new year:new scrap rules

So. the album challenge.

Around 6 months ago, I bought some coupons for photo books. Three coupons actually. For 100 page books. In A4 format. Gave myself a pat on the back for being so forward-thinking. Knowing that I had heaps of time to get all those pages I'd been doing together, and print them.

Then I realised, as the new year dawned, that the coupons expire on the 22nd January. This year. And I had a little moment. I quickly panicked and looked through my folders. What I (repeatedly) found prompted me to make some new scrapping rules for myself (after I repeatedly hit my forehead with my mouse).

1. Put the date.on.every.page.

2. Journal. Everything. Even just a little bit, to say where the pictures were taken, or what we were doing.

3. Heavily embellished, layered pages are not what I want for my albums. I love making these kind of pages- lurve the pretty- but it often distracts me from my main aim of documenting. Also, turns out my family aren't so interested in looking at those either. Hubby tells me he prefers simple pages, where the photos are the star. Yes, he said that.

4. Keep a consistency in design. And in keeping with the simple thing, I'm going to stick with plain backgrounds, perhaps a little solid colour or print for pop, and one or two embellishments. I don't care that I can hear you yawning. In years to come, I want my eyes to wander through my albums and be overtaken with memories, not think wow, chevron was so in back in 2011. Document in double pages as much as possible.

5. Document as I go. I'd like to say I'll get my album pages done at the end of each month. Considering however, that I am currently staring down the barrel of three years of pages, I know that I'm kidding myself there. Although, you never know!

So there we have it. Now, I need to stop belting myself in the head with the keyboard, and get back to photoshop. Oh, before I go, want to see some pages, following the golden rules?

I used some delicious Three Paper Peonies gear for these. Check out the store, perfection. I'd love to know your thoughts on documenting. How do you keep on track?
s.