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Post by pas2 on Sept 22, 2016 8:05:54 GMT
I have been flipping through old albums and noticed a few things about my scrapping/scrapping in general. First is that I always have and always will gravitate towards distressed papers. Even if the color is more on the bright side, I just love how it gives color and pattern without overwhelming the photos. Second is that, despite the season, NEVER use bright christmas green as a background paper or mat. It just looks hideous especially if they are photos of your kids under fluorescent lights! (note to self to go back and redo those hideous layouts...what was I thinking).
So what have you noticed or lessons you have learned from reviewing old albums?
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Post by iheartpaper on Sept 22, 2016 8:53:11 GMT
My DD19 adores the albums I made when I first started 19 years ago. They are soooo bad that it bothers me to see their younger years layouts. I know SHE truly loves them though. So with her assistance we chose a handful of layouts that she would be ok with me redoing. I work on them occasionally and tonight I redid two pages and I love them now. On one of the pages I left a few pictures off that weren't necessary.
1) It is not necessary to include every picture on a layout when one, two, three, etc tells the story. 2) As much as I appreciated knowing the date, place, etc, the stories are much more important to me. 3) For me, I need to scrapbook the pictures that inspire me, and not force myself to work on one project at a time. 4) Be thankful that some people love your scrapbooks and want you to keep them intact! 😉
I'm sure there are many more, but a girl has to sleep sometime!
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Post by LisaDV on Sept 22, 2016 10:05:13 GMT
I've learned that
1. the stories are more important than perfectly posed photos with perfectly dressed people. I started with stories, strayed, and am back. 2. every page doesn't have to be a work of art - my kids don't care. 3. sometimes I need to create more intricate or time-consuming designs - it makes me happy. (Know the balance) 4. I wish I would have stuck with 8.5x11 all the way through but don't feel I can change now.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Sept 22, 2016 12:43:16 GMT
Lessons learnt from my own few years of documenting: 1. Don't forget to remember it's about me and to place myself back into the picture (literally) and the storytelling. 2. 2) As much as I appreciated knowing the date, place, etc, the stories are much more important to me. Indeed, the 5 Ws really matter little in the end. I really don't need to have the full guest list or time a party/event started and/or ended. Years after, I really just don't care at all. 3. Remember to step outside of my bubble of habits when it comes to documenting the everyday. You don't necessarily notice on your social media but you can very quickly become very used to snapping certain pictures. Over and over again. Nowadays, I put the camera down on a table, use the self timer and snap myself doing everyday things a lot more to showcase what my life *really* looks like rather than just from-my-POV pics. 4. I thrive on moodboards of my life. I like spreads to immediately evoke a sense of being brought back right there and then. If that means I leave out what some might argue are key elements for the total autobiographical aspect of my life, so be it. I make my editing choices to fit my prefered way of remembering my past.
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Post by guzismom on Sept 22, 2016 12:49:31 GMT
Every photo does NOT need to be scrapbooked; that is what divided page protectors are for.
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Post by needtime2scrap on Sept 22, 2016 12:52:14 GMT
Good topic!
I've learned that for me the date is important...or at least the season and the year. Pulled out a scrapbook this weekend while my sister was here and she looked at a layout and said "I knew we were here Sept. Long weekend!" Then proceeded to "prove it" to her DH. Lol!
Secondly, glue down those chipboard thickers! Finding them in the bottom of a page protector makes it hard to remember what the title was sometimes.
Third, you don't always need a title.
Fourth, I truly love the photos and layouts that focus on the connection and relationships of people.
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Post by mikklynn on Sept 22, 2016 15:07:43 GMT
I've learned I don't need 8 pages to cover Easter Sunday.
I've learned not to sticker sneeze. I group my embellishments more carefully.
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Post by scraplette on Sept 22, 2016 16:23:18 GMT
I'm not into Titles. Those who think there are rules for scrapbook design probably hate me.
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bb8
New Member
Posts: 6
Sept 3, 2016 14:29:29 GMT
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Post by bb8 on Sept 22, 2016 16:25:18 GMT
I don't like the dark backgrounds on my old pages - Hunter green, brown, burnt orange. I think I pop of those colors is really nice, but doesn't draw my eye to those layouts the way my current layouts do with their lighter backgrounds.
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Post by Linda on Sept 22, 2016 16:49:57 GMT
I've learnt that it doesn't matter down the road if I used the most up-to-date/trendy papers/embellishments/techniques...when I look at old layouts, I looks at the photos and the journalling, not the PP or the stickers or the fact I did or didn't ink/chalk/tear/splatter/colourblock....
