How do YOU scrapbook?

[Lwoods87]

Hey! I would love to know how each person goes about scrapbooking. Do you find the photo first and then look for the paper and embellishments or do you find your paper first and then find the perfect photo for it? Do you mostly use templates or create pages from scratch? Oh, and do you scrap randomly (A picture here, a picture there) or do you have some kind of order?

Can’t wait to hear your replies!!

Lindsey

[Jaycee]

I always start with one or more photos. They are paramount for me. I am aware of the message or story I want to convey. Then I think of what design to use. I usually use templates, but often alter them quite a bit to suit the photos. Then comes papers and lastly the embellishments. I expect that this is partly due to the fact that I started as a pape scrapper and this is how I used to build up my pages. Also I think it is because I see scrapping as a way of documenting the life of me and my family, so the photos and story are the crucial elements.

[digigrandma]

I scrap randomly! I've got several albums in the making (one for each grandchild, for example, a heritage album, an art album, etc.) but when I'm on vacation I love to stop and scrap the photos I'm taking in a new place.

I really like to use multiple photo templates for vacation photos.

[ValerieP]

It depends-sometimes it is all about the jouranling and I start there, and then sometimes its all about the photos and I start there. More often than not I use a template-why not-when our store here is so full of great templates! After I put in the pics, I add the paper, them the title, then the journaling and finally elements-I think the only difference between my method now compared to paper scrapping is when I add the paper!
I have a few books I am working on so I scrap some in one and then some in another-since I get bored with the look of one before I am done-but want to keep the continuity, I tend to skip around quite a bit
Fun thread and it will be interesting to read what everyone has to say

[champsarahjoy]

I very rarely do a page without a photo...
I either start with a photo or I start with a story and match a photo to it.
I generally switch background papers multiple times before choosing what I want (ah the beauty of digital...makes this step so easy!). Oh, who am I kidding, I usually change everything multiple times before choosing what I want!

[HeatherPrins]

I almost always start with a photo, but there are times when its a story that i want to tell. Then I find the background paper, then embellishments.I rarely use templates, but I am trying to use them more often. I scrap chronologically.

[whatnext]

my approach is chaotic and indescribable! when i'm done with a page, i look at it and wonder how on earth i got there, most of the time. (helpful,. i know....)

[jk703]

I am similar to Jaycee... I was a paper scrapper, so I follow the same "route" to getting my pages done.

I tend to change things though as I move along... one step forward, and two steps back... lol...

[LauraBean]

Usually I start with a photo (or several); I'm pretty random in my approach. Sometimes I start with something I want to say and then hunt down photos to match; rarely I start with supplies, though new ones can inspire me. And I typically don't use templates, though I start with a template or cluster frame when I have a bunch of photos to put on one page.

[anke]

It's different every time. Sometimes I itch to use a certain product and find photos to go with it, sometimes I have photos that I want to put on a page...

[MeEmMom]

Most of the time I start with the photos as I scrap chronologically. I am always doing three books at one time (one for me and one each for my two dd's). Sometimes I am doing additional books, like currently I am working on our vacation from last fall which will be a separate book.

I almost always use template lately (partly because I am taking a few different online classes and they have the templates for the assignments.) I just think starting with the template makes it easier to get going and then I tend to try to "make the template my own" by moving things around and adding embellishments.

[annaaspnes]

I scrap two different ways: FotoFocussed and StoryFocussed. The former I start with the photos, and quite often there is enough of them to tell the story, so little journaling required. The latter, I find the photos that go with the story I want to tell. There are usually fewer photos (1-2) and so this gives me opportunity to play with the art a little , and obviously a lot more journaling. I talk a lot about these 2 approaches in my up-coming AlbumMagic class.

[katrinak]

I'm a photo first, random scrapper with a strong reliance upon templates

[Starlite9711]

I always start with a photo, then use product I want to match the photo or theme, or just something I like...then sometimes I journal
I am working towards more journaling....always.

[Jen D]

I always start with the picture... I am pretty chronological. I just feel like I have skipped over things if I don't do them in order. I love templates to get me going, but if I have a idea in my head before I start the page I do it from scratch.

[arimacias]

i am all over the place. when i scrapped paper i used to be very product driven so my pictures were last on the page.
now? who knows!

[dorah]

When it's the photo that tells the story that's where I start. But sometimes I build a whole page and then search for a photo. Occasionally I do a page with no photo at all and I am fine with that also because sometimes the story just has to be told. And I am a random scrapper always working on more than one book at a time.

[Denise Gormish]

I have to have an organized approach or it will drive me crazy!

I usually start with the photos. I go through my photos and sort them on my computer by topics/stories. I find a template I want to use for each topic/story, then place the photos in those templates. Save it with a new title. Then, I look through all my digital supplies and drag the possibilities on to the layout. Finally, I chose what supplies to keep and what to delete. I add journaling at some point. Depends on the layout - if it is the focus it will go on before all the supplies.

There are a few layouts that do not start with photos. It may be a story or just a thought I want to convey. Those are definitely the more creative ones and for those I usually know exactly where I want to go before I even start.

