artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,388 
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Post by artbabe on Jul 6, 2022 16:10:52 GMT
I wanted to write company but I couldn't get the title to match the character limit.
What company lines (past and present) are the easiest to work with?
For me it is:
Vicki Boutin- My pages come together so nicely. A lot of non-themed papers and beautiful colors.
49 and Market - A totally different vibe but this is also easy to work with. A lot of their stuff is not very themed so it is versatile
Simple Stories- They have a few of my all-time favorite lines to use.
Simple Stories Vintage- this depends on the line- the beach one and the nature one are fantastic. The lemon one? Not so much.
Echo Park and Carte Bella- Both of these lines are easy for me. I especially love Carte Bella because of the texture. I love Steven Duncan but some of his are pretty challenging.
Cocoa Vanilla- I love every page I make with this.
Past lines are: Shimelle, Amy Tangerine, Basic Grey. I miss those so much. Thankfully I am a hoarder
Hardest lines:
Mintay- the designs cover the whole page and you have to fussy cut all of the elements. I've done a couple of cute pages but it is a struggle. I only use them because they come in the NJFB kits.
Doodle Bug- I love the embellishments but the papers are so busy! I usually use a B-side and the embellishments and call it a day. So many smiley faces, too.
Obed Marshall- The color and motifs are so pretty and fun but for some reason I struggle with it every time.
Heidi Swapp- I really like some of her lines but I always fight to make them come together.
Which lines are the easiest for you to use? Which ones do you struggle with/
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Post by kmage on Jul 6, 2022 19:12:20 GMT
I really struggle with pastels (Obed Marshall and a lot of Maggie Holmes) and busy, childlike patterns like Doodlebug. I think that is why Pinkfresh is just appealing to me so much lately-it just looks so grown up.  |
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Post by papersilly on Jul 6, 2022 20:35:17 GMT
easiest: Tim Holtz
hardest: anything cutesy, geometric, or pastel. god, the pastels.
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pantsonfire
Drama Llama
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 6,204
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Post by pantsonfire on Jul 6, 2022 20:44:40 GMT
Easiest: (all current)
Crate Paper
Cocoa Vanilla
Pink Fresh
Simple Stories (depends on the line)
Heidi Swapp
Obed M (depends on the line)
Hardest:
Carta Bella
Vicki B
Echo Park
Shimelle L
Amy T
Tim Holtz
Doodle Bug
Maggie Holmes
I havent tried 49 and Market because of the style and colors. I also havent tried Mintay.
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Post by ScrapbookMyLife on Jul 6, 2022 20:50:14 GMT
For me, the hardest isn't an actual company, it's a style.
Paper that has random things printed on it (palm tree, flip flops, picnic table, etc...). I struggle to work around and blend in whatever the random thing is.
The majority of the time, I will cut out whatever it is and mat it, then use the rest of the paper as the mat for the photos.
Paper that has repeated words. Sun, water, ocean, seashore, pier, summer, etc repeated over and over on it. I struggle to use this type of paper, because I don't like incomplete words. If I cut the paper to fit, it often mean cutting through a word, leaving it incomplete.
I scrapbook 8.5 x 11, so I often cut 12 x 12 to fit.
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pantsonfire
Drama Llama
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 6,204
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Post by pantsonfire on Jul 6, 2022 20:52:21 GMT
I forgot to add to hardest:
Graphic 45
Authentique
Photoplay
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Post by infochick on Jul 6, 2022 20:53:58 GMT
I really like to work with layers and clusters. I scrap pretty successfully with Simple Stories, Echo Park, Carta Bella, 49&Market, Vicki Boutin and Heidi Swapp. Some of the older AC lines as well. I used to love Kaisercraft too, the die cuts made it easy to build clusters.
I have hoarded Basic Grey and I really struggle with it, even though I love it. I think it’s because I have a lack of embellishments to go with it.
I also struggle with Pink Fresh, even though I love it. I find the papers maybe don’t contrast enough? It doesn’t stop me from buying it though! I would agree that Mintay can also be difficult, same with 3 Quarter Designs—the images are big with printed clusters. I need to find a better way to layer these. I also sometimes struggle with Prima. Maybe not enough embellishments other than flowers? Chatterbox also used to be a real struggle for me. Maybe it was the lack of embellishments again? I did have some success backing a cutfile with Chatterbox and will definitely try that again.
I’m trying to mix and match lines more now to bring in some of the harder papers with the ones that are easier for me to use and it’s been a fun exercise. Not sure if I’m ready to dismantle all of my collection packs, but I’m definitely mixing more old and new.
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Post by Linda on Jul 6, 2022 20:56:49 GMT
As I work on a layout using Reminisce's Game Night - apparently papers that don't have obvious coordinates. I love the papers in this collection - they are perfect for scrapping all our family game nights but it took some doing for me to figure out how to use the puzzle page - it's black and white puzzle pieces and all of the papers are different games designs so not intended to be used together as a coordinated collection.
