Gazette, The (Colorado Springs): Photo Synthesis

Like any good counselor, Jill Bailey has a tissue box ready for clients who dissolve in tears in her office. The life crisis that triggers their sobs: They can't get their memorabilia organized.

So Bailey -- who calls herself a scrapbooking counselor -- holds her clients' hands and teaches them how to sift through and organize the photo-filled backpacks, drawers, shoe boxes, tubs and garbage sacks they drag in with an air of desperation.

"I'm overwhelmed by them," says one of Bailey's clients, homemaker Maggi Apel, clutching a plastic grocery bag that threatens to split open under the weight of family photos from the past five years.

She's found the ultimate solution in Bailey, a unit leader for Creative Memories, a national scrapbook supply company. A former special education teacher who became a professional scrapbook teacher a decade ago, Bailey oversees about 50 representatives locally and nationwide and teaches scrapbooking classes.

But her forte is these oneon-one counseling sessions. Some clients are people who just can't get it together to organize their photos. Some are one-time dropouts from the $2.5 billion a year U.S. scrapbooking business, which took off about a decade ago.

They were consumed with it at the beginning, but lost interest because they didn't have time or money to create the hallmark of the craft: pages elaborately embellished with cutesy stickers, intricately cut mats and photos trimmed into shapes such as hearts and stars.

Bailey's own epiphany came one day when her children were looking at the fancy scrapbooks she made years ago. "They didn't say, 'Gee that's a pretty page.' They asked me to tell them the stories behind the photos," Bailey says.

So she has made journaling a more important part of the process, and let go of many of the fancy accoutrements. Her most recent scrapbook has what she calls a classic look, which puts more emphasis on the photos and penned descriptions that accompany them, and less on the bells and whistles.

A sign above her work space reflects her new scrapbooking philosophy: Simplify.

Apel appreciates the sentiment. She started a scrapbook when her 8-year-old daughter, Peyton, was a baby. When her son, Bryce, was born a couple years later, she stopped trying to keep up with the hobby.

"I just didn't have the time," she says.

But recently, the accumulated photos began to bug her. She called Bailey for help, and with much relief, plopped her photos down on the expansive craft table set up in Bailey's craft room.

Bailey was unruffled, armed as she was with her favorite weapon: a black cardboard container called a Power Sort Box that is an answer to a scrapbooker's organizational prayers.

On instructions from Bailey, Apel took the photos out of their envelopes and called off their subject and date: "This is our vacation to Hilton Head... this is what year? Last year maybe.... Our trip to the zoo."

Bailey began shuffling Apel's photos like a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas, showing her how to label file headers and deposit them by category in separate niches in the Creative Memories Power Sort Box, which can hold 2,400 photos.

"You can't believe it, but when I went to the Creative Memories convention and they told us about this new power box and I heard all the testimonials, I actually got goose bumps. I knew what this would mean to everyone in time savings," Bailey says.

In about an hour and a half, Apel and Bailey had filed 800 photos and gotten them ready for placement on scrapbook pages.

Apel effortlessly created two scrapbook pages. She cropped some photos, matted a couple, added a bit of embellishment and penned a description of her daughter's seventh birthday. She took the rest of the photos home and do more scrapbooking as time allowed.

The look of relief on Apel's face as she got a grip on her memorabilia would have made for another scrapbook moment.

"This feels so good. I'm really excited to go home and get all these in an album."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0371 or cmcgraw@gazette.com

CROP TILL YOU DROP

WHAT: Scrapbooking Extravaganza, sponsored by the Center for Lifelong Learning of Kansas City, Mo. Includes eight classes on such topics as restoring photos, miniature albums, expressive journaling and layouts. Each participant is promised 4 feet of work space to try out new ideas from the workshop.

WHEN: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. July 16

WHERE: National Western Complex, Inc, 4655 Humboldt St.

COST: $49; group rates available.

REGISTRATION: Call 1-800-347-1659 or go to www.scrapbookingex.com

FINDING HELP

If you're looking for help with scrapbooking, there are several Creative Memories representatives in the Pikes Peak region. The company's Web site, creativememories.com, helps you search for consultants by address and ZIP code. Or call 1-800-341-5275.

Representatives sell scrapbooking products, conduct classes and hold home demonstrations and crop events, which cost $6 to $10. Jill Bailey of Colorado Springs, a unit leader who oversees 50 Creative Memories representatives, offers individual counseling for $6 to $10 per session. Call her at 637-0797 or go to creativememories.com, click on Consultant Locator and search for Jill Bailey.

TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

Want to put all those scraps of memorabilia in a book? Creative Memories counselor Jill Bailey offers these tips for beginners:

Use strap-hinge albums, which make it easier to insert additional pages.

Use only photo-protective or archival-quality supplies.

Gather all your photos in one place. A good way to file them is chronologically, by year. Ditch the shoe box storage. Bailey uses Creative Memories' $35 Power Sort Box, which holds 2,400 photos in an acid-free environment. It's available from Creative Memories representatives.

Decide on a theme for the album. Do you want one that is general or one that encompasses a specific time frame? Or maybe one that focuses on a single event such as a wedding or vacation?

Know your style. Do you like lavish embellishments, or do you like simplicity on the pages?

Be critical in your photo editing: One photo can often tell an entire story. A really cute picture of the kids in front of the Christmas tree might do a better job of highlighting the event than including the 30 others you took.

Trimming photos is like cutting your hair. Start out with just a bit, then trim more if necessary. Straightedge trimmers made especially for scrapbookers give a precise cut.

Include information that puts the book in historical context. Bailey has included articles about Sept. 11 and some election memorabilia in her scrapbooks. She has her kids write or dictate their feelings about those events, and she includes them on the pages.

Avoid layouts that look like fourway stop signs. Offset the photos on a page or even overlap a bit to liven things up.

Don't mat every photo. Use one on the photo that highlights what the page is trying to say.

Less is usually more. Too many stickers and arty doodads detract from the photos.

Don't just label date and place. Take time to write journal items for the pages. Get a notebook and jot down emotions of the moment pictured. When you transfer the notes to the scrapbook page, write by hand for a personal look, even if your handwriting isn't so hot.

Identify who is in the photos, and how they fit in with the family or event.

Get over perfect. Scrapbooks are meant to look handmade. Nothing deters a scrapbooker's progress more than obsessing over details.

CAROL MCGRAW, THE GAZETTE