Digital Scrapbooking Supply Nirvana

I believe a big part of maturity lies in learning who you are and what you need to thrive. I discovered, a long time ago, that I need a dedicated space to create. I need that space to be orderly. And I need to easily see my supplies, or I don’t use them.

When I made the transition from physical cardstock and stamps to digital ones, I didn’t immediately apply that knowledge of self to my new virtual studio. I’m convinced that’s why it took me so long to become a productive and happy digital scrapbooker.

I didn’t have a dedicated digital space. I was using my work laptop because I traveled a lot on business, and wanted to scrapbook at night on the road.

I wasn’t digitally organized. I created sets of folders, but since I didn’t know what kind of supplies I’d have and how I’d use them, they were all jumbled together.

And since I couldn’t see all my supplies, I didn’t use them. I’d forget what I had, and frequently bought duplicates of supplies I already owned.

I spent the next couple years doing far more supply collecting than page creating. In 2012, I decided I’d had enough. I was spending money to purchase digital supplies, but had only a handful of pages to show for it. Scrapbooking was no longer a joy, and it was a creative outlet I sorely missed. So I gutted and remodeled my “virtual craft room”.

I bought a high-capacity external hard drive and labeled it Life Art, so I’d have my dedicated space. I use a Western Digital My Passport 2TB portable external hard drive.

Then I started my search for information on digital supply organization. I found Kayla Lamoreaux and her series of blog posts on Creative Flow. That site is no more, but you can still find articles online both by and about Kayla, such as this one at The Daily Digi.

Over the next several years, using Kayla’s ideas as my starting point and combining it with Stacy Julian’s Library of Memories philosophy, I developed a system for managing my digital scrapbooking supplies, classes, and layouts as well as my photographs. Within the past several months, I’ve hit a total state of Creative Nirvana – almost like a runner’s high – where I can see what I have, find what I need, and use it all when and how I want. The proof is in the numbers. In the entire year of 2015, I only completed a total of 54 scrapbook layouts, for an average of 4.5 pages a month. Between January 1, 2016 and March 17, 2016, I’ve created and completed 45 scrapbook layouts. That’s 45 pages in just 2.5 months … an average of 18 pages a month.

I’m creating at 400% the speed of my 2015 pace. Half of it is due to the community I’ve discovered at The Lilypad. The other half is the system I’ve developed for my digital supplies.

Several of the ladies at The Lilypad asked if I’d share my organizational system. If it’ll help save someone else all that time I wasted trying to figure out what worked for me, I’m happy to do it! Bear with me, though – this is a long story, spread over several posts. I’ll give you an overview of my philosophy for organizing supplies, then walk you through how I add new stuff to my library, and finally show you how I find and use what I have. Here we go!

My Philosophy

1. Stay software agnostic. Don’t tie an organizational system to a particular software package, because a company in business today may not be in three years. I save everything in the file metadata, not in a sidecar file or a software database.
2. Only tag what’s absolutely necessary. In the beginning, I tried to tag every single file – every piece of paper, every individual design element … everything. I quickly learned that I’d rather spend my time creating than tagging. Which is why I …
3. Only tag details on kit preview images. Once I find a preview I like, I can backtrack to find all the individual files. Tagging one file instead of hundreds? A much better use of time. And speaking of how I use my time…
4. Tag it like I look for it. This took me a while to figure out. If I’m tackling a layout, how do I want to find supplies? 95% of the time, I look for supplies by their theme (photos of my nieces playing dress-up, I want kits about princesses or little girls or pixies) or by their color (they’re wearing purple and hot pink, so let’s find a kit that matches). Color and theme are all I need to tag.
5. Save time by doing things in batch. Tools like ExtractNow and Bridge make this easy.

My File Structure

I set up my external drive to map to the letter L (for Life Art) and gave it a simple folder structure:

• 0 Queue to Import – new supplies I’ve bought and need to add to my library. (More on that later.)
• 1 Digital Element Library – folders by designer name, containing all supplies by that designer

• 2 Scrapbook Layouts – high-res JPG files of all my completed scrapbook pages
• 3 Project Files – folders for specific projects like albums, posters, gifts, parties, etc.
• 4 Classes – folders of all classes I’ve bought with downloads and videos

My Software Choices

I’ve gone Adobe Creative Cloud all the way for my creative work. I’ve been using Lightroom since version 2 to process my photography, as well as to keyword and search for my digital supplies. I use Photoshop for hand edits on my photos and layout creation. I use Bridge for batch processing. And if I’m feeling fancy, I use InDesign for albums and books. I’m still learning how to use Illustrator. I can also hack my way around Premiere Pro to create videos, and once upon a time I developed computer based tutorials using Flash.

