be, thinking like maybe a quick trip travel album.

[00:16:04] Melissa Burnett: So like, uh, you know, maybe eight by eight or something like that. So kind of a smaller size and, not a ton of journaling, but we have a lot of really fun pictures from that. And then as far as my kind of normal, everyday, I would like to do tell six bucket list stories and 50 additional layouts.

[00:16:33] Melissa Burnett: And last year I made 66 layouts, so I feel like this is pretty doable. And I'm taking the Hello Story class with Ali Edwards with other members of the community and I think that is a really fun experience. I did it with a Shimelle class last year and it's just super fun to have that community engagement around. Um, this class that I think I purchased probably almost 10 years ago.

[00:17:01] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, it's been a while for sure.

[00:17:04] Melissa Burnett: Yes. Yeah. So I think that, um, and what I like to do when I'm like taking those classes is to try to um, kind of incorporate stories that I've already been wanting to tell. So instead of like, coming up with totally new ideas for all 12 layouts I wanna do for that class, I'll use those frameworks to tell some stories that I've already been, had on my list wanting to tell.

[00:17:32] Jennifer Wilson: I love how kind of thorough and extensive you are and kind of really thinking about what, what you really want to accomplish. Both in terms of, you know, larger projects and, and series of pages as well as, you know, um, having fun and making those one-off pages with individual stories as you, as you feel inspired to do so. Uh, and so that's one thing that I just, I really appreciate about you. I think you're quite a role model for our members in that regard.

[00:18:01] Melissa Burnett: Oh, thank you.

[00:18:04] Jennifer Wilson: So you've been scrapbooking for more than two decades now. What have you learned about your way in that time and maybe kind of also the opposite of what have you learned that's totally not your way at all?

[00:18:18] Melissa Burnett: Um, it's so crazy to think about that. It's been that long, but it definitely has. Um, and I think the biggest thing that I've realized is that I like to include a lot of photos. So, all my, pretty much all my layouts. I guess I shouldn't say all, but the majority of them have a lot of photos on them.

[00:18:42] Melissa Burnett: So I just, I guess I feel like I like to be pretty thorough, in my memory keeping and just sort of life in general. I'm not like a great summary person, like, you know, just selecting like one or two things. I'm like, no, I wanna include everything. So I think that smaller formats aren't as much for me, because I do like to include everything.

[00:19:10] Melissa Burnett: I, I do mostly still scrapbook in 12 by 12. And although I do like adding kind of like companion pages or flip flaps, like, so that it's not always just like a straight like two page spread or whatever. You know, I might do a single page, but then add like a 6 by 12 or a 6 by 6 or something like that to add the additional details that I wanna include. And so that's been helpful when doing things like Shimelle classes, who usually only includes, you know, a couple photos on a layout. Like I'll either take one of hers and make it into a two page spread, like, or I'll, you know, like I said, like add the flip flap. Or if she's using like a bigger photo, I'll use that same size photo spot, but instead of doing like one, four by six, maybe I'll do four, two by threes or two, three by fours Or something like that.

[00:20:10] Jennifer Wilson: Sure, sure.

[00:20:11] Melissa Burnett: So yeah. The other thing I've realized, um, last year was I decided to try, documenting my Week In The Life in, one of Ali's journals. So just like the notebook format.

[00:20:27] Melissa Burnett: And that's, I'm gonna finish it just because I'm a finisher and I want to complete it in that same album. But it's not a format that I will use again for a project like Week In The Life. I just, I don't know. I guess I just kind of like working in a page protector. Um, don't like having to worry as much about like, you know, using so much adhesive to make sure everything stays stuck to the page.

[00:20:56] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, no, that all makes a lot of sense. And I, I've obviously knew some of that about you, and especially in terms of your kind of preference for 12 by 12. I, when you say that, um, that you hesitate to just do the highlights, so I'm curious how maybe that has impacted your progress with the Before Your Story album. Because that's really like throughout the time I can say that you're probably grumbling at me saying, Jennifer, I don't wanna do just the highlights. I have so much more to say.

[00:21:27] Melissa Burnett: Yes, so I'm definitely modifying that quite a bit so that I can include more.

[00:21:32] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. Just curious.

[00:21:34] Melissa Burnett: Um, yeah. Yeah. So kind of my, what I've decided to do for that. And I think that's why, for quite a few years, it was like, ah, I just, I just don't know what I wanna do because it doesn't, you know, it's too summarized for me. I want be more detailed. And so what I've kind of decided on is, um, adding, doing a lot more photos, I think, than the original structure calls for. And, um, I'm also doing it in the Project Life app. So it's, cause, I don't want it to necessarily be more than like one 12 by 12 album. And so I, I'd like to have it as a, a printed book. And then to be able to have my journaling just typed so that I can tell a little bit more story than just like a handwritten story on a card. So yeah, I'm adding pages, I'm adding more.

