It’s almost here!  The most awesome-est weekend of the scrappy year!  Saturday is officially {inter}National Scrapbook Day, but the festivities have already started in some places, including here at The Pad.  You can keep up with all of the iNSD fun at The Lilypad in the forum HERE.  There will be contests and challenges and sales all over the place and it can get a tad overwhelming.  Actually, let’s face it, it can get WAY overwhelming.  So, I’m offering up a few simple tips to do in advance so you can preserve a bit of your sanity and have a great time this weekend instead of stressing over missing stuff.

1.  Use Your Wish List.  Most stores, including The Lilypad have pretty terrific sales over this weekend.  Now is the time to browse through the store and see what you would really like to purchase on sale.  Don’t wait until crunch time.  Once you find an item you just can’t live without, put it in your Wish List.  That way, when the sales come, you can just browse the New Releases and your Wish List without getting flustered by too many choices.

How do decide what to “wish” for?  Of course, things you just love are a no-brainer.  But also, it’s wise to look through your photos at things you want to scrap.  Find kits to go with those events or photos and throw those in there :).  A little pre-shopping will serve you quite well when the sales hit.

A little extra tip: add something in there from each designer you love.  Many will have flash coupons on Facebook and you want to be ready!

2.  On that note… Connect with designers!  Take the time now to Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram.  You never know when they will post coupons or specials especially for their followers.  This is applicable even once this weekend is over.  You can check out all of the TLP designers’ info from HERE.  And, of course, be sure to follow The Lilypad as well.

3.  See what you have.  Make sure your stash is at least a little organized so you don’t buy something you already have.   At the very least try to use your search feature to find all of your products from the same place and put them together in a folder.  I have a TLP Folder on my Hard Drive so if I’m looking for something, I can just search that folder.  And don’t forget your EHD, ladies.

4.  Clear your Download Folder.  Put it all away in it’s proper place.  Now.  Enough said.  *cough*

5.  Prepare for the Challenges.  There are always special challenges on this weekend to get your scrapping mojo going and potentially win prizes.  Make this easier by finding a few photos and/or stories in advance that you can scrap about.  You can usually make these fit into the challenges and if you’re like me, finding the right photo takes up 1/2 of my scrapping time :).  So win/win on being prepared.

6.  Make a Chat Schedule.  Just write it down.  As soon as you see a chat schedule at your favorite site *TLP*, put it on a notepad by your computer.  Or in your phone with a reminder.  Or on your Google calendar.  You get the idea.

7.  Download and Organize your booty.  And this doesn’t necessarily have to be immediately.  Sometimes the stores can bog down on these weekends so if you DL is slow, wait until a slower time or after the weekend is over, but DON’T FORGET to do it.  Get those goodies on your computer and in their proper home so you can use them!  After all, we buy so we can scrap.  Right, ladies!  Right.  Oh, and don’t forget to post your final projects in The Lilypad gallery :).

8.  Have Fun!  Enjoy the weekend.  Shop.  Scrap. Chat.  And bask in the glow of a shared obsession/hobby/lifestyle.  We hope you hang out with us at The Lilypad!  You’ll be glad you did :).

See you soon!