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Sept 22, 2016 16:54:37 GMT
I learned the sticker sneeze is not pretty at all! LOL. I have learned that I don't have to scrap everything. I do a year in review album, pocket page style and put in those pictures that don't get their own page.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Sept 22, 2016 17:12:29 GMT
I truly love the photos and layouts that focus on the connection and relationships of people. This. I especially love photos of all my kids together. As they are getting older, I'm realizing that the time that they will all be living under one roof is very limited as college looms closer and closer for the oldest dd. Every photo does NOT need to be scrapbooked; that is what divided page protectors are for. Yes! And it is always okay to go back and scrap them later if you want to. Or not. I've learned I don't need 8 pages to cover Easter Sunday. Yes. And also that if I really loved that Easter, it is okay to scrap eight pages of Easter goodness.
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Post by catseatcheese on Sept 22, 2016 18:21:40 GMT
I have not been scrapping long enough to "learn" too much from looking at old photos. Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts. I'm sure that in a few years I will look back on what I did in the past two years and something new will be in fashion and I will wonder what in the world I was thinking.
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Post by warrior1991 on Sept 22, 2016 20:03:20 GMT
I'm not into Titles. Those who think there are rules for scrapbook design probably hate me. Same here. I will do some titles, but if I don't want a title or feel it doesn't need one, then I won't put one on. The first thing I learned when I was taught scrapbooking, was "there are no rules". I heard that saying so much in the first year I was scrapbooking, I almost painted it on the wall. lol. But I love the freedom. If I want to make a 2 page layout with 1 photo, I can. If I want to put 20 pictures on a 1 page layout, I can. (The rule about acid free was taught, I still follow that for the most part.) I didn't date my layouts in the beginning and now that my oldest nephew is 17, I can't remember when those older layouts were from. I am going back and at least adding the year to the older layouts.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Sept 22, 2016 20:09:44 GMT
TODAY I just learned I didn't need every mist ever made. I am talking hundreds of mists. Oh dear it's a problem!
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Post by myboysnme on Sept 22, 2016 21:19:17 GMT
--I have learned that my friend is always going to make layouts that I like more than my own but that mine are just fine. --I learned that my kids love the scrapbook photos and don't care anything for the story I tell with papers and all the rest - that is for me to enjoy. --I learned that I adore looking through completed scrapbooks a million times more than sorting through product I haven't used. --I learned that any photo on a special paper is better than saving the paper and never using it. --I learned that having a style and getting it done is just as enjoyable for me as being creative and playing with product is for other people --I learned that I like my layouts more over time if I mix up old and new product and techniques than to do one thing over and over because it is popular. For example, paper tearing or distress inks, or stickles, or anything where every layout has that product or technique and then it stops being popular so no pages have it.
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Post by gizzy on Sept 22, 2016 21:54:16 GMT
So many yes's I could add to what everyone has written. A few of mine are:
1. I'm a sucker for pretty and or shiny things 2. I learned that I love to organize, reorganize, then rearrange all my pretties. A lot. 3. As much as I try to get away from blocks and columns, that's what my layouts look like.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 16, 2024 1:36:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2016 9:33:15 GMT
I wish I would have stuck with 81/2 x 11. I am happier with that size. Nothing smaller & nothing bigger. I never liked 12x12. I don't like mini books. I think they are adorable but I write too much for a mini book. Keep my tools simple. I don't need to put all of Michael's paper tool inventory on my pages. Do lots of journaling and one or two pictures. Make my own embellishments instead of buying them. I don't like the look of store bought embellishments. I feel like Heidi Swapp has a part in my book. I always wonder if historians in 100 years will look at our books and wonder how we are all related to some of these scrapbooking stars. I always feel like my embellishments are timeless and really tell my story and history of my family. Most important of all. I wish I took more pictures and put them in photo albums. I always took less pictures so I would not feel so pressured to scrap them.
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Post by dulcemama on Sept 23, 2016 13:35:40 GMT
I don't really care about journaling. Sometimes I will add a conversation that I had with someone or something like that but for the most part I use the title to tell the story. But I don't feel like I need a title either. My approach is more about visual storytelling rather than verbal storytelling.
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Post by woodysbetty on Sept 23, 2016 17:09:02 GMT
I'm not into Titles. Those who think there are rules for scrapbook design probably hate me. and I like to see how my style and finesse have changed...I never want to re-do pages...I wish I told better stories when I started....
