how long it takes you to put a page like this together?
When I go from 'scratch' it can take a while. That is why I usually use a template. When I use a template, I feel more satisfaction in the finished product. Although I usually end up removing a lot of stuff from a busy template, it gives my design a boost it doesn't have when I don't use a template.
From scratch, I start with the photos - grouping them to tell the story. Then I try to find something to fill in the empty space.
The hardest part is finding stuff to fill the page - and choosing the colors to go with the photos. I do not like busy papers, but when I add a solid color, something looks like it's missing. When I cannot find a coordinating paper, I fall back on using brushes - like I did with this one. In this case, I did not want to 'fight' with the word art, that is why the brush is so muted in color and design. I feel this page is kinda boring, but I got this far and I could not go farther.
In this case, I wanted to add text to describe the moss, so I knew that would take up some space. And I had the title of the page before I took the photos. Just seeing that moss rolling around the ground reminded me of tumbleweed, so I stopped to take photos so I could make a 'urban tumbleweed' scrapbook page. Then I took a photo of the tree, so I could show where the moss came from.
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I think in 'scrapbook pages' - I see colors and think about how they would make a great background. I see things like that moss and a title pops into my head. Most of my layouts are on the silly side. Things, sayings just pop into my head.
I was sitting in the car in a parking lot near a fast food place and this guy landed on my window - I think I was under his nest and he did not like me there. He kept landing and pecking at my window.
I was sitting in a strip mall and this guy jumped the curb and smashed into the window --
'drive thru window' popped into my mind, so I took photos to make a layout
(it was an empty store front, thank God, so no one was hurt. I wish I could have been there
when he explained this one to his wife)
After lunch, when my husband went back to his conference, I sat around the lunch area for a while.
Guess someone thought the leftovers were for him. I saw him, grabbed some photos, and 'got milk' popped into my head
so I knew what that scrapbook page was going to be about.
I have been making scrapbook pages since about 2004. I am not usually interested in making pages that do not have a personal meaning to me. That is why my output has been less these years - no new photos to work with. I used to do challenges and that sometimes necessitated using photos that were not my own, but mainly I want a personal connection.
I'm afraid my style has stagnated and has backslid to the way I did things in those beginning years, and that can be frustrating, but at least I do get my idea on paper (oops, I mean on the computer LOL) - it's the completion that I'm not always satisfied with.
