LOAD215 blog hop

So, it's that time of year again! 

LOAD215 begins in just a few days and we are all here (see list at the end of my post) today to share our collective wisdom on taking part in the most scrappy laughter you'll have all year, and having a chance of completing it too.

Yes, creating a scrapbook page each and every day for a whole month (or whatever your own personal monthly goal is), while having more fun that you thought possible, is totally doable. We are all proof of that.

This will be my 18th (!) LOAD which makes a whole lot of pages - more than 500 - and over the years, I've participated in several pre-LOAD blog hops. Check out my "Pre-LOAD posts" page there in the right side-bar (or click here). I've shared how I approach the month (relaxed), what I do to prepare (not a lot) and what I intend to get out of the month (community and plenty of smiles).

Several of my posts have ten point strategies for completing the month, basically boiling down to...

1. Clear space
2. Use that stash
3. Preparation
4. Sketches, Pinterest, Flickr favourites
5. Glue & go
6. Handwritten journalling
7. Quick techniques
8. Perfection is over-rated
9. Be part of the LOAD community
10. Have FUN!

But relating my advice to the theme of this blog hop - What do I wish I'd known? - I think my post before LOAD214 is probably the best I can offer here. I drew up a list of LOAD myths and then busted them! Check out the link to the post for all the details but let me just give you a quick, edited overview...

1. This is a competition. No! You are not in competition with other layouts in the gallery, for the numbers other LOADsters might be achieving or for who does or doesn't win a spot prize. We are mostly doing this challenge for ourselves and our own personal satisfaction. 
2. You HAVE to follow every prompt. No! The prompts are there to guide us as we go along but if they don't "speak" to you then there are no scrapbooking police round here. :-) Create the pages you want, when you want.
3. If you miss a day, you might as well give up. No! If for some reason, you miss a day, then just continue when you can. Every page you create is a success.
4. Every page needs to be a work of art OR made in 30 minutes. No! Don't feel that you have to do what others are doing if that doesn't sit well with you. Stay true to yourself and your pile of layouts on the 28th will be authentically yours.
5. You are not at your scrap desk for one day and can't scrap. No! I've scrapped at the airport, on the train, written up stories to be scrapped on the go and stolen an hour to get my page done while visiting relatives. If you want to scrap, then find a way to fit it in :-)
6. You are feeling discouraged and disheartened for whatever reason and want to give up. No! Come to the gallery and share what you're feeling. There's so many people over there who can offer support, advice, a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on. When we talk about the LOAD community, that's exactly what it is... a community. It's loving and friendly and welcoming. Use it as much as you can and you will be amazed at the connections and friendships you make. 

As always, my best advice to anyone joining us for the first or 20th time is to relax, enjoy the process and make sure you have fun. 

And to finish, I'll write what you can find at the bottom of every one of those pre-LOAD posts: Take a deep breath, clear off your scrap space, print off your photos, stock up on your adhesives, collect your supplies so that they are near to hand and enjoy the ride! I know I will be.

This is my layout pile from LOAD1014 which makes me very happy. Think of all those photos scrapped and stories told

I try to make a round-up page on the last day of each LOAD to capture my feelings about the creative month. These are often among my favourite of the whole month. What will February bring? Let's see what my 28th Feb layout has to say. I can't wait to find out

You can find all my previous blog post for tips and tricks about participating and completing LOAD on my Pre-LOAD posts page. 

And here's the full blog hop list today!

Karen
Nicole
Alice
Lisa
Wendy
Connie
Kelli
Lain
Christy
Lynnette
Danielle
Danielle
Leslie
Kirsty
Heather
Melissa
Valerie
Marcia

The infamously titled "Pre-Informal October LOAD Blog Hop"

Welcome to the "Pre-Informal October LOAD Blog Hop"!

I'm so thrilled to see you here, whether you are a fellow Scrap Happy member, a LOADster or one of my regular blog friends. Please DO leave me a comment to let me know you were here.

I have the honour of kicking off this hop so when you are finished, head over to Katherine at Looking 4 Inspiration for the next batch of fun!

