15 Tips to Chase Away Scrapbooking Burnout

If you've been scrapbooking for a while, you know how easy it is to get burnout and lack of motivation to create pages. It seems we still tend to pile up a stack of photos just waiting to be placed in an album, but we haven't found just the right paper or embellishments yet, or maybe we can't decide what scrapbooking techniques to use on them. Here are a few ideas to help overcome scrapbooking burnout.

1. Learning a new technique can spark your creativity. Just find some photos and try out the technique. It's always best to try a new scrapbooking method as soon after you learn it as possible.

2. Ignore the backlog of photos and just scrap one photograph. Choose a favorite photo, and make it your focal point. Sometimes getting started is all the motivation you need.

3. Organize and clean out your photos. Start going through your photographs and get rid of the blurry or poor quality ones. Your backlog will start shrinking.

4. Your supply stash can bring inspiration. Organize your supplies, and see if you are inspired to mix embellishments or papers in a new way.

5. Your scrapbooking magazines are a great resource of inspiration. Read one today for review of the latest products and ideas for page layouts.

6. Sign up for a scrapbooking class. The excitement of a class is a terrific boost to motivate you to get more pages done.

7. Gather your friends together for a scrapbooking crop. There's inspiration and motivation in numbers. If you prefer not to set up a party of your own, check out your local scrapbooking store for a group crop.

8. Go shopping! Browse through your local scrapbooking store or craft store and get inspired by all the new products available.

9. Don't think you have to be perfect. Scrapbooking doesn't have to be complicated. Allow yourself to make mistakes and make simple pages. Not every page needs to be a work of art.

10. Have a scrapbooking supply sale of your own. Give away or sell some of your supplies. Sometimes have less is more. You may have so many choices you don't know where to start.

11. Don't try to make an album tonight. Just make one single page layout. One page a night leads to many completed pages over time.

12. Sign up for a scrapbooking challenge. You can find these online in scrapbooking community message boards. Joining the competition and excitement will start your scrapbooking creativity going again.

13. Try digital scrapbooking. Learning how to creative scrapbook albums on your computer can be inspiring.

14. Join a scrapbooking community online and read their message boards and forums. Most of these communities have galleries where members upload their scrapbooking pages for others to see and make comments.

15. Put your scrapbook albums on display. Let your family and friends enjoy your page layouts. See their faces light up as they appreciate your pages will motivate you to get scrapbooking again.

Try these tips today and watch your scrapbooking burnout disappear.

Christine Perry is an avid scrapbooker and has over 10 years of scrapbooking experience. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her reluctant teenagers. She invites you to her website, http://www.intoscrapbooking.com for more scrapbooking tips and how to find a scrapbooking crop online.