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Post by anonrefugee on Sept 24, 2016 11:24:49 GMT
I don't like the dark backgrounds on my old pages - Hunter green, brown, burnt orange. I think I pop of those colors is really nice, but doesn't draw my eye to those layouts the way my current layouts do with their lighter backgrounds. My oldest layouts have these backgrounds too, when my sons were infants! I think it was because the only alternatives in mid-90s were pale baby colors or super brights. Nothing was subtle. I didn't like the saccharine sweet baby lines, so went with the jeweled blue and green. I like the lighter, more subtle colors available now. It's easier for the photos to pop.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Sept 24, 2016 13:03:41 GMT
I learned that it's always better to take more photos than less. You can always delete, but once that moment has passed you can't get it back. Unless you are actually a professional photographer, it's probably a good idea to hire one every so often to get portraits you'll love. DH and I have spent hundreds (probably thousands) of dollars over the years having DD's portraits done and for me it has been worth every penny because I just can't get pics like that myself. I love looking at those photos. As hard as I sometimes try to *not* do layouts that are very clean and linear, that's the formula I always go back to. My older layouts with their wonky tilted photos make me cringe now. I'm glad I didn't have my kid until after I was out of the wonky tilted photos phase! I love all of the layouts with her pics and don't feel like I need to go back and redo any of them. For me, the story is just as important as the photos. I tried for years to get my Depression era mom to write down her family stories and she never did. Now she's gone and those great stories told in her words/voice will be gone forever. While I can write down my version of them, it's just not the same. I wish I would have pushed her a little harder because the stories she told us from her childhood and young adulthood were priceless.
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jills
Shy Member
Posts: 22
Jun 28, 2014 20:39:43 GMT
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Post by jills on Sept 25, 2016 4:12:16 GMT
When looking back at old pages, my eye goes right to the photos and the journaling. The story is what matters most to me. The part that took me forever, that caused me the most worry -- the paper/accents/technique part of it -- is not something that I really care about as much in retrospect. I'm relieved that I took care in putting pages together, but it's not what I concentrate on when I look back.
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Dalia
Junior Member
Posts: 54
Aug 30, 2016 4:43:30 GMT
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Post by Dalia on Sept 25, 2016 20:15:46 GMT
Cutting up my pictures in shapes... what the heck was I thinking?
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,331
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Sept 25, 2016 23:09:16 GMT
These are my scrapbooking mottos:
1. Not every photo taken needs to be scrapbooked. 2. Keep it simple and get it done. 3. Do what makes you happy!
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PaperAngel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,342
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on Sept 25, 2016 23:15:22 GMT
I've learned that I seem to prefer collecting scrapbook supplies, rather than using them! Who knew?
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Post by nancydrew on Sept 25, 2016 23:59:44 GMT
1)I've realized that when my husband looks through my albums all he notices is the photos and journaling. He actually reads the story before looking at the photos. My daughter is the opposite, and while she appreciates the photos and stories she loves looking at the layout design and embellishments. 2) If my journaling is very personal or emotional, I hide it in an envelope or behind a photo. 3) It's ok to go back and redo a page if I really don't like it.
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Post by jameynz on Sept 26, 2016 5:43:25 GMT
I went through some older albums last night, just looking (instead of packing for the weekend crop this coming weekend!) and I still like the look of my pages....even though I had less product to work/play with. I achieved more layouts using less stuff - I had less stuff to go through, and my pages were quite simple.
I also realise that I am a simple scrapper, not a fussy/heavily embellished scrapper
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Post by wonderwoman on Sept 26, 2016 5:47:24 GMT
Every photo does NOT need to be scrapbooked; that is what divided page protectors are for. AMEN ~
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Post by joblackford on Sept 26, 2016 15:37:31 GMT
I've learned that I'm the kind of person who looks back and wishes that they'd done something different, no matter what. I'm always keen to re-do things, do them better this time. "If only I'd known then what I know now" is almost my motto. Even when I re-do pages, I have the same problem later with the new version. It's better that I know that about myself and rein it in.
I am all about the photos, so I would rather have a page with too many photos and no embellishment at all than the other way around. Having really good photos is my highest priority. And sometimes I'm really happy for too many photos and pictures with busy backgrounds because I want more context. Stories, names, and dates are all important to me, but the photo comes first. I could live with only photo books/albums and no more scrapbook supplies, even though the pretty papers are fun.
I've learned that having something is always preferable to having nothing.
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