Welcome to the Lead Your Best Creative Life interview series! In this series, I feature memory keepers who make time to scrapbook in their busy lives. Each month you will meet a scrapbooker, just like you, and learn how they lead their best creative life.
I hope that this series will help you see that we all our doing our best to scrapbook our memories. It can be hard to prioritize your creative outlets, but you aren’t the only one that struggles with finding time to scrapbook and craft.
This month’s interview is with Jenn Hutt a.k.a. TheDreamerCreative. She found scrapbooking just a few years ago while she was living abroad and hasn’t stopped documenting since. I loved learning about her scrapbooking process and how she came to find time to document her stories. You can check out all of her crafting on her blog Diary of a Dreamer. You can also support Jenn on Etsy and Stampin’ Up. You can also follow her across social media on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Facebook.
Read on to learn more about Jenn’s scrapbooking and creative process. See how she has made time for scrapbooking and how she finds ways to prioritize her creative time.
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How long have you been scrapbooking and why did you start?
I started scrapbooking probably in 2014, after I moved to Germany. I was just a lifestyle blogger back then and I stumbled upon Ali Edwards and Kristin Tweedale (RUKristin) and just never looked back. I don’t have the best memory in the world, and it’s easy to forget things. I started memory keeping in order to better help me remember with pictures and little stories to trigger the memory. Also, I just enjoy going back and looking at snippets of our life.
Do you find it difficult to keep up with memory keeping?
I do sometimes, but I usually get all caught up at scrapbooking retreats that I go to. I do mostly Project Life (with some mini pocket albums and travelers notebook inserts) so I print the photos in batches and when I have time, I work on the coordinating stories.
How do you currently make time for scrapbooking and how often do you scrapbook?
I am a college student right now (I did things a little backwards and went military and then college), so I don’t have a lot of time spent outside of my house. I have a LOT of free time to scrapbook when the mood strikes me. It is usually at least once a week or more.
How has your scrapbooking methods changed since you started?
The methods change as things in the industry change. I originally did more journaling and smaller photos, but now it’s in reverse. I love mini albums and TN’s for memory keeping just for this reason.
Are there any methods, supplies, or strategies you use to scrapbook more efficiently to be able to finish projects?
Just batch work like Ali Edwards has mentioned in her classes. Since I am always behind at least a week, I will spend some time printing all the photos I need to catch up, and then in small increments I will work on the journaling and embellishing. OH! I use a lot of sticky notes in my album to note where I want certain stories or things I don’t want to forget. And my bullet journal helps me catch up a lot quicker when I know what the stories are that go with my photos.
What is your biggest challenge in scrapbooking right now?
Just staying caught up and not feeling overwhelmed honestly. It can be daunting sometimes when you have fallen behind and you might not want to get started. Catching up seems like it is so much work and you just start putting it off until it’s even worse.
Speed Round:
- Favorite scrapbooking tool or product? Tape runner or paper trimmer
- Current inspiration that gets your creative juices flowing? Instagram and Pinterest
- Favorite scrapbooking guru? Do I really have to choose just one?
- Your go-to crafting method or design? Project Life style pocket albums or a TN sized layout
- Something new you’ve recently discovered in the scrapbooking or crafting world? Hybrid scrapbooking
Share a recent project that you made – we would love to see!
Any last thoughts for our crafty friends out there who are struggling to prioritize their scrapbooking and creative time?
Amy Gretchen had a good idea about a story notebook she uses to keep track of what she wants to put in her album every week. This helps me when I get ready to start a batch process in my album, this way I already know what stories I want to tell.
Working in small increments may be best if you’re struggling to prioritize creative time or you just don’t have a lot of time to work. Sometimes it’s easier to spend a little time printing photos and then journaling the stories a different time, and them embellishing your layouts when you have more time. It doesn’t always have to all be done at once! Unless this is your job, you’re never going to have enough time to get everything done, so take it piece by piece and celebrate your small accomplishments along the way.
Thanks again to Jenn for being a part of this series! I love that even as a fairly new scrapbooker she has already figured out what works and doesn’t work for her process. Breaking down projects into smaller pieces and batch processing has helped Jenn and I think it’s a great lesson for all of us. You don’t have to create each layout, weekly spread, or Project Life layout in one sitting. If you work at it in little chunks, the layouts and stories can all still be told.
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If you are interested in participating in the interview series, please contact me here!
See you next month – until then, lead your best creative life today!
Julie
Blog header photo by Ewan Robertson on Unsplash
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