First of all, we should maybe explain our over complicated name. Normally, Lain organises three LOADs a year - Feb, May and Oct - but she's been busy doing a marathon (a layout a day for 26 days) over at BPC and didn't feel she was able to hold the usual LOAD in October. That made us LOAD addicts a bit sad and it was suggested that those of us who are members of Lain's Scrap Happy group (if you haven't joined yet, what are you waiting for?) would organise our own daily challenge over in our Scrap Happy Flickr group. Once the idea of the "informal" LOAD took hold, the idea of a blog hop was sure to follow. And here we are.

This is my pile of 2010 LOAD layouts - makes me smile every time I see it!

So, today I'd like to repeat, cut and paste and generally offer some of the advice and suggestions I've put forward before for making a layout every single day for a month. I've taken my post from earlier and updated it so hopefully there is something for everyone even if you think it looks familiar! 

For those of you who are new to the idea of LOAD, it can be done. Many of us have several LOADs under our belt with 100% layout completion! And boy, do we feel good at the end of the month.

But at the same time, it's not essential to commit to a layout a day - some members just join in the fun when they can and find that they get a lot more done than they normally would and that makes them feel good too. The key is to do what you can. And my number one tip is to keep it fun. As soon as it's just a slog, that should be a sign to give it a break and maybe try something non-scrappy for a day or two. Life gets in the way, kids need feeding and houses need to be kept. It's no pressure.

Saying that, I've continued to have fun now for 6 LOADs (plus another informal one - Pam and I did one through July as well - yes, we are mad!) and have completed more than 200 layouts just in those months. Again, that makes me very happy! This will be my fourth LOAD this year and even when it feels like it's taking too much time, or I feel a bit uninspired at the start of the day, I always feel good when I've taken the time to create and have uploaded my finished page to Flickr and have taken the time to see what my fellow LOADsters have created! And I feel even better when I look at my pile of creations.

My February 2011 pile *happy dance*

Even if you are not participating in LOAD, I am sure you can find something here that might help you speed up your process or even something to inspire you to join in next time. I use these techniques pretty much every time I create. I am a very slow scrapper but I still manage to make dozens of pages most months.

And more scrumptiousness from May 2011

Back in February 2010, being the control freak I am, I came up with a 10 point "strategy" for how I was going to get through the month. I have to say, that this has become somewhat of a strategy for my scrap time in general and is how I approach most of my creating. 

There's not a lot of changes since I posted this list both here and here but I'd like to share it again and there are a few changes since I first wrote it. 

