No more scrapbooking?

I have never completed a scrapbook project. I am enjoying the heck out of cardmaking. The unfinished projects and any part of my stash that's not conducive to cardmaking is tucked away to see if I ever get brave enough to dig into at some point.

I don't know if that would be enough to deactivate your perfectionism, though. The projects are certainly smaller, so the stakes are lower, so maybe?

Or you could try keeping tools and equipment and only your most favorite supplies? Just set them aside in a quiet corner and see how you feel in a few years?

Do other people need to see your layouts? Maybe if it's just for you, it doesn't have to be perfect.

I didn't scrap for over a year, and it felt like I was done, I thought several times about giving away all my stuff and then something somewhere made me sit at my desk and the mojo returned. I still haven't finished December Daily 2011... or an about me album from a class from 2010, which is why I rarely do big projects I currently have a Disney album for my kids (I didn't go on the trip) on my desk and am not very motivated to work on it. Maybe you just aren't a big project person either.

Just my two cents.

So sorry you're going through this @a7.
I think it would be a shame for you to give up entirely. Maybe if you keep trying different pieces of paper by following a sketch from someone who's work you admire something will click for you. Just keep moving stuff around til something strikes you.
I would never complete anything if I tried to be perfect but I understand how it can be a real struggle for you. And it's OK if your project isn't completed. We all have those!

Ok, so I've been through this process. (Not the perfectionism part) But, we went through a really hard time during the last recession. We lost everything, including our 2600 square foot house. We moved into a 900 sq ft rental. I had to downsize. I sold everything and I felt no emotional attachment to it. I did not scrapbook at all in 2009 and 2010. My life was a shambles and I just didn't feel like any of it. But in 2011, I met Jeremy and life started to improve and I wanted to scrap again. However, we were 4 full time + 3 part time people living in 900 square feet so taking up room was a no go. I went digital. All my 2011-2014 photos are digitally scrapped. In 2016, I decided I missed the paper and we had bought our current house and I had just a bit of space. So I went back to paper. When I did so, I regretted selling my tools. That's it. The paper and embellishments I did not miss. It did not hurt me to buy more, current things. But especially I wished I had saved my trimmer. I had that huge MM ones with the self-sharpening rotary cutter. I loved that thing. I also had to buy some scissors/a couple of punches/a paper piercer (I had that awesome Lil Davis one with the small, thick pad back in the day)/a new mini Xyron/a new ATG gun (but I reentered scrapbooking with just disposable adhesives) and I was going to buy the circle cutting system from CM but mikklynn generously sent me hers that she wasn't using. Those things were the only things I regretted getting rid of. Mostly that damn trimmer. Everything else was easy to replace.

As a fellow perfectionist, I suggest a different approach/mindset. Scrapbooking is a hobby, your "perfect hobby," so enjoy & have fun with it rather than be concerned about "not much to show for my 20+ years of scrapbooking." I exclusively scrapbook & choose not to participate in classes/design teams/crops/retreats/conventions, create gift albums/cards/special projects (e.g. One Little Word, Day/Week in the Life, December Daily/Journal Your Christmas), or have any actual deadlines. Due to my perfectionist tendencies, I'm a painstakingly S-L-O-W scrapper who will rework & quit/restart as much as necessary to be completely satisfied with each step in the process. It takes a ridiculous amount of time to complete a layout & I'm woefully behind but content with the end results (& never redo a completed layout). It's not a marathon &, like with everything, interest in hobbies ebbs & flows. HTH.

The measure you use to determine success for a hobby should be specific to you. There’s nothing wrong with adjusting spending (and resultingly space) to match pace but your measure for success should include whether a hobby is enjoyable, meaningful, a creative outlet, etc.

I left the hobby for a long time and returned after pursuing other goals. I found my stash featured product from designers who were no longer my favorites. I replaced my electronic cutter because technology advanced. I bought a few embellishments I missed after purging from eBay and Etsy. The only other things I replaced were various tools for improved versions.

Adjusting your hobbies to make them a better fit over time is a smart move. If self-directed classes work for you you might want to check out Plan, Prep, Play from Ali Edward’s site. There’s a promo code on her site that will make the class under $20.

I’m not affiliated in any way but I have challenges similar to those discussed in this thread. Like you, I knew I loved playing with paper and I knew my motivation was waning. This class has helped me get a better understanding of why I create and how to fulfill that need. Maybe sussing out your purpose for the hobby will help with perfectionism? It might give you a better gauge than the appearance of the finished product for determining when something is done.

The planning features are also useful outside of paper hobbies and I feel they’re broken down in a way that’s accessible.

