How do you Scrap???

[Julie DeGuia]

So I am fairly new to digital scrapbooking. When I paper scrap it is VERY simple. I follow the old Creative Memories mantra of 1. crop you pictures 2. arrange them on your BLANK WHITE page 3. add LIMITED paper and mount photos 4. add title, journaling and LIMITED embellishments!

So this digital world opens so many more opportunities and I really do like the freedom and choices, but how does everyone go about it?

1. Do you start with the pictures and then find a background paper and go from there?
2. Do you start with a background paper and once your design and color scheme become apparent then choose the photos that would fit best?
3. Do you "case" someone's layout and start reworking from there?

Just curious how everyone goes about this. It would be fun to hear everyone's answers. I am sooooo slow and would like to have a better/faster system for getting pages done! I am so far behind and while I am going to try to keep up with current pictures (certainly makes journaling a whole bunch easier) I have 5 years of backlog to catch up on! Need to be focused.... need to be focused.... need to be focused.... need to be focused! :-)

Julie

[kathleen.summers]

I just started digi scrapping a week ago and so far I find it WAY faster than paper scrapping. After my first two digi layouts, I decided to use Katie's Year in Review templates so I could make a Shutterfly book (I have a coupon for a free one). Anyway, the templates are great because it's taking a lot of the time & guesswork out of it and I love the results! Sometimes the photos go in first, sometimes the background paper.

I'm already halfway done and have completed July - December! You can see 'em HERE.

[Lynn Grieveson]

I remember when I first started digi scrapping that it was the unlimited options which were both wonderful and scary at the same time. There really are no limits, whereas when I paper scrapped it was usually a case of working with what paper I had in my stash worked with the photo and taking it from there.

I always start with the photo - what colors would work with it, what feelings does it evoke, what message etc etc ......

[shhbabymine]

you really develop a system that you are comfortable with - and for me that actually changes all the time... i love to have the photo tell the story and go searching for things to go with it - but honestly sometimes i see things in the store that i just love and then ideas just fall in place and inevitably during the process i will remember a photo or a moment and its like the dots just get connected...
i still have tons to catch up on and enjoy working on those projects once in a while i just realized i cant be stressed about them - and do my best to stay caught up on the now... i love to watch the gallery for styles and ideas and see what draws me in... and i am a huge fan of templates and tutorials - cant get enough of either...
the best part - is that it is a fun creative process - with no mess on the table when i need to take a break or go make dinner (like right now!)

[Steph]

I always start with my photos and usually have a good idea what my main thought will be for the journaling, too. I do start with a blank white document and then choose colors based on something in my photo or papers that will help convey the tone of my journaling and title.

Great question!!!

[margarete]

I almost always start with the photos too, and then I pick the paper (one that expresses the 'feel' of the event/photos in my opinion), then I pile on the elements, LOL!! Journaling is usually last, just because I'm terrible at it.

[Mary Rogers]

LOVE your avatar! adorable..

I was a paper scrapper for about seven years before I found digital last March...and I have scrapped more in the past year then I did in the previous three years! I almost always start with the photo(s), title and journaling, then build my page from there...

I love using templates and then completely making them my own (resize, rotate, add and remove elements)

I also have a favorites folder full of layouts I hope to lift when I find time..

I LOVE the aspect of digital that you can easily change your mind, recolor papers/elements to go with your photos and feel of the layout and move and play and play and move until I finally think I am done

wonderful questions Julie! just dive in and see what works best for YOU!!

[wookiegirl]

I agree with Mary - I have also been digi scrapping about a year, and I have almost tripled the amount of layouts I usually complete in twelve months (although I don't post them all, so my gallery wouldn't indicate it... ).

Just today, in fact, I was cleaning out some of my paper supplies and thinking that I don't have the energy to make any layouts with them anymore. Digital is just so much easier, faster, and more creative for me. I love it!

As far as my process, I guess maybe I'm a little unusual - I tend to be driven by the story I want to tell. I keep a file box with all the things I want to document on index cards, and I'd say I only have photos for about two-thirds of them. But that's okay - sometimes I make a layout with no photos or I go take a photo to go with the story.

I tend to be pretty product driven, too. I'll often open my stash and pick a product I really want to use, and then think what story - and therefore which photos - would go with that paper or that element. I have so many stories waiting to be told that I usually have something that will work!

Glad you're here!

[justmp]

For me it's different every time I scrap. Sometimes I have a picture(s) that I absolutely love and can't scrap it/them fast enough and they are my inspiration. Sometimes, I have a certain kit or template that I want to use and let that direct me to pick the perfect photos and journaling and go forward from there. Honestly, I have even staged photos because I have a specific bit of journaling that I want to record and need that "perfect" photo to go with it, so the journaling is the inspiration. So, I can't say that I have a specific method to my madness, but in the end it gets done, the memories get recorded, and that's all that really matters to me.

[kathie02]

Originally Posted by justmp

For me it's different every time I scrap. Sometimes I have a picture(s) that I absolutely love and can't scrap it/them fast enough and they are my inspiration. Sometimes, I have a certain kit or template that I want to use and let that direct me to pick the perfect photos and journaling and go forward from there. Honestly, I have even staged photos because I have a specific bit of journaling that I want to record and need that "perfect" photo to go with it, so the journaling is the inspiration. So, I can't say that I have a specific method to my madness, but in the end it gets done, the memories get recorded, and that's all that really matters to me.