1. Perfection is over-rated: I'm not the first to state this (Lain reminds us again and again), but it's so true. If you are doing work for a design team or a magazine, then it might be appropriate to get things just right - I check spelling, straighten things up, write and rewrite my journalling until it's just so. But the layouts for LOAD or in fact, just for me? They very often contain a mistake or ten! Over inked? Not quite straight? Colours not perfectly matched? Glue showing? Embellies not optimally placed? No problem, move on!
2. Preparation: I don't mean that I have page kits ready to go - this is absolutely NOT my way of working (although I know this approach is perfect for many). But each day I think about what I might scrap. What picture I might use. What I have to say that day. If I have a bit of free time (I travel on public transport and so have a lot of time to kill!), I might even write my journalling out to a story that has come to mind. And I have a pile of photos - good, bad and a lot in between - on my table, and my storage binders to hand. Often, I just have a bit of a rummage, see what catches my eye and am off. This month, we have all clubbed together to come up with daily prompts which will be interesting to see the mix of ideas and inspiration, and in the past I have used the prompts as a jumping off point for my layout. But if the prompt doesn't resonate with me, I will either just store the idea for another day or ignore it and do my own thing.
3. Glue & Go: I learned this on my Heidi Swapp class in 2007. Yes, I move things around a bit before I decide on position, but I'm talking 2 or 3 minutes, not all evening. Then, it's Glue & Go. And live with the result. And love the result!
4. Handwritten journalling: In the past, I've avoided the printed & have hand-written almost all my journalling when time is short. No, I don't particularly like my handwriting. But it's mine and there's not a lot to be done. Hand-writing is quick, easy and I don't need 16 attempts at getting it just so. If the hand-writing goes a bit skew-whiff, I accept it. It's typical Lisa to have a few mistakes in there after all. Saying that, I love strip journalling and with practice this can be done quickly and easily on the computer. But I'm not hooked on only having printed journalling. It's probably a 60% hand written ratio for me.
5. Sketches: I have Page Maps 1 & 2 books and I love them. I use them all the time. I don't consider it cheating and uninspired. I make the sketch my own and think of it as a motivator. There are a million and one sources online for sketches including Page Maps itself where you can find all the archives as well as the new month, and a new resource I came across last month, Sketch Support, which also breaks their sketches down into one or two pagers as well as cards. 
6. Clear space: I tidy up my scrapping space after each project. Completely. And for those of you who know me, you'll appreciate this is difficult and unnatural for me. I'm so untidy by nature! But I put every scrap, pen, glue stick, ruler or ink-pad etc back where they belong - even if I take it back out again after 2 minutes. Clear space = clear mind. Now, if I could only apply that to the rest of my life...
7. Be part of the LOAD/Scrap Happy community: The community in our LOAD Flickr group is wonderful and this time around it will be all about the Scrap Happy community. I make sure I make the most of it. I spend (way too much) time in the gallery getting inspired and commenting on layouts. I know how thrilled I am when I get supportive positive feedback on my uploads and so I try to pass on the love. Even if you just look at the last 5 or 10 uploads before yours in the gallery, you will be amazed at the talent and creativity out there - I make sure that I "favourite" those that I really love and am inspired by so that I can go back to them again and again. Scraplifting is the highest form of flattery after all! And the message board is great too. I go in and read the latest and use it for tips and tricks or generally connecting with my fellow LOADsters. It's a great resource.  I have made some wonderful scrapping friends over the last year through LOAD and BPC and this is really special.
8. Use that stash: I see this as an opportunity to use up papers and products that have been lying around a long time but that I still love. Often I just grab a background cardstock and my mixed paper organiser along with my box of scraps and fish around until I have 3 or 4 papers I like. This is not the time to be precious. I will not be buying any new stash at all for this month but I have a partially used up Counterfeit Kit from August to finish and there will be my October kit too to make up and use. Making up your own kits (CKC is a wonderful resource for this) can make your own products feel like new as you combine them in new ways. Make sure you can see the products that are inspiring you at the moment or that you want to use up - if you have them in view, they are more likely to be used up. And think about the excuse you will have to go out and stock up again when you have finished as you will have used up SO much of your stock!
9. Quick techniques: I try to return techniques such as border punches, inking the edges or distressing which give good results with minimum effort and time. Although I might do a bit of stamping you won't find a lot of that on my pages - it's too hit and miss, and very time-consuming for me. Not to mention the fact that the ink ends up in places it really doesn't belong... several ruined tops later...
10. Have FUN: I remind myself that this is supposed to be FUN! No pressure. If I decide on the 15th that I'm not having fun, I'll simply stop. I can't imagine that happening, but this is a hobby and nothing to be taken too seriously. Life gets in the way sometimes and if that happens, then I will not stress about it, I will just do what I can. I make sure I'm enjoying the process. I might experiment. I mix it up. One day, it might be more complicated, the next a bit simpler. Layered and distressed one day, clear lines a la Zielske the next. I will use different products, different photos, different colours. More or less journalling. 4x6 photos one day and then chopped up or tiny photos the next. I play! But I'll be telling stories, using up product, preserving memories, remembering happy times. And that IS fun!

A more colourful pile than usual from our informal LOAD in July 2011 - must have been Pam's influence! ;-)

So, take a deep breath, clear off your scrap space, print off your photos, stock up on your adhesives, collect your supplies so that they are near to hand and enjoy the ride! 

The next stop for you will be Katherine at her blog here and the whole list of bloghop participants is...

Lisa (you are here!)

Katherine

Tambur

Pam

Katrina

Christie

Lisa

Have fun and thanks so much for dropping by - make sure you let me know you were here!

The "Preparing for LOAD" blog hop

Welcome to the "Preparing for LOAD" blog hop!

I'm so thrilled to see you here, whether you are a fellow LOADster or one of my regular blog friends. I've never participated in a blog hop before so I am very excited to see who drops by to stay hello! Please DO leave me a comment to let me know you were here.

