Wednesday Sponsor Giveaways: Elise Blaha, ReVa, Studio Calico, & SheyB

I wish someone had told me that there is nothing wrong from getting inspiration from other scrapbookers, like ALI :), it is still your own masterpiece. Thanks Ali!!

My advice would be to above all enjoy the process. Scrapbooking isn't about perfect pages or fabulous chronological books of Christmas' and Halloweens. Just scrap what is important, tell your story, and enjoy.

I wish someone had told me to take pictures of EVERYTHING, not just my kids. I wish now that I had pictures of the rows of bottles in the refrigerator and the assembly-line process we used for mixing formula each day. I also wish someone had dispelled the myth of the "Scrapbook Police." There is no ONE way to do this. If it pleases you, glue it down!!! My kids aren't going to look back at their scrapbooks and think they were "not in style" or that there should be an extra embellishment somewhere (I hope!).

My advice is that you don't have to buy everything all at once. I have boxes of stuff that I will never use, because I felt the need to have it all, and have it right now, before I even knew what my style was!

To go with your own style. Don't do things the ways friends do, just because they do. You'll like your pages more in the long run if you do your own thing, but if you don't know how to do something just ask. We're friendly people who like to help.

I would tell them... Step away from the shape-y scissors! LOL!
I would tell them not to crop or cut their old, original photos that you don't have the negatives to. Make copies, please, please, please!

Hey there,
My advice would have to be advice that also carries over into almost all aspects of life, not just scrapbooking, but it totally works there too . . . "just relax, do your best and it will be just fine. Also, you don't need all the "gadgets! Work with what ya got."
Thanks for the giveaway. Enjoy your day!
Blessings,
Shana

Don't get overwhelmed with all the pictures you have and just scrapbook what you want not what you think you need to scrapbook.

nothing is ever going to turn out perfect so go with the flow and just have fun with the creating process!! and dont try to scrap in chronological order... it will just hinder more than help! Scrap what you feel like scrapping!

I wish someone had told me it's ok to not scrap chronologically. I had it so ingrained in my head that I needed to start at the beginning and go forward that I almost forgot about all the wonderful stuff that happened BEFORE scrapping. Now I go crazy, scrapping a pic from 1982 before a pic from this years soccer game. It makes the whole process more relaxing!

The advice I wish I had received:
You don't have to use all of the pictures and you don't have to go cronologically. Work on whatever floats your boat that day.

My best advice is to keep it simple...less is more when starting out.

One of the tips I would suggest would be to keep a notebook handy with the list of pictures you are working on so that you know when yougo to the store what pictures/colors you are working on and what themes, so that you don't just buy things (i.e. especially card stock/paper) just because you LIKE the design. I used to be a "paper-a-holic" and would just buy buy buy because I liked the paper. Now I TRY to only buy paper that goes with a certain theme or certain pics I am working on ... rather than have a stash of paper that I will never use ... because it's "cute". ha!

Keep it simple and enjoy the process.

I tell them it is as important to get their photos protected (digitally) and/or in archive-safe albums. I even suggest they start with minimal supplies and and get sown some journaling.

Don't over think it. Start out simple. You don't have to fill up every inch of the page, use every photo from an event or every embellishment from a product line on a page. Less is more. Most important. There are NO RULES and it is OK to not scrap chronologically.
Good luck to everyone!

My advice to a new scrapbooker would be to (stealing Nike's advice) "JUST DO IT"! Scrap the photos that speak to you (happy, sad or in between, the ones that tell the story and your story not the story you "THINK" you are supposed to tell). Scrap about yourself and just do it, just get it down. Don't waste time worrying about anything, it you like it, it's PERFECT!
Thank Ali and sponsor for the great giveaways every week!

My best advice for a new scrapbooker is not to "hoard" supplies. Buy what you love and use it!

My advice: Don't go out and buy everything everyone else has. Most people who have scrapped for a while have a lot of things that we really don't need and get in the way of capturing moments with photos and words. Just get the basics, pens, trimmer, adhesive, paper and create. After a while, you'll find your style and find many things to buy. Just take some time before you spend a lot of money on tools and things that you really won't use. I wish I had known that my scrapbook style would be so different than my friends that I wouldn't use half the things I was encouraged to buy.

My best advice would be that just because someone else has a tool or supply and loves it does not mean that you will. Try out everything before you purchase it. I have a huge bin of tools that are not right for me, but because they were pretty or someone at crop had them I went and purchased them. Thanks Ali!!
Star

Don't go out and buy every tool on the market. Buy the basics first, you can use those on just about everything.

There are a couple things....
1. You don't have to scrap every picture you take. Purge pictures....it's okay.
2. You can crop pictures, cut out all that extra background that is unneeded, it's even okay to crop part of the main image in the picture.
3. You don't have to scrap in order of pictures taken. Scrap what you feel drawn to.
4. Finally, there is no right or wrong way to scrap.

best advice...keep your photos organized and a little journal to always keep notes, you always think you are going to remember..i can't tell you how thankful i am to pull out my notebook and laugh at the little details i would have otherwise forgotten..it helps with journaling.

My advice is to TRY IT OUT before buying. Find someone who has the tools and ask to try their punches, cutting systems and other bigger ticket tools so you can see if it is something you like, before investing in that item. You will be more likely to buy what you will really use and not end up with a bunch of tools collecting dust!

It's all about the stories behind the pictures. What you are feeling now, what you were feeling then, comparisons between photos... I love a well-laid out, creative page and I strive for that. But, I wish my earlier pages (I just started a year ago) had some journaling and not just the photos.