Page Styles?

[MommaTrish]

Show us/describe how your scrapbooking style has evolved through the time that you have been scrapbooking.

[Sherri Tierney]

Woah! This is a tough one... my style has evolved as digital scrapbooking products have evolved. When I first started everything was, well, digital. No scanned and extracted ribbons, etc. When we started scanning or photographing elements to extract that changed SO much! That has made my style evolve a lot in itself. My shadows have also changed a LOT. I sat and looked at old layouts yesterday and was pretty shocked at just how bad some of them were when they were considered good layouts at the time. I even won contests with a few of the layouts that make me cringe now.

One thing I have done over the years is to get past my hang up about 'bulky' items. I used to only scrap with something that I would find on a paper layout. If it was too bulky and wouldn't sit right on a paper layout, I would skip it for my digital layouts. It didn't feel right. I also wouldn't use REAL leaves, twigs, flowers, etc. only those that looked like stickers, silk, etc. I figured I wouldn't be putting a real leaf or flower on my paper layout, why would I put it on my digital one? I am happy to report that I am over that. Oh, and I actually use flowers now. I used to use them only sparingly and didn't really like them.

Titles is another one. Oh my gosh. I used to feel like EVERY layout had to have a cute/quirky/clever title. And the title had to be on the page - big. I think that is what bugs me the most about my old layouts, all the stupid titles. I couldn't just let the pictures stand on their own. Now if I have a title on my page it is more subtle for sure. I also don't feel the need to add a title to every single page like I used to. Not sure why I thought you had to do that in order to have a layout! I am also okay with journaling more. I used to do a lot of hidden journaling on my paper pages because I didn't like to see the journaling. It seemed to detract. Well, with digital you can't exactly have a tag that pulls up from behind the picture or something like that, at least not without going hybrid with it. I've learned to love the journaling ON the page.

Oh, and I no longer feel like templates are cheating! I used to HATE templates. I designed them but I wouldn't use them because I felt like they were cheating. Now I find them a tool, just like any other.

[nesser1981]

Shadows for 1. LOL! I do a lot less 1 photo pages, I use to do a lot, especially when I started, because I only had one kid. Now, squeezing as many photos on to a page as I possibly can is important.

Templates, I hate to admit it, but I rarely create an original design anymore. I rely heavily on templates.

And titles I think like Sherri said, those aren't as important to me as they use to be.

[adi&co.]

I use to use a whole bunch of extractions when I first started. I went from siggy making to digi scrapping, so it was a lot like a bunch of siggies on one page, haha! I use to have to make the facing sides match with the same background and everything.

Now it's a lot more cohesive. I don't use full extractions very often anymore. It's usually partial extractions now (if I use them). I've still kept my whole style "photo focus" though. Now I only need to use the same kit for the facing pages rather than make them almost identical

[Lindsay]

I still use templates, but a whole lot more elements now with larger shadows. Still try to journal on my boys pages, but pages for other family members are more "pretty" than functional usually because they're CT pages. Since the boys don't like photos anymore, I also do a lot more pages for myself. Here is a 2007 page (with Shawna stuff) and now (Libby).

[YepBrook]

I'm much more confident filling a page and knowing how to use embellishments. I also am more likely to do multi-photo layouts than I was before because I want to get the most accomplished out of my time.

[LeeAndra]

Since both SBB & 2Peas are dead, I can't show you my very earliest layouts circa 2003. Not that you would want to see them, anyways.

2006



2007



2008



2009



2010



2011



2012



2013



2014



2015

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

Since both SBB & 2Peas are dead, I can't show you my very earliest layouts circa 2003. Not that you would want to see them, anyways.

SBB is dead?! I hadn't heard...that makes me sad.

Like everyone else, I cringe at most of my earlier pages now. There's nothing wrong with them; that's just where digiscrapping was 11 years ago. Some of my evolution is just due to the huge changes in what's available to scrap with and in the usual progression from beginner to more experienced. But here's what has changed and stayed the same aside from that.

Stayed the same:
Nearly all of my pages have journaling; recording stories is what got me into scrapping in the first place.
The photos and journaling are the focus of my pages.
Every page MUST have a date.
I scrap paper-style.
I prefer a solid or lightly patterned background.

