Scrapbooking Stress

I have always envied those people who are super creative and organized with preserving their memories. I have such high ambitions for doing those kinds of things but I really don't feel like I'm creative enough and I know I'm just way too obsessive. Even before I had a baby I have always wanted to get our pictures organized and find creative ways to store them. And now after having a baby this desire is even stronger with dreams of scrapbooks and labeled commentary with all kinds of frills and "embellishments" (that's scrapbooking lingo for all of those that didn't know!). So, I started doing what I do so well -- obsessing. I had to find the perfect scrapbook, the perfect paper, the perfect pens, the perfect "embellishments", etc., etc., etc. After acquiring said items and letting them sit under my desk for months and collect dust, I finally realized that my track record with this kind of stuff wasn't going to suddenly change just because I had a baby. It would actually get worse because I have such limited time to get these kinds of projects done now. But my desire to do it has really taken over and I think I've finally found a cure to my scrapbooking stress!

After buying the standard 12 x 12 baby scrapbook and a starter pad of assorted baby scrapbook paper (courtesy of the Provo Craft stock at Michael's) with a few cute "embellishments" that came along with it, I realized that I really didn't know where to go from there. And it took me a few weeks of staring at this pile of supplies to discover that this really wasn't the system that I wanted to use. I really wanted a system that would hold most of Noah's pictures and still give me room to add what little touch of creativity that I do have.

Then this past weekend, I was wandering around Target (something I do best) and I discovered a "photo preservation system" that I thought I could actually do! It was so exciting. It comes with a 3-ring binder (none of that "expandable postbound" stuff) and different options of page refills to choose from. You just buy the refills that fit the kind of pictures you have. There is even an option for a scrapbook page (if I get ambitious) and also various photo sizes on each page. There is also room to add written labels with thoughts and stories into the pages. So, I bought the binder and 2 different sets of page refills. I almost bought more, but then I thought it would probably be a good motivation for me if I waited until I finished what I bought first and then went back for more as a reward!

Anyway, I am thrilled to finally feel good about getting this big project underway. Now I just have to figure out when I'm going find time to do it...

(oh, and pray that Target doesn't discontinue this line of refills before I can get my act together!)

What do you do with all of your pictures?