Scrapping a Large Event, or How to Deal with an 8 inch stack of pictures -- Part II

So we left off culling and editing our 800,000 vacation photos.  Now on to the fun part -- printing and scrapping!  Click here for Part I.

Step 4.  Find some sketches, Make some collages and Print

I've found that pre-planning my pages using sketches really helps me from getting overwhelmed with a large project.  It's like putting together a game-plan.  You can find lots and lots of sketches all over the internet, but my favorite two page sketches come from Sketches for Scrapbookers books.  For those pages, I size and crop photos to fit what the sketch calls for.



I still print a good many of my photos as 4x6, but I learned the hard way that with that many layouts, you may end up with a ginourmous, 70 lb scrapbook.  Or two, like from our 2007 trip to Europe.  So I fit more photos on a layout by using photo collages.  Some of my favorites are from Kerri Bradford. You don't have to be a Photoshop genius to use them, and Kerri has some great tutorials.  The great thing about getting more than one photo on a print is that you can wait for a really good print sale and maybe afford to vacation again after you've printed them all!

Step 5.  Scrap a few, Keep the rest, and Get the story told

After 2 rounds of having massive scrapbooks with over 1000 photos in each, I'm trying a new way to reduce book size and incorporate all the fun memorabilia I like to bring home with me.  I scrap a layout, whether its one or two pages, and only maybe use a few of the photos I took for that place/thing/event.  Then I used divided page protectors behind the layout to include the rest, adapting the idea of Project Life to include snippets, smaller photos, ephemera, and journaling, using papers and embellishments that coordinate with the layout.  This also gives me extra room for journaling, and I think helps me tell a more complete picture of the story.






































I can't take all the credit for incorporating divided page protectors into a regular album. I have seen Shimelle Laine, Melissa Stinson, and Noel Hyman do this, just to name a few.  But I intend on these pages take more of a Project Life type turn in this album, rather than just matching additional pages.  We shall see how that goes.

Step 6. Take your time and Have fun
Since I've blogged a little about our trip, and made some notes for friends and family to read on our Shutterfly Share site, I don't feel in a hurry to scrap things before I forget them.  And by using the divided page protectors, I don't feel pressure to put every photo on a layout.  Since our fall trip, I've only scrapped a handful of layouts, but I'm able to feel more relaxed and creative about it, and I'm having fun with the process.

So that just about does it, but come back next Monday for the final installment, and I'll share a little on how I keep all those photos organized until they get scrapped.