Welcome to the Leading Your Best Creative Life interview series! In this series, I will feature real moms 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 this series will help to remind you that we are doing our best to be memory keepers and crafters. 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.
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To start off the series, I will do a little brief interview with myself below, but you can check back the first Friday of each month in 2018 for a new interview with a different crafty mom.
Introducing Julie Hankins, a.k.a. Crafty Julie, scrapbooking momma with a daughter who is 2.5 years old. I work from home part-time, love scrapbooking, crafting, and work on this blog in the margins of my life. You can find me around the web @craftyjulienow on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
1. How long have you been scrapbooking and why did you start?
I have been scrapbooking since around the year 2000. My family always had photos around and I think my aunt got into using Creative Memories products and we all started scrapbooking after that. I actually remember that my first scrapbook was a project for school. I needed to create a “my life” book as a part of a English Literature class and write one-page prompts, so I scrapbooked it in a 12×12 album.
2. When you had children, did you find it difficult to make time for yourself?
I have always had an ebb and flow to my scrapbooking over the years. During college I took a lot of photos, but I didn’t do much with them. Before I had my daughter, I was scrapbooking more often but then she was born and I took more photos in my life than I thought possible. The problem was that I didn’t do anything with those photos! I wasn’t really making room for anything crafty in my life and I started to realize that by the time she turned 1.
While I was preparing for one of the scrapbooking retreats I go to every year, I printed 700 photos to document my daughter’s first year! It was insane. I realized that I can’t scrapbook like that – once or twice a year with hundreds of photos at a time. It was way too overwhelming! For now, I am trying to stick with the Project Life style of scrapbooking in the Project Life App, but I like to throw in a few regular layouts or mini-projects. I have also found that if I chunk out my scrapbooking into small tasks that I’m more likely to get it done. I just don’t have hours at a time anymore to scrapbook so I have to accept that it takes me longer to get things done. Changing my expectations while also prioritizing some crafting time is what helps me feel creative.
3. How do you currently make time for scrapbooking and how often do you scrapbook?
Right now I am scrapbooking about once every week, but it’s usually in small chunks of time late in the evening. I only sit down for 1 or 2 hours at a time. I trade off my Netflix binging time to scrapbook, but sometimes I like to put a movie on in the background for noise (as long as it’s something I’ve seen a million times).
4. How have your scrapbooking methods changed over the years?
It has changed a lot. I used to always do 2 page layouts with a lot of photos on both pages. Then I did a lot of one page layouts featuring one or two beautiful photos. When Project Life first came out, I tried that for a couple years and love the style of pocket scrapbooking for any sort of event, not just for daily, weekly, or monthly layouts.
Right now for me scrapbooking mainly happens in the Project Life App. However, I’ve recently started to jump into the digital side of things. I’ve played with some new apps and also have been doing some photo editing and adding journaling and digital die-cuts to my photos before they are printed. The December Daily project I have been working on has been fun and it’s brought back some physical scrapbooking that I’ve been missing, but it also introduced me to the digital side of scrapbooking. I’m loving the hybrid combination for special projects like this!
5. Are there any methods or supplies you use to help finish projects in your limited time?
The Project Life App is my go to strategy. It’s how I’m currently able to get scrapbooking done in my life right now and get my photos printed. It’s quick and easy and I’m able to do a lot more layouts in less time because of the app.
6. What is your biggest challenge in scrapbooking right now?
Sometimes I struggle with how I want to have everything fit together. I like the idea of scrapbooking in family albums, but I don’t know what I will do or how I will share these scrapbooks with my daughter in the future. Would she really want a family album in a photobook from every year or would she just want some special photos that she can pick and choose from? I change my mind a lot!
7. Speed Round!
- Favorite scrapbooking tool or product? Fuji Instax mini printer
- Current inspiration that gets your scrapbooking creativity flowing? ScrapGals facebook group and Design Team layouts from Ali Edwards
- Favorite scrapbooking guru? Becky Higgins – I’m so on board with her thought process! She’s like my life coach!
- Your go-to scrapbooking method or design? Project Life App for sure
- Something new you’ve recently discovered in the scrapbooking world? Digital scrapbooking files/die-cuts that I can use in an app on my phone! I can’t wait to explore it more!
8. Share a recent project that you made – we would love to see!
I’m still working on my December Daily 2017 album, but I am loving the look of a full 6×8 page! I’ve done a couple so far in my album and it’s so fun!
Recent 6×8 digital layout by Julie Hankins (Crafty Julie)
I also have been hustling to get some Project Life App pages done for the upcoming prints and photo books sale in the app. I really want to get a photo book printed and see how the soft cover albums look and feel. It’s been a huge motivator for me to get our 2016 family yearbook finished.
Recent Project Life App layout by Julie Hankins (Crafty Julie)
Recent Project Life App layout by Julie Hankins (Crafty Julie)
9. Any last thoughts for other mom’s out there who are struggling to prioritize their scrapbooking, crafting, and creative time?
Take a step back and remember that we get to choose our priorities. I am very type-A and like things in order and organized, but I’ve had to let go of some of those things so I can pursue my creative passions. I also think it’s very important to always keep trying to do it as often as you can.
Also, don’t beat yourself up if you can scrapbook everyday, but try to carve out time in your schedule weekly or monthly so you can let yourself unwind. Also, don’t beat yourself up about how “far behind” you are or that you haven’t finished a project. Just keep working at it and do what works best for you now.
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And that’s it! I can’t wait to start this series in February and feature amazing woman who are leading their best creative life. If you are interested in participating in the interview series, I would love to connect with you – please contact me here!
See you next month! Until then, lead your best creative life today!
Julie
Blog Photo by Vladimir Proskurovskiy on Unsplash
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