If you have come directly to me, you might want to go back to Lain's blog (here) where the blog hop kicked off and if you have come from Snaps & Snippets, then welcome to the next installment! I hope you find what I have to offer helpful and when you are done, please go to Laura's blog (here) for the next batch of fun!

Today we are all talking about what we do to prepare for LOAD or any suggestions we can offer to help you get through the crazy idea of making a whole, real layout every day! Even if you are not participating in LOAD, I am sure you can find something that might help you speed up your process or even something to inspire you to join in next time. 

I did the very first LOAD Lain organised over at Big Picture back in January 2008 and then joined in the fun again last February, May and October. So this will be my 5th! And as I have a clean record of really making one every day, that's 121 layouts that are now in my albums (well, not IN my albums as they are mostly lying around waiting to be put away but you know what I mean ;-)  ) that might not have otherwise been made. Some of the first ones are a bit "make a layout for the sake of making a layout" but they helped me to develop my style and work through stash! Last year, I concentrated much more on layouts I really wanted to make and didn't shy away from even very time intensive styles or designs if that was what I wanted to make that day. LOAD is all about making it work for you. And though I might repeat this too often in this post, it's all about enjoying yourself. No, really! Making a layout every day for a month can be and really is huge fun!

Here are my three piles from LOAD last year. Yes, I got more and more dimensional through the year. The chunky pile closest to the camera is my October LOAD layouts.

And here is the consolidated pile! Does this pile of 90 layout from three months of work make me feel good? You bet!

Back at the beginning of February last year, when I decided that I was getting back on the LOAD bandwagon, I came up with a 10 point "strategy" for how I was going to get through the month. This has also developed into very much how I do my basic non-LOAD scrapping too. I have updated it a little based on the reality of the last three LOADs but most of it still stands and is still the basis of how I intend to be creative every day in February and most important of all, to have FUN!

