1) It is very helpful to take a class that teaches the basic journaling, cropping and decorating techniques.

2) Gather all your supplies and photos into one location.

3) Sort your photos into chronological order. I know this may seem like an impossible task, but it really makes your albums go together faster. You can also divide your photos to make separate albums. For example, my current goal is to complete a family album and one for each of my three children. Don't bother keeping unflattering our out-of-focus pictures. I personally don't care to be immortalized looking like a deer caught in the headlights!!

4) If you feel overwhelmed by a huge backlog of pictures, then start with your most current photos and keep caught up on those. At least, you won't be getting further behind. Or, if you're like me and had photos in unsafe albums, you might start transferring those first. Then once your an experienced scrapbooker, you'll be ready to face that backlog.

5) There are a lot of great scrapbooking techniques, and it can be very tempting to want every gadget on the market, but start simple. All you really need to get started are these photo-safe products: an album, adhesive (tape runner, photo splits, or photo tape), pens, some decorative paper and a few stickers. If you want to buy a new tool, like scissors or punches, then borrow it from a friend or consultant first to see if it's something you'll really use. Three of my favorite tools are the personal trimmer, circle cutter and corner rounder. Actually, I now consider them necessities. The general rule of thumb is simple pages = complete albums.