back to basics ~ heidi swapp

The Heidi Swapp Media Team has been getting back to basics. It’s what a lot of us do at the beginning of the year. Get back to basics. I have been thinking of this topic a lot lately with regard to my scrapbooking, my memory keeping.

I have been asking myself, what works? what is not working? what is standing out to me from last years memory keeping that I want to continue utilizing? I think it’s important to reflect and review in life. And how we keep our memories needs reflection too. 

The feeling out there lately is a little mixed with regard to ‘scrapping’. I think a lot of us are overwhelmed by the number of photos we take and then sort of give up on them. I think some of us love to get creative with those photos but are lacking the time to create. And I think some of us just don’t even know what to think about the whole subject.

I am not here today to sway your thinking as much as I simply want to share where I am at currently and that by way of a scrapbook page.

My review last year looks something like this:

• I have a good photo organizing strategy, but I need to figure out a work flow with photos taken on my devices.
• I still love our ‘yearly albums’. the ones that are loosely ‘project life’. For me chronological order is the way to go. It’s what works best for me. I keep albums for my kids too, but that's for another post.
• I still love me a 12x12 layout.

Things I am looking at changing:

• cropping photos to different sizes. I think I want to go back to working with 6x4 photos again.
• documenting my weekly layouts and story telling on a more timely basis
• telling a better story which means journaling with more depth. being more intentional about the story i want to tell.

So…with that in mind…let’s begin:

To start, I am going to work on one of my new goals. Photo size. I printed 6x4 images from home. I use an HP 7110 printer. Today I printed on HP Advanced Photo Paper 4x6 Glossy. That way I don’t even have to cut paper. It’s just already done. This really simplifies the process for me.

Next…I will create a kit. To do this pattern paper is chosen first. This has always been my work flow. First know what story I am going to tell. Print photos that are that story. And then choose paper to support the emotion of the story. My approach is to complement the tones in the photos with the paper. Today I am using Heidi Swapp's Hello Gorgeous Paper Pad. One of the most beautiful pads of paper I have created with in a very long time. It has patterns for everything. 

After the paper is chosen, then I gather supplies. I have alluded to this idea some this year already, but this is really a necessary go-to approach for me now. Knowing what paper I am going to use lends itself to choosing what embellishments will complement and support the photos and story. As I gather I stick to the color I have already chosen, I just have to create congruently like that. Now I may not use all the supplies, and I may still grab a thing or two, but for the most part this exercise keeps me focused on limited supplies, as well as keeps the mess at bay. Two things that I like as a result of this approach.

Like any other scrapper, the embellishments get moved around this way and that before they find their home. I don't ever adhere until I am sure of my placement. And then usually it's done with a hot glue gun. I don't use a lot of glue. As a matter of fact, I really try to just stay to the center of the embellishment in case I feel the need to layer an item underneath another. Plus I like the elements to sort of 'float' on my page.

And that is my back to basic approach to scrapbooking. As a bonus, it just does not take me long to create a page like above. It's just not an all day ordeal. Maybe an hour total (if photos are already printed). I failed to add journaling before I photo'd this for the post, but you can see I planned plenty of space to share my story. 

The title is the focus. The embellishment are layered around the title. 

You can see how everything 'floats' in place. and oops...I just noticed I have the wrong year on my stamped date...it does not have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Back to basics:

create kits

keep it simple

focus on the photo

leave plenty of room for journaling the story

And that is how I get back to basics.

Hope you leave here inspired.