Making Time for Scrapbooking

The discussion of making time for scrapbooking in your already busy life comes up time and time again.  Here is a recap of our most prominent response --

 and why it may or may not work for all of us.

1. Just make it important. Schedule it. Do it.

--Well, I may think it's important but so is a zillion other things. Sometimes we have to put less important things aside to do more important things. I'm NOT talking watching TV here.  When my kids were smaller, most of my time was spent handling their needs and the needs of my family.  I had no real family support - either we lived too far away for short babysitting stints. Or when we lived closer, my father-in-law was already burned out from all the other babysitting of the nieces and nephews.  So I had to save asking for those very important times when it was desperately needed. Everyone else worked outside the home or had their own very busy schedules. As for scheduling time, it never seemed to fail when they were small that when I had a half day planned for the hubs to take the kids out so I could scrap, one of them would end up sick.  Murphy's Law.  So scheduling time is a great solution if you can make it work for you. If not, don't feel bad.  Life goes on, and hopefully you're taking some great notes for those moments you'll document later.
(The documentation is where I faltered.)

This may not be only a little kid issue. For NSD coming up this Saturday, I asked my hubs for time and then a decision was made that we would go to church on Sunday and then go see Captain America. DD's motion sickness has become so severe within the last year that every time she travels she is sick for a week; this means local travel for them on Saturday is a no-go.  Also, she was sick yesterday with a cold on top of her normal ailments.  Just this morning, ds says he's all congested and his nose is stuffy which I recognize the systems because I had them during the night as well. Hubs told me that he feels like he's getting sick.  Yep, I ask for time and it's a sure sign everyone will get sick. Murphy's Law in play! Since my kids are tween/teen, unless they are really bad, I would still be able to get some time if I'm not sick.

2. Leave it out and work in short bursts.

--Well, not everyone has the space to leave out their work. And let's face it, it is a HUGE pain to put away and get out for only 10 minutes.  However, I will say that this is the only thing that worked for me when the kids were small. My craft table was in the sub-basement by the washer and dryer.  So if I actually made it down before either was finished, then I'd get a few minutes of play.  Let's face facts though, as a busy mom this doesn't happen all that often. But I became much more aware of laundry time as my children became older and would often get down during the last 10 minutes of the spin cycle.  If you have a space or can find a space, this is a great option.  I also read where someone who didn't have a space would take over their dining room table for a short span of time either once a month or once every other month.  The timeframe would be up to you. For this option, you would forgo the housework and other such time wasting nonsense for the blissfulness of creativity. OK, if you have children, you still have to care for them and feed them. But maybe its a hotdog, sandwiches, hamburgers, and pizza on those days. I could have seen this working for me as  well. I would have probably gone for the 3 day stint every other month. I could have probably, maybe made that work for me.

3.  Identify Time Wasters.

--Well this just makes sense, right?  For anything that we want to do.  I know for me, I would waste tons of time on the internet when I could be using it for cleaning the house or crafting or any number of other more productive pursuits. (If only my own family/life could be so Pinteresting!)  I know others love their TV shows and would put those first. Sometimes it's a good book you can't put down. Moderation is the key here. So for me and my internet surfing, I could set a timer and give myself limits for how long I get on pinterest or facebook groups. I could decide to only read  right before bed. In all honesty, I'd probably have to set a time frame there, or I'd be going to bed at 4pm. lol

4. Purge Your Supplies.

--This one makes sense to a whole lot of people. They can't work with so many choices.  They have to simplify.  Me, I LOVE my choices.  I like having lots and lots of things to choose from. As you can see, purging isn't an answer for me. Although I still think it's good to go through things every once in awhile so you know what you have, and if you feel the need to get rid of things that are not your style at all, so be it.

5. Organize.

--This one makes sense, period!  I don't know anyone that can work in complete chaos. But what is chaos to someone else could be totally appropriate for another.  The important thing is to know yourself. Do you like a loose organization or is your CDO (OCD in alphabetical order) requiring every speck to be properly put away?  If you know yourself, then you can plan accordingly.

6. Make Your Own Kits.

--Page kits or larger kits.  I've tried both. I'm not a fan of the larger kits, which mimic a kit club, although I do like kit clubs. But even when I subscribe, I tend to add in other items all the time!  I have had success with page kits. It fits into the "#2 Leave it out and work in short bursts" mode.  I would just add papers and know I must use embellishments, but leave the actual embellishments until I work on the page.

7. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.

--MOST THINGS ARE SMALL.  There is no such thing as being behind. Most of us will never get all of our photos scrapbooked. And many don't even need to be. Put them in a pocket page and call it done.  Because every page doesn't have to be gallery material. I'm not planning on putting my layouts in an art gallery, are you?! Didn't think so! So we won't sweat the small stuff, and we'll give ourselves permission to make quick, simple pages and to not worry if everything doesn't get documented.


As you can see, making time for scrapbooking isn't a one size fits all kind of thing. It's not even a this works for me now so it'll work forever kind of thing.  It's finding the right things or combination of things for you and your family.  We all have different lives and what works for one of us may not work for another. That's a good thing!  Experiment and find your solution.

Here's to enjoying our hobby and not worrying or comparing ourselves to others.  Wishing you all much success in finding your own crafting time.

What works for you?