I have no clever title

Just a random brain dump of some of my scrappy thoughts of late.

I did another big destash a couple of weeks ago and made a realization.  I need to listen to my gut better.  If I think I’m not going to really use a kit, then I shouldn’t buy it, no matter how good a deal it is.  It’s not worth it for the two or three times I use the cards then decide to sell them off.  Seems like the kits I’m getting rid of are ones I had reservations about.  I’ve definitely got a style and it’s becoming clear what kits work for me and which ones won’t.  I also really need to think about whether it’s worth it to buy the coordinating 12×12 paper because I don’t seem to be using it.

I’m excited about the PL Value Kits that are coming out soon – a big part of the reason I did another destash.  I like the idea of getting a few duplicates but not as many as in a full core kit.  I also rarely use the bifold cards so I’m glad not to get more of them.  I’m also enjoying using the new Stampin’ Up kits and the coordinating embellishments.

We decided to get a spiffy new point-and-shoot camera.  I hate hauling our DSLR when we go out places, and while I always have my iPhone with me which takes amazing pictures, I end up being the only one who takes pictures, or if I’m not there, none at all. We got a Canon Elph 330 HS and so far I’m very happy with it.  It’s got a few more features than the P&S’s I’ve had in the past while being small enough to toss in my purse or pocket.  We’ve test driven it a few times and I’m sending pictures to be printed later this week which will be the test.

I’m working on two projects right now.  The first is an album for my parents of their Mediterranean cruise a couple of years ago.  I’m using the Vintage Travel kit and getting all the photos and cards into the book, then my mom will do the journaling.  I’m very happy with how it’s coming together but it’s also tricky to do a book like this for someone else. Fortunately my mom had detailed notes and itineraries which have really helped me put pages together.  Once I have all the photos and cards in, I’ll turn it back over to her to do the journaling.  I’m not going to embellish this one because my parents really don’t care too much about that stuff.

The other one is Miss A’s first album.  I decided to go ahead and do a separate album for her and have all the pictures printed and in pages, up to March.  I’m debating whether for each of these albums to use a single core kit.  I’m really leaning that way for ease of putting these together.  Again, it’s more of a way of getting pictures into a book rather than the more creative stuff I’m doing in my own scrapbooks.

All my pictures from April to June are uploaded and pared down and I’m working on July this weekend.  I’m finding it super easy to do when I tackle a few months at a time, so I’m definitely going to keep this up.

Backing up your photos

This post brought to you by the bowl of cereal I spilled on my laptop yesterday morning.

Back in the days of film cameras, I regularly tossed out negatives once my pictures were scrapbooked.  When I switched to a digital camera, I did something similar – once pictures were printed and in albums, I deleted the files.   Looking back, it really bothers me that I didn’t hold on to more of those files.  If something were ever to happen to my albums, I have no way of getting those pictures back.

After I had Miss A, it became more important to me to start keeping my digital images.  I would leave them on my camera memory card and back them up to my laptop, but my card soon got full and I wasn’t content leaving them solely on my computer, because who knows what could happen.

I have a backup system now that I’m very happy with.  First of all, I leave pictures on my SD card until it starts to get pretty full – usually lasts me for over a year.  I copy everything from my camera and phone onto my laptop once a month.  All of my pictures and videos are also backed up in two other places.  I have a subscription to Google Drive – two bucks a month for 100 GB can’t be beat.  When I copy files onto my laptop, they automatically upload to the cloud so I don’t even have to think about it.  I also have a 1 TB external hard drive as another backup source.

It’s very reassuring to know that I can always access these pictures regardless of what may happen to my scrapbooks, phone, camera, laptop or external hard drive.  Because the worst did happen yesterday.  My laptop met an untimely death by Rice Krispies.  Although it still turns on, the wireless has fried and several of the keys no longer work.  So I’m off to pick up a new one tonight.