I hear discussions about this fairly often on message boards. Everyone’s answer will be different depending how fast or how much they scrap, and how many photos they take in any given period of time. But where do I fall in this? I’ve always figured I’d never be caught up. I scrap an average of 3 photos per page, and about 200 pages per year. This means that I could, in theory, scrap about 600 photos per year. When I hear it like that, it doesn’t sound too bad, until realization sets in. I take about 35,000 photos per year, and print about 3,000 photos per year for scrapping purposes. Therefore, keeping current isn’t even an option for me. For every year’s worth of photos, I have 5 years of scrapping to do.

So what is a scrapper to do??

• 1. Take less photos. (okay, I couldn’t even type that without laughing!)
• 2. Scrap more. :)
• 3. Scrap the most important photos first, and get to the others when time and inspiration strikes.
• 4. Ignore reality completely and just have fun.

To me, scrapping is all about having fun. I don’t scrap in any order, in fact I’ve got about 14 albums on the go, and have never completed a single album. I scrap whatever strikes my fancy, and go from there. I think I really need to push myself to complete some albums, but I’ve never felt that kind of pressure. So maybe instead of putting pressure on myself to keep current (an impossible goal), I need to concentrate on maybe getting an album or two done in the next few years, which is not only attainable, but will give me a feeling of accomplishment.

It took longer to get ‘back in the groove’ than I thought. Maybe i should have started with a one page layout instead. Never mind… at least I’ve accomplished something. This is the Wallace monument in Stirling, Scotland. The journalling talks about William Wallace and the Scottish fight for independence against Edward I. I’m not entirely keen on the statue of Wallace at the bottom of the craig (top left photo). It looks far too much like Mel Gibson for my liking. However the most ironic thing about that statue is the fact that along the bottom, in great big letters, is inscribed the word “Freedom”.... and at closing time every evening, the statue is locked in a cage to prevent vandalism. Freedom, indeed.

Time. Where does it all go??? I’ve barely scrapped at all this month, well at least that’s what it feels like.

I complete an average of 20 pages per month. In June I’ve manage a whole 4 pages!! Albeit I’ve been away for half the month, but that’s no excuse. But then there is selecting the photos I want to print, editing them, and the list goes on. Since getting home a week ago, I’ve managed to wade through and edit nearly 800 photos, yet there’s no sense of accomplishment in that for me. Why is it that I only feel like I accomplish something when I have the page to prove it?

I think it’s time I put the editing aside and complete some pages. I’ll finish the remaining 2,000 or so holiday photos when “I’ve accomplished something”.