Sketchy

Another way to speed up your scrapbooking is to keep sketches of your page layouts.

Often, it's hard to decide how to place photos, journaling blocks, and embellishments and you end up wasting time playing with them. If you keep sketches, you can either use or adapt an old layout in no time.

Each time you finish a layout, make a small, basic sketch of your design (3" x 3" is big enough) and add it to your collection. Simply store them in a binder or duotang so you have instant inspiration whenever you are stumped.

To further speed up the process, divide the sketches into sections based on the number of photos you use, as scrap maps did with their website, http://www.scrap-maps.com/

Have a section for one picture layouts, two picture layouts, three picture layouts, and many picture layouts. When you're looking for inspiration, you can thumb through the appropriate section and find a layout fast.

You can also adapt and expand upon this idea to include sketches of cards, calendars, or embellishments.