scrapbook philosophy

My Fortress of Scraptitude

April 12, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

I was scrapping this weekend and decided to take a photo of the project/mess on my craft table and turn it into a layout. I’ll admit that I was nudged into doing this because of Kristina Werner’s cute post a while back, 90% of real crafters make real messes, where she challenged crafters to “own” the messes we make. (My layout is based on one of Shimelle’s recent sketches.)

Welcome to my Fortress of Scraptitude. 🙂

I make a pretty big mess when I scrap, as do most of us I think. But I’ve realized that I don’t have much of a pattern about clean-up. When I read others’ blogs about this subject they seem to fall into one or the other category:

The crafter who makes a mess and then cleans everything up before starting on the next project OR
The crafter who makes a mess and keeps on working until there are so many scraps and tossed aside tools in the way that she can’t see her layout or card any more

I’m a little different (big news, I know). I certainly don’t clean after each project. Sounds nice but takes too much time away from my creative flow. I also never let things get so bad (on my desk) that I clean only because I can’t work any more. No, I spread out…a lot. Matt calls me a “stacker.” I have little stacks everywhere. My craft desk came with a chair, but I hardly ever use it; it’s too convenient a place to stash the things I want out of the way but within reach. My craft room doubles as our guest bedroom, which is awesome because the bed is just to the right of my desk and a perfect place to stack more crap. It’s the perfect setup…for a while.

I eventually get overwhelmed by this stack-heavy environment and realize that it’s affecting my creative mojo. That’s the perfect time to clean! It means I’m motivated, which is the best we can ever ask for when it comes to cleaning, right?

Here are a few more photos of my creative space, in the interest of full disclosure. 😉 Why don’t you tell me a little about how/when you clean your scrap dominion?

Here is a shot of command central in my Fortress of Scraptitude.

Stacks surround me, along with a glass of red wine for inspiration.

My craft closet is sort of organized. Aren't you proud of me?

Paving my way to pastures new

March 21, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo 4 Comments

PROMPT ONE FOR “BLOGGING FOR SCRAPBOOKERS” CLASS

I recently decided that because I’m enjoying blogging so much I want to commit more to it. I want to post more often and consistently, and I want to improve on the quality of my posts’ value to my readers. Et cetera.

I just love how after making a decision of this type—even if it’s not that conscious a decision at first—we set our internal filters to assist us in finding what we need to make it happen. So, because I knew I wanted to do something to kick up my blogging a few notches, when I heard about Shimelle Laine’s “Blogging for Scrapbookers” class I immediately recognized the value it could have to my goals and enrolled.

Today is the first day of this three-week online class, and the first assignment is to write about my intentions for the class and my blog. As I said at the beginning of this entry, I want to post more consistently. For instance, I plan to come up with blog topic areas and claim certain days of the week or month for them. You see this all over the craft blogosphere, with names like “Make It Monday,” “Tutorial Tuesday,” or “Watch It Wednesday.” The reason I haven’t scheduled this way for myself is a lack of willingness to openly commit to a schedule I wasn’t certain I would be creative enough to keep (this requires a lot of content creation and discipline). But telling the world you’re disciplined is the first step to being disciplined. So here’s to step one.

I also want to create the kind of content that will inspire comments and interaction from my readers. So I’m on a quest to figure out what that takes.

Mostly I believe that pushing myself to record my memories, think “aloud” publicly, pass on tips and trends when I find them and share my paper-crafting efforts is a fabulous stretch for my creative brain. I want to really flex during this blogging class and hope you’ll enjoy following along.

Hello and welcome to my new readers who have found me because we’re classmates in Shimelle’s course. Thank you so much for coming here, and I’ll be by your blog soon! 🙂

This is my blogging space and a layout I completed about what makes me happy.

Go green: Recycling your designs is good for creativity

February 23, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

Once you’ve created a layout would you consider it a crime to reuse that design? Are you a one and done kind of scrapper?

Let me show you why I believe designs should be a reusable resource in your scrap stash.

Just below is a layout I completed a while ago. It’s a portrait of my husband and his siblings when he was in high school. It’s a rather simple design that relies on good old-fashioned color blocking and a few embellishments.

