Welcome to my blog and the Pre-LOAD {Layout A Day} Blog Hop! LOAD is a challenge hosted by Lain Ehmann for scrapbookers. It is just like it sounds. A bunch of us scrapbookers commit to producing a LAYOUT A DAY for one whole month. We post our layouts every day (by midnight PST) in our Flickr group gallery, cheer each other on and offer encouragement. Lain sends us daily emails with prompts, and this month she's got 29 videos to inspire our creativity! There are even prizes.
This blog hop is meant to offer ideas and encouragement for newbies and alumni alike on how to prepare for the month ahead. Some of us are seasoned alums with lots of wisdom to share, others of us are brand new and sharing our goals and plans and some possible fears for the month ahead.
Before I tell you about my LOAD experience, I have to begin by telling you about the layout at the top of this blog post. I made that layout in 2002. Guess how long it took me to make it?
GUESS?
It sat on my dining room table for ONE WHOLE MONTH before I finally finished it. I wanted so badly to design a layout like the ones I saw in the magazines. I had Becky Higgins' 
See the border of blue rectangles at the bottom of the page? I had originally made an entire background using those rectangles, but it didn't look right to me, so after a MONTH of arranging and rearranging the parts and pieces, I finally came up with that finished layout.
Now it is a nice layout and in all honesty, it doesn't look too dated. It is a pretty classic design and tells a nice story and does a good job of highlighting the photos. BUT IT TOOK ME A MONTH! That is just way too long.
I would hear about people with shelves bursting with albums filled to overflowing with scrapbook pages and all I had was a handful of painstakingly made layouts. At this rate, by the time I died, each of my 3 kids would be lucky to have two layouts each! I needed a different strategy.
Fast forward a few years...
Along came LOAD.
I signed up for the very first one. It was January of 2007, lead by Lain. January wasn't a good month for me (too close to the holidays with a birthday towards the end). I only finished one page that first time!
The following year it was going to happen in February. I was so excited because I was committed and raring to go. I loved the idea of a challenge and I knew if I had the right mindset, I could do it. And guess what? Much to my amazement, I did it! I completed one page every single day in February of 2008. It was so much fun!
We did it again in May and October. And I am proud to say I completed 31 days in May and again in October.
Now it is 2012, and I have participated in two or three LOADS every year and have completed countless layouts. I now have shelves bursting with albums overflowing with pages. I've been published, I'm a BPC Library of Memories coach and I was asked to join the Ella Publishing Take Twelve Design team. I even have some wonderful new "internet friends" since joining LOAD back 2007.
I credit my regular participation in LOAD (among a few other habits, like following Stacy Julian's Library of Memories system) to be a large reason I was able to make all of these scrapbooking goals come true.
You could say I am a seasoned LOAD veteran.
So how can you be successful at LOAD?
*Besides having some basic supplies at your disposal (i.e., for paper & hybrid scrappers: lots of your favorite adhesive, plenty of cardstock & patterned paper, printed photos, etc), most of the preparation for me is the mindset of being comitted to a layout a day.
*Plan the page into your day. Decide the night before or first thing in the morning the photos you will work on, the story you want to tell. Think about it throughout the day so you have a basic idea of what you want to do when you sit down to work.
*Refer to your favorite inspiration: sketches, magazines, your photos
*Mine your blog for stories. I have a category on mine for Future Scrapbook Pages - couldn't be easier to find something to scrap about.
*Finish up any online classes that aren't complete - LOAD is the prefect time to do it.
*Finish up any incomplete albums (vacation albums, mini albums, Xmas gifts undelivered).
*Catch up with Project Life - this year or even last year! I always do a few spreads each time.
*Make quick decisions while making a page. Trust your gut. Glue it down and move on.
*Get the story told.
*Leave perfectionism behind. LOAD helped me get over that and learn to trust my gut.
DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!!!
In Layout A Day DONE is the most important thing.
If you messed up one day, you can do better tomorrow.
KEEP CALM and SCRAPBOOK ON!
LOAD starts on February 1st. If you are not already signed up, it's not too late to join us! It's the nicest group of scrapbookers on the internet!
Now on to the other inspiring blogs... But before you go... Leave me a comment - SEASONED VETRANS: your best word of LOAD advice; NEWBIES: your biggest LOAD fear.
Then on with the blog hop to KELLI. (Please return here if you get lost along the way, to make sure you visit all of the blogs on the hop today.)
To see everything LOAD on my blog, including all my posted layouts and the last blog hop, click here. To see everything scrapbook related on my blog, go here.
Pre-LOAD Blog Hop Partcipants.
Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com <--- You are HERE.
Have often wanted to try LOAD but haven't yet. Scared of the commitment and the fact that I hardly scrapbook as it is. My dad's health is wavering all the time so I try to keep my commitments low. OLW and MMEW are my two for now. And sewing a quilt. But I do and have had plenty of ideas rolling around in my head for LOs about my past...even did one of me G'pa and I a month or so ago. It was so rewarding to complete. Maybe I'll try going along on my own just to see if I could do it before I commit to one someday!
