On Friday I mentioned that one of my goals is to create 80 single page layouts in 2012. To some that isn’t a lot, but I know my time is limited. It is realistic and doable, but still a stretch goal, for me.
In 2011, I did a lot of paper scrapbooking. It totally energized me and helped me reconnect with my love of creating with my hands. Scrapping until 3am even kept me from going off the deep end as I waited (sort of patiently) for my baby to arrive in August.
In December I created this new page with a favorite photo of my daughter. It was then I realized that during my year of paper-play, my scrapbooking style evolved.
My digital scrapbooking had always been simple and paper-style, but I did use a lot clusters and add dimensional elements. I was (still am, don’t get me wrong) a huge lover of Sweet Shoppe Designs.
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In browsing my digital stash, I realized that I didn’t have a lot of what I wanted. I wanted small, subtle patterns – like the B sides of many traditional papers found in Studio Calico kits. I wanted tags for journaling and little banners that mean something to me – like those from Pretty Little Studio.
Somehow I become more of a clean (and simple) scrapbooker, but with a passion for dainty patterns and feminine touches that feel warm and cozy. I’m finding more and more that I love at Oscraps now, like the beautiful things from One Little Bird.
Here at Simple Scrapper I’ll be sharing more of my stories and my style as well as my best solutions for simple scrapbooking. I’m looking forward to connecting deeper with you – scrapbooker to scrapbooker.
How to Cope with an Evolving Style
It’s natural for your style to change over time, as you grow and evolve. If you’re finding yourself in the same boat as me, you don’t have to go on a huge shopping spree to cope. Here are some tips:
- Go ahead and get rid of the items that you dislike the most. There is no sense in reminding yourself of purchases that will never be used.
- Shop your stash for individual items you do still appreciate and that fit your new style. You might be surprised by what you find.
- Stock up on basics that you love, like go-to paper packs (I’m loving grids these days) and other essentials (like labels and fasteners).
- Be super picky. Wait for products you totally love and will use multiple times. If you love it, it’s worth the extra money to pay full price.
Has your style evolved over time? Share with us in the comments.
For layout credits, see my gallery.
Oh boy has mine evolved! I started scrapbooking in 1998. Changes are bound to occur throughout 14 years. These days, I only buy products I love. I have the basics, and there is no need to accent my pictures with something I feel “alright” about. Being picky has made a huge difference in my happiness with my work!
oh.my.heavens. has my style changed/evolved!! I have always LOVED simpler more minimalistic look and I am sooo glad to see others embracing it more and more lately!! Your top layout is just striking! love it!!
My style is in the middle of a HUGE change. I started off digi scrapping, with a clean look (minimal embellishements) with super graphic paper. Now I am a paper scrapper (I too needed to feel paper, and I was shocked I did!) I am getting more artsy and messy. I am in the “uncomfortable” phase right now. My old style was too linear, but my new style is too messy and wild. I am still working through it.
The timing of this post is perfect for me. On Sunday (just a day earlier than the post) I decided to go through my digi stash. I have gotten away from all things creative over the last two years but just in the last few weeks I started feeling the desire to create again (paper and digi). I had already spent a few days organizing my paper stash so as I moved on to my digi stash I realized how much my focus and style have changed in the time I’ve “been away.”
I was deleting gigs and gigs of stuff I just knew I would never use again. I’m sure I could go back and delete more! I used to digi scrap for the art of it as much as the memory keeping so I stocked up on every kind of embellishment out there. Now my focus has become all about the memory keeping with just enough art to make it fun. I want room for more pictures and journaling on the page and less “stuff.”
I think that’s part of the reason the Project Life concept appeals to me now when it never really did before. So now I’m motivated and streamlined and it feels really good!
I think about this often and sometimes it’s difficult to draw the line between evolving style and wanting to stay true to myself.
I used to almost always start with plain cardstock for a base and then add a bit of pattern paper. Now, I am more likely to use pattern paper as my base. I think what has really changed is just the weight of pattern paper is often as heavy as cardstock so I know it’s not going to be a pain in the rear to get the layout in a page protector. I also hand-write most of my journaling now. I used to hand-write short journaling and type long journaling, but now I’m more likely to just hand-write all of it.
My style has changed over the time I’ve been scrapbooking.
I’m not so “themed” anymore. I don’t need baseball stickers to put on a baseball layout.
I also found that I’m more simple.
I’d rather add paper, stamp or ink instead of lots of little embellishments.
My style has just evolved from free style and busy to your former style – simple and paper-style with clusters. But there are 2 things that never change: reality and paper. I love patterned paper and use it a lot! And since I started as a paper scrapper, my digital layouts are always something close to real compositions. Even when it was free style, I was careful to make it look real.