This layout follows a simple color-blocked design.

Now here is another layout of Matt’s family, taken years later. I used the same design as the first; in fact, I didn’t even flip the side on which the photo is situated. Because the photo, patterned papers and embellishments are different the resulting designs really don’t resemble each other that much. In fact, I believe that unless I pointed out to someone looking at the family album that these two layouts share the same structure, they would be very unlikely to see that on their own. Even when held next to each other it’s the differences that take the viewer’s focus.

This layout follows the same color-blocked design but uses different papers and embellishments.

When you find a design you like, I say “reuse, recycle, re-imagine.”

Do a layout of a feeling

February 2, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I recently read a touching blog post by photographer Joe McNally. The headline caught my eye—Take a picture of a feeling—and I’m happy I followed that link. McNally describes having the feeling while visiting his aging mother over the holidays that it might be the last time he would see her. Although melancholy, he followed through on this feeling and captured her in photos. His mother passed shortly after that visit.

His article coaches, “Every once in a while, you might get a feeling you need to shoot a picture. I would follow through on those, no matter how awkward, or sad, or inconvenient it might be. Over the years, I’ve made pictures of some feelings. Missed lots of times. Some, though, I still have a picture of, and I’m glad I do. Those pictures, of those feelings, have become my memory.”

Do you take pictures of feelings? I fear the majority of our photos document the facts, like who was at an event and what was served for dinner. And these are obviously important photos to take. But when was the last time you looked through your photos of a family event and were able to really relive the moment because of the emotion you captured? The photos we take because we follow the feeling that the moment is important to capture—as McNally says, in awkward, sad or inconvenient times—are the ones that really capture us. They are the ones that we can stare at. Get lost in. Those are really moments to remember.

To McNally’s urging I add the scrapbooking corollary: Do a layout of a feeling. This may make some layouts more challenging to do because focusing on the feelings that motivated you to take the photos will bring them back—the painful as well as the joyful. But I believe these will be layouts worth the effort.

Emotion can have a powerful impact on memory formation. Following is a layout I did a few years ago about a painful time. Whenever I look at it I find myself taking a deep breath and really remembering, which is important to me because I don’t ever want to forget that feeling and the moment it marked.

Do a layout of a feeling

Scraplifting is the highest form of flattery

January 21, 2011 By Janice Daquila-Pardo Leave a Comment

I took school and my school work very seriously (probably a little too seriously!), even at the start. Because of this I believed that copying off another student’s paper was cheating, no matter what. So when in first grade a little girl copied off my artwork, I went home upset and fussed about it to my mother. I didn’t think it was right for her to take my idea, and I wanted my mom to help me figure out how to make her stop. It’s funny how clear this memory is for me—both my feelings about the girl’s behavior and my mother’s response. She said, “Honey, she’s not really cheating off you because it wasn’t a test. She liked your drawing and wanted to make hers like it. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, you know.”

I’ve thought about those words many times over the years. Fast forward a few decades and I realize how much my mother’s lesson sank in. Now I would say my philosophy is that we should all do our own work, but when it comes to creativity I think we should take inspiration wherever we find it.

I was actually quite surprised when I found out that not everyone thinks scraplifting is kosher. I can remember reading a magazine article a few years ago that discussed scraplifting like it was a practice that we no longer need to be embarrassed about. We should even consider doing it occasionally. “Occasionally?” I thought. Don’t most scrappers do this? Don’t art students copy the masters so they can learn the craft?

I hereby officially and proudly proclaim that I am a scraplifter. There are so many wonderful designers sharing their layouts with us in magazines, books and online. Why wouldn’t I copy a layout I really love when I create my own? I can’t think of a good reason. I mean, I don’t go out and buy the exact supplies the other designer used so I can replicate her design to the last detail. I use my own supplies and photos, so it’s naturally going to be different when it’s completed. And I really do believe that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so if I copy your design you know that I am applauding your design skills! 🙂

The layout below is a lift of this Keisha Campell design I saw back in September. I loved every detail of Keisha’s page, so I did everything I could to copy it. I love her original, and now I love my own version as well!

A layout about my husband's maternal grandmother

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