Posted by: Rebekah | January 29, 2012 at 14:08
Hi Margie :O)
Wow, Im really glad I stopped by. Im not partisipating on this LOAD (still gathering/sorting supplies/tools) but I am learning so much, while I am on the quest. I have been compiling photos from my mom's house of my childhood and the past 26 years of raising our children... Man, there are soooo many pictures and in some of the oddest places..lol I have begun a time line of events and the pages I want to make and materials needed for them. Other than a few more specialty pages, tape and l think a bunch more photo corners is needed. Im doing my best to put together the things needed, sort them so they can be used and see if l can complete a couple during the month. I look forward to the next one so I can be ready and set.
Posted by: Deana Scott | January 29, 2012 at 16:38
I love this story! I may need to use it to promote the next LOAD. ;) Thank you for all you do!
Posted by: Lain | January 30, 2012 at 07:43
I signed up for "Mother LOAD" at BPC. I read all the prep stuff, but didn't really participate once it came time to make pages. So I kinda feel like a newbie. And my biggest fear? That with everything else already on my plate... perhaps I'm setting myself up for failure??? Of course... too late if I am... I already signed up!
Posted by: Cheri | January 30, 2012 at 09:45
Great story! this is my 4th LOAD and I agree with all your tips! Basically just commit and go! Just do it! A few days I made my LO with a computer program , a photo and some journaling and printed it out. Most days I had such fun getting crafty! It's all good! See on Flikr!
Posted by: Karen | January 30, 2012 at 12:55
I am so glad I found this blog. I am a beginner and I totally understand how one page can take a month. I have started so many and only finished the ones that involved a class
and we did the project before we went home. I thought the only way I am going to get any of my story done, is through this challenge. I will be traveling down to my daughter in
a week, as my new granddaughter is getting ready to make her entrance. I thought I would scrap my daughter's birth and first few weeks at the same time scrap my granddaughter
birth and first few weeks. I thought my daughter and granddaughter might like to read about these days from my point of view. Not sure if it is going to work, but it's too late
to turn back now! Any hints on what to bring along with me to make this "Load" a success?
Posted by: Chris T. | January 30, 2012 at 13:21
Im a newby and my biggest fear is not getting it done. Letting everything else take over. (Just like usual)
Posted by: karen keiper | January 30, 2012 at 16:10
I am reading where most have already planned what they are working on and I guess I am a little confused. I thought we chose what we were working on by the prompt each day.. Either way I am hoping to get SOMETHING accomplished!
transport7800@aol.com
Posted by: Vicki | January 30, 2012 at 17:50
great post
Posted by: Vonda Orders | January 30, 2012 at 19:30
Hi Vicki! You can do either or both or neither. The heart of LOAD is to complete one layout a day. Period. There are prizes offered as incentives, however, it is totally up to each person what they decide to do each day. To help those who dont know what to do each day or to spark participants creativity, Lain offers a prompt each day. If it appeals to you, then you are welcome to use that to inspire your page. If you want to do something completely different that is also totally fine. You can even save the prompts and do them at a later time. Does that make more sense? I will look forward to see your pages in the gallery!
Posted by: Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie | January 30, 2012 at 22:25
I did LOAD 211 for the first time and it was a scrapbook-life altering experience: totally reloaded (pun intended) my enthusiasm for scrapping. No, I did not do 28 LOs but those I did do, I totally appreciate - both the process and the outcome. So, I encourage you to embrace this opportunity and whatever steps you take to create a LO, recall and document a memory, know that those steps will be just what was needed. Those who will be looking at your LOs won't be comparing them to anyone else's...they'll just be enjoying the story you've shared.
The journey is the destination...
Cheers~
Thanks Margie for organizing this blog-hop. You're always so good at jumpstarting community.
Posted by: Honoré | January 31, 2012 at 03:59
Hi Margie - LOAD Newbie here. My biggest fear about LOAD...I jumped in at 15 minutes before LOAD212 started and I am not sure what I have gotten myself into. A friend recommended I do this but she had never done it herself and couldn't join this time. So, here I am. All alone. I don't know anyone here, doing something I have never done before. I am hoping to make some new internet scrapper friends and enjoy my time. Thanks for doing the blog hop...hoping to get to know a few of you veterans to help ease me into this.
Posted by: Debbie O'Neal | February 01, 2012 at 07:25
Its the perfect place to meet some online scrapping friends. I started off long ago not knowing anyone at all. No need to be scared or worried. Pop over to the Flickr discussion and gallery and join right in!
Posted by: Nihao, Cupcake! by Margie | February 01, 2012 at 08:05
This is my first and I have found just keep it simple. Don't overthink. Enjoy the journey. I never thought about the ideas and challenges before but they are so common to everyone. They can mean so many different things. I am luvin this class more than I ever thought. I was very stressed and worried about keeping up but now am enjoying every minute. I read the challenge in the morning before work and think about it during the day. Then I put it together at night. Even my husband is getting in on it with suggestions and ideas. It is awesome! And congratulations on you new granddaughter's pending birth. How exciting.
Posted by: Tobey | February 04, 2012 at 13:48
Nihao Margie - Love the post - LOAD made me step up my scrapping and I love the Scrap Happy community and friends I have made there! You are so right in all you say about Lain's ethos and the whole LOAD thing! Cant wait for October LOAD - see you there!
Zaitian until October!
Not long now!!!!
Alison
x
Posted by: Alison | September 21, 2012 at 10:59