Scrapbooking Styles

I've been scrapbooking for over seven years now and I've seen a lot of styles go out the window in that time. I've refined my own style, changed the way I approach a page and changed the way I view my own photography in preparation for my scrapbooking. Each scrapbooker should expect a few rough patches along the road of creation. You will have times where you look back at your earlier pages with some varying degree of disgust. But work past this! I now look at my first few pages with love -- not because I think they are truly wonderful, artistic pages, but because I look at how far I've come. When you look at my scrapbooks you can see my style evolve; you can watch my favorite products change.


This page was completed somewhere around 2004. I was using basic cardstock and fairly simple patterns. I was very much into the paper tearing technique that I talked about in the last post. And my journaling was nearly nonexistant. After a few years of scrapbooking, there are a few things that I have learned away from this style. I used to mount each and every photo I scrapbooked. I now only use that trick on occasion. The letter stickers you see...I would say that same brand (possibly that same font) was used on about 90% of my early pages. I now add a little more variety to my work. And finally...the journaling. After years of having to sit with those looking at my scrapbooks and explaining the activities in each page, I learned to save my time and my memories. Though I don't journal on every layout I create, I try and make sure that the stories are documented. After seven years of this hobby I have learned that you can easily forget names that you never thought would be a problem and the details and sequence of events often get a little fuzzy.


This is an example of my more recent work. I still use fairly basic product, though i mix it up a little by adding found items, hardware, and new products that catch my eye. And I'm still changing. I'm influenced by new product, by other scrappers, by the colors and patterns in the pictures I take. I love the old pages I've made, but I'm looking forward to the new things I might create. So really...your scrapbook style will always really be that. Yours. But don't expect it to stay the same. The way you approach your style may change on a day to day basis, just let it happen. You never know what wonderful layouts may result from a whim.

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