[00:22:34] Jennifer Wilson: No, that all sounds good. But I love how you chose a format that would allow that without adding, you know, uh, an extra whole album. Cuz if you were going to do more in a, you know, a larger format, you might, might even overflow even a 12 by 12 album.

[00:22:50] Melissa Burnett: Yes.

[00:22:50] Jennifer Wilson: So making it in a photo book really is the, a great compromise there. So I love that adaptation. So can we go a little bit more into your creative process? You of course have shared a little bit of that already. But you know, you're so prolific, you create so many pages. You work on these projects and I know you get your photos by mail order as well, and that's kind of part of your process. So could you maybe walk us through what a week in your scrapbooking life looks like?

[00:23:17] Melissa Burnett: Sure. So when I was thinking about this question, I, I was like kinda trying to think about it and I I have more of a, a cycle. Um, so not every week necessarily looks the same, like in particular the first week of the month. I end up spending most of my time working on like my photo management from the previous month.

[00:23:40] Melissa Burnett: So I like to make sure that I, and I kind of do it throughout, at least like the deleting like duplicates or random screenshots or whatever. I try to do that, throughout the month, but then I look back at the month as a whole and I use star ratings in Lightroom. I use like one star for anything that I want to keep and like see again in more of like a favorites view. But, that I probably won't necessarily use. And then my two star photos are the photos that I want to include in my annual photo book. And three stars are photos that kind of have stories with them that I'd like to tell. Or sometimes like a really great like, personality photo of someone in my family or something like that.

[00:24:34] Melissa Burnett: And then I don't really use Four Star, but then I use Five Star for anything that I want to like print and display in my home. So yeah, so I do the star ratings. I do a little bit of keywording, and I edit the, any starred photos and I do like just super quick edits. Most of the time lately it's just hitting like the auto-edit button button in Lightroom.

[00:25:01] Melissa Burnett: And then I also make, family calendars for, um, it's my mom's favorite Christmas gift every year.

[00:25:10] Jennifer Wilson: Oh I bet. Yeah.

[00:25:13] Melissa Burnett: And I used to make it super complicated where like, you know, in November I'd be scrambling and going back through like the whole year's worth of photos and kinda coming up with like a theme for each month.

[00:25:23] Melissa Burnett: And. You know, I would like feature one person more our birthday month or, um, you know, I would gather like all the pictures of like my kids playing together or sleeping or something like that. And a few years ago, I was like, this is just not, like I was getting super annoyed about doing it, but I knew it was my mom's favorite gift to have and siblings look forward to getting a copy too. So I was like ok, what can I do differently to make this easier. And so I settled on just doing photos from that month, the year before. So, um, so now I'm creating those calendars throughout the year. I'm, I make them in Shutterfly, but, um, in my, you know, monthly photo management wrap up, I kinda pick, you know, like five to 10 pictures that I might wanna include on the calendar. Export those from Lightroom and then bring them into Shutterfly and make the calendar page for that month.

[00:26:28] Jennifer Wilson: I love this. I love how you've made it easier for yourself, cuz I know it stressed you out a lot.

[00:26:32] Melissa Burnett: It did. Yeah. And now this year too, I've added that. I'm gonna do one for my in-laws too. Cause for a few years my sister-in-law and I kinda like switched back and forth who was making them. And now, um, she's busier than I am. She works full-time, which I, you know, I don't, I just work part-time so I have more time.

[00:26:54] Melissa Burnett: And, um, but with already doing one, I was like, oh, I can't do two every year. But with this method, I'm like, oh, I can do two every year. So I just sent her a reminder text, like, Hey, send me a couple pictures that you want on the calendar. And, so yeah, so now I'll be able to do 'em for both families. Um, so yeah.

[00:27:17] Melissa Burnett: So then the other like weeks like two, three, and four, it sort of depends on my, what I'm feeling like doing when I sit down to scrapbook. So if I'm in like a planning mood versus a creating mood. If I have like a story that's been on my mind, I might try to plan a layout for that. And so my planning includes, like usually I go to my pictures first and, you know, find the pictures that I might want to include and then see how many there are. And then kind of look for a sketch that will accommodate them. And then get all those photos sized for the sketch that I chose. And so then when those are ready to print, I just export them to a folder on my desktop. And once I have, usually like, I try to have at least five, usually more like seven layouts that I have pictures planned for, then I will do an order at Persnickety Prints, to get those photos. And so, because I've done that the previous month, then I also have a binder on my desk that has the sketch and the photos ready for me to just sit down and create the layout. So I kind of go back and forth between those two things throughout the rest of the month.