This is me exaclty...thanks for saving me the time to type it all out Jodi!!

[shellb]

For me it's all about a story that I feel needs to be told. Then I add all the bits that I think fit best to help tell that story.

Most of my Layouts start out as Microsoft word documents. I just start writing random things regarding the topic of the LO and go from there.

[dugarner]

Oh, I'm an old CM customer, and follow the same workflow I always have. I never bought a supply until I needed it for a specific LO. My consultant thought I was crazy.

I find the pictures I want to group together, then find a LO, page, or template that fits that number of pictures (give or take 1 or 2). I still do not use circle picture shapes on my pages, I can't stand it. I'm a square, straight-corner, straight-edge kind of gal. Minimalist.

I choose the colors/kits/embellies that match the colors and themes of the pictures.

I'm slower now than I was when I was a paper scrapper, but I'm much more satisfied with the end result!

Sarah

[Tove]

There are three ways I go about it:

• Sometimes I have a picture or a series of pictures I want to scrap. Then I find the perfect papers and elements and build my page. The title comes almost last, just before I add the final touch such as a staple or a brad.
• When there are challenges, like the 3 kits 3 ways, color challenge and so on, I find a picture that goes with the products. And I go from there...
• Sometimes I see a layout I want to lift. Usually that is because I think "oh, that layout would be perfect for that specific picture I have". I start off copying, but as I go along it usually changes untill it's "my own" layout.

[kittybrink]

I paper scrapped until after I was married. I waited 4 years to have kids and told myself I would get back into scrapping then. When I had my daughter, I took tons of pictures, but was overwhelmed by all that scrapping product out there. A friend of mine had started digi scrapping and told me how fast it is! I had about 2 years of backlog that I finished in just a few months time. I started out with templates for many photos to get the bulk of the backlog done and to give me a little peace of mind. Once I felt comfortable with the adobe program and my digital scrapbooking I started making the one and two picture pages. I am very happy with digital and will probably never go back to regular scrapbooking due to time, effort, and convienence!

[Julie DeGuia]

Thanks for the responses! I think for the layouts I have been doing so far I seem to be going by one of the three paths listed by Tove. It is still slow for me though... hopefully that will get better as I hang around. Maybe do some of the 30mm chats!

I like Michele method of writing things down, but not sure I would ever do that . It seems like it would make journaling easier!

Mary, did you go back and edit my name from Julia to Julie in your post? Thanks! As I mentioned in my "new here" post that is one of my pet peeves and so far everyone here has been exceptional in that category!!! :-)

[LauraBean]

I don't scrap to get it done; I scrap because I enjoy the process. Completed pages in an album are a nice bonus. So, while I usually start with a photo or two that I love, I also sometimes start with an idea--a title, a theme, even a technique I want to try--and choose a photo or photos at some later point in the process. Yesterday I did a Top Ten layout of my current favorite things--that started with the idea, then a list, then I actually took some photos to use (I had some already but wanted a few more). That's not typical but it's not the first time I've taken pictures specifically for a layout, either.

I also sometimes start with a kit or something I just want to use, so I'm thinking: I love these frames, how can I use them? But that's not typical either.

I do scraplift, but not really that often. What I do a lot of is lifting an idea or two from layouts I love. I went through scrapbooking magazines over the weekend and took notes: Try filling a shape with buttons. Try reducing a 12 x 12 edge overlay on a page. Try putting photos into a shape. So if I do one of these things, I'm not really lifting the whole design but just one or two elements. I'm not very original in my designs, and I absorb a lot of great ideas by browsing the gallery or other sources.

Keep it fun!

[anke]

Originally Posted by LauraBean

I don't scrap to get it done; I scrap because I enjoy the process. Completed pages in an album are a nice bonus. So, while I usually start with a photo or two that I love, I also sometimes start with an idea--a title, a theme, even a technique I want to try--and choose a photo or photos at some later point in the process. Yesterday I did a Top Ten layout of my current favorite things--that started with the idea, then a list, then I actually took some photos to use (I had some already but wanted a few more). That's not typical but it's not the first time I've taken pictures specifically for a layout, either.

I also sometimes start with a kit or something I just want to use, so I'm thinking: I love these frames, how can I use them? But that's not typical either.

I do scraplift, but not really that often. What I do a lot of is lifting an idea or two from layouts I love. I went through scrapbooking magazines over the weekend and took notes: Try filling a shape with buttons. Try reducing a 12 x 12 edge overlay on a page. Try putting photos into a shape. So if I do one of these things, I'm not really lifting the whole design but just one or two elements. I'm not very original in my designs, and I absorb a lot of great ideas by browsing the gallery or other sources.

Keep it fun!

That is me almost to a T. I have the exact same approach throughout! I enjoy the process of creating, it is such an outlet for me. I don't like doing pages to get them done. Creating the books was really an effort for me, too much of the same thing , although it was fun to have something done that actually goes together!