I do not scrap strictly chronologically but I'll so something like all the January-June photos before moving on to the July-December ones. Or I'll do a whole vacation a one time. There's a lot of leeway in the category of which layouts to do first - that is until I get to the very last ones in the category.

[crystie]

Well, I am so new that I'm not sure I have a reply! I am taking classes now, so I am usually just doing their kits and adding my photos. I did do my own page the other night (not thrilled with it, so going to tweak it -- the beauty of removing layers!) and I started with a sketch of a page and went from there. I did tell my dh last night that I am LOVING digi scrapping because I feel the freedom to not scrap everything in order! I just grab some pictures that look fun and go! When I was a paper scrapper, I would always make a template for each album before I started and felt like I had to scrap in that order. (What can I say, I'm a little OCD!)

[dugarner]

I hadn't replied to this thread because there are so many people who do things the same way I do so I didn't want to sound redundant, but I am usually a little out of the ordinary. I scrap chronologically but I don't always WORK chronologically, meaning, when I print my books, they're in chronological order, but I might do something from August before I scrap a page from February. My one "rule" is that I must scrap the "not as fun" (everyday) pictures before I can do the "fun" pictures (like vacations) or I'll never get it done.

I find the pictures first, then I almost always look for a template or a page to lift. I never just start from nothing or it will drive me crazy and take forever. Then I find paper, and after that, I embellish around to fill in empty spaces.

[muddygirl]

I'm a random scrapper. I scrap what I feel like at the time, but I do put them into my books chronologically. I mostly start with photos, but sometimes if I have a new product that I want to use, ( kit, template etc.) I might search for photos that fit. I sometimes use templates, sometimes lift, sometimes go it alone, but lately I have been using sketches and building my own layered templates.

I have a problem finishing layouts lately, hence not many uploaded

[Shannamay]

Photos first - and at the moment, I'm sort of "caught up" (don't have time to take photos every day - and digital is so fast!) so I'm scrapping photos as I take them mostly. Now and again there will be a new product that inspires me to tell a particular story that might mean looking for, or even taking a photo to match. I often scraplift to get myself started - I have a folder on my desktop with favourite pages I've seen; ones whose composition I really like - but my finished pages rarely look like the original. I will more often use a template if I have more then 2 or 3 photos to put on a page.

[Kayleigh]

Sharon, i am pretty jealous that you are 'caught up'.

I usually start with an idea of something i want to document or photos that i want to create a page around. I recently went through lightroom & edited all the photos that i still want to scrap then put them into folders for pages to-do. Now I have a rough idea of how many older photos i still want to scrap.

Templates are my friends, so sometimes i just find a template i want to use then search for the right photos to use with it.

[mungerre]

I start with photos or a story, and I do a certain month at a time - like right now I'm doing Feb of 2009 and Feb of 2010 - as well as my 365 and the AAM challenges. The only time I jump order is if there is a really fun challenge that I need to get a specific photo to match.

[echogirl]

Slowly!! LOL.

I usually find a photo/event that I want scrapped, then I look for papers that I feel would work well. (Insert change the paper choices a hundred times) and add the story I want to tell. The embellishments are the last thing for me.

I've loved reading how everyone scraps and I'm so so jealous at those who are all caught up and able to scrap chronologically!

[Gabi]

Originally Posted by anke

It's different every time. Sometimes I itch to use a certain product and find photos to go with it, sometimes I have photos that I want to put on a page...

I'm the same way as Anke. It really depends on my mood and time.
I don't scrap chronically.

[thessh]

I scrap in a manner of organized chaos...

I'm a travel-scrapper first and foremost, and almost exclusively scrap our travels and vacations. I will get to the "ordinary" stuff one of these days...
I scrap all my travel-books chronologically and work from the photos and my notes from each trip.
BUT - I have several projects running at the same time and scrap the trip that grabs my mojo's attention that particular day!
Right now I'm working on 7 separate travelbooks, 1 weddingbook and the annual book for 2006.
2 more travelbooks and annual books for 2007, 2008 and 2009 are in the planning stage...

I would be totally lost without LO Templates!!! They're lifesavers, timesavers and sanitysavers all rolled into one...
Nowadays I only "freestyle" for special projects like cards, invitations and such... And on the rare occasions I take part in contests, challenges and swaps.
Oh, and for covers and titlepages!

[Romy]

Usually, I start with a photo.

Then comes choosing a background ( or layers of background papers) that would set the mood - this phase takes the longest, sometimes I work on 2 or 3 different pages until I decide which way to go - and it breaks my heart to pick just one!!

Then I choose elements.

I am not a good journaler but I like working on titles - sometimes it's my cherry on the top of a cake.

Occasionally, like for challenges, I think of a design first and then find right photo for it.

[Lwoods87]

Thanks for all the replies ladies! I loved reading every single one of them. I am fairly new to digital scrapbooking so I’m still trying to figure things out. My process right now is random…VERY random! Right now I’m working on organizing my photos. I hope to start with the birth of my son (April 2009) and work from there. The plan is: photo(s), paper, title/journaling, then embellishments. We’ll see how that goes

[cheska99]

I start with the photos and an "idea," maybe for the journaling or the papers or the feel of the piece. Then I change everything fifty times. Then I say I'm finished and post the layout. Then I start thinking about redoing it.