I am lucky to be friends with a scrapbooker I admire so much. Most of you know Dedra Long. While there are some similarities between us, our styles are quite distinct. There is much we agree on in scrapbooking, yet our personal preferences and natural way of seeing and creating makes it obvious that we are two different people. It’s easy to distinguish whose layouts are whose.
Even when we purchased the same groups of products last Monday, and then scrapbooked together on Paperclipping Live, there is no mistaking our two different styles. You can see the layouts below.
Dedra’s Layout
My Layout
I see Dedra’s style as elegant and classy, contemporary, yet classic. I see my own style as organic and a bit earthy, but quite eclectic.
Doing The Same Thing In Our Very Own Way
Dedra and I both are very conscious of placing visual triangles on our layouts. Note her triangle of black and cream circles with crystal buttons, and my three circles of layered paper. But while I like to make at least one point of the triangle different from the others (and especially love to make my triangles subtle altogether), she likes her pieces to all be the same–her embellishment triangles are a distinct characteristic of her layouts.
Definite Color Preferences
Dedra gravitates toward cooler tones while I reach for warm ones. But you’ll find us both looking for cream. We both love cream. She loves pink. I love orange. We chose colors of neutral territory for this project, but during the shopping, I found myself wanting to add more green while Dedra was needing more blue.
Similarities
It was striking to realize at the end of the show on Tuesday, when we compared our layouts, that Dedra and I made so many of the same choices without knowing the each other’s plans.
1) There were 8 possible patterns between the four double-side papers we chose. We both used the same honey comb as our background (perhaps because it was the closest to cream?). We also used the black and cream patterns and the organic branches, although in different ways.
2) Another similarity is that we both added bling to the organic pattern, even though bling was not a part of the kit we purchased together. We’re both fans of bling and glitter and we’re similar in the ways we place them.
3) The same is true of foam dots and our love for raising certain elements off the page. Dedra’s photo area (what I think of as a present–another common feature of her layouts) is triple layered. She loves to raise each element a little higher than the previous. For example, she raised the white matte with foam dots, then raised the photos and patterned paper on another layer above that, and then her chipboard title area on top of a third level of foam dots.
I used them in my own way–I taped the top of the branch down directly on to paper, then raised the middle of that branch with one layer of dots. Gradually, the piece continues to raise as the ends of the branches have two layers of foam dots.
Claiming Your Style And Branching Out
It’s fun to identify our distinct differences and similarities. If our scrapbooking projects were jewelry, Dedra wears pearls and diamonds, while I wear beads. Comparing your everyday artistic choices to another scrapbooker you admire helps you to pin-point your own natural style, and at the same time, discover new things to try.
Note: I created a new page area for the recordings of Paperclipping Live. Every week I will place them at the following page with their corresponding dates:
www.paperclipping.com/paperclipping-live-archives
If you missed our show on Tuesday and would like to see how we made our layouts, click here.
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12×12 Layouts
Joint Products: Patterned paper (Collage Press, Graphic 45, Scenic Route) * Journaling cards (Collage Press) * Ribbon (American Crafts???, Bazzill) * Chipboard Letters (American Crafts).
Products I added to my layout: Cardstock as a circle layer (Bazzill) * Stickers and word strips (7 Gypsies) * Bling (Me and My Big Ideas) * Letter stickers (Creative Memories).
Dedra’s journaling to her daughters reads: The two of you crack me up….From a different room in the house I will hear: “Mom, come look at me and Shelby!” When I walk in the room I see Shelby on the floor and you up in the air….You love that sister can put you in the air like an airplane….When the ride is over you always have smiles on your faces and the laughter is contagious….Just one of the many great reasons to have a sister….Seeing you both have so much fun together makes my heart happy….Love Mom….8*2008.
My Journaling to my son reads: Your first day of 5th grade. A handsome gentleman readyt o be a leader in your school. You seemed to have found your thing last year–computer graphics design, working on the school news crew, playing the viola, and leaving the campus weekly for the gifted program. You like those responsibilities and the change of pace and environment.
I am so happy you have a teacher who understands you and believes in you. You’ve decided to repeat your activities and between that and this teacher, you’re in for an exciting year! Dad and I are so proud of you!
