Getting organized (or trying to)

I've been a scrapbooker and card maker for the past 10 years. For the most part, I've done a pretty good job keeping my supplies organized, but my pictures... well, that's a completely different story.

I used to be really good about keeping my photos organized back when all I used was film. It was easy, really. I would just label the photo holders I got back from the developer with month, year, and any major events included in that roll of film. Now that I've gone 100% digital, I'm having a heck of a time keeping my pictures under control. And since the Monkey was born, things have only gone downhill.

I've been re-reading Stacy Julian's book Photo Freedom lately and am using her photo drawers idea to organize my piles and piles of photos. Basically, rather than keeping photos organized chronologically (or not organized at all, if you're me!!), you instead put them into different categories. The idea is that having these photos in categories helps you to make connections you might otherwise not make, helping to make your scrapbooking more meaningful. For me, I'm less interested in making my scrapbooking more meaningful, and more interested in getting the piles of photos and photo envelopes off my dresser and into a permanent home.

I decided to start with the Monkey's 2009-2010 photos, and it's going really smoothly. I've already encountered a few photos that I have no idea what category to put under; but I guess they're my categories so I can always add more. I'm hoping to get all of the Monkey's photos into my new system this summer. After all, the bulk of the new photos being developed are of him (or him plus a family member or friend), so having an organization system in place will help to keep things under control. I hope...