It's been a LONG time coming!!! My downloads folder has been in a state of mass chaos for quite some time now, and yesterday my computer decided to do a little freaky blue screen business. Thankfully it came back on, but I panicked and knew that I needed to save my downloads into their correct home on my external hard drive, so that if anything did happen I wouldn't lose them! My download folder is a catch all for my kits I download and I keep them there generally until I use them. It is a way for me to know what I need to scrap with yet before moving on or downloading new stuff! I was caught up, but had gotten lazy with moving them out! I felt like I had just done an early spring cleaning, and I can't wait to fill that little folder up again with amazing TLP scrap goodness!!! How about you - do you have a process with your download folder?!
I call it need to use, lol and it is my top folder in the Lily Pad folder. My goal is to clear it before the next upcoming Byoc. I love when I hAve everything filed.
The zips go into the downloads folder. Then, I move them into their designer or store folders depending on which is appropriate. Then, I unzip and stuff everything from a matching kit into one folder, and make sure it has a folder image. If I am feeling really ambitious, I'll put all the elements and papers in the main folder with everything else in it's sub folders... I am usually not feeling that ambitious, lol Huggles!! ~Sarah~
Yes, I can't handle having everything in my downloads folder for longer than a day. I get that cleared out and unzipped and moved over ASAP. I keep my CT stuff on my computer's hard drive & then I have a 'To Be Used' folder on my EHD for things I have purchased.
My items go into a downloads folder... then once they are imported into Photos (Mac), I move them to my safe spot. I do this almost every time I download something to work with. I can't move forward until I've imported and scrapped with what I've downloaded. A bit on the OCD side, lol!
I download everything into the iMac default downloads folder and about once a month I spend an hour or so filing it away properly. Good luck with your computer!
I download straight into my TLP folder and unzip right away. Then when I've used things they get sorted into the proper spot inside my TLP folder. I have a "Used" folder where everything goes to live. Inside that folder I have a folder for each month's BYOC so I keep those things together and I have templates folder in there too. On a side note, I feel your pain on the blue screen of death. Mine started doing that around Christmastime. I'd be in the middle of a page and I'd walk away to do laundry or make dinner and my computer would have rebooted in that short amount of time. I was getting really irritated thinking that it was Windows auto installing updates, but then one time it happened while I was sitting at my desk so I witnessed the blue screen and then the reboot. I ended up buying a new (and bigger) internal hard drive and then reloaded Windows from scratch. Ever since that it's been working great. I will be scrapping a page about that ordeal shortly!
I have a folder on my desktop called New and I throw downloads, scraplift ideas, etc. in there. Then on days when I don't really feel like scrapping, but want to play, I spend the time moving them into their appropriate designer folders. Other times, I am in a rush to use something and just scrap right out of that folder. But usually, I like that folder to be nice and empty. I should mention that I always download to my desktop so that I am forced to do something with it right away before it clutters up my desktop. Some times it is just moving it to the New folder. Interesting how we all have different ways of organizing and doing things.
I am not sure what you mean -- are you talking about the Downloads folder that keeps the zipped folders you have downloaded? I'm cleaning out my computer and am wondering if we keep these or not. Can someone explain? Thanks!
I usually download straight to the folder I've created for a kit and then once I unzip and check everything, I delete the zip files. There are times I get distracted and don't do it right away, but always by the end of the month when I start backing everything up to my EHDs. Good luck with the blue screen thing. My old laptop started doing it about 6 months or so ago. I ended up buying a new laptop because I needed one anyway, but gave the old one to my son. About 2 weeks later it blue screened again and couldn't find the OS. The hard drive just crapped out. I was so glad to have had everything moved. I have a new hard drive coming for it tomorrow, so hope to get it back and running again.
I was wondering if they needed to be saved. Thanks. So it sounds like it's my latest purchases files. Which end up huge because I'm not good about moving them when I use them. But I am having to back up everything in case they reinstall Windows. A New file will be a new addition. Good idea.
I'm a MAC, so I have folders inside of folders inside of folders! It starts with my downloads folder. Things stay there until I've posted my layouts, then the kits go into my Scrapbooking Kits folder and my template go into my Templates Folder. I have sub-folders inside those two main folders - one for each designer that I CT for, and then just a misc. folder for other kits and templates.
Yea for getting organized! Those little blue-screen blips can be (scary) wake up calls! And once your Downloads folder is empty, it's so much easier to stay on top of it, too! So you go, girl! My goal is to download and unzip asap. When I started looking at new laptops last year, I of course started backing up my old laptop... and that's when I realized I had 2-year-old files in my downloads folder. (Not everything that I'd downloaded in two year's time was in there, but still! There were 2yo old downloads!). That made me realize that if I can't unzip it quickly, then I don't need it, ya know? So if I do DL something (either purchased or a freebie), my goal is to unzip, tag, and add to my Excel spreadsheet in the same day. It also helps me avoid double purchases. *giggle*
My downloads folder suffers from the same usual traits - too much stuff generally, too many things that need to be used, pretty things that I'm not satisfied to use just once LOL! I do try and clear it off from time to time and move stuff to 'scrapbooking folders' but hey one needs to set some challenging goals. Love hearing about all your processes - in some weird way all our brains do work in similar ways when it come to scrapbooking!
that was me until last week. i'm not even going to admit how much stuff was in my downloads folder. everything gets dumped there (not just scrap kits) - until i take the time to organize it. it took me the better part of a day to accomplish. i need to be like @Danyale and schedule it once a month. sounds like a lot of us are in this boat!
WOW, I could never do that!! I mean keep stuff in my Download!!! Knowing me, I would forget what it was!! I open my zipped stuff immediately and move it to the appropriate folders. I do like what I read here about a "NEW" folder and may incorporate that. I move new stuff right to each designer's kit and , of course, forget I have it and never use it!!! Thanks for the idea!!!! What I DID do yesterday is clean house! ALL DAY! I mean my computer house and me EHD house. WOW did I get rid of junk!!!! My computer was slowing down and my daughter took a look at it and happen to open my recycle bin and she almost passed out! All I could hear her yell was "MOM!!!!!!" It has got to be well over a year since I cleaned it out. I had about 10 percent left i memory on my computer. After she cleaned that out, I had over 40 percent memory!! Well???? I didn't know your recycle bin affected the memory!!!!!