For the first few years I digi-scrapped, I spent lots and lots of time organizing my digital supplies. As soon as I downloaded a kit, it would go into a “To Be Organized” folder. There it would sit, until I had the time to sort through the folder and tag each item with color, theme, type of element, etc. It got to the point that my “To Be Organized” folder was getting way more attention than the photos I wanted to scrap!

Feeling frustrated, I took a hard look at how I scrapbook. I realized that I am mostly a kit scrapbooker, and rarely look to other kits for supplies except for a few regularly used favorites. So, I decided to overhaul my organization strategy. Now, when I unzip a new kit, I tag the kit preview. I have a keyword set up that is called “Kit Preview” and than always gets checked. Then, I add any keywords that would apply to that kit. So, if it is a birthday theme, it would get a “Birthday” keyword. Boyish kits get a “Boy” keyword; camping kits get “Camping” and “Outdoors.” Some kit previews have multiple keywords and some only have one.

The only other items I keyword are paints/ink sets, large paper packs that I use frequently (solids/kraft/neutral colors), and templates. I tag these because I use them often and don’t want to have to go searching for them each time I want to use them. I also have a “Favorites” keyword for my absolute most used items that I want to be able to access quickly.

Now, when I am ready to scrap and want a kit based on a certain theme, I can just find the keyword I’m looking for. This system keeps all my supplies organized without taking more than a few clicks for each kit I unzip! I don’t stress about staying “caught up” with my tagging/keywording like I used to when I tried to organize each element and paper. If you are a kit scrapper, too, it might be worth giving it a try to see if it works for you!

About the Author: Katie is a member of the Creative Team here at The Digital Press. She lives in Central Florida with her husband and their four sweet but crazy boys. When she’s not dodging Nerf bullets or trying to dig out from under the never ending pile of laundry, she enjoys photography, cooking, going to Disney World with her family, and, of course, digital scrapbooking.