My Keyword Structure

Some people are vehemently against the idea of using keywords for their digital supplies, but they complain when they can’t find what they want among what they own. Bottom line, it takes an investment of time and effort to set up an organization system – any system – but once it’s done, if you do the work to maintain it, it pays off in huge dividends by the time you save (and the frustration you avoid!) when you’re able to find what you need when you need it. Not to mention the money you save when you don’t buy duplicates of kits you already own! So yeah, I use keywords. No, I don’t spend all my time keywording my files. I do just enough on just the right files to find what I need.

When you start adding keywords to your files in Lightroom, you quickly learn you’ve got to have a way to nest them or it becomes this giant nightmare of a list to scroll through. I created a top level keyword for 00. Life Art Keywords and created all my digital supply keywords inside of it. Here’s a run-down of the highlights:

• * Preview Image – self explanatory … for all the preview images.
• ** MASTER Kit Preview Image – added to the ONE preview image that best represents a kit as a whole.
• **KeywordThis – for any preview image I haven’t yet keyworded.
• 1. Templates
  0. Layered Template
  1 photo
  2 photos
  … etc – I’m not great about keywording my templates by the number of photos, so this is hit-or-miss in my library.
  layout: one-page
  layout: table-of-contents
  layout: title-page
  layout: two-page
  size: 4×6
  size: 6×8
  size: 8.5×11
  size: 12×12
  style: journaling heavy
  style: big photo
• 2. Color – this list is going to feel like overkill, but it works best for me. After all, there’s a difference between baby blue, royal blue, navy blue, turquoise, and teal. The numbers are there simply for help in sorting. When the list is alphabetical by color, I struggle to find them when I’m adding keywords. When they’re in spectrum order? I go straight to it.
  2.00 BASIC NEUTRALS
  2.01 White
  2.02 Grey
  2.03 Black
  2.00 NEUTRAL BROWNS
  2.01 Cream
  2.02 Kraft
  2.03 Brown
  2.10 RED
  2.11 MEDIUM orange red
  2.12 MEDIUM blue red
  2.13 DARK deep red
  2.14 DARK maroon
  2.20 ORANGE
  2.21 LIGHT coral
  2.22 MEDIUM orange
  2.23 DARK orange
  2.30 YELLOW
  2.31 LIGHT yellow
  2.32 MEDIUM yellow gold
  2.33 DEEP yellow
  2.34 mustard yellow
  2.40 GREEN
  2.41 LIGHT olive green
  2.41 MINT green
  2.42 LIME green
  2.43 MEDIUM kelly green
  2.44 MEDIUM olive green
  2.45 DARK green
  2.50 AQUA
  2.51 LIGHT aqua
  2.52 MEDIUM turquoise
  2.53 DEEP teal
  2.60 BLUE
  2.61 LIGHT blue
  2.62 MEDIUM royal blue
  2.63 DARK navy
  2.64 DEEP blue
  2.70 PURPLE
  2.71 LIGHT lavender
  2.72 MEDIUM purple
  2.73 DEEP purple
  2.80 PINK
  2.81 LIGHT pink
  2.82 MEDIUM hot pink
  2.83 DARK pink
  2.84 DEEP magenta
  2.90 METALLICS
  2.90 Clear
  2.91 Gold
  2.92 Silver
  2.93 Copper
  NEON
  RAINBOW
• 3. Paper – I used this mostly when I was trying to keyword every single file in a kit. Now, I add it to the preview image of papers and that’s it.
• 4. Photo Mask – This is another leftover from when I tried to keyword every single file in a kit. It’s one of the few I still use when I’m scrapping and looking for a tool, so I add it to the appropriate previews, like supplies from Katie Pertiet and Anna Aspnes.
  filmstrip
  frames
  photo stacks
  torn
• 5. Journaling – another leftover from my days of keywording every single file in a kit. Now, I’ll tag supply previews of word art or alphabets or journaling cards as appropriate.
  alpha
  card – pocket or project life
  word art
• 7. Theme – the #1 way I search for supplies, so I spend most of my keywording time here. This is just a partial list of keywords under this heading:
  .ANIMAL
  bear
  birds
