Scrapping regrets

Cutting some of photos into circles in the beginning.

I've redone a couple of pages. I wouldn't say it was because of regret, I just didn't like the way they turned out.

Not necessarily scrapbooking, but maybe more photography related - I used to close crop so many images. Bring the crop in close to my main subject, cutting out all the rest. So much context and story lost by doing that.

i have scrappy supplies and tools regrets. don't get me started with those. LOL

very early in my journey - WAY too much patterned paper on double lay-outs - the one I'm thinking about - make me dizzy to look at now. It was Christmas lay-out - fresh in my mind b/c I saw it a couple weeks ago packing. It's like I challenged myself to make it as noisy as possible?!?!?! haha!

Honestly - never thought of re-doing layouts, but now I AM - as soon as I get into my new craft space (will be 9+ months - we're building....), that Christmas noisy layout will be the first to go

oh - and the response about the supplies & tools, etc. - I am right there with you! have so many that need a new home!!

I moved for the 3rd time in 7 years, a year ago. I’d always had a dedicated “storage” place (room) for my completed albums etc.

Now that I moved, I stressed about shelves for my albums, because it’s more of a craft room environment that is open to being seen through an open doorway (I don’t like closed doors lol…)

I noticed I had entire 12x12 albums for a beach vacay. Today that would be integrated (easily) into my event/seasonal PL in 9x12. So, I started trying to consolidate. Ok. That went well!! Except, they all run together because I didn’t do a good job of dating. I pretty much recognize the places and can reconstruct general dates (my kids’ appearances or clothes etc…)

But man. I sure wish I’d found the AE concept earlier. The albums with more journaling, round details are so much more satisfying. The scrapped albums with lots of product and few details are really only like finding an iris case with photos, papers and embellies that intend to scrap.

I will always thank Ali that in the last 10 plus years, there would be prompts, precious details, dates, small convo snippets and even feelings (sometimes not obvious!) tucked into the case, or album.

I regret not realizing how satisfying those details would be.

Something I’m doing though… I’m also trying to downsize my printed photos. I have been sending an envelope with five photos, and the same photos printed on a word document, to family me members. I include a self addressed stamped envelope, and ask them to literally look at the photos and offer comments. Even if the photo (event) had nothing to do with them. I started this with my Grandma’s albums where I had only photos and names.. and now I’m doing it with more current family photos! It’s been so great!

I have been scrapbooking, just over 25 years.

If I knew when I started, that I would still be scrapbooking all these years later..... I would have bought more of my favorite products.
I look back through my older scrapbooks and think >> I wish I had more of those stickers or that patterned paper, so I could use it again. 

I wish I had pushed through my issues 3 years ago when I lost my mojo. My son wasn't coming home for the summer, he was staying at his college city to work an internship, and I couldn't bring myself to continue with my PL and my 6x8 short story layouts. If I'd have pushed through it, I'd still be scrapping. As it is, I'm still hopeful for it to come back.

I regret using lots of adhesive backed chipboard letters that have fallen off of layouts over time.

I regret not better organizing digital photos and printing and storing too many old pics to manage.

And maybe not having any kind of method to how I have organized a number of 12x12 albums to know where things are.

It overall, I really am thankful I have as much as I have done to look back on

During my DH's long illness I had lots of time we could not go out, so scrapbooking was my therapy and my creative outlet. My regret is not doing more documenting of stories and dates in the early layouts.

I also made way too many pages for my 2 grandchildren. Yesterday I started going through the earliest book for DGD and consolidating just the best photos, trying to have just one or two pages per event. When it's the first grandchild, every photo is magic you know!

It's going to be a process, but I know I'll have time to work on it this winter.

I regret my Kraft background phase. I love Kraft paper but I didn’t need to use it on every layout.

I redid some of DD’s baby layouts and I’m so glad I did.

My only real regret is not being in more photos when I was younger.

I have many regrets. One is the mutilation of my photos. I was able to redo most of the layouts and try to correct the mutilation. I also culuzzled the hell out of so many photos. Awful.

I hoard supplies and long ago my supplies overran the space I have. I wish I could have organized my supplies as I acquired them. Instead it is overwhelmingly out of control.

I also have well over 100 completed albums. I wish I had done digital or something. I dream of converting my albums to photo books.

This is my main regret. Not only did I cut stuff in circles,  I cut out people using shaped scissors, and hacked 4x6 photos down to 1x3, literally taking all the context/background out of them. I thought that was how you were "supposed" to scrapbook. It's just ugly and sad, and since they're not digital, the negatives have been lost to history and there is no way to reprint/redo. This was like 1997-2000 maybe? I started to get a clue a few years in and stopped thank God. 

I do also regret buying supplies that were cheap instead of supplies I loved.