Let’s talk about shopping!!!

Now, I know how many of you do it. You enter the store to buy a few things and leave with three of everything. Right?

But there are also those of you who take your photos to the store and match paper to them. That way you know you have what you need to scrapbook your photos and you prevent yourself from over-buying. Is that you? It used to be me. Not anymore.

Shopping with your photos in hand can prevent you from creating that touch that makes your art unique and completely you. There are two reasons for this. First is the mentality that this matching session produces. It is the mentality of having to get it “right.” Of having to find the “right” color match; finding the “right” coordinating products.

We can free our muse if we learn to let go of doing what we think is right, like making a perfect color match, and choosing, instead to find colors and patterns that remind you of the story you want to share. I do often look to the colors in the photo to lead me in color choices. But I have found that it doesn’t have to be perfect in order to be complimentary. The real me shows through in my layouts when I focus more on choosing papers I love; papers that remind me of the mood of the event or story I am sharing. And I can do this with the more limited amount of papers I have at home because shades don’t have to be “just right.”

Second is the fact that you can’t listen to your muse very easily while shopping in a scrapbooking store. There is pressure to get the shopping done in the amount of time you have available. There is chaos in the store. There is over-stimulation with all the colors and patterns surrounding you.

When I choose colors and patterns for a layout at home, I usually take time to contemplate what it is I want to share on that layout. If I am scrapping about an event, I take myself back to that place and remember what the event felt like. I then choose paper and products accordingly. By doing this I am able to establish an emotional tie to most of my pages. I couldn’t do this type of contemplation in a scrapbook store, though, could I? Especially not with a whole stack of photos.

So how do I shop without buying the whole store? I look for patterns, colors, and items that I love the very most. My rule is that it should evoke an emotional response from me. Why should I buy paper that is pretty good when there is more paper than I’ll ever need that makes my mouth water?

I also know my limit. While one of my favorite scrapbooking products is patterned paper, I almost never use a full sheet, or even half a sheet, on a layout. I tend to use small pieces like strips. With few exceptions, I will never need more than one of a particular sheet of patterned paper.

Something else to consider is how many pages you complete in a week or month. I complete three to four layouts a week and I shop for supplies once or twice a month. While I like to have a decent enough variety at hand, I really don’t need to buy much paper at a time if a once-a-month trip only needs to cover an average of 14 layouts. Scrapbooking companies are constantly releasing new designs and I promise there will always be more to love, so it’s best not to buy too much at once.

What is the moral of this story? Let go of the need to get the perfect color-match. Limit your purchase to the products you love most because you’ll also love them on your layout. Choose colors and patterns, not just because the colors match the photo, but also because they remind you of the event or they help communicate your story.

I will help you do this in future episodes of Paperclipping.

And to answer one last question you may have in your mind about taking your photos to the store with you: Yes, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions! What is most important is to just go with the flow; your artistic flow.

I’m feeling good today! Well, not physically. I’ve been sick since last Thursday! Yep, this is day number seven of sinus congestion, sore throat and coughing. But at least I feel good today in terms of artistic motivation.

I know my creative juices are flowing because the ideas are streaming through my head so fast that I missed two different turns while taking kids to school today. I am calling that creative distraction and am embracing it as a good thing!

So, I’m going to leave the breakfast dishes on the table while I have two free hours. I’m letting my newspaper rest unopened. I’m going to ride this wave and see where it takes me. I have a few different layout ideas to play with and I’ll just go with whichever one seems to be screaming at me the loudest.

What are you working on today?

I want to thank those who watched our first episode of Paperclipping last week! I realize that most of you came here from other podcasts within the Glimpster network and many of you aren’t paper artists, so thank you for taking the time!

Israel’s camera is having problems so there will be a delay in filming while he gets that fixed. I am beginning to write blog entries now so you can keep coming back here as you like to discuss scrapbooking with me in the meantime! My next goal is to get good photos of my layouts and upload them into a gallery where you can view them close-up, read my journaling, and see a list of the products I used.

My favorite topic in scrapbooking and paper-arts has to do with personal style. I’m not talking about naming your style and putting yourself into a style-box (for example, clean and simple, freestyle, rustic elegance, etc.). I am talking about the development of your own personal, even evolving, style that expresses you. I have found that style isn’t something you can force. It’s not something you decide on, like choosing a brand of paper towels. It is something that unfolds naturally as you learn to identify what you love most and how you feel inside.

The tutorials in Paperclipping will revolve around design skills and style-developing strategies and will leave you free to use or discover your own personal style, whether it is anything like mine or not. I think this will benefit those of you who are in the process of mastering your individual styles, those who have not taken that step yet, as well as those of you who are brand new to scrapbooking!

If you decide to complete the challenges in the Paperclipping episodes and you have a blog or website where you can post your completed layouts, please leave a comment with a link so we can check it out! And don’t forget to include a link to the particular episode of Paperclipping so others can see the challenge.

Welcome to the first installment of Paperclipping: Scrapbooking Tutorials, the video podcast. Your hostess, Noell Hyman, demonstrates how using “Visual Triangles” in your layout can help improve the overall look and feel of the page.

This episode is in the archives. To learn how to access the archives, please visit the membership information page.