Friday 9 January 2009

How Far We Have Come

Al and i took a little trip down memory lane last night... and as always a night with Al means lots of laughs and giggles and somehow the old Creative Memories albums came out ....actually they aren't that old as I still store my layouts in them. Slowly being converted to a D-ring album but these ones are still great. Anyway back to memory lane..... don't styles change over the years but one thing I noticed that really hit me hard was the date of the last entry in the kids albums. June 2005. Hmmm that date is a bit familiar as I started working for Kaiser around the same time. Don't get me wrong I have done mega amount of scrapping since then just not in my own family albums and guess what - it is all a completely different style. I won't deny how much I totally love working for this Kaisercraft and never have realised it more than this week when two of my bosses said to me not to stress about the kids on holidays but bring them to work.... How many jobs can you find where you can do that - mind you they totally loved it and scrapped up a storm themselves.

Anyway looking back at our old styles gave us both a bit of a giggle at some, sheer embarrasement at others, lots of "ohhhhh i remember that" and now has us wondering why do we spend a week worrying about a layout like I do on some now when we used to just whip up 5 - 10 in a night. Cost per layout was a damn sight cheaper too - not many embellishments. I am starting to seriously rethink some of my layouts now and maybe trying to get back to being a bit more simplistic - yeah OK its just a thought but one that I like the idea of at the moment. Do you know one thing that really struck me - my eyes were drawn to the photos as there wasn't so much else to take away your attention. Like many others I love embellies and will remain using them but last night really showed me that if I am ever to try and catch up with my girls albums I can't do every page that way I have been lately. And do you know another thing that I found out - actually I am embarrased to tell you this but has made me doubling check layouts for future - is many of them I didn't date - naughty naughty. I don't care how small you write the date but please PLEASE PLEASE write the date on your pages somewhere and avoid the frustrations of trying to work it out.... (counting birthday candles always works on the nearest birthday photo though if you are really stuck).

Does anyone else feel like me here... add a comment or two with a revelation you have found about your scrapping recently (past or present)and from these I will randomly send out a pack of scrapping supplies (Kaisercraft new paper releases for Jan and a few other surprises).

Before I show you some of my recent layouts, well a couple anyway, I want to share with you a couple of my old ones I found last night.....now promise NOT to laugh - ohhh come on now I can hear you.



And here is a couple I did in the Esters Guestlist paper range by Kaisercraft. Not sure what it is about the paper range but I love it.
I know they look similar but they will go into different albums eventually - still one short though - sorry Ellie will have to do one for you when I have the chance.

and Just a quick comment on photos taken - Im not sure what I was reading lately but someone was having a whinge about scrapping being all staged and posed photographs in many magazines lately - and well yes I guess I could be guilty of that at times to but I want to show you the two photographs that I used for the above two layouts














- If you don't have Adobe Photoshop or Elements - seriously you need to get it becuase I can vouch that you can make any old photograph look good with a bit of practice, changing the photograph simply to black and white makes a huge difference at times....you can even recolor to suit the paper....LOL now who would want to do that....

Anyway enough for tonight this is definately not getting my scrapping room cleaned up. David said whilst Im over at CHA he would build me a desk - woo hoo trestles can finally be packed up and friends can come over to scrap again like we used to.... yes its another new years resolution.

7 comments:

Laura said...

this year I really want to simplify me being crafty. I have been hoarding sooo much stuff that I can't even get anything done anymore. the amount of stuff everywhere is so overwhelming and there is too much choice. I am not in the middle of going through all my stuff and selling or throwing away the stuff I know I am not going to use.

Shelley said...

Hi Mel,
I'm not laughing at your layouts. I really like the pool layout using lots of photo's.

Probably the complaint I have about my scrapping now is that I tend to only do single page layouts with an enlargement which doesn't always tell the story as well as multiple shots....... which makes me wonder..... why scrap in the style we are using now..... what is our purpose for scrapping??????? Art or preserving memories?????

Anonymous said...

My biggest revelation in my scrapping, is...alot can be learnt from our albums, at a glance we can see someone's growth, adventures, hopes and dreams. We can learn of their highs and lows too. When my Alex died, all the pages I had done for him [they were actually so he could remember me when I died, but it didn't work out that way, sadly] were proudly on display at his funeral and many people got to see and read sides of him they didn't know.
So, some of us may not like to think of this reason for scrapping, but it's certainly a way to show people the preciousness of those around you.

Unknown said...

I totally agree with you Mel and Shelley. Mel bought it to my attention at work that we are all maybe forgetting the idea behind scrapping... I really love the pool layout too mel. I am today going to go through me HUGE stash of photos and scrap them simply..and like we discussed Mel with lots of journaling.
Scrap the memories not to be remembered is my new motto...

suzitee said...

I think we all get a little carried away with the beautiful papers and embellishments that are available these days (and who can blame us, really?)and forget about why we started in the first place. Also, when scrapping is your work, not only is it your job to showcase the products, but (if you are like me) you don't put all the personal stuff that you want to record "out there", so it doesn't tend to get recorded at all.
I must admit, I do cringe at all the posed shots, especially when I read about family outings planned wholly around getting "more photos", and kids dressed up just to suit a scrapping LO or project.
Gee, I've waffled on a bit...sorry. Hope you find the time this year to scrap a bit more just for you, the way YOU want to do it...and have fun at CHA!

Melissa Kennedy said...

I can totally relate Laura.
Lately I have been through my stash about 5 times and reduced it but it still seems to be more than I will ever use. Maybe we need a huge sway day where everyone brings there unwanted stuff and people can take what they want....

Shelly - good question is our scrapping isn't for preserving the memores - why do we do it.... more REAL scrapping required - I agree.

Jane Ettia Jones said...

oh my gosh don't even get me started on old pages......you know i have to agree with you there, I remember a time when you couldn't even buy scrapbooking products in australia and so limited to what you could put on a page.....now the biggest problem is that I have too much stuff and I don't know what NOT to put on the page.....

i like the idea of simplicity, tried it and I just can't stop myself from adding more, a bit like overdoing the chocolate topping on the icecream, you know it's bad for you but the other side takes over LOL LOL

heeeheeee girl you made me laugh with the pages I should so pull out mine with the circles and white backgrounds and little cutesy stickers LOL LOL