Let me take you back to the fall of 2009. I had been hearing about LOAD (LayOut A Day for any non-scrappers out there) from people at Big Picture Scrapbooking (now Big Picture Classes) and through various social media sources. Everyone who had taken part raved about how productive and inspired they were during the month-long sessions.

I was intrigued. My productivity had fallen off, mainly due to the unexpected death of my mother-in-law that spring. I hadn’t fully completed any classes I was taking at BPC or JessicaSprague.com since then, and was feeling a bit disappointed in myself. I needed a challenge. A goal. A plan of action.

LOAD to the rescue!

I wasn’t sure what to expect that first day, but I knew what page I had to do first. I’d been mulling over a page about meeting Whoopi Goldberg for days. I took advantage of the wide-format printer that my mother had given me, and printed the title and journaling directly on a piece of patterned paper. A few images snagged from the internet, and I had my first page for LOAD done. I took a picture of it, uploaded it to Flickr, and went on with my day.

I am a rather solitary scrapbooker. I am not a joiner by nature. I don’t have friends who understand how cool scrapbooking is. So it came as something of a surprise when I went back later, and had comments and compliments about my layout. I had feedback! I wasn’t alone!
This LOAD thing was awesome.

October 2009 LOAD

 As the month went along my stack of pages grew and grew. My kids eagerly read each page. They helped me choose topics. Simon even helped me put together one of two mini books I completed that month. (He loves buttons and flowers, just so you know.) I got so much DONE! And my family appreciated what I did. The housework didn’t suffer any more than usual. Everyone was fed, and got to bed and school at reasonable times. And I was happier. I was getting creative every day, and feeling more inspired as the mess on my desk piled up. The people on the message board were supportive, and funny, and generous. I spent as much time as I could commenting and spreading the love around as well. I couldn’t find a single downside to the whole process.

I still haven’t.

February 2010 LOAD

I’m hooked. I love the people who sign up, who take the leap and ATTEMPT to push themselves creatively. There is no failure in LOAD, even if you don’t finish a single page. There’s only the certainty that you have tried, and you have completed more than you would have if you didn’t take that jump.

If the idea of doing a layout each day flummoxes you, if you can’t imagine finding the time or the inspiration to make a scrapbook page, you’re in luck. The theme for this month’s prompts is all about inspiration. Every day you’ll get a link to a little prompt with ideas to get you scrapbooking, just in case you have no idea where to start. There will be interviews with Stacy Julian, founder of Big Picture Classes, Julie Comstock, president and designer for Cosmo Cricket, digital designer Anna Aspnes, and Page Maps author Becky Fleck. There will be camaraderie, and sharing of the ups and downs of life as a dedicated scrapbooker. And you WILL get more done than if you hem and hah and dither and live in the world of CAN’T instead of CAN.

May 2010 LOAD

To encourage you, and give you some ideas on how to prepare for a month of scrapbooking goodness, I and a bunch of other LOAD alums as well as Lain are hosting a blog hop Monday, January 24th, beginning at 10am eastern. I might even scrounge up a giveaway from my crazy stash. Join us!

And I said I wasn’t a joiner.

Two ways to sign up: click on the LOAD 211 link on the top right (I’ll get a portion of your sign-up fee) or click right here. (And leave me out of it.) Either way works, and both lead to FUN! Hope to see you there!

October 2010 LOAD

 What are you waiting for?