Hey there!

First off, I need to apologize for doing such a bad job posting this last week. On top of trying to get my act together as a scrapbooker, I’ve also been confronted with some internet problems over the last few days, followed by a power outage, so there you know why things on my blog have gone a little slow, lately!

Anyways, I’m back again, and today I’m going to allow you to take a look behind the scenes as far as storing your files is concerned. If you remember well, a couple of weeks ago I share with you how I organize files. Now, that was related to digital scrapbook products such as full kits. But there is a lot more available in the digiscrap markets than just full fledged kits. There are various kinds of element packs, paper packs, alphas, brushes, fonts and a whole lot more. So, today I’ll let you see how I organize these things.

I like things simple. So, there are two kinds of folders that I keep separate from each other into which I sort everything that isn’t a full scrapbook kit. One folder I entitled “Tools”. The other one I simply call “Elements” (“Embellishments”, whichever way you prefer).

Things that go into the “Tools” folder is anything that I wouldn’t put on a layout without modifying it, such as overlays (I use the abbreviation OL for those), Brushes, Doodles, Masks, Templates, etc.). These tools aren’t meant to be put on a page without major modifications such as clipping papers to them, changing their color, etc. Thus the reason why I call them tools.

Embellishments, on the other side, are files that I could use on any scrapbook page without having to change anything (although I still frequently do). They include: Alphas, Background papers (BG), Clips, Date Elements, Doodles, Frames, Lables, Stitches, WA, etc.

So, whenever I get a new element pack, first thing I do after I finished downloading it is: I rename it. I.e. if it is an alpha pack, the new title will be: “Alpha – Name of the Product”. That way, in my Elements-folder they automatically get sorted in alphabetical order and I easily find any file I might look for. In another folder (within the Elements-folder) I add all the previews of the included products (renamed after the new title for each respective pack), so now, when I’m looking for an alpha to use on my page, and I’m not sure which one would be best, I simply go to the previews folder, flip through the thumbnails of all my previews, and choose whatever I need. Since the first part of the title always is “Alpha” all the alphas show up together, allowing me to quickly get an overview of what I have.

Now, I’m sure there is software that can handle these things out on the market. But with this method I have a good overview of all my products without even needing any additional software, and it doesn’t even require a lot of work: only the renaming of the folder of each new element pack, as well as the renaming of its preview folder. Easy peasy!