Thursday, January 19, 2012

I'll Remember You

If you plan it, you will scrap.
Like most things in life, scrapping requires planning, whether you are a digital scrapper, using a system like Becky Higgins' Project Life or a traditional scrapper, you need some sort of organization and planning.

First you need pictures.

Then you need your supplies. You wouldn't bake a cake without checking the pantry, so you shouldn't scrap without checking your stash for your supplies. Nothing is worse than being ready to go and being out of something!

Then you need to get down to business. You need to decide what you are going to do for your page. I like use sketches as a jumping off point for my pages.
There are a few resources for them:
Creating Keepsakes magazine
Old Becky Higgins sketches
Www.scrapbooksetc.com
Www.mycroproom.com (the sketches linked to this post are from there)
Or google "scrapbook sketches", click images and a bevy of them pop up.

Now you are ready to scrap. I am what is called a simple scrapper. For me, scrapping is telling a story with words and pictures. The other doo dads on my page need to enhance my picture and story, not distract from it. The picture below, from http://kristiilockart.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html (which is a beautiful blog) is an amazing page, and I love looking at pages like that, but I'd never do them! I like my pages simple. The "sassy" page, from http://www.simplyparticular.com/2009/09/more-unfinished-layouts-completed.html is more my speed. I should also note that my design taste overall is very clean and modern. Im not into lots of frills (Victorian and country are definitely not my taste) so that aesthetic transfers to my scrapping as well.

I have my sketch next to my space, and my supplies for that page lined up and it's show time! I trim papers and cardstock. I put everything on the page and make a few minor adjustments before the adhesive comes out.

Sometimes, the page comes out exactly like the sketch. Sometimes, it doesn't. Guess the sketch that inspired my sweet baby layout? Hint: the finished product looks nothing like it!

There isn't a right way or a wrong way to scrap. That was actually a hard concept for me to get my head around. It's true-because you're telling your story. Over the years, I've let others negative comments have space in my head because they didn't like the pages I did. "too plain" or "you need more stuff on there" or my favorite, "too much journaling". They were putting their design ideas and style on my page. Just as is said in yoga practice, keep your eyes on your mat, the same with scrapping: keep your eyes on your own page.
I'm not a big fan of folks critiquing your work, unless you've invited them to. I just think one cattie comment can turn someone off from scrapping all together, which is a loss. My work may never be featured in a magazine, but that's not my goal. I'm telling my family's story. I made an album of my son's 5th birthday party, and to this day he looks at it about once a week. That is why I scrap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivFYVAntpw0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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