Talking Back: Episode 102 Guilt-free Scrapbooking

So this week I listened to Episode 102 of the Scrap Gals Podcast...and doing so really got my wheels turning. Tiffany and Tracie shared some very thoughtful tips for those in our paper crafting community who maybe struggling to continue scrapbooking. Having gone through a three year stint of being a "former scrapbooker", I especially appreciated their insights.

And you know it...I have a few thoughts of my own.

These are the things I thought about as I was listening to the show.

Tips for Guilt-free Scrapbooking and Relocating Your Lost Mojo:

1. Give yourself credit (generously) for doing any scrapbooking-related

task. Organizing, shopping, ordering photos, idea collecting, packing a kit, hosting a mini scrap party with a friend... Embrace these tasks because they prepare you to be creative.

2. If you are struggling to create a scrapbook page you feel satisfied with, COPY someone else's project. Don't apologize for copying. Do it because you love the project and you value the design.  Give yourself permission to not reinvent the wheel every time you create. 

3. Surround yourself with encouraging people and make your workspace comfortable. This one should probably have been divided into two but the thoughts were flowing and I was writing my list as fast as I could. Surround yourself with other makers or at least people who understand how much it fulfills you to make things. No negative nellies allowed. Scrapbooking (or making) is a sacred task. Don't allow anyone to rain on that. Ever. 

Make your workspace comfortable. Because I have spent most of my adult life living with three men, I take the liberty of girlifying the snap out of my scrapbook room. There is art on the walls that I like. There are pretty wooden letters that spell the word Create and there are items I have created displayed. My chair is comfortable. The Raskog army stands guard. There are flowy curtains and lots of reminders of our beach trips and painted furniture. It's my space. It's where I am most comfortable.

4. Give yourself plenty of opportunities to observe and embrace other types of creative arts. One of the most inspiring things I have ever done that had nothing to do with Scrapbooking but made me want to rush home and cut up tons of paper was visit the annual quilt show in my town. I was completely blown away by the artistry and the attention to detail demonstrated by quilters of every level. Of course, there are similarities between quilting and Scrapbooking, but the experience of seeing hundreds of quilts all at once was massively inspiring. Makers may end up with differing results but the need to create beauty from nothing resides in all of us. Don't neglect to fill your creative tank...look for what speaks to your soul in other areas of creative arts--for example, gardening, sculpting, painting, lettering, music and poetry.

5. Don't be afraid to just do something. If you break Scrapbooking down into individual tasks, you can achieve a successful page one tiny task at a time. This particular tip is my personal favorite. There are times when I feel like I don't have it together enough to commit to full-on design work. Narrowing my focus down from a whole page to single tasks--such as stamping images and cutting them out--allows me to be crafty without the pressure of designing. 

I keep a box filled with individual plastic bags of assorted ready-to-use elements right on my desk. 

6. Scrapbooking is more than just paper layouts...scrapbooking is a way of life! Incorporate photos into your life in other ways--especially in your home. Don't be timid. Find your favorite photos and blow them up. Make them big and happy!

I think makers are prone to experience ups and downs on occasion and being prepared to change things up to combat any creative blocks will save us all from just struggling through the difficulty.

So what do you do to keep going when you don't necessarily "feel it"?

--Sarah