Jul 3, 2008

15 Minute Miracles

Author Ernest Hemingway wrote, "Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is."

A lot of us who scrapbook are Mothers with young children still at home. This equates to a desperate shortage of time and energy. Of course, most of us also started scrapbooking to preserve the memories of those same children who are draining all of our time and energy. Although it would be ideal, most of us don't have hours to devote to our scrapbooking hobby every day. But, can you find 15 minutes?

The following is a list of necessary scrapbooking tasks that can be accomplished when you just have a snippet of time:

* Journal A Memory
You think you'll never forget the cute conversation you had with your daughter while waiting to pick older kids up from school, but you will! Write it down while it's fresh in your mind and you can use it for journaling later.

* Read a Magazine
Look through a new scrapbooking magazine to keep up with current trends and find fun new ideas.

* Create a Blog
Blogs are taking the internet by storm. A blog is essentially an online journal. Your blog can become a resource for future page ideas and journaling. There are even services that can turn your blog into a printed scrapbook. Check out Scrapbook Blogger.

* Create a Page Embellishment
Even though you may not have time to create an entire page, you can create one element of the page. Make a layered 3D embellishment or create a title for your page.

* Write About Your Day
Holidays, Vacations and special occasions are only a small portion of our lives. Make sure you capture the rest of your life. Take 15 minutes to write about what you did today. You never know what you could use in a scrapbook later.

* Shop
This is my favorite! Nothing gets me more motivated to work on a current scrapbooking project than buying new supplies.

* Crop Photos
Use a few spare minutes to crop your photos with a paper trimmer so they'll be all ready to go.

* Download New Fonts
You'll find terrific (and free!) font resources online.

*Clean Your Scrap Area
Set a timer for 15 minutes, and clear away as much surface clutter as possible. You'll be surprised how motivating a fresh clean table can be.

* Make Page Kits
Put together all the elements needed for a page: paper, stickers, embellishments, etc. Then when time permits, you'll be ready to scrapbook.

* Download and Order Photos
Download all the pictures that have been piling up on your camera and then order your favorites online.

* Edit Digital Photos
If you use photo-editing software, take 15 minutes to clean and crop a few photos so they're ready for printing.

Scrapbooking can be overwhelming, but by breaking it up into more manageable chunks, you can accomplish miracles in just a little time. Have fun scrapping this week!

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4 comments:

Randall said...

Kim,

Great article. With lots of good advice. My mother-in-law is really into scrapping. I'm going to refer her to your blog!

I'll add your link to my blogs as well. Would you be willing to link to my other blog too: LDSNewcomers.blogspot.com? Don't be surprised if you don't see a link to yours until tomorrow. I've got a date now with my wife!

Nichole Giles said...

Kim,

Great ideas! It's amazing what we can accomplish with just 15 minutes a day, isn't it?

As always, you amaze me with your inventiveness.

Nichole

Kimberly Job said...

Randy - Sounds like your wife is a lucky lady! I added your other blog to my list.

Nichole - Thanks for the compliment! I know you definitely understand the busy mom thing.

Heather Justesen said...

Great reminder, Kim. We don't have to have half a day free to accomplish a little step towards our goals. By the way, you've been tagged. Come see my blog.

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