1. Perfection is over-rated: I'm not the first to state this (think it might be a Lainism), but it's so true. When I am doing work for The Scrapbook Magazine, I spend a long time on each project. I check spelling, straighten things up, write and rewrite my journalling until it's just so. But the layouts for this month? Simple, quick and often containing a mistake or ten! Over inked? Not quite straight? Colours not perfectly matched? Glue showing? Embellies not optimally placed? No problem, move on!
2. Preparation: I don't mean that I have 28 page kits ready to go - this is absolutely not my way of working. But each day I think about what I might scrap. What picture I might use. What I have to say that day. If I have a bit of free time (I travel on public transport and so have a lot of time to kill!), I might even write my journalling out to a story that has come to mind. And I have a pile of photos - good, bad and a lot in between - on my table, and my storage binders to hand. Often, I just have a bit of a rummage, see what catches my eye and am off. The prompts Lain sends out are a great jumping off point and I used them a lot in May and October and this helped in my thinking process. But if the prompt doesn't resonate with me, I will either just store the idea for another day or ignore it and do my own thing.
3. Glue & Go: I learned this on my Heidi Swapp class in 2007. Yes, I move things around a bit before I decide on position, but I'm talking 2 or 3 minutes, not all evening. Then, it's Glue & Go. And live with the result. And love the result!
4. Handwritten journalling: I avoid the printed & hand-write almost all my journalling when time is short. No, I don't particularly like my handwriting. But it's mine and there's not a lot to be done. Hand-writing is quick, easy and I don't need 16 attempts at getting it just so. If the hand-writing goes a bit skew-whiff, I accept it. It's typical Lisa to have a few mistakes in there after all.
5. Sketches: I have Page Maps 1 & 2 and I love them. I use them all the time. I love dipping in and picking out one to use as is, or to adapt. In fact, I think I've used the same one several times so far and they all look different. I don't consider it cheating and uninspired. I make the sketch my own and think of it as a motivator.
6. Clear space: I tidy up my scrapping space after each project. Completely. And for those of you who know me, you'll appreciate this is difficult and unnatural for me. I'm so untidy by nature! But I put every scrap, pen, glue stick, ruler or ink-pad etc back where they belong - even if I take it back out again after 2 minutes. Clear space = clear mind. Now, if I could only apply that to the rest of my life...
7. Be part of the LOAD community: The community in our LOAD Flickr group is wonderful. I make sure I make the most of it. I spend (way too much) time in the gallery and so far have managed to look at every single layout that was posted during the 2010 LOADs. Maybe I won't manage that this month, but I will be trying! I comment on as many as I can because they are all beautiful. Every single page out there has been made by someone to tell a story or a memory that they have, and that is beautiful. Even if it's not my "style" I can always find something that I like or even love that I want to pass on via the comments. I know how thrilled I am when I get supportive positive feedback on my uploads and so I try to pass on the love. Even if you just look at the last 5 or 10 uploads before yours in the gallery, you will be amazed at the talent and creativity out there - I make sure that I "favourite" those that I really love and am inspired by so that I can go back to them again and again. Scraplifting is the highest form of flattery after all! And the message board is great too. I go in and read the latest and use it for tips and tricks or generally connecting with my fellow LOADsters. It's a great resource.  I have made some wonderful scrapping friends over the last year through LOAD and BPC and this is really special.
8. Use that stash: I see this as an opportunity to use up papers and products that have been lying around a long time but that I still love, as well as the piles of pizza boxes containing several kits that are in varying states of being used up. Several are completely untouched and they will definitely be a target. Often I just grab a background cardstock and my mixed paper organiser along with my box of scraps and fish around until I have 3 or 4 papers I like. This is not the time to be precious. I will not be buying any new stash at all for this month although I was recently at my LSS so I do have a few (!) new papers to play around with! Make sure you can see the products that are inspiring you at the moment or that you want to use up - if you have them in view, they are more likely to be used up. And think about the excuse you will have to go out and stock up again when you have finished as you will have used up SO much of your stock!
9. Quick techniques: I try to return techniques such as border punches, inking the edges or distressing which give good results with minimum effort and time. Although I might do a bit of stamping you won't find a lot of that on my pages - it's too hit and miss, and very time-consuming for me. Not to mention the fact that the ink ends up in places it really doesn't belong... several ruined tops later...
10. Have FUN: I remind myself that this is supposed to be FUN! No pressure. If I decide on the 15th that I'm not having fun, I'll simply stop. I can't imagine that happening, but this is a hobby and nothing to be taken too seriously. Life gets in the way sometimes and if that happens, then I will not stress about it, I will just do what I can. I make sure I'm enjoying the process. I might experiment. I mix it up. One day, it might be more complicated, the next a bit simpler. Layered and distressed one day, clear lines a la Zielske the next. I will use different products, different photos, different colours. More or less journalling. 4x6 photos one day and then chopped up or tiny photos the next. I play! But I'll be telling stories, using up product, preserving memories, remembering happy times. And that IS fun!

So, take a deep breath, clear off your scrap space, print off your photos, stock up on your adhesives, collect your supplies so that they are near to hand and enjoy the ride! I know I will be.

The next stop for you will be Laura at her blog here and the whole list of bloghop participants is...
Lain
Danielle H
Margie
S
Lisa
Laura
Rosann
Gayle
Jennifer
Heather
Tere
Niki
Janet
Lee
Danielle T
Junelle
Julie
Have fun (!) and thanks so much for dropping by.

Multi-photo layouts (Part 3)

Welcome back to the third part of my little mini-series "Multi-photo layouts". If you are new here and are at all interested in parts one and two, you can find them here and here.

And please don't be shy about leaving comments - it would be lovely to hear from you and feedback is very much appreciated. I have enjoyed writing these posts and am interested to know if you like them or not!

Part one covered the reasons why I might want to make a multi-photo layout while part two covered some of the options you have regarding style of layout or photo size. I thought I might round off by looking at some of the "design" tips I have about combining more than one photo.

Again, I would hasten to add that I'm no design expert but I know what I like and what gets my creative juices flowing and this is the basis of my design style. Some of these tips have been learnt along the way through all those classes I like to take (specifically design from Cathy Z) and some have just evolved, but when I look back over my layouts (have you done that lately - soooo satisfying!) I can see some common threads.

I know there will be some overlap regarding layouts I have already featured in parts one or two but please bear with me.


1. Touching photos

I often do this when I have a lot of smaller sized prints. I group them together kind of as a single unit.

