Preparing for a New Year of Scrapping by Susanne

If someone asked you what you do to mark the end of a successful year of scrapbooking, what would you say? Would it be - get ready for the next one?
Well, a new year is upon us – and since I get a kick out of starting something new, I thought I would share 5 tips to prepare for it.
1) Get over the fact that you did not finish some of the projects you started. There you have it, and lest you think I am all talk and no action, pop over to ^{my blog  and see.}

a. Either reclaim the pictures and usable supplies from them for your stash or
b. Toss them as is (count how many – I will explain later),
c. or if you must, pick 1 or 2 and make them a priority in January, pledging to go back to steps a. and b. if they are not finished by Jan. 31^st.As a favorite mug of mine says – Get Over It, Get On With It. Move Along.

2) Purge 7 or 17 or 27 things from your workspace. If you are familiar with ^FlyLady then you know all about the 27 fling boogie. Without over thinking it, just grab the items you know you will never use again because

a. you don’t like them anymore,
b. you don’t know how to use them,
c. you don’t think you have anything to go with them or
d. you don’t know why you ever bought them.If you cannot toss them, you can donate them to a local elementary school, church rummage sale or charity crop and enjoy a little more elbow room in your space.
3) Set up some simple housekeeping chores for your workspace.
a. Clean up a little more often – even doing 3 or 4 simple tasks to keep tidy will keep you ready for the next project.
b. Each of our spaces is set up differently, so tackle that one problem area you have and add to it as good habits develop.
c. Enjoy that neat and tidy elbow room.4) Make your pictures a priority. For most of us, most of the time, that is where the layouts start. You cannot help but be inspired by pictures. So surround yourself!
a. Organize them – this means making sure they are accessible.
b. Get a ready supply of pictures printed.
c. Figure out a few ways to display your pictures and finished layouts.5) Decide to try something new for the New Year – do!
a. Take a class at your local scrapbook store, attend a local crop regularly or make a standing date to scrap with a friend.
b. Participate in an online forum – at an online scrapbook store, or an online education site, or a kit club forum. Select some blogs to frequent. There are lots of options – find ones you like and participate OFTEN.
c. Join in online challenges – there are beau coup choices on photography, techniques, sketches, related forms of art, supplies challenges and, of course, the challenges right here on this blog.
d. Figure out which activities best spur you to actually scrapbook and concentrate on those.