Help! I need ideas for album themes

Hi Everyone! I'm still trying to get my photos and ideas organized before I actually start scrapping (although I feel like I'll be in the planning stage for the rest of my life. ) I'd like any ideas you guys use for theme albums. I want to do a annual family album to record everything we've done for the year, but I'd also like to do holiday albums, vacation albums and such, and I don't know how to work them all in to different albums without duplicating alot of pictures. Does anybody have some good tips to offer? I have to leave home shortly, so I may not get back on to this site until tomorrow night. Thanks for any help you can give me.

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When I first started scrapbooking, I had all sorts of albums going (wedding, vacation, pets, etc.). Now I try to keep it simple. I do an album for each year and I do TRY to do an album (about 10 2-page spreads) for each vacation.

I started out mainly doing vacation albums. Now I have one specifically for Halloween, one for Christmas, and I am going to start doing a family album per year (which will be minus extensive halloween & Christmas sections, although it may contain a picture or too). I like to keep the Halloween and Christmas pictures separate cuz we love to decorate and take lots of family photos. I have found it is easier for me to compare pictures from year to year if they are in the same album.

This is what I have found is best for me. You may find you just want to do an album per year and one for each vacation you take. My mom does 2 albums per year in chronological order. Everything goes in these albums.

Cindy

I just started scrapping, so my ideas have no personal experience behind them, but here are my intentions: for each child I have (which is just one right now) I am going to do an album just of them for their first year of life. There are so many firsts and they grow so fast! In addition to those firsts albums, I am going to do family albums by year, I don't anticipate all the family stuff to fit in one album as I intend for it to include every holiday, every vacation, every event, so I will just use as many albums as I need for one year, then the next year, and so on.

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Amy

"Honey, will you do that
again, I want a picture
of it to scrap......"

I just started scrapping, so my ideas have no personal experience behind them, but here are my intentions: for each child I have (which is just one right now) I am going to do an album just of them for their first year of life. There are so many firsts and they grow so fast! In addition to those firsts albums, I am going to do family albums by year, I don't anticipate all the family stuff to fit in one album as I intend for it to include every holiday, every vacation, every event, so I will just use as many albums as I need for one year, then the next year, and so on. I also wanted to say, you could spend forever just organizing to do albums, this was one thing I didn't like about the method sometimes taught in scrapping workshops, organize yourself and then do simple pages to get it finished, I think that the book is more important. Find the pictures for events, etc., then do the pages as you are inspired, don't do a page if you don't have inspiration for it, you won't be happy with the result. A simple and finished album may be nice, but it may also be boring and upsetting to you if you find yourself inspired with ideas later on!

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Amy

"Honey, will you do that
again, I want a picture
of it to scrap......"

AMEN, AmyB! If I waited till I was all sorted and organized I might get a page done oh in maybe 10 years or so...lol! I fly by the seat of my pants...I look through my photos (and yes they are sorted by kid or event or vacation) I pull what looks interesting and then I run with it... I DO however, love the way CRR, Cindy sorts and stores her "pages to be" right in the page protector....someday....lol!
Bunny

[This message has been edited by rare-hare (edited 08-29-2002).]

Here's what I do to make it easier:
First, all my photos are organized by film roll in chronological order because it makes it easy for me to find what I need, I have the events and dates written in the front. Having an advantix makes it really easy for me too, but my older pics are also organized this way.

When I see stuff and pick it up for example my cousin's wedding, son's preschool, cruise etc., I put everything together in a gallon baggie or sheet protector including paper, die cuts, stickers etc. Also when I see ideas I write it down or at least the magazine and pg. # where I saw it and put it in the baggie. I do this instead of putting things in their normal place, because then I forget what I was going to use it for, that I even have it.

Don't wait until you have your pics and everything organized though, or it'll be forever until you get started. It was a long process to get me where I am organizationally. Just do a little at a time and in the meantime Scrap!