So, I'd like to think I was a purist. I'd like to be able to say that the loving consideration, work hours and skill it takes to make handmade cards and scrapbook layouts is the best way to infuse love into a scrapbook. But unfortunately, I like things to get done fast and easy. Its why I'm more drawn to card making than scrapbooking as a rule. Cards are faster projects and require me to use less of my stock to make. But cards do not a heirloom scrapbook make.
So, of course, there has been plenty of those digital scrapbook program sales people at the scrapbooking expo. I find myself drawn in a big way to drag-n-drop pictures, 'paper' and 'accessories' stored on my hard drive instead of my closet, and if you do something you don't like, you can just redo it without worrying about ruining the $2-a-sheet paper you bought. Also, I havne't looked into the capabilities of those programs yet but I imagine even if your scrapbook layouts file format isn't compatible with most picture viewing software, you can usually dump it into Photo Shop or Paint Shop and quick as a wink, convert those files to .jpg or .gif formats. Those are all things that have me at hello.
But here are my problems with digital scrapbooking. Have you ever seen a printed sheet of digital scrapbooking? Well, no offense to those that love digital scrapbooking, but they look fake. Some of the ones I've seen just look thrown together. There is also something very unnerving about a scrapbook page that isn't, well, 3-D. It also seems to me that the expense of digital scrapbooking rivals that of regular scrapbooking, no matter how you slice it. First you pay for the program, then if you don't like any of the papers or accessories included in the program, you can buy some from some enterprising gal who is really awesome at Paint Shop. From all accounts this type of paper buying is just as addicting as the wood pulp stuff. Then there is the cost of printing this paper. If you choose a printer that is out of state or even out of city, the cost of printing is nothing compared to shipping 12 x 12 paper. Believe me, I know. A couple of my layouts that I sold cost me a pretty penny to send. It makes it so not appealing.
I have come to the conclusion that if I decide to delve into the digital scrapbook area, there are just some things I won't do without. I think I would still accessorize my pages. I'm pretty confident enough in my vision for the way I want a page to turn out that by the time I got my page from the printers, I could accessorize it with a fair amount of confidence. I would refuse to buy digital papers that look cheesy or cheap. I've seen enough really good background designs to know there are good ones out there. The draw of actually having several finished scrapbooks done and sitting on a shelf somewhere is a dream of mine. I may have to just pony up for a good digital program and just do it my way.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
How I Learned to Scrapbook
No consultant for any company taught me to scrapbook. In fact, I think some would say Close To My Heart is responsible for what I do know about scrapbooking. They would be wrong. Ok, so I learned a lot about cardmaking from Close To My Heart's Card Confidence program taught me the foundations of card making, and especially layout design.
The thing I mainly attribute the scrapbooking I do is trial and error. Now I'm sure you're saying, "Well duh!" Let me explain. When I first started scrapbooking, I would flip through the magazines dedicated to scrapbooking or the Idea Books and say to myself "I couldn't make anything like that." Then I'd put them back and try something out of my own brain, and get frustrated because it didn't look good to me, and it didn't look 'professional'. I'm self-critical like that. Then it dawned on me one day that the reason the magazines and Idea Book had pictures of the projects in them is so that you could copy what the person had done (another "Well, duh!" moment). As I started shamelessly copying the projects in the book and through trial and error, I learned most of what I know now.
Here are some 'ah-hah's' that helped me overcome my self-criticism:
Ah-hah #1 - You Can't Do It Wrong - if it looks good to you, comparing how 'good' it is to other people's work will just frustrate you (this can be applied to just about anything in life). Sure, there's some work that is more pleasing to look at to other people but may not be everyone's cup of tea. Plus, if you never try anything new or give yourself permission to expirment, you'll never know what you could have learned.
Ah-hah #2 - Never Glue Anything Down Until Its Done - This is gospel for me when I'm card making or scrapbooking. I've had too many times where I starting doing one thing, glued it down, got inspiration to do something else, like wrapping a ribbon around a framing mat, and had to either start over again or pull it up. You'll save yourself a ton of headaches by just waiting until your satisfied to glue it!