[00:28:39] Jennifer Wilson: I love this. I love this so much. I think just having, as you describe it, a cycle, um, is really, really helpful. Do you ever feel kind of off cycle or like do you feel like you get behind or, or is this, have you set it up so that you kind of always feel relatively caught up?

[00:28:57] Melissa Burnett: I mean, I definitely have like a huge list of stories that I would like to tell.

[00:29:01] Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm yeah.

[00:29:01] Melissa Burnett: So in terms of like, you know, I definitely don't necessarily feel like I'm caught up. But I do try not to order, um, new photos or plan like too many new pages if I have a bunch that are waiting to be created.

[00:29:19] Jennifer Wilson: Okay.

[00:29:20] Melissa Burnett: So I don't have like a specific like, ok, I can't like plan when I still have five layouts left to make.

[00:29:26] Melissa Burnett: Like I don't really have hard and fast, like rules or numbers. I just, kind of try to go with like, okay, I need to make these pages before I can order more. And when I'm down to only like maybe one or two layouts that I have ready to create, I wanna make sure I'm placing a photo order so that, I have more to create with by the time I'm done with the, the ones I'm working on.

[00:29:49] Jennifer Wilson: Awesome. I, yeah, I am, I'm very, uh, admiring of your process, for sure. And I'm also admiring that you.

[00:29:57] Melissa Burnett: I also have a lot of time, like I, I have to say that like, I really have a lot of dispensable time. So I'm very, uh, you know, blessed, blessed and privileged in that. Um, you know, my husband works full-time, so I don't have to. My kids are in school, um, you know, like all day during the week. um, so I do have a lot of time that I can spend scrapbooking at this point in my life. So.

[00:30:25] Jennifer Wilson: I really appreciate you saying that, and I think that also, this, uh, concept can be adapted. You just may not be able to fit as many things into it. But, you know, what is the, you know, the, the minimum viable version of it as well as what is, you know, full out, I have much more time and, and he's, these are the things that I would like to include every single month. So I, but yeah, I appreciate you recognizing that. Cuz we all definitely are in different seasons of life and have different situations.

[00:30:56] Melissa Burnett: Right. For sure.

[00:30:58] Jennifer Wilson: So another thing that I admire about you is you always seem to know about different products, different solutions. I have a whole soon-to-be color-coded dauber set now because of you. Uh, well, I, did buy the finger daubers instead of just the, the ends for the big ones because there's reasons for that, but it was totally because.

[00:31:18] Melissa Burnett: Okay.

[00:31:18] Jennifer Wilson: Of you that I even considered it. So I'm curious, what are some of your most favorite under the radar items? Things that you don't hear talked about a lot, or just, you know, maybe are, I don't know, quote unquote boring, but really they add a lot of functionality to the things you make.

[00:31:39] Melissa Burnett: So when I was thinking about this one, I first, I was like, I dunno, I'm, it took me a minute. But I think that, uh, one of the things that has really helped me with my making my annual photo book and making that like doable and quick to create is Miss Freddy's Family Yearbook class. And she's been offering it for a few years now, but I'm pretty sure it's still available. And she, yeah, it's just kind of like an overview of your year. Um, she uses, I think like AlbumStomp software to make her pages.

[00:32:19] Jennifer Wilson: Yes mm-hmm.

[00:32:20] Melissa Burnett: Which I tried, but wasn't a big fan of. So what I use instead is an app called Turbo Collage. Um, and it's a subscription, but it's only like $16 a year for the desktop version, which is what I use. And I can just take like a whole photo, a whole folder of pictures and it automatically like puts them into a collage for me. So it's a lot faster than even using like the Project Life app cause I don't have to click and drag and it automatically sizes things for me. Um, I think it's like the mosaic view or something that I use and it automatically populates all the pictures in their proper aspect ratio.

[00:33:06] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, that sounds awesome.

[00:33:08] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:33:08] Melissa Burnett: Yeah. So yeah, so that's, think that would be my, my biggest one is, you know, I'm not stressed that I haven't started that yet because, I know I can finish it in like a week or so. Just using, uh, that program.

[00:33:26] Jennifer Wilson: Very cool. What a great tip. So you also are a frequent attendee at our Monday co-working sessions, so I love checking in with you there. I'm curious how that time helps you get started with the week.

[00:33:41] Melissa Burnett: Um, so yeah, I've really enjoyed participating in that. And because I'm on the East coast, um, it doesn't start until 10:00 AM for me.

