Simplify your Layouts

We are all in danger of saying “wow” to some layouts and “gosh I really want to make a layout like that”, but really when you look closely, these fantastic scrapbooking layouts are full of intricate details and loads of embellishments and frankly would have taken a long time to accomplish.

So we think, I can’t do that, or I’m not good enough, or clever enough… sound familiar?

Well I have found that although I like to get “stuck in” to an intricate layout, it is actually the simple pages that hold most impact!

The other point to remember, and it is something we all so easily forget… is that scrapbooking is actually two main forms of craft.

The first, is the one we get into the craft for and that is to make our pictures pretty and archive them for posterity.

The other is the one we end up doing and that is getting overwhelmed by all those luscious products and all those lovely layouts (that take ages) all over the web.

Come on… admit it….

Who hasn’t managed to waste a couple of hours of scrapbooking time online looking for inspiration only to over do it and feel inadequate, and then run out of time to boot!! What a bummer!

So, if you have a huge pile of photos that's getting bigger by the day, simplify your layouts!

Here is a link to an article (well part of an article) with “recipes” for making simple pages. It’s from Creating Keepsakes and is entitled… “Make 12 Layouts in One Night!” It doesn’t show you all twelve, but it does give you an idea of what I mean.

Let’s get back to the simplicity of a few photos, a few papers and embellishments and a snippet of journaling and see how much more we get done!

I had to quickly make an 8x6 layout for my mum-in-law last night before she went home this morning (she was visiting). And because I knew I didn’t have the time to fiddle about and I HAD to make a layout, I kept it simple and felt good because it took all of 30 minutes and that included looking for the right stash too!