Looking Ahead - 2023 Scrappy Plans

 Hello, everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I hope that you are having a good week so far. We are only five days into the new year and yet it seems like it's been weeks! I'm not sure why it feels like that - probably because it has been a busier-than-normal week around here trying to get back into the normal routine again.

Anyway, I wanted to hurry up and get my scrappy plans posted for this new year. I went back and reread my scrappy plans for last year - and (sadly)  not much has changed. You can read that post here. I remember writing that post with every intention of achieving at least a few of my goals...and the only thing that I really achieved was "just scrapping." Now, I did make progress in some of those albums that I talked about in that post, but I did not get a single one completed. And you know what? I am totally okay with that! I am done putting pressure on myself to get these albums done. I honestly think if I go into this year without any expectations that maybe I'll surprise myself with what I do get done. We shall see!

My plan for 2023 is simple - I want to concentrate on my Project Life albums and my traveler's notebooks. That is what I want my main focus to be this year. Done, finished, finito! This post could be done right here - but I'll explain a little as to why I want this to be my focus. 

 This is where my heart is at right now.

I have been making 12x12 layouts for 25 years now and I know I said this last year, but I am running out of space for all of these 12x12 layouts and albums. I can get so many more stories told - a whole year's worth of stories and photos - in one project life album - or even in my traveler's notebooks - than I can in a traditional 12x12 album. The stories of our everyday life - the ordinary, the mundane, the stories that I want to remember but that don't need a whole 12x12 layout to be told. That is what I want to focus on this year.

When I first started scrapbooking I made sure to journal - a lot. I wanted to have down every little detail of the memory that I was scrapping. Somewhere along the way I kind of lost sight of that. Well, I didn't really lose sight of it - my focus just shifted. 

Being the mom to a child with severe autism was - and still is - hard. When Shane was little and in school, I felt like I was only known as "Shane's Mom." I don't even know if half of the people that I came into contact with even knew my name! That is not a bad thing but I just felt like I didn't even know who I was - other than "Shane's Mom." 

I started sharing my layouts online and I found my people! Y'all knew me as Lori first and Shane's Mom second! I felt like I had finally found myself. I was scrapping more as a creative outlet - just getting the basics down for journaling - than for storytelling. Some days the basics were all that I could muster.

And now I find myself, once again, in a different season in life. My kids are all grown and Miss Ada looks to be the only grandchild - at least for a while - and she just turned 9. I don't take nearly as many pictures as I used to and a lot of the pictures I do take are more fitting to a project life album than a whole layout to themselves. I want to get back to telling the stories, to go beyond just the basics and dig deep as to why I feel about things the way that I do. 

This doesn't mean that I am done with scrapping traditional 12x12 layouts but if I can keep the number of those layouts to about 3-4 per month, I will be a happy camper. I am still on the Sketch N Scrap design team - so you know I will be making two 12x12's a month for them - and I am still on the Lasting Memories design team. At Lasting Memories, I can always make traveler's notebook layouts for the challenges - which I will do whenever possible!

Lisa and I are continuing with Lisa & Lori's Great Stash Bash in 2023. This challenge is still near and dear to my heart and we have added a fun twist to it this year with our bashket challenge! 

I have gotten better about not buying nearly as often and buying with intention when I do. That being said, I kind of went a little crazy with the after-Christmas sales...I might have gotten a few things from Scrapbook Generation's big clearance sale, Echo Park's warehouse sale, and Studio Calico's end-of-year clearance sale, and then Felicity Jane had to send an email that everything was 75-80% off, and then Anna posted that she had Simple Stories mega bundles for sale at Piece Craft Love...I couldn't resist a Simple Stories mega bundle!

Besides the mega bundle, everything I purchased I have plans for. The majority of things that I bought at Scrapbook Generation and Echo Park were Disney items - which I have none of in my stash - and since Abby's family went to Disney this past summer and have plans on going back later this year, I know I am going to put what I bought to use. I also picked up another pack of pocket page protectors for my project life album at the EP warehouse sale. You can't beat a 50-pack of protectors for $15! 

At Studio Calico I picked up some of their Documenter's kits and Traveler's Notebook kits. Their past kits were already on sale and then they gave a code to get another 50% off of that. When I can get a kit that normally costs $30-35 for $8-10...yes, please! I figure this is a good way for me to see if I want to eventually subscribe to one of their kits or not.

And at Felicity Jane, I bought a few more traveler's notebooks and several of their journaling card packs from their different collections. 

Out of everything that I bought, I only got one pack of 12x12 paper and it was a Disney collection pack. That is a win in my book! Now it is time to tighten the old purse strings for a while!

So, my goals for 2023 are:

1 - work on my 2023 Project Life album and any other year that I feel like.

2 - play along with Paper Issue's 52 Favorites this year - in a traveler's notebook.

3 - finally get around to doing a Traveler's Notebook or 6x8 album based on Ali Edwards' - Pieces of Me, Pieces of the Past, and Pieces of Home series from last year.

4 - get caught up on Ada's school TN.

5 - work on (and hopefully finish) Ada's Favorite Photos of 2018 TN.

Those are my main focuses of the year. Anything else will just be a bonus. And notice I just said "work on" instead of "completing" on the majority of those! I'm trying to set myself up for success this year!

How about you? Have you noticed a change in your scrapping recently? I would love to hear about your goals for this year, too!

Thanks so much for sticking to the end of this post!

Have a great day!