Scanner Advice, Anyone?

I've got a flatbed scanner that works fine, but it is old and I'm guessing, slow. I'd like to get one that would make it quick for me to scan in (and then throw away!) my old prints to convert them to digital photos. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Traditions Album

Do you have a Traditions Album? It can be a powerful tool to bring your family together. Simply document the things you do each holiday season. If you don't have many traditions, here are some ideas of things you might want to start this year!

Doing for Others
*Serve dinner at a soup kitchen.
*Pack holiday dinner boxes at your local food bank.
*Collect cans for your local food bank.
*Create cards or decorations to go into the holiday food boxes at the food bank.
*Bring goodies to people who have to work on the holiday.

Togetherness
*Buy one new holiday book each year for the family.
*Read holiday books by the lights of the Christmas tree one night.
*Go caroling in your neighborhood.
*Invite friends over for hot cocoa and tree decorating.
*Go look at holiday light displays.
*Enjoy a holiday concert or show together.

Food
*Make cookies for your neighbors.
*Make cookies-in-a-jar for teachers or other people.
*Prepare traditional holiday foods together as a family.

Your album will bring your family enjoyment over the years!!!!

Finding Time to Complete Scrapbooks

Do you struggle with finding time to complete your scrapbook projects? I do, too. Life just seems to be moving faster these days. Here are a few techniques that help me and may help you, too:

Make Use of Small Chunks of Time
I lay out multiple pages at once with paper, photos and embellishments. Then, I stack them up and put them in a box. When I have small bits of time later, I pull out the box, adhere it all to the page and journal. Voila! Pages done in a flash!

Journal Later
I often scrapbook with groups of people, and find it challenging to journal in that setting. So, I complete everything else and do the journaling later while I'm at home watching TV or at one of my kids' activities.

Attend Workshops
I never scrapbook alone...there is just too much else demanding my attention! I have to make a commitment and do it with a group.

Enlist Help
A great idea is to have a family scrapbook night and have everyone help. It's fun to see what other people write about in your family albums!

Go Digital
As I've mentioned before, I'm doing more projects digitally now. I love that I can do it all on my laptop. No more lugging paper, stickers, tools, album pages and more...I just need an extension cord and my laptop.