jamie pate: One Simple Rule To Follow | Scrapbook Story Telling

you wanna know something?

Do you know the number one question that I get from my paper loving-storytelling friends?

"I'm so behind. Where do I start?"

This will be a subject I address next month on my YouTube Channel in the Memory Planner category. But I want to chat about it here. I want to talk about one simple rule to follow when you are in a similar place as that question above.

And no...the answer in this particular case is not : "Start where you are." That is an answer, no doubt. But that is not the answer I want to chat about today.

One simple rule to follow when you are feeling behind it and maybe overwhelmed but you also have the notion to get something on the paper... The rule to follow is to tell the story in your head. What is speaking to you right now.

When you scroll through your photos, and I know you got a bunch of them, what jumps out at you and you respond with a sigh or an 'oh yeah', or whatever your emotional response may be. What gets your heart? What is something you really do not want to forget?

That is exactly what this photo was for me. It was taken almost exactly a year ago. And while I was looking for some summery photos for another project, I came across this one. The emotional response I had to this particular photo and all that surrounded the photo is what caused me to take a minute and print it out. As I then went to work gathering some supplies, the story and ideas began to percolate in my brain.

I love when that happens.

It creates all kinds of feel good emotions when all that response and then action comes together.

So let's for a minute get to the technical side of the matter.

As I was pulling papers together I was so tickled how well the Boho Patterned Paper Pad played nicely with this photo. I felt the photo was grounded enough in darker hues that I could play more pattern around the photo. So I die cut tags from different patterns. I stenciled subtle color and pattern to the background. I pulled out some already pre-cut sprig dies. All this paper happiness lended itself to the emotion I was already feeling for this story.

It was like a package deal!

This lined pattern was left over on my workspace and I thought it would make for a great journal spot. Which it did. You just never know where those patterns are going to land until you start working them.

Hope this brings you some encouragement. If anything I hope that you think of a photo or story you want to tell and you get to the telling. It's your story. No one else can tell it. So with that: keep telling your story.