Ah-hah #3 - Let the Pictures Be Your Guide - One of the secrets of professional scrapbookers is to coordinate the paper with colors contained in the photo. Its not too different from choosing make up or wearing clothes. You have a picture of a cheerleader in her cute blue and white uniform, but you pick oranges and browns for your paper and ink schemes and something's not going to look right, no matter how cute the paper is. Another tip in this section that will ease your hair-pulling tendancies is choose your photos in advance. Some groups will look better together than others, so depending on how many photos you want on a particular layout, you can better determine the layout needed. Example: You have a set of sequential pictures of your son driving off the diving board for the first time. You're going to want to pick a layout that allows for a lot of small photos.
Ah-hah #4 - Mistakes Are Your Friends - This may sound like I'm going back on everything thing I've encouraged you to do so that you can avoid frustration, but really its the fastest way to 1) learn what not to do and 2) create something totally unexpected.
Like the student learning to paint in the Renaissance, copy your favorite scrapbooker again and again until the 'click' of understanding comes. Learn your craft - study magazine and book as much as you can. Join a scrapbooking group - more experienced scrapbookers can give you advice or hints or even tell you something you never even thought of. Eventually, even someone as color challenged as me, you will be able to sit at a table full of supplies and relish the challenge of creating something not only memorable but beautiful.
The thing I mainly attribute the scrapbooking I do is trial and error. Now I'm sure you're saying, "Well duh!" Let me explain. When I first started scrapbooking, I would flip through the magazines dedicated to scrapbooking or the Idea Books and say to myself "I couldn't make anything like that." Then I'd put them back and try something out of my own brain, and get frustrated because it didn't look good to me, and it didn't look 'professional'. I'm self-critical like that. Then it dawned on me one day that the reason the magazines and Idea Book had pictures of the projects in them is so that you could copy what the person had done (another "Well, duh!" moment). As I started shamelessly copying the projects in the book and through trial and error, I learned most of what I know now.
Here are some 'ah-hah's' that helped me overcome my self-criticism:
Ah-hah #1 - You Can't Do It Wrong - if it looks good to you, comparing how 'good' it is to other people's work will just frustrate you (this can be applied to just about anything in life). Sure, there's some work that is more pleasing to look at to other people but may not be everyone's cup of tea. Plus, if you never try anything new or give yourself permission to expirment, you'll never know what you could have learned.
Ah-hah #2 - Never Glue Anything Down Until Its Done - This is gospel for me when I'm card making or scrapbooking. I've had too many times where I starting doing one thing, glued it down, got inspiration to do something else, like wrapping a ribbon around a framing mat, and had to either start over again or pull it up. You'll save yourself a ton of headaches by just waiting until your satisfied to glue it!
Ah-hah #3 - Let the Pictures Be Your Guide - One of the secrets of professional scrapbookers is to coordinate the paper with colors contained in the photo. Its not too different from choosing make up or wearing clothes. You have a picture of a cheerleader in her cute blue and white uniform, but you pick oranges and browns for your paper and ink schemes and something's not going to look right, no matter how cute the paper is. Another tip in this section that will ease your hair-pulling tendancies is choose your photos in advance. Some groups will look better together than others, so depending on how many photos you want on a particular layout, you can better determine the layout needed. Example: You have a set of sequential pictures of your son driving off the diving board for the first time. You're going to want to pick a layout that allows for a lot of small photos.
Ah-hah #4 - Mistakes Are Your Friends - This may sound like I'm going back on everything thing I've encouraged you to do so that you can avoid frustration, but really its the fastest way to 1) learn what not to do and 2) create something totally unexpected.
Like the student learning to paint in the Renaissance, copy your favorite scrapbooker again and again until the 'click' of understanding comes. Learn your craft - study magazine and book as much as you can. Join a scrapbooking group - more experienced scrapbookers can give you advice or hints or even tell you something you never even thought of. Eventually, even someone as color challenged as me, you will be able to sit at a table full of supplies and relish the challenge of creating something not only memorable but beautiful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)