katharyn brine: Scrapping for relaxation instead of "catching up"

Sometimes it's easy to get carried away with the need to "catch up" on all the events or photos you deem necessary to explain on a scrapbook page. Don't.

Scrapping is, after all, meant to be a hobby - a relaxation - something to enjoy as a form of winding down. So don't berate yourself for having 10 pages in progress but unfinished. Don't think that because you have only just started scrapping that you need to go through your entire series of photo albums and scrap everything right now - asap - before you forget. It's too stressful.

When I first started attempting to record my first child's milestones, I believed I had to create chronologically, making sure to use the front and back of each piece of expensive cardstock. And I bought myself a little cheapie kit (well, I thought it was very expensive at the time) making sure it had an ideas pamphlet that I could copy down to the letter. Well, those photos, and that kit, is still sitting buried in a drawer because I was too afraid to use it. And too afraid to bodge it up. And I thought I would remember more about the stuff I was recording if I just let myself "ponder" it for a while longer. But, alas, time moved on and those ideas and pages were never completed.

I think I was too caught up in making everything perfect. Everything had to be in regimented order. My pages had to be all-encompassing up to that point. Eg. All his smiles that I had caught on camera (and each with the correct date - which is a big ask for film cameras). All his milestones on the one page. And a photo pertaining to each. And of course I came unstuck if it all didn't go to plan. I would try to group themes in such a way that the task became far too daunting - what to do if I had photos spanning several years? Should I put them before or after this birthday or that? Oh!

I also used to put deadlines on myself. I wasn't allowed to start anything new until I'd finished all my WIP pages. So when it finally came time to sit down and do a bit of crafting, I'd stymy myself. I'd ignore all the newer ideas I'd had during the week (some even as I'd be walking the grocery isles!) and concentrate on finishing these stale projects. And of course, I'd wander away from the desk soon after. Never to be seen there chained down again. I'll say it again - don't do it to yourself!

If your scrapping aim is to record your family's events/traits, then just do it. No matter how insignificant the theme may seem now, I guarantee that in 5 years time when the memory is faded, you'll treasure being able to look back through your books and see little Jimmy falling off his first trike, or little Sally helping you fold the washing. Recording their sayings is also a fun thing to do, making sure to write it down exactly as they say it/pronounce it. It's so cool to look back on! Interview your subjects. Ask outrageous questions and see what they come up with. Three and four-year-old answers are just so amusing!

Anyway, enough preaching. I'm just saying that don't make it harder than it has to be. Just scrap what you feel like doing. Scrap what just happened this morning. Or scrap part of the event. Most likely, it's the part you'll want to remember anyway. You can always come back to turn it into the masterpiece you desired. But chances are you'll have moved on and be recording newer things. Every page does not have to be a masterpiece. Sometimes I set out with the intention of just recording it. No fancy stuff. Sometimes not even a photograph to illustrate it. But at least I got it down.

After a few pages, you'll find yourself letting go and doing it because it makes you happy. Not because you have to.

Enough! I've been paper scrapping this week. I just wanted to get away from the computer. Get my hands dirty. Revisit some of the beautiful papers I had fallen in love with. It's hard though, because I'm out of practice. But a lot of the design principles I've picked up by using digital templates,can be applied to paper scrapping. It made it so much easier! Just think of a digital template you have worked with and apply it to paper. Fun. I guess it's called "using a sketch" but I've never really been keen on sketches because they look so uninspiring and never seem to fit my photos/stash/theme all at the one time.

Of course, I haven't taken any photos of my traditional LO. But here are some quick and not-so-quick pages I've completed while my DH has been buried at work.

And here's my MASTERPIECE for the week. It took ALL DAY (intermittantly between washing and minding 3 sick munchkins). But I'm so very happy with it! Talk about practising drop shadows - I had to make a drop shadow for each and every bit on there! Needless to say, I now am pretty handy at drop shadowing!