Wednesday Sponsor Giveaways: Elise Blaha, ReVa, Studio Calico, & SheyB

Have fun and don't worry about how others create their pages.

Don't feel pressure to scrapbook every photo for every event. If you use digital, print only your favorites and in the end shred and recycle the unused photos. If you use film get a big photo box to store the unused.

My advice is...don't make it too complicated. Remember scrapbooking should be fun. If you start to get frustrated, walk away from it.

I would have to say that the one thing I would tell a new scrapbooker is not to stock-up on tons of supplies, just get the basics and get the items you need to add to it as you go as you get the pictures you will use. Too much stuff can sometimes cause a creative block. Also I would say not to worry, most people say I can't scrapbook and my pages won't look good, but I always say I started out not so good, and the more I have scrapped and learned the better I feel about my pages. Rebecca C

spend more time on journaling and less on buying supplies! when you look back, it is the story you will treasure not which embellishment you used.

One thing I wish I had known 7 years ago when I started scrapping was that everything is fixable. It's true! I can't tell you how many papers/layout's/photos I tossed because I felt that I had messed them up. Also, from reading a lot of blogs, I now have a motto: Embrace Imperfection. You'll never know what you'll get and you just may like the outcome. So, keep these two things in mind: 1. Everything is fixable, and 2. embrace imperfection.

Experiment. Play. Be unafraid. Don't try to scrap your whole life. Select an event or a vacation or a day-in-the-life type thing. In the beginning, I thought I had to scrap every little thing in total chronological order and it became so overwhelming that I had to stop for a while. Now, I put together an individual album of an event, stage of life, etc... that I want to remember.

Tell the story. If you keep focused on the story, you'll keep focused on the main purpose of all of this. Yes, the photos are pretty, and the products are awesome, but the story is the 'why' behind it. :)

My advice would be to tell them there are no mistakes in scrapbooking. Just do what your heart tells you to do, if you make a "mistake" cover it with an embellishment and no one will ever know.

A few things such as:
There is no such thing as perfect or "correct" scrapbooking. Your style is your style...it will eventually evolve and that's ok!
Invest in good adhesives and use the proper amount! Sure papers are cute, but if you don't use enough adhesive and the photos fall off...then how will your album look? Just because you can't see the adhesive doesn't mean it's not important! Choose quality (like Zots and SuperTape) over cheapness...you'll be happier in the long run.
Don't let anyone tell you what you can and can not do! If you want to use something on your pages...feel free to do so! (Don't fall for the marketing ploy of eternal "safe" pages...it's just to get you to buy more of their products). Experiment with other products, techniques and ideas.
Scrap out of order (and therefore get a post bound or 3 Ring style album). Scrap what you feel like. Work on several albums at a time. This way your albums don't date themselves...like "oh, that was my circle faze" and all the pages look the same. Variety is the spice of life and working out of order allows for new techniques and an evolved style to be seen throughout the album! :)

My best advice is just start with today then work forward and don't go out and buy anything unless you trully have a purpose for it. Take advice from Ali Edwards!!!
Cindy (Texas)

Start current (with your most recent photos) and stay caught up and then go back to scrap earlier stuff. If you try to do everything chronologically from the beginning you will have forgotten so many important things from the present by the time you get around to scrapping it. I wish I would have been less of a perfectionist in the beginning and just tried to go for simple - I've learned that at the moment, I would dmuch rather have my albums be simple and actually have completed albums than to have complex, crafty, artsy and perfect pages that are STILL not done and I am years and years behind!

Oh you've chosen great goodies Ali! They are so fantastic.
Entering the scrapbooking world is overwhelming, I wish I had known and met more scrapping people when I started. My advice would be to go to crops and workshops first before you start spending 3 month's salary on items that you don't need in the end. It's essential to find out which direction you want to go and buy only the necessary tools and supplies. Too much stuff makes you go crazy and you have the urge to use everything you bought which ends in a creative desaster.
Round here in Austria there are not many scrappers and even less shops, but there is a nice community who try to help and give advice.
All the best to you Ali
Sandy

My best advice for a new scrapbooker would be to keep it simple. When you first start scrapbooking, it can be so overwhelming. Start out with the basic tools and try a little bit of this and that until you learn your style that way you don't run out and buy a whole bunch of stuff that you will not use.

My advice for a new scrapper is to scrap how you want your scrapbook to be. Whether it's chronological or not, by stories or by events; just scrap how you want, there is no wrong or right way.
One person may start at the beginning and burn out or one might revel in that order. One person might love the art of it, another the simple pleasure of recording life. And it’s okay to change your mind and switch it up!

just jump on in and don't worry about making it "perfect" or comparing your work to someone else's as your own style & voice will evolve over time.

My advice would be to use it or lose it! Don't save the paper you like best for the perfect project, because the perfect project never rolls around. Use it now! Make up a use for it if you don't have one in mind.

Don't buy tons of stuff. Go slowly. Don't worry about piles of product!

I wish someone had told me that you don't have to scrap every photo. The best layouts use just a few key photos to tell a story.

journal in your own handwriting! even if YOU think your writng sucks! your kids will love it when you are gone...my grandmother has been gone 15 years, i still love seeing her handwriting!