Jeanne, you have soooo many CUTE, delightful, adorable Christmas 'folk'! I'm not too sure how much help those elves were tho...aren't they like cats, mischief makers?! The red sleigh is a super find. Your reading Snowman is a favorite of mine! And I love the JOY letters your DD scrapbooked for you. (I made some JOY letters several years ago, copied idea from a crafter! You and I have something else here in common, those three box shelves! I painted mine black and hung them on the wall in my sitting room earlier this year. Found mine in an antique shop.) hugs, Karen

My niece's husband is an only child from a small fam. He tells her our fam looks for any reason to get together!!! My father passed when I was 21 and we all consider my stepfather as dad. He always help my grandmother on my father's side any time she needed it. The Easter reunion includes my father's side and gets pretty big. This one is going to be smaller LOL!!! I have been cleaning my sewing room. I took everything out and cleaned the carpet. WHAT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!! Linda it is so exciting that your daughter had her dream wedding!! Sally you are so busy I don't know how you find time to quilt. I am looking forward to the pics. I think there are going to be big sales coming up and I really don't need to buy more fabric, but I am sure I will. Have a safe trip Sharon, take clothes that are easy to wash and wear, save the space for more material LOL!!! Rosa

Oh- I forgot- I don't want to spend 40 or 50 dollars on a bottle of archival mist, either. I want to be as cost effective as possible. Thanks again! -Sarah

I've been scrapping for ten years, and I started out by sorting all my pictures first. I didn't stress out on those old, old ones - those I sorted by decades because using the "work backwards" theory, I figured I may NEVER get to those! :-) If I do, I'll resort at that time. I sort by degrees. In other words, the oldest get sorted by decades, then newer ones but still rather ancient get sorted by year. Then as I actually get ready to do that year, I sort by event. I'm an organization freak, so I also sometimes sort events by pages, especially if I already have some ideas. The reason for that is, I was always tempted to stop and do a page when a brilliant idea struck during sorting. Good way to get sidetracked. I stopped giving in to that urge and started using 3x5 cards to write my "brilliant idea" on, including what stickers, die cuts, etc. I'm going to use. I also jot down anything I especially want to remember to journal. Then I file the card with the pictures. Sometimes it's several months or more before I get back to those pictures to actually do the page, but the memory jogger is there. As far as "stocking up" you'll learn to resist the urge to buy every cute sticker or every color pen. If you're lucky enough to live relatively close to a store, just keep a running list as ideas occur to you. Over the years, I've learned that this saves scads of money, because you don't buy a whole bunch of stuff you think you might use but never do. If you get to a page and need something you don't have, just add the item to the list, use the 3x5 memory jogger card for that page, set it aside and go on to a new page. Which brings us to what kind of book to use. I started out with the Creative Memory strap hinge books and love them. However, you have to pretty much work "in order" in them. If you use a post bound or ring binder type, using page protectors, you can do pages as inspiration strikes and put them in order later. You can also change the order of your pages at a later date if you find some more wayward pictures. (You'll want to use page protectors in any case, especially if you have little ones.) Good luck. I hope you enjoy scrapping as much as I have. If I could give you just one hint, it would be do whatever you like. It's your book, and if a page pleases you, that's all that matters. If you don't feel like "following the rules" or if you want to make your own enhancements, do it. You'll have a unique book that shows your individuality that way.