[00:33:52] Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm

[00:33:53] Melissa Burnett: And I get up at 6:30 and both my kids are out the door by 8:15 in the morning. So, um, I like to try and use the co-working time as creative time. But I feel like, um, then that motivates me to unload my dishwasher and get some laundry done and get myself dressed and like kind of do those like daily household chores before the co-working time. So that then, and sometimes, yeah, sometimes planning my week too. If I don't get to that part of it then I will use the co-working time to kind of plan out my week and write down in my planner. I actually have two sections in my planner, like one that's for stuff that I need to do in like regular life and then also the things that I want to do in my scrapbooking life, so. So I try to make sure I have a list of that by the end of the Monday co-working time every week.

[00:34:55] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, time I love it. That's such a, a helpful tip to, you know, we've talked a lot about that recently, setting some just sort of like trigger points for I wanna have something done by this particular time. Because then it gives us a, um, you know, it's, it's almost our own internal accountability strategy to say, okay, if I can do this by this time, I will A, feel better, and B, be able to then do these other things later. Um, and just those small shifts can seem to make a big difference.

[00:35:24] Melissa Burnett: Mm-hmm.

[00:35:25] Jennifer Wilson: And we talked a little bit earlier, of course, about your, um, your, your new job as a postpartum doula, and I'm excited to see how that evolves for you. And this is just a total like curiosity as we, we start to close this episode, but do you ever incorporate conversations about photography and memory keeping in this, or do you hope to in the future?

[00:35:47] Melissa Burnett: Um, I haven't really yet, but like I said, I'm pretty new at it and I really.

[00:35:51] Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm

[00:35:52] Melissa Burnett: Love that idea though. Um, because that time, especially like passes so quick and it tends to be like sort of a blur. And because I do enjoy photography, I think it would be fun to even, you know, like ask families during like the interview process or whatever, like is, you know, me taking pictures of you kinda going about your, you know, postpartum life, like something that would be interested in or whatever, just to, you know, kind of help them document those moments.

[00:36:25] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes.

[00:36:27] Melissa Burnett: So yeah, I think that would be a really special, um, idea of like, you know, I, I, I feel like we don't always in that time think about taking photos or, or even wanting photos sometimes. But, but then I think back, it's they're, they're kinda nice to have. Like, oh yeah, there's so many things that you forget when you're in that, blur.

[00:36:55] Jennifer Wilson: [00:36:55] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, there's definitely some photos that I have that are treasured, I'm so glad. And then others that don't exist because, you know, I just like couldn't, couldn't muster it in the moment to be in charge of that. So if there's somebody else saying, here, let me take a picture, you know, even if you know if it's candid or, or posed, but, Here. I'm here. I You don't need anybody else. You could, let's take a picture of you guys together. Um yeah, I think that'd be really special.

[00:37:23] Melissa Burnett: I'd like to, um, maybe come up with like, some, some easy suggestions too for families for documenting. Cause I know that my style would not be what, what most, um, new parents would be interested in, in trying. But, you know coming up with some simple solutions to recommend.

[00:37:42] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, not everyone's a scrapbooker and that's totally okay.

[00:37:46] Melissa Burnett: Yep.

[00:37:46] Jennifer Wilson: But even just having the perspective, um, I don't know. It makes, I think it makes, um, you, in this role, it gives you a little bit of a, like a unique twist to it. So, so wrapping up here, do you have any additional advice you would give a listener who wants to be a happier and more productive scrapbooker?

[00:38:06] Melissa Burnett: I think my biggest advice would just be to try and find what works for you and embrace it. Um, you know, I love learning from others and hearing others ideas and reading about other people's process. But at the end of the day, like I feel like I need to make sure that I'm modifying it to fit, you know, my personality and my preferences. Instead of just, know, jumping from thing to thing, like, oh, this doesn't work for me, this doesn't work for me. You know, I think we can incorporate aspects of different people's productivity and kind of make it our own. And, um, and then that just helps us to have it feel like a more authentic process.

[00:38:51] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, yes. And I hope, I hope, just through listening to our podcast episodes, that you can pick and choose little parts that might work for you. And I'm certain that there's parts of what Melissa has shared today that you may wanna try out and see if they kind of fit into your, you know, basket of, basket of tricks for your own memory keeping hobby. Melissa, are you, um, on social media in a place where you'd invite our listeners to follow you?

[00:39:15] Melissa Burnett: I am occasionally on Instagram and I have started this year, um, trying to do a Thursday Three documenting.

[00:39:25] Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm

[00:39:26] Melissa Burnett: That is, I'm at Melissa1015.

[00:39:30] Jennifer Wilson: All right.

[00:39:32] Melissa Burnett: Otherwise, I'm in the Simple Scrapper community, and that's where I share a lot of my, layouts and participate in conversations and thing like that.

[00:39:39] Jennifer Wilson: Awesome. Thank you so much for spending time with me.

[00:39:42] Melissa Burnett: Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for having me.

[00:39:44] Jennifer Wilson: And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way.