  bunny
  butterflies
  cardinal
  cat
  deer
  dog
  …etc
  .COUNTRY or CONTINENT
  Africa
  America or Americana
  Asia
  Australia
  Canada
  China
  Dutch Holland or The Netherlands
  Europe
  France
  Germany
  …etc
  .EDIBLES
  apple
  candy
  champagne
  cocoa
  coffee
  cooking
  drinks
  food
  lemon
  pie
  popsicle
  sweets
  tea party
  .EMOTION or MENTAL
  adventure
  adversity
  affirmation
  anger or angry
  beauty
  change
  creative or creativity
  depression
  dreams
  emotion
  feminine
  give or giving
  goals
  gratitude or thanks
  grief
  happy or joy
  humor or sarcasm
  juvenile
  kindness
  masculine
  peace
  serve service or serving
  strength
  weird or different
  .GROWING THINGS
  acorn
  bluebonnets
  cactus
  daffodil
  daisy
  dandelion
  floral
  forest
  garden
  grass
  nature
  pansy
  pinecone
  poinsettia
  rose
  sunflower
  tree
  tulip
  wildflower
  .HOBBY
  art
  books or reading
  games
  scrapbooking
  sewing
  .HOLIDAY or CELEBRATION
  advent
  anniversary
  birthday
  celebrate
  Christmas
  congratulations
  Easter
  graduation
  halloween
  love or valentines
  new year
  Thanksgiving
  wedding
  .MONTH
  01 January
  02 February
  03 March
  …etc
  .MOVIE
  Brave
  Cinderella
  Disney
  Frozen
  Harry Potter
  LEGO Movie
  Mickey
  Rapunzel
  Star Wars
  Tangled
  .PEOPLE
  angel
  baby
  best friends
  boy
  dad or father
  fairy or pixie
  girl
  grandchildren
  grandmother
  mermaid
  mom or mother
  nerd
  princess
  snowman
  teen
  tween
  woman
  youth
  zombies
  .PLACES
  amusement park
  beach
  circus
  fair
  farm
  home
  lake
  school
  tropical
  university
  .SEASON
  autumn or fall
  spring
  summer
  winter
  .SPORTS
  archery
  basketball
  bike or bicycle
  camping
  competition
  drama or theatre
  exercise
  football
  health
  hiking
  soccer
  sports
  surfing
  swimming
  weight loss
  .STATE
  Alabama
  Alaska
  Arizona
  Arkansas
  …etc
  .TECH
  cassette tape
  email
  emoticon or emoji
  Facebook
  Flickr
  Google+
  infographic
  instagram
  instamatic
  internet or tech
  iPod
  phone
  photography
  Pinterest
  polaroid
  RSS
  selfie
  steampunk
  television
  Twitter
  typewriter
  YouTube
  .TEXTURE
  cardboard
  cork
  denim
  fabric
  glitter glitz or bling
  lace
  leather
  metal
  sparkle
  texture
  torn
  watercolor
  wood
  .THINGS
  award
  balloon
  basket
  bubbles
  …etc
  .TRANSPORTATION
  airplane
  boat
  car or driving
  cruise
  train
  .TRAVEL
  passport
  road trip
  .WEATHER
  rain
  rainbow
  snow
  sun or sunshine
  tropical
  .YEARS or ERAS
  1950s
  1980s
  2014
  2015
  2016
• 9. Designers – a keyword for every single designer, with sub-keywords for every product I own. For example:
  • Forever Joy
    FJ_Scrappy
    FJ_WrapStar
    FJ-BASIC-NEUTRAL
    FJ-BLESSINGS
    FJ-CAPTURED
    FJ-CIN-CIN
    FJ-COTTAGE-CHIC
    FJ-GREENER-GRASS
    FJ-SANTA-PAWS
    FJ-SurfShack
    FJ-UNWRITTEN
    ForeverJoy_Be
    ForeverJoy-DayDreamer
    
• Kit – a listing of all the kits I own, by name. These keywords all begin with “kit – ” for consistency. For example:
  kit – Be
  kit – Birds of a Feather
  kit – Blessings
  kit – BYOC March 2016
  kit – Captured FJ (there are several kits named “Captured” so I add the designer’s initials)
  kit – Cin Cin
  kit – Cottage Chic
  kit – Currently Collab
  kit – Daydreamer FJ
  kit – Greener Grass
  …etc

Now, for the details…

Believe it or not, that’s just the overview. You can read this post to learn more about my workflow for taking a kit from ZIP file download and bringing it into my Digital Element Library. Or, for those of you who like to read the end of the book first, you can check out this post where I show you how I find and use what I have once I’ve done the work to bring it into my Library.

Enjoy!