Our first featured scrapbooker is Marcy Penner. I came across Marcy’s work through her Project Life series on her blog. I didn’t realize it at that time, but she’s a designer for Project Life, as well as for October Afternoon! At the bottom of this post, you’ll see some of her beautiful layouts.

Here’s Marcy!

1. Tell us about your process for creating a layout.

I usually start a page by looking through the photos I have on my computer. I print one or two out and start pulling papers that I think I might use. From there I mat my photo and start building layers around it. When I have a general idea of where things will go I remove the sections so that I can splatter paint and ink on my background. Once that’s dry I adhere my paper elements and sew in some places. Additional embellishments are added and then I usually call it done.

2. Can you share a time-saving tip with us?

I really like having everything in open baskets. I need to see it to use it. I organize my products by manufacturer and have all my supplies along one wall of my studio, directly behind me, so I can just turn around and see everything that I might want to use.

3. What are your favorite/go-to products?

Right now I’m really loving my Silhouette and patterned paper. It’s so versatile. Labels, paint/mists and brads are also high up on my list. If limited just to these items I could definitely make a layout that I’d love and that “looks” like me.

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I love what Marcy said about being able to make a layout that she loves and that “looks” like her, just using her go-to products! Check out these layouts, and if you want more, go visit her website. She’s got a lot of lovely stuff for you!

Here are a few tips to make the most of those 30 precious minutes:

1. Organize Your Supplies

Organizing your supplies ahead of the time goes a long way toward becoming more efficient in your scrapbooking. It helps avoid endless searching for missing tools, misplaced pieces of paper, and embellishments you forgot then you had. When you have only a few minutes, having what you need within easy reach saves a lot of time.

2. Pick out Favorite Products

All of us have a few products that we use again and again in our scrapbook layouts. Whether it’s a favorite brand of patterned paper, a color that turns up over and over, or a set of embellishments or stamps, these are the things that we can call our “go to” items. They can save us from scrappers block, rescue us from a pinch, and save us a bunch of time. When we know that we have products we love that we can count on to make meaningful scrapbook pages, we prevent unnecessary hunting for elements to use. Place these products where you usually scrap, and you will always be ready to make a layout anytime.

3. Limit the Product You Use

One of the best ways to make quick and easy scrapbook pages is to choose only a limited amount of product. Complicated techniques and embellishments take a lot of time to complete. The fastest layouts often use only a beautiful background page, a meaningful photograph or two, and a handful of favorite embellishments. When you only have 30 minutes, you must often make a choice between keeping it simple and making a complex layout. That doesn’t mean quick and simple pages are not meaningful. Your choice of photographs and the way you journal go a long way toward adding emotion and meaning to your layout.

4. Let Go of Perfection

When making a scrapbook page, striving for perfection is often an impossible task. We can consume a lot of time when we endlessly move around photographs, embellishments and other page elements. There has to be a point when we step back, nod, and stick those elements onto the page. The goal of scrapbooking is not perfection. Life isn’t perfect; scrapbooking shouldn’t be either. This is especially true if we only have 30 minutes to work on the page.

5. Use Tried and True Design Principles

One of the best things we can do for our scrapbooking is to become familiar with a few design principles. These are principles that have been used in art, fashion, and photography, for example, that have wonderful applications in our hobby. You probably heard of a few of them, such as the use of complementary colors, the rule of thirds, repetition, the use of 3′s, and parallel elements. Even if you don’t know these terms, you probably have used some or all of them in your pages, or have seen them used in other people’s layouts. You can learn more about these design principles online or in most design books.

Next time, you only have 30 minutes to work on a page, remember these tips. Make the most of those precious snippets of time to be creative and document your busy life.

1. Go Beyond the Basics

Going beyond the basics means documenting more than the who, what, where, and when. It means digging dig deeper, and identifying the relevant and heart-tugging elements of your page. What are the emotions shown in our photos? What relationships do the people have? Is the story connected to something in our family history?

2. Handwrite the Journaling

Handwriting our journaling adds a personal touch to our layouts. Years from now, it’ll be fun to see these hand written notes. Our children will also appreciate having a tangible example of something so personal as handwriting.

3. Use Candid Shots

Using candid shots in our scrapbook pages adds an element of casual fun. They show life as it happens every day. Often, candid photos capture facial expressions that we would not otherwise see.

4. Include Ordinary Things

Ordinary items like receipts, scribbles, drawings and thank you cards can be included in scrapbook pages. These things give a snapshot of the mundane things in our lives. How much is a gallon of milk? What is our favorite grocery stores? Or chocolate bar?

5. Expand Your Scrapbook Subjects

Meaningful scrap books are not just about the events in our lives. They also document the large circles of people around us, like our communities, churches, school friends, and coworkers. Include these relationships in your scrapbook pages to better document the fullness of your life.

Making meaningful scrap books is easy and well worth the time we put into it. Use these five tips next time you scrapbook, and you will add a meaningful later to your layouts.

From this point forward, I’ll be focusing mainly on tips and ideas for becoming a more effective and intentional scrapbooker. Does this sound like something that will interest you?

For starters, I’ve re-organized this blog (again). I’ve forgotten which version I’m on now. The old posts are still here, but archived for easy access. You’ll see additional changes in the coming weeks. I still have to work out a schedule and categories, and all those housekeeping stuff that comes with running a blog.

Meanwhile, I’m very excited to share with you a brand new project! I’ve written an ebook, Eight Habits for Highly Effective Scrapbooking (check it out on the sidebar over there ===>). This ebook is both a result of and a sort of guide map on my own journey toward a more intentional approach to scrapbooking. You can read what it’s all about here.

Thank you for sticking with Paper Goodness all these years! I hope this new direction will be even more helpful and inspiring to you!

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