Article & Product Review

“5 common trouble spots,” by Ali Edwards in the March 2009 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, under the “studio a” section on p. 45-48. (Everything in quotations is from the magazine article.)

Ali started the article off by asking some very interesting questions. Ali asked “What are your most common trouble spots in scrapbooking? Are they related to design or color? Organization or working with your photos? Journaling or choosing products? Or does it have more to do with your overall approach?” (p. 45). I would have to say all of above. She asked some good questions that I’m sure you could relate to as well. And like Ali said, there is no right or wrong way to do scrapbooking (p. 45). For instance, what I like might not be what you like. With scrapbooking, you have the freedom to scrapbook to however way you like. The key thing to remember is you know you are on the right track with scrapbooking because you are telling the story behind the photos. I know some times I have trouble getting started or I can’t make up my mind on choices. If you are stuck, Ali recommends that your approach to scrapbooking be changed so it is more enjoyable by changing the creative process of scrapbooking itself. This article that Ali wrote about trouble spots is not about the designing process of the layout. Instead, it deals with our beliefs of how scrapbooking should be done and how we view our work.

Trouble Spot #1:
“Thinking your project/story/photo has to be PERFECT”(p. 46)
How many of us can relate to this? I know I can. Everything in life is not perfect. So why do we insist that our scrapbooking should be any different. Just because you didn’t cut something straight or too small, or your stamped image didn’t come out the way you wanted it to, doesn’t mean the layout is ruined. Ali stops and thinks about the future. What would the reader/viewer of your layouts and albums think? They would not care or notice the imperfections. Instead they would enjoy looking at how the photos are incorporated on the pages and how the story is told. So instead of focusing on the page being perfect, spend more time on communicating the story you want others to know about. Ali’s notes: 1) “Enlarge a photo for impact” (don’t try to find the perfect photo to enlarge, instead use the photo that you love the most.) 2) “What are you or your child “into” right now?” 3) “Consider adding in an object of some sort” (p. 46).

Trouble Spot #2:
“Having too much stuff” (p. 47)
I know a lot of you are saying yes to this one. I try to be organized with my supplies. I have so much stuff that I don’t have enough room. So I go back and forth between 2 rooms. I keep most of my commonly used items in one room by my craft table. I try to keep all the like items together but that doesn’t happened most of the time. I forget I have things and find them after the fact. By having too much stuff, you lose time searching for items to use on a project instead of actually creating your project. And you can lose creating time by spending the time trying to organize your stuff. Here’s how Ali recommends in dealing with all your stuff: 1) “Go on a buying freeze and challenge yourself to use what you have on hand.” 2) “Go through what you have now and purge products and supplies that you’re unlikely to ever use.”(p. 47) Give items to friends and family or donate to some organization, group, or club. By doing this, you will find a renewal in your creativity and a) rediscover forgotten items, b) products that appear as new again will inspire you, and c) by selecting loved items, new ideas will develop. 3) “Get real. Identify the items you really love and use regularly.” (p.47) You don’t need to have everything in each color available.

Trouble spot #3:
Comparing yourself to others (p. 47)
How many of us do this? I do it a lot. Some layouts I feel like they aren’t as good, but people really do like the layouts and think they are good. But I have been at crops where I see others work and think mine aren’t as good as theirs. In times like that, you have to remember what Ali said about before, that there is no set way to scrapbook. However you do your scrapbooking, is not right or wrong. As long as you are scrapbooking and are telling the story, then you are scrapbooking the right way. Ali suggests that when you start doubting your work and become frustrated, stop and ask yourself why are you scrapbooking to begin with. Ali said to ask yourself this, “Who are these pages for? What do you want to communicate to future generations about the lives they were living at this time…or about the life you’re living now?” (p. 47). Once you remind yourself why and who this scrapbook is for, then you can move on and continue what you are doing. All those doubts will be gone.

Trouble spot #4:
Not telling your story with words as well as photos (p. 48)
When it comes to journaling, my words are short and to the point. I know I should write more but sometimes it is hard because I was little and don’t know all the details or I just can’t remember. That’s why it is best to carry a small note pad with you all the time and jot everything down, especially when you go on trips somewhere. Let’s face, we don’t always run home and scrapbook those photos from the trip right away. It could be a month, a few months, or a year or two before you scrap those photos. So of course some important details are forgotten. Another reason for not journaling, or the lack of, is because you aren’t sure what to say or you didn’t leave space on your layout. The photos do not have any context without the words to go with them. Sure, the photos are beautiful, but there are too many questions that are unanswered about the photos. “Who are these people? Why did someone take the time to create this page? What was happening at this point in time? What was special about this moment?” (p. 48) So make sure to use your words on your pages and include it in your process of creating. If you get stuck, you can use a list to organize your thoughts and you can keep it simple. Ali’s notes: “Use a whole page of a two-page spread for journaling so you can make sure to tell a complete story.” (p. 48).

Trouble spot #5:
Not backing up your photos (p. 48)
How many of you have lost your photos? I have. I was downloading the photos from my memory card onto the computer, everything was going well, and then everything was gone. The photos were gone, not on the computer and not on my memory card. I felt so sick and I cried. At least these photos were from a trip and I can go on another trip to take them over. But when you lose someone’s birthday photos, or Christmas photos, it is a different story. You can’t take those photos over. It is important that you back up all your photos so if your computer crashes, you won’t lose them. And I’m sure some of you have learned that lesson the hard way. I have my photos on different items. My photos are still on the memory cards. Yes that is correct, I don’t delete my photos from the card after I download them to the computer. Instead, when I fill the card, I get another blank one. I have most of my photos saved on CDs. You can also save them on DVD as well. And I labeled everything so I have an idea what is on the CD or memory card. I recently bought a portable external hard drive that has important items on it as well. Not only do I save my photos, but I also save my important documents as well. Once I save everything that I want to on an external media, I then delete the saved items off of the computer so my computer’s hard drive has some free space. So remember, print out the photos that you love and want to scrapbook, and then save all of them onto some form of external device. It will save you from the heartache in the end.

I found this article to be very helpful and it open my eyes to how I scrapbook or how I want to scrapbook. Although I find all of Ali Edward’s articles very helpful as I am sure some of you also like her work as well.
I was thinking how can I mention MemoryWorks products with this article? And it hit me, trouble spot #4, journaling. MemoryWorks has some products that can help with journaling. American Crafts has some journaling stickers and Cosmo Cricket, Fancy Pants, and Jenni Bowlin all have journaling cards. 7 Gypsies, Maya Road, and Sassafras all have journaling tags and Tim Holtz has journaling tickets. These tickets are neat because they look like raffle tickets.

Tim Holtz: Journaling Tickets


We R Memory Keepers have journaling pads and Making Memories has journaling books. These books contain pages with different shapes and patterns.

Making Memories: Journaling Book—Girl


As for clear stamps, 7 Gypsies has Journal and 97% Die-Cut Certifiable Rectangle stamps. And BoBunny has Stamp and Store Journal and Write On stamps. These stamps come in CD holders/cases so they store nicely and take up less space. To view any of these products, go to www.memory-works.com and click on "Shop Our Products".

So that wraps it up for this weeks article & product review. I hope that you learned something new in helping you to do your scrapbooking.

Happy Scrappin’!