Changed:
I know how to make a cluster, though even now they tend to be small ones.
When templates came on the scene I switched from scraplifting to templates.
I'm less interested in experimenting with techniques and styles. I just want to scrap and get pages done.
I've never been a one-photo scrapper. I loved the look but felt like I had way too many photos and stories in my to-scrap folder to "waste" a layout with just 1 photo. Doing Project Life has freed me to do more 1 and 2 photo layouts.
I've gone through stages with how clean or busy I like my layouts. Early on they were relatively simple and had few layers because that's what I could do. Then I started using more and more layers. Now I'm more moderate.
My titles are more likely to be word art or fonts instead of alphas.

[MommaTrish]

My style has had some pretty consistent things, though it has changed some with changes in products and playing with styles.

2007


2008


2009


2010

(it was also in 2010 that I started accepting that I wanted more art and such to my pages and not just so scrapbooking)


2011


2012


2013 - also the year I became a Babe!!!


2014


last week

[Saar]

I feel more confident about clustering than I did in the beginning.
Also... I started using templates, and I love it!

[Sherri Tierney]

Another thing for me... with digital, I'm perfectly OK with single pages and I don't worry about what will be on the facing page. It doesn't have to match, coordinate or even be similar in any way. When I was paper scrapping I wanted everything to be 2 page spreads. I started that direction when I first began to scrap digitally but soon stopped worrying about it since I don't print right away I never know what 2 pages will end up next to one another.

[jak]

This is my first ever LO, which I did in 2009:



Then around 2012:



And this year:



Plus I do alot of pocket style pages:



Main changes:
- more journalling
- way better shadows
- I've always been a clusterer but I'm better at it now
- I seem to put white borders on all my photos these days
- I do pocket scrapping as well now

Still the same:
- focus is on photos and documenting our lives
- same mix of single vs multi photo pages
- preference for plain and/or light coloured backgrounds, so lots of 'white space'
- I still rarely use templates (other than multi-photo pocket style ones) - I just can't do it as I find they 'stifle' me.

I used to shy away from stores like SSD back when I started as I thought they were too expensive, but after a few years I figured what the heck, the quality is so much better so I stopped worrying about the cost so much... designs have evolved heaps in that time too so I think these are also factors in the 'improvement' in my style!

I'm also lucky enough to be totally caught up on all my scrapping (it took alot of determination and effort over six years!! - and partly thanks to pocket scrapping), so now I do alot of pages (CT and challenge ones) purely for enjoyment!

[~Cindy~]

This is the earliest I have but, I started before this.
2010
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...th-old&cat=500

Now
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com...e=shhh&cat=500

[Sherri Tierney]

My first digital layout. December 2004.

[anelia]

What an interesting thread.
When I first started digiscrapping (probably 2009) I used ONLY freebies and was obsessed with making crazy clustering.
Here are my first layouts:



Then I went for more fantasy, whimsical style pages like those because I was a guest CT member for some whimsical designers:




Then I became part of the CT of a well-known and established designer and tried to adapt my style to hers:




Then I decided to make my first ever photo book and because I had TONS of photos I decided that I should try to fit a few photos on one page while trying to keep my style:


Then I took a break from digiscrapping and would occasionally enter some contest or make a page just for fun (like this one of my puppy when I got her):


I currently hang and shop exclusively here at SSD and I love it. Looking through the gallery here is a real pleasure. I feel like the best scrappers are here and I learn a lot even just from looking at their pages. I feel like here's the highest quality of both designers and scrappers. I feel like the trends start from here.
I want to try new things like pocket scrapping and using templates but I guess I need more time

[Suzs]

I have been doing the digital scrap thing for a long time. It is amazing to see just how far digi scrapping has come over the years. My style has definitely changed over time, thankfully. I was surprised just how poor my early layouts truly are.

Here is one of my earliest ones I had posted online from 2007 (this was a point where I was feeling like I was really good! lol) I was doing CT work and some designing at this point.


This is one of my all time favourite layouts (from 2008), even though I would scrap it very differently today. This one was selected for publication in a dig scrap magazine which I was so proud about. lol


I went through a big phase with whimsical layouts. This one is part of a song book I made for my nieces and nephews for Christmas in 2008.


I took a big break from scrapping while I completed my masters degree and was very surprised by the changes that the dig scrap community had taken in my absence. Many of the stores and communities I frequented were gone and the quality of the scrapbooking had increased tenfold! I am floored by the number of amazing scrappers here and routinely go through the gallery to learn new techniques. I am also in love with all of the amazing templates available now!

I don't really post much online anymore. Mainly because I am lazy and not required to as I don't CT anymore. But here is one of my more recent layouts.