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PaperAngel
Prolific Pea
Posts: 7,963
Jun 27, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
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Post by PaperAngel on Jul 6, 2022 21:59:23 GMT
Easy: Bazzill, Echo Park, Carta Bella, Simple Stories, & Pinkfresh (plus Chatterbox, KI Memories, & October Afternoon) for the classic patterns (e.g. solids, plaids, stripes, dots), office/school-inspired designs (e.g. lines, grids, ledgers, labels, journaling spots), usable color palettes, etc.
Difficult: American Crafts brands (e.g. Maggie Holmes, Paige Evans, Vicki Boutin), Doodlebug, Graphic 45, Reminisce, Authentique, & many more due to themes, cutesy/cartoony/random/vintage icons/images, busy/large/realistic/scene patterns, pre-printed clusters/mixed media, florals, etc.
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Post by Skellinton on Jul 6, 2022 22:34:51 GMT
My easiest is OA, and I always love those layouts best too. Shimelle is a close second. For current lines it would be Vicki Boutin.
Hardest is hard for me because I don't typically buy lines that I have difficultly using, but I would have to say Steve Duncan. I love his colors, his style and his papers but they are so difficult for me to use. I actually be stopped buying to them after Game Night because I just struggled with them so much.
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Post by grammadee on Jul 6, 2022 22:47:29 GMT
It depends on my mood and what story I am trying to tell.
In general, I enjoy working with Cocoa Vanilla, Photo Play, Simple Stories, echo park, Carta Bella. Some sheets I like more than others and a few I struggle with, but I can usually work with the colours and designs. P13 and Pager Rose fall in here as well.
In general, I struggle more with big bold graphics, like Graphic 45, or even Stephen Duncan, that seem to compete with my photos. I seldom use the more artsy papers like Maggie Holmes, or the cutesy bright papers like Doodlebug, b/c their colours either don't go with my photos or are too bright. That being said, there are particular lines and particular papers from these that I love.
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Post by mikklynn on Jul 7, 2022 12:37:34 GMT
Easiest is Felicity Jane for me.
I don't buy from companies with very bold or very dark/cream lines, because I don't enjoy working with them. Authentique, Graphic 45, and Photoplay are a no.
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artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,388
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Post by artbabe on Jul 7, 2022 15:08:42 GMT
I thought of some more:
Hardest-
Pinkfresh. I love a few of the layouts I've made with it but it is so word heavy. I feel like my layouts have a thousand words on them. All the white is difficult for me, too. That being said, I absolutely loved the office line and the school line. I have been really pleased with the layouts I have made with those.
Authentique. This is also often difficult to work with because it just isn't my style. I loved the texture of the paper, though. I did buy a beach line once that I used to death. Those layouts are so beautiful.
Graphic 45. This is also not my style at all, but again, I've tried it and made it work a few times. I have an ocean one and a zoo one that are really nice. I bought several Alice in Wonderland ones but I'm not sure how to use the paper- not the subject (love me some Alice) but how the papers are laid out. Overall Graphic 45 is really tricky to work with.
Difficult and easy at the same time:
Reminisce- I really enjoy working with their paper. It is so fun. Most of the time the collections don't go together, though, so I usually use it as a one off. I also don't use the papers that have one big photo realistic image on them. I also don't like their stickers at all. Too shiny and square.
Easy to work with:
Crate Paper- I miss it.
October Afternoon- I miss it too.
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Post by marg on Jul 7, 2022 20:02:33 GMT
I struggle with Graphic 45 and Authentique, personally.
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Post by 950nancy on Jul 7, 2022 20:44:33 GMT
I wanted to write company but I couldn't get the title to match the character limit. What company lines (past and present) are the easiest to work with?
49 and Market - A totally different vibe but this is also easy to work with. A lot of their stuff is not very themed so it is versatile
Simple Stories- They have a few of my all-time favorite lines to use.
Simple Stories Vintage- this depends on the line- the beach one and the nature one are fantastic. The lemon one? Not so much.
Echo Park and Carte Bella- Both of these lines are easy for me. I especially love Carte Bella because of the texture. I love Steven Duncan but some of his are pretty challenging.
Cocoa Vanilla- I love every page I make with this.
Past lines are: Shimelle, Amy Tangerine, Basic Grey. I miss those so much. Thankfully I am a hoarder Hardest lines: Mintay- the designs cover the whole page and you have to fussy cut all of the elements. I've done a couple of cute pages but it is a struggle. I only use them because they come in the NJFB kits.Doodle Bug- I love the embellishments but the papers are so busy! I usually use a B-side and the embellishments and call it a day. So many smiley faces, too.Obed Marshall- The color and motifs are so pretty and fun but for some reason I struggle with it every time.Heidi Swapp- I really like some of her lines but I always fight to make them come together.Which lines are the easiest for you to use? Which ones do you struggle with/ Graphic 45
Paper RoseCarta Bella
Bo Bunny early stuff
Photo Play
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