I FINALLY figured out MY system!

It seems like I have spent years (I have!) trying to figure "how" I want to scrapbook. I have organized and reorganized my albums too many times to count... going from strap-hinge to post bound to finally d-ring. I have tried 12x12 pages, 8x8 pages, 8.5x11 pages. I have scrapped chronologically, by person, by feelings. I have stored my photos n photo boxes, Creative Memories power boxes, in Cropper Hopper photo organizers, bound with rubber bands by event, in 13x16 photo-safe old-style albums (with the sticky back and pull back plastic page)...
I have stored photos by breaking them down into family, friends, travel, weddings, people, holidays, birthdays. I have read what seems like hundreds of idea books on organizing and I know I have read/browsed hundreds of magazines looking for the perfect solution to my scrapbook organizing dilemmas. To think of the time I've spent on this silly concept is ridiculous! The good news??? I have finally decided on a system and feel at peace. With other systems I have finished "the system" to still feel angst... thinking there has to be a better way. The times spent perusing other people's systems was not wasted. I have taken what I've learned and observed and turned it into my system. Well, not really my system because it is a combination of many other scrapbooker's systems. So, here goes... cheers to a less stressful 2009 scrapbooking! (Only true scrapbookers will understand this post and the joy I feel in finding my system). :) Non-scrapbookers... well, it's a scrapbook thing you wouldn't understand! ;)

First, I have to say I got the most inspiration from these two books. I also got the most stress! I am a chronological scrapbooker through and through... I tried deviating from it, but it caused more stress... Stacy insists that it causes less. Not so for the linear, black and white, right brained, type A personalities like me. I need order! I need systems! I can go with the flow when it comes to events, but when it comes to completing projects (I consider scrapbooking my life project) I need a tried and true organized system. However, I also need the ability to let go of chronological event-based scrapbooking to capture our everyday life and that of those we love. So here is how I combined the concepts...

This satisfies my chronological addiction...

*Derek's albums are naked 7 Gypsies... I can't find them anywhere now.
*Yearly chronological albums are American Crafts "Modern" album in black
*Christmas albums are American Crafts cloth in red

*My childhood/school albums are We R Memory Keepers black leather albums

*I have temporary "labels" on the spines until I complete the albums and know exactly what will fit in them.
*I use the page protectors below to put printed pictures in our yearly albums... when I scrap the event the extra photos I don't use go in photo boxes via Stacy J's system... categorized by person. Those photos will be used for my Non-Chrono albums below along with other random snapshots. I bought these at Hobby Lobby yesterday for 50% off ($2.50 per pack). I usually order them from here.Here is my system for non-chronological pages about our everyday life and things I/we want to remember...

*In Stacy Julian's book she suggests all kinds of album categories and sub-categories... overwhelmed my brain, so I narrowed it down to the topics that I really care to scrapbook:
1. Family Ties - random pics and memories of both our families
2. Our Friends - random pics and memories of our friends... old and new
3. Everyday Us - similar to Stacy's concept of capturing everyday life... I'm combining it with Becky Higgin's Project 365
4. Words I Love - I am lucky enough to have wonderful family members and friends who send/give me cards, notes, quotes, and other miscellaneous thoughts in written form. I also collect miscellaneous stories from magazines, newspapers, and the internet that touch me deeply. I love, love, love these little pieces that represent my relationships and life so well. I don't ever want to throw them away and they were stuck in a drawer or manila folders, so I decided to create one place to store them. I can now look back and smile (sometimes tear up!) at these wonderful mementos.

*I searched high and low for the perfect albums to hold these pages... too often they were discontinued, were too small and would require volumes and volumes, or I just just didn't like them. I finally got over the expectation of having expensive pretty albums... the type of album is not what counts. It is what is inside. So, I am now using 3 inch d-ring black notebooks with the clear-vue front (the kind you buy for school or organizing office papers). I made spine labels and covers, slid them in and wallah... I'm totally happy and content with them. They will never be discontinued and they hold several hundred layouts... therefore, conserving space. Love it!

Here is what I use to capture the memories...

FINALLY... I grabbed one of the caramel filled chocolates my mom gave me for Christmas (that's the only way I can eat chocolate... filled with caramel or peanut butter or whatever Heath bar filling is) while sitting here waiting for pictures to upload. I looked at the wrapper and realized there was a message printed on the inside... LOOK what it said.... hilarious given this post!

Well, that's it.... I'm done thinking! Took me years to come up with this simple system. Ridiculous, I know.