46 UHeart Organizing: A Scraptastic Planning Process!

Crafting and scrapbooking seem to be something that many of you readers love heart to do, and I am with you!  That is why I brought Sarah on board as one of my contributors.  In my personal opinion, she is the queen of organizing in the scrapbooking department and has a lot of ideas and systems that can be adapted for many types of craft projects.  Here she is now to share ways that she does some planning ahead of time, so when the time comes to sit down and scrapbook, she is ready to go!

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You sit down to scrapbook and spend the first hour sorting through pictures and trying to decide what to work on, then maybe another 20 or 30 minutes trying to figure out a layout and which paper and embellishments to use. Three hours later you’ve used up all your allotted crafting time and you only have one layout to show for it. Or maybe you’re the crafter who is so far behind and feels so overwhelmed that you don’t know where to start and it’s entirely taken the enjoyment out of the experience.

Here’s one of my key rules of thumb: crafting should be fun, not stressful.

Luckily, I have a system that helps make efficient use of precious crafting hours by allowing you to quickly and easily put your hands on exactly the item you want to work on. I’m going to use my scrapbooking projects to illustrate this system, but it can definitely be tailored to fit other crafting needs.

As with any good system, dedicating time on the front end to get organized saves oodles of time on the back end. And when it comes to crafting, that time savings translates to MORE FUN! {And if you love organizing as much as I do – and since you’re here, you probably do – you might find the planning and organizing almost as much fun as the crafting!}

PHASE ONE: PREPARE

When I’m working on a scrapbook, I break the process down into 3 steps: Prepare, Plan and Create. I think of the Prepare phase as the staging area, where everything gets piled up in anticipation of the Plan phase. But rather than leaving everything in literal piles – where items from separate projects might get mixed together or key items might get misplaced – I sort items by project into tote bags.

I use tote bags I picked up from my local craft tore {selected for their size, durability and cuteness}, but the sheer abundance of reusable bags on the market should make finding an option easy. I like the bags because they allow me to make use of the hanging space in my closet and they are easy to grab and go. But any portable container large enough to safely store 12 X 12 paper will do.

Here’s what I do. Each scrapbook I plan to create gets its own designated project bag, which I label and hang in the closet of my craft room.

As I print pictures, spy perfect layouts, purchase paper and embellishments or collect memorabilia for a project, I slip them into their designated project tote. When that project is ready to move onto the Plan phase, I just grab the tote, confident that I have everything I planned to use for that project.

Even if you’re chomping at the bit to move onto the Plan phase, I recommend you take time to sort all your projects into their totes or containers first. Once you've done that, you will be ready to move each project to the Plan phase in a nice, orderly fashion. I promise this will make the Plan phase much easier and set you up to use this system going forward, avoiding having to go through “the big sort” more than once.

PHASE TWO: PLAN

Step 1: Sort

When it’s time to move a project tote or container from the Prepare to the Plan phase, I start by removing all its contents. It’s kind of like Christmas, rediscovering all the items I’ve squirreled away for the project! Now it’s time to bring order to the chaos. Love it!

 I first sort all the items into piles, categorizing them into planned layouts. 

While some of the items will sort easily into layouts, other piles will have to be sub-divided multiple times to get down to the layout level. This is always the case with my Christmas pile. Also, some of the piles will be ready to pick up and start scrapping, while others will require more work to get to that point. That’s okay. The goal of the Plan phase is to get everything into its proper place and capture all the ideas you already have in your head.

Step 2: Create folios

After I’ve refined everything down to as many individual layout piles as I can {if I get stuck on how to sub-divide a particularly large pile, I give myself permission to save that exercise for another day, just making sure to label the pile to keep it organized}, I tuck each layout into its own folio.

Folio is just my fancy word for folders I create out of paper.  Here is what I do:

1. I fold a piece of 8.5x11 paper in half once.  {As a writer, I always have a lot of used paper sitting around.  So before sending it to the recycle bin, I re-purpose it as a folio by folding it printed-side in.  Use whatever folder solution works best for you; just remember that this is for temporary use, so don't spend too much time or money creating it.}
2. On one side of the folded sheet, I label the folio to indicate the layout subject {if I've already thought of a title, I'll use the title to label the folio}.
3. I use the rest of the open space to draw out layout ideas, making journaling notes or jot down other ideas I have for the pages.  I might also note if there are things I still need for the layout, like to print a certain picture or pick up some themed paper.
4. Finally, I tuck into the folio all of the items I have collected for that layout.

