A simple solution ...

What a relief it was to discover that "scrapbook album overwhelm" is shared by others! Thank-you for all your own experiences and ideas (see Comments, Wednesday, 23 June). I'm going to give some serious thought to amalgamating all the unfinished albums, Jackie and Sian, mourning them a little, adding a covering explanatory page, and laying them to rest together in one place ...

Scanning the shelf for them, the only album project I've ever completed caught my eye, and I lifted it out with curiosity:

Yep, from Ali Edward's class, way back in 2008. Why, I wondered, did it get finished, when others did not? I flicked through the pages. The photos don't seem to have suffered from not being encased in page protectors. I can touch the items I added; the plastic hospital wrist-band, the circular pad they forgot to take off my collar-bone before they sent me home. It felt real. Earthy. Unpretentious. Nicely wabi-sabi ... It was also something also to do with its sheer simplicity. I had decided on a design of a double-page spread for each day, with a block of nine photo/paper spaces on the right and a page of journalling (in different formats) on the left, plus pockets for extra bits and pieces...

 

I also remember loving putting it together. Yes, it may have been partly due to having time off work as I recovered from minor surgery, but I also remember feeling very unwell that week (picked up a tummy bug), so each day was not unalloyed delight. Just doing it was deeply satisfying, as was watching it build up. It flowed.

You'll know how I love 'simple'. However, a 'simple' layout - the end result - may not involve a simple process (how it is conceived and put together) and may not lead to a simple outcome (how and where it's stored). Please tell me I am not the only one who also has unfinished pages which have got 'stuck', and are awaiting inspiration but gathering dust! As I set off on a (metaphorical) journey, feeling the waves lapping against the hull and the lift of the tide as the sail begins to unfurl, I'm looking for both simple process and simple outcome. Boats don't have room for bulky craft spaces. Storage on board is limited. Each item needs to earn its keep and, preferably, serve more than one purpose.

So, after much consideration, here's my solution for the year ahead ..

• Albums: I'm going to use one album. Just one. No more albums for this, and albums for that. Everything will go in it: highdays, holidays, ordinary days. Events and moments. On-line classes and projects.
• Types of layouts: a mixture. There'll be printed-out digital, hybrid and traditional. They won't all follow the same design, but they will have simplicity as their guiding principle. They may well be minimal - I love minimal. It's like simple on speed.
• Size: I'm going to go with A4. It's our European size, and I'm willing to experiment with it. It gives the option for portrait or landscape, and two A4s together makes a good size for a double-page layout.
• Paper: Sometimes card, almost certainly white. And this is where the archival quality, Photo Rag Duo double-sided art paper comes in. You can print text and photos on it beautifully and the quality is superb - I've tried. No more having to print out photos separately and stick them down. And you can use both sides with no bleeding through. It comes in a range of weights, so it can be as heavy as Bazzill cardstock, or a lighter weight but equally opaque. Cost-wise, it's very competitive (I'll post a comparison for those who may be interested). And it's great for one's own artwork, too: I am partial to the odd bit of doodling, remember?
• Fastening: Bind-It-All to punch the holes for the spiral binding, and book-rings through some of the holes to hold the pages together temporarily until there are enough to bind with a metal spiral.
• Interactive: I love turning pages, opening flaps, peering in envelopes, peeping in pockets. I like to interact with my books. I love the hidden places, the surprises, the sense of mystery and exploration. Yep, I'm going to experiment, but still keeping it clean, simple/minimal and graphic.
• Page protectors: probably not. If a page looks as it needs something, I'll take a 12x12 page protector, trim it to A4 size or slightly smaller, give it the Bind-It-All treatment down one side, and it can sit between two pages. Or - like the old-fashioned albums and their tissue-paper interleaving - I might use a sheet of vellum.
• Cover: I'll make one.

So there you have it. Now that I've nailed my colours to the mast (gosh, these sea-faring metaphors just won't go away), I'll have to deliver! I'm hoping you'll surf or cruise past to see how it's going ... By the way, if you love books, and colour and illustrations, pop over to Julie's post (especially 23 June) at The Copy and Paste Project. Prepare to be utterly charmed!

Comments

[Amy]

Alexa this is a great plan, when you have to downsize you see what you love and how you really work - a lesson for all scrappers I think!
There is something about Ali's classes - can't put my finger on it but they are nearly always the ones that make me smile the most.

[Jacky S]

Sounds like a plan,Alexa....I tend to put most of my pages in one album at a time.....though I do have seperate ones for holidays.
I like the idea of A4....have never used that before....but would be a good size I think.....and easy to get card for....I like The Papermill Shop card.
I love other people's minimilist pages....you and Amy both make wonderful ones....but just can't do it myself.....too addicted to embellishments..... which does make my albums rather fat......and even more difficult to store!!

[Julie Kirk]

Sounds like the overwhelm didn't throw you overboard Alexa - bravo for your simple solutions. Funny how we sometimes need to give ourselves permission to do things differently ... even if it's our own hobby!

Am so glad you're enjoying the Copy+Paste posts ... and as much as I'd like to take the credit ... they're actually all by Kirsty this week.

:)

[Sian]

Simple is sublime..when you let us in on your secrets like this Alexa. It sounds like a wonderful plan.

[Michele]

Great plan, Alexa! I must admit, all of my LOs go into one ring-binder, no matter what the size. When that's full, I move onto the next one. I'll worry about transferring them into specific albums at a much later date, if at all. The Photo Rag Duo paper sounds fantastic - might have to investigate!

[lin thomas]

I'd be interested to know more about the paper Alexa, I've just received a lovely print done on canvas and am looking to make something similar myself as a piece of digital art to put in a frame.
I've dabbled with A4 size usually when I've done it as a gift for someone and had it framed. 12x12 or any square frames for that matter are harder to come by.

[kerri]

i had to do that with journals, too- ONE journal. not one journal for this, one for that.

have fun! :)

[Alexa]

Hi Kerri - very reassuring that this operates in other creative endeavours too. Hope the journal is going well ... :)