{library of memories}

Several months ago, as I was working on the remodel of my scrap studio, I read Stacy Julian's book Photo Freedom. I've actually read it through about three times now. I was really intrigued by her method and the potential of removing some guilt from this hobby (especially given how anal I am by nature). I had to wait for the remodel to be complete in order to begin. I really wanted to re-evaluate my scrapbooking philosophy, so this was great timing. I haven't yet read it, but plan to get The Big Picture, as I've heard it's a great complement and digs more into the mentality behind the system.

So, a couple of weeks ago I began taking baby steps in implementing the Library of Memories system. I've really been trying to utilize 15 minute increments as so many people recommend.

This first photo is of my temporary Category Drawers, which are just photo boxes. To begin, I've just labeled each one with Stacy's four categories. As you can see, I'm just separating at this point and haven't gotten into the more detailed organization and subcategories. These are all pre-digital photos (before 2005) or extras from events/topics I've already scrapped. I have a TON of old, old pictures but haven't tackled those yet. The ones in here are anything that happened in my lifetime. I'm also creating digital Category Drawers on my computer for digital prints.

One of the things that felt really good to accomplish was organizing my memorabilia. I didn't even realize how spread out it all was until I started trying to collect it. I threw away what wasn't important. For things that were already scrapped, I attached to the back of the layout. Older stuff is in this box which is basically "cold storage" for my memoralibilia. I found these boxes inexpensively at TJ Maxx or Ross. I like that this is large enough to hold what I have now, but has room to add plenty more.

I purchased one of these plastic containers that has three 12x12 drawers. The top drawer holds full sheets of chipboard. The middle drawer holds oversized photos (5x7 and larger). The bottom drawer is active memorabilia (things that will most likely be included in my scrapbooks).

I'm not 100% sold on the Storage Binder concept yet. I totally "get" it, but I'm not sure if having a physical one is good for me or not. I've been taking digital photos since 2005 and they are pretty orgnanized. I can't decide if I want to do the printing, like Stacy does. But, I did invest in ONE for now. I'm adding any hard copies I have of things I want to scrap. There isn't much at this point because I normally print as I go. I may try printing a few batches and see how it goes. In addition to my normal digital orgnanization, I'm implementing digital tags, which I hadn't done before.