Do you know about the controversy? It goes like this: the magazines cater a lot to the “busy woman of today.” Most every issue has a headline like, “6 Layouts you can do in 30 minutes!”
Meanwhile, “process scrapbookers” want to take their time and enjoy…the process. Some of them are rebelling and starting threads all over the message boards, hoping to diminish the fast-scrapping mentality.
I love the process of creating a page even more than the satisfaction of having completed one. But if you’re like me, you have many stories you want to tell and photos you want to lay to paper. It isn’t about catching up or getting all your pictures into albums. It’s about having so much to say, share and create.
If you’re spending numerous hours on a layout, there is a reason to speed up your process. Doing so will also increase your satisfaction and skill level.
If you’ve read tips number one and two of my Scrapbooking Speed Series then you are ready for tip number three:
Give yourself permission to take risks, make mistakes, and create a really bad layout.
Why will doing this provide the three things I promised?
By taking risks you act instead of think.
Thinking is good. But too much thinking is overrated. We sacrifice many scrapbooking hours to the god of over-analyzing, re-thinking and second-guessing. Those hours could be used for actual creating.
By taking risks you learn from your mistakes.
Obviously, learning from mistakes will improve your skill. I learned many of the design principles I know in the actual process of cutting up paper, taping it down and then discovering why something did or didn’t work.
By taking risks you never grow bored of a layout before you’ve finished it.
Because you skipped some of that excessive planning, you finish before your brain grows tired of your project. In addition, the challenge of making the risk work is stimulating.
The Exhilaration Cycle
When you take a risk you jump onto what I think of as, The Exhilaration Cycle. The cycle goes like this:
1. You envision something amazing.
2. You begin to create, and doubts creep in because the results aren’t matching the vision.
3. Adrenaline increases to help you meet your challenge. Anything that requires challenge and effort is more satisfying in the end. But at this moment you feel anxiety.
4. As you move your paper around, you make a key change to the elements, and now you see it coming together. You have a new vision. This sudden burst of inspiration is the exhilarating climax of the cycle and you’ve proven yourself up to the challenge.
But how do you make yourself begin something you’re not sure will work? Try it just once. Cut that piece of paper as soon as you get the idea. It’s just a $.50 or $.80 piece of paper. You can get more. It’s worth it when it allows you to create more layouts, tell more stories, share more photos, increase your skills, explore your style, and turn the process into an exciting adventure.
Are you up for the challenge?