Again, this is a quick and dirty solution because I want to spend my time creating layouts, not folios.

Step 3: Create an outline

Once I’ve created a folio for every layout and tucked the designated items into the folio, I line them all up, so I can see what I have.

Then, I create an outline. Why am I giving myself a homework assignment, you ask? Because it makes creating a scrapbook so much easier! The benefits of a project outline include:

• It helps me figure out how to sequence my layouts in my scrapbook before I start and to verify that I haven’t missed anything.
• I can pull out my outline and use it to decide which layout to work on next, rather than flipping through all the folios.
• It allows me to scrap in non-sequential order, meaning I can work on the layout that feels the most fun and motivating, rather than being forced to work on the next one in line.
• And, I get to cross each layout off the list as I complete it, reinforcing my sense of accomplishment and showing me how much progress I’m making!

Here’s what I do. I title the outline according to the scrapbook, since I usually have multiple scrapbooks in process at once. I then divide my folios into sections – months of the year, destinations on a vacation, etc. – and add those sections as headers to my outline. Under each section header, I list the layouts I plan to include in that section.

I even give myself a To Be Determined section, where I list layouts whose location I haven't yet selected.

Even if your scrapbooks don’t have sections, it would still be helpful to use the outline to list and order all your layouts. And don’t forget the benefits of crossing completed layouts off! Once I’ve finished my outline, I stick the outline into a clear, plastic sleeve, to protect it and make it easy to grab.

  
To help get you started, here's a printable outline you can download and fill out for your next project.

{click HERE to download your FREE Project Printable}

 
Step 4: Create section dividers

Before moving into the final step of placing everything into a bin, I create section dividers that correspond to the section headers in my outline. When I’m dealing with a book that contains a lot of layouts, these section dividers make it so much easier to keep folios in order and to find the folios I’m looking for without flipping through my entire project bin.

I then clip my section dividers to pieces of cardboard that I reuse from bin to bin. Giving them this extra weight makes them easier to find in my bin.

Step 5: Load the project bin

Now that I’ve sorted, folioed, outlined and section divided, it’s time to put all the goodies in their new home.

My bins are from The Container Store, but really you just need a bin that meets the following criteria:

• Wide enough to fit 12 X 12 paper, plus a little bit extra to make room for section dividers.
• Not so deep that items fall down. 7-10” deep is great.
• Not so tall that you can’t see – and sort through – the contents. No higher than 9-10”, unless a lid is mandatory for your particular storage requirements.

When loading the bin, I find it easier to tip the bin on its side and load from back to front.

I put the layout folios as far to the right as possible and the section dividers as far to the left as possible. This makes it easier to flip through the section dividers and find the folio I want. When I’m done loading all my layouts into the bin, I tuck other items I might need into the front on the bin, including layout ideas and paper I want to use, a calendar of past events, and of course, my outline.

I remove the label from my project tote and place it on the front of my project bin.

Now the PLAN phase is complete and my bin is ready to go.

All I have to do is select a folio from my outline, find it in my bin and let the creative juices start flowing!

I highly recommend that all crafters give this system a try, regardless of your storage challenges and blessings. This system will make it so much easier to make efficient use of your crafting time and you’ll be amazed at how much more quickly you progress on your projects. For the on-the-go crafter, this allows you to grab just the number of layouts you think you will have time to work on and just the supplies you we’ll need to complete them. This is so much easier – and much more productive – than bringing all your supplies and only using 2% of them. This is also an ideal solution for those of you who have to keep your supplies tucked away in storage and pull them out every time you want to craft. Instead, you can pull out your project bin, decide which layouts to work on, and then pull out only those supplies you will need to complete the selected layouts. And no matter how much space you have dedicated to crafting, you still want to be organized and productive.

Happy crafting, everyone!

"My name is Sarah Eelkema and I live in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN with my husband of almost two years, Eric, and our two adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Hermes and Brontë. I am a Communications Consultant by day and by night/weekend/any spare moment, I indulge in my passion for writing, crafting and organizing. I am honored to share with all you dedicated iHeart fans my tips, tricks and secrets for organized crafting, which will not only help you get control of your craft clutter but also allow you to make more efficient and productive use of your precious crafting time. While I am blessed with an entire craft room, I promise to explain how all the solutions I share can be tailored to your specific situation, whether it be a dedicated room, a small storage space or mobile crafting.