They might be completely overlapping...

or just touching here and there...

or they might just be so close that you sort of see them as all touching.

The main thing is that I position them so that the photos are close together and can be processed one by one within the single group.

I have noticed that one of my favourite combinations seems to be three 5x3 (or 6x4 cut down a bit at least) forming a type of triangle either in the centre or on one of the thirds lines (see below)

2. Different sized photos

I noticed recently that I very often match up a single, standard 6x4 photo with two, three or a few smaller ones - usually 2x3.

It's clear that the larger photo is the main one while the smaller ones support that one or the story in some way. I very often then combine this technique with the touching technique above. I am often afraid that the photos will look too random if I scatter them. (But this can work - see below)

3. Grid

An obvious way to use a lot of photos but one that shouldn't be underestimated, even if you are more artsy and not into the whole straight lines and common margins. It really has its place and is great for photos that represent some sort of series - like my 12 on 12s for example. Once I had settled on a grid format for my 12 square photos, the monthly day-in-review became such an easy concept to pull together. I can still add my own style by distressing and could even lay each photo a bit off-kilter if I wanted. The grid would still be there and it leads your eye easily from left to right and top to bottom. Great for story telling through photos.

4. Film strip

Not necessarily one of my standard go to designs but it can be great if you have a lot of equally important photos and you want to bundle them together so that they stand out more easily on the page as a single piece. I sometimes use this when I want to match my photos up with busy paper or I want to have lots going on around the photos. It helps them stand off the page. This is of course, also ideal for the same sort of story telling as the grid. Your eye will work its way down the strip to get the whole picture.

5. Common margins or symmetry

Often too structured for me, but I have used it a couple of times for layouts with strong images or when I have a lot of journalling. The whole common margin proves really difficult for me but I am still working on it! I think the key is in the planning and that's the bit I am not terribly good at. But I am always proud of myself when I do get it to work!

6. Scattered

This only really works for me when I use lots of small ones. This design originally completed during a class by Nichol Magouirk was perfect for a scattering of some of my favourite Yukon photos at 1.5x1 inch. Look how many you can fit on! I love this effect and can see me coming back to this again and again when I just can't decide or reduce the number of photos I want to use.

7. Rule of thirds

I find myself naturally positioning groups of more than one photo off to the left or down to the bottom very often - i.e. using the left hand or the bottom third of the page. Having learnt through classes that in both photography and scrapbooking that the rule of thirds is very successful visually, I suppose this has just sunk in and I use it without thinking.

Of course, I also group in the centre too, but I don't think I group to the right or the top very often. Perhaps I should try that out and see if it's because it doesn't appeal to me or if it's just fluke!

8. Miscellaneous

I seem to reduce the amount of embellishments directly in proportion to the number of photos, or at least group them all together into one of my clusters.

If I have a lot of journalling, this will be condensed into a single block and then I might go to the trouble of printing it as it will take up less space than hand writing. Most of the time, I am too lazy to print as I always seem to mess up, but I often like the look of it when I have taken the time.

Making one photo stand out as the focal point can be difficult when you are using three or more so there are a few ways you can highlight the main one for the viewer.

Leave the main photo with a white border or actually any colour as long as it's different to the background. Sanding the edges of the photos also gives the white border effect. I use this ALL the time!

Use the principle that size matters. The larger the photo, the more important it will be on the page.

Use arrows, lines, circles or any other pointer type element to let the viewer know that it is the starting point or the photo that matters.

Leave the main photo colour while the others are black and white (or I just fade out the colours a bit). A subtle but effective technique.

So there you have it. More layouts than you ever need to see in a single blog post, but this is how I get it to work for me.

The simple trick is to experiment and find your own way that you like to use photos and if, at the end of the day, you go back to only ever using a single photo - no problem!

I love to squeeze as many on as possible so that I feel that I am using up my ever-growing collection of photos and these techniques definitely work for me. I hope you can find something in all this that will resonate with you.

While writing this, I have had an idea for a final part of the series (which I would then post next Tuesday) but I am not sure.

So at this point, I hope you enjoyed this three part brain dump. Let me know if this is something I should do more often and do share your own multi-photo layouts.