I'm not a perfectionist, but I am super busy, and what I have found is that I am much better about finishing small themed books (vacation, holiday) than larger projects. Maybe try a focused minibook and see if that resonates more?

I love photography and writing and pretty paper, and I love keeping track of my life and making photo albums, so I should love scrapbooking, right? But I don't.

I used to make pages with patterned paper and stamped or stickered titles and all that but they just sit in albums unlooked at and making me feel kind of embarrassed. Embarrassed might not be the right word, it sounds dumb when I say that, but they don't make me feel proud and happy, and I don't generally want to show them off. When people do look at them they don't care about all the scrapbook stuff anyway, they want the picture and maybe the story. They take up a ton of space I odn't have, and when I look back at them I usually want to re-do them.

Eventually I discovered that small photobooks are much more my jam. I can load them with tons of photos, just a few embellishments, long stories if I want, or just a few captions. They're easy to make and easy to share (I print extra copies of certain books to give for Xmas). I have turned quite a few of my old albums into photobooks that I like better.

I did donate or pass along a lot of my stuff but I didn't really have a lot. I transitioned from 12x12 through Project Life into cardmaking, so I used a lot of it up over the years. I find cardmaking gives me the pretty-paper hands-on crafty thing I like and, because I donate most of my cards, they're gone before I can start getting too critical of them. Cards feel more purposeful to me too.

Digital scrapping has a few downsides, of course. You can endlessly tweak a layout so perfectionism might mean you never feel like anything ever gets finished. But it's just data so no harm done. Some people also struggle to get a whole project done so they never actually see their pages printed out in an album. You could have pages printed though. And of course it can feel like work instead of play.

Tagging AussieMeg who I believe has not regretted going digital and destashing her paper supplies.

As a fellow perfectionist, I feel your pain. The question is.....why did YOU start scrapbooking. And why do YOU want to scrapbook? Not why you should, not why someone else thinks it's important, what is it YOU want?

For me, I want to be able to see pictures of trips, places I love, things I love, people I love, and the happy, fun, silly time. My pets, My passions. I don't want my photos stuck in a phone, hard drive, or box where all the memories can be forgotten. but that's ME. Am I I behind. OMG you have no idea.

For some projects I use a deadline, it might be a really long one - like a year plus. But the closer I get to the edit makes me want to finish - even if it's not perfect. Other project I work on in chunks - 1/4 here, a 1/3 there.

The other thing, for me, is deciding what I want to accomplish and not letting what others are doing or sharing influence me in a negative way. (Mening I love some of the elborate, super interactive pages/books/layouts. I think they are amazing! BUT I've learned, no matter how cool I think they are, they are NOT me. No matter how much I admire them, trying to do them for me is exhausting, too time consuming, and just for me is honestly not fun. So I've eliminated that from my scrapping, even though I still really love looking a them and admiring them. )

It's ultimately up to you, but I think taking some time to figure out you what and why might give you your answer.

I was a huge scrapper for years and then a few changes happened that led me to not scrapping for about 14 years. I kept my things - sometimes they were used for kids school projects. About 3 years ago, circumstances had changed in my life and I really wanted to play with supplies and document memories again but not in the same way I did 15 year prior. I stumbled upon memory planning (Heidi swapp style) and found that a perfect entryway back into scrapping for me. I was doing mini pages that didn’t have to look like my pages before (I used to have published pages in scrap mags occasionally). It felt no pressure and low risk for reentry. As the year went on I realized I wanted to do more and I evolved I to project life style albums for more space and then added more projects like week in the life and December daily. I am so glad I came back to scrapping- but I always thought I would. I didn’t ever stop loving it, my life just wasn’t right for it for a long period.

Maybe a smaller canvas like memory planner with less preconceived ideas (to you) about how it should look might be helpful? And it could help build you scrap confidence. And if not, that’s ok too. Like others mentioned, if you come back to it you were likely want to buy new things! I agree with keeping tools - I’ve been very glad to have things like that when I came back. It could also help with journaling issues- recording everyday basic stories about what you did and then it can grow into thoughts about those things if you want it to.

Dude, I rarely do any journaling at all. And when I go back and read stuff I wrote I HATE it. I don't care for my handwriting. I'm not into feelings. And I feel like you can see the facts from the photo. (Look, we did this thing).

So I just let that go.

I like playing with pretty paper and stickers and saving ephemera. And I am fine with that.

I keep my journaling to a minimum most of the time, and I use computer journaling in fonts that I like. My own handwriting absolutely ruins the page. There are enough pages with my own handwriting in my early albums. Now I prefer legibility and relative brevity.