Scrapbooking Layout Storage

Welcome to Let's Talk Tuesday!

(If you're looking for the craft supply giveaway you can find it HERE)

 A couple of weekends ago I finally sat down and sorted and put 217 layouts into albums. I'm not sure how long I've let them pile up, obviously too long. As I sorted them I was able to review and reflect on my work.
Before we go into what I learned while doing this, first, I'll tell you a little bit about my creative process. 

1. I don't scrapbook in chronological order. I scrapbook whichever photos strikes me in the the moment. If I feel like scrapbooking a photo of me when I was little, I do it. If I feel like scrapbooking a photo I took 5 minutes ago, I do it. I don't pay any attention to how the photo will fit into my albums. I put a date on each project I create and they end up in the albums as I create them.
2. I keep 4-6 albums going at all times. I have one for each one of my kids, a family album, and usually one or two albums for my nieces and nephews.
3. I often scrapbook photos more than once. If more than one child is in the photo I might scrapbook it twice (if I feel like it). If I do scrapbook a photo more than once it goes into the kids albums. If I only scrapbook the photo once and it has more than one kiddo in the photo I'll put it in the family album.

Now that you know a little bit more about how I create I'll share with you what I learned and you will better understand how my albums come together.

While I was sorting all 217 layouts into the appropriate piles to go into albums I was conscious of which projects caught my eye and which projects caught the eye of my family members (this project overtook my living room for several hours). I noticed that the layouts that were grabbing our attention were those that had stories. It was always the story that grabbed our attention. Sadly, it wasn't always the story that I had documented but it was always the story that captured our attention.
This layout captured everyone's attention as it told the story of a family Christmas tradition:

This layout also captured our attention because it tells the story of a sledding trip we took as a family:

This one caught everyone's eye too. The kids were quickly reminiscing on all the naughty things that elf does when he comes to our house every December.

 This layout brought up a story that I haven't written down...yet...but I will. It's about my niece getting her foot burned. I mentioned it in the journaling but I haven't told the entire story. The foot that she doesn't have in her mouth is bandaged. This project is a good reminder that I need to tell the rest of the story.

On this one I left out the journaling because it wasn't a positive baseball season for my little man. Even though it wasn't a positive experience, I still needed to document it.

So, moving forward I'm taking what I learned and applying to my memory keeping projects. I want my scrapbooks to tell the story of me and my family. I want to tell the story of my kids and their childhood. When my kids look at their albums in a few years I want them to read the stories, look at the photos, and say, "hey, I remember that!" 
Moving forward my goal is to "Tell the Story." Who wants to share my goal and tell your story?