I know we have all gotten behind a challenge or two at some point during one of the MOCs. I'm severely behind this year... my last completed challenge was #7. So, if you have to play catch-up... how do you usually attack it? Start where you left off? Do the current one and work backwards? Easy ones first? Hard ones first? I want to hear about how you take the proverbial bull by the horns.
I think just musing over the challenges over a period of time (days or even weeks) I can get a brain storm on how to approach it. For example, I have still to do the imperfect photo (applies to practically all my photos), storytelling (I usually journal quite a bit anyway) and title challenges to do and now the number one. I don't scrap chronologically so I am frequently browsing my photos to look for something to scrap. I can come across a photo I haven't scrapped before, or one that I can use to tell a different story, seeing a particular photo can then push me to thinking which challenge it is suitable for. For example, I was looking for 'heritage' photos as being ones particularly suitable for the imperfect photo challenge and I found the photo of me as a baby lying in a pub. Now there is a lot of story I can tell for that, so I can use the one page for either challenge. For the art journal one, I had googled retro lady images (for a face to use) and came upon one with the phrase "I can only please one person per day and today I choose me" that particularly resonated with how I am feeling about myself right now (having spent the last 20 years putting the kids first). So I tackled that challenge whilst the inspiration was fresh.
I'm only one page behind but when I have to catch up on something I usually start with one easy project to get me going, and then the hardest ones. Starting with all the easy ones makes tackling the harder even less appealing, and starting head first with the hard ones is tough. I've found this system to be the "best of both worlds", IYKWIM!
I attacked my list by scrolling through my tlp stash for inspiration. As I did that, photos came to mind and I was able to match those with challenges. (One way to "browse" your stash that is new to the updated store is to login in the store, then click the person (same button used to login, at top right) and select the option that says "quick reorder" - it shows you all of the items you have purchased in the past so it's like your inventory!) I have caught up since the weekend, doing 8 MOC pages in 3 days.
I don't usually do anything to prepare... BUT once I have fallen behind I do a couple things. Choose some random photos and leave them grouped on my desktop (or in a folder). Then I take a preview of the kit that would go with them and also group that with the photos. Once I have my pictures and the possible kit, I look at the challenges and then make a shortcut to the challenge and group that with the photos/kit. This way the ideas are there and waiting... I just have to scrap.... and focus. lol! Focus is my lacking skill... so many shiny things out there in internet land... and then life and nine million test and projects for my boys at school this January!
Including today's challenge, I have 6 to do. The way I do it is based on immediate reaction to the challenge; for example, I read the Art Journaling challenge and said "I can do that!" lol and so I started working asap. But other challenges, while I like the challenge itself as I'm reading about it, require a little time to think (or to browse my stash) or even to figure out which pic(s) I want to scrap. It seems I use my gut more than I use a system. But I'm not worried about having 6 challenges to do: I scrap more on the weekends so I'm sure I'll catch up.
I got behind the first week too, but only by a couple layouts. I almost always start with an easy one or one that I'm excited to do. I feel like this is my "warm up" and gets the mojo going. Then I'll start with the oldest one and work my way forward. If I'm not feeling a certain challenge, I skip it. I can't waste time banging my head against the wall and usually if I wait a few days, inspiration will strike and I'll get something good done later. Good luck catching up! You can do it!
I'm happy to say that I'm slowly closing the gap and feeling more confident. I tend to attack the easy ones first as well. But I'm forever scribbling the ideas as they pop into my head for each challenge. As long as I have something there (and not a big Question Mark!!!) I'm not panicky
I did the find the easiest one and do it first. And I would scroll through my photos on my phone in spare moments to find those photos I really wanted to use. I was three days behind but managed to catch up over the weekend. Go me! Lol! Good luck on your scrapping, Lynn!
I just thought of something else I do. Once I get the story in my mind I want to tell I can sit at work and do the journaling to email myself to copy and paste into a layout. Having the journaling written can help me focus on any themed embellishments or imagery I want to use, the amount of space needed on the design/template for journaling and give me a good lead in to a title too. That in itself really helps speed up my scrapping process when I can scrap back at home and I've no idea why I don't do it more!
Great idea @fruitysuet ! Similarly, I caption most of my pictures in Lightroom as part of my routine when I transfer photos from my camera and edit them. You can do this in the Organizer of Photoshop Elements and Picasa and probably lots of other programs too. The caption stays in the metadata. That's why I can make scrapbook pages with journaling of photos from long ago. To answer the original question, if I were several assignments behind, I would start with an easy or inspiring one. Getting started is the hard part, but once you start, just keep the ball rolling.
I didn't plan to do MOC at all but decided late last week that I would after I finished a big project earlier than I'd expected. I just did them all in order and am all caught up but for today's challenge.
I try to do them in order, although when I was behind and a challenge popped up that I REALLY loved, I went ahead and did it! I have a folder labeled MOC and in that folder is a folder for each challenge. As the challenges appear, I choose photos, kits, etc that I want to use for that challenge and pop them in the folder, so when I am ready to do it, everything is there.
I have to work in order. Probably because I'm not the most organized person and if I work out of order, I run the chance of accidentally skipping a challenge. I may start a challenge out of order, but I always finish them up and post them in order :-/
