Staying on top of MOC

Jennifer, don't give up!!!!!!
I know sometimes we can become a bit overwhelmed..... I remember in my first MOC I was so worried about making the perfect page, I almost gave up when I hit a wall in the first week....
I have a lot of physical impairments that slow me down and get worse when I am worried.... I realized that the thing is to relax, enjoy, just make the page enjoying it just because, and not run a race....
It is even a bit more difficult to me as I don't scrap on any Photoshop related program, mine is really good, almost all that PSE does can be done, but not always the steps are the same, so I have to work the method out to translate into the Serif program... but my main thing is, I, like you, love mixing and matching, which sometimes can make it slower to scrap a challenge as I obsess and not happy until I found "THE" button or that perfect staple ...talk about fonts then? I can take longer to chose a font than the whole LO
The thing about choosing the right photo does my head too.... have you tried scrapping stock photo for challenges that would not require the photo to be yours?
I use them only for art journal but I know some of the girl on CTs who either don't have kids or don't like posting their family in public pages use them and then later, for their own albums, change the photos.... there are a few places you can get free stock photos, if you want to have a go... but I think the overall thing is, more than anything, to enjoy the process and sharing a month of the amazing feeling that happens at The Pad...... I love when I go to the pages to comment and read the comments other people left..... there isn't not a little bit of competition, there is helping and admiring, learning (this was HUGE for me in my first MOC and then in the following!) support in every way possible...
But please, please, don't give up.
If the wanting to mix & match elements & papers slows you, try doing a search... I sometimes get stuck and I type one of the main colors I want in the search box, or the name of a designer I have a good idea will have what I need...and start looking through what the search brings... some of my most difficult pages to complete I have gotten out and ended up loving them thanks to the color search.... but don't give up!!!!
We can all help each other!!! God knows I maybe bananas but I will start scrapping today....not sure I will be able to catch up, but I love so much all the challenges ... I HAVE to!!!!!
Always love having you around, and taking that MOC to me is like the whole family getting together for dinner once a week when I was little, once a month when I was a bit older and once a year when I moved to Europe... you have been a member of this family for quiet long time, so you HAVE to be part of MOC!!!!!

 

I have a few of those. And there's nothing wrong with that. I totally plan on going in and changing my Day 10 layout. Because it's too simple for me.

 

I don't know if this will help anyone but me, but I've found one thing that is helping me catch up a little. I can scrap a 2-page layout faster than 2 1-page layouts. So for some of the challenges I'm making a spread where each side meets a different day's requirements. I think this is about the only way I'll manage 2 pages a day and get caught up. (Of course the easiest thing would be to stick to 1-page layouts with only 1 photo, which is what comes together fastest for me. But the pages I need to finish for my current projects all have lots of photos, and I want MOC to help me get those projects done, not distract me from them.)

 

That's a great idea!

 

Start with a few easy ones! I found that when I was behind, doing the 2 templates I was missing was easiest. Then I did the one I was most interesting in. That way, once I only had a few left, even if they were hard, I felt the motivation to keep going!

 

It sounds like we can alter the template as much as we want as long as it's recognizable, so what if you keep the photo arrangement and a few other layers and delete the rest?

 

Some of my experience to share:
1. Keep it simple. Using only one kit if you can, less elements and papers. If I need some elements that your chosen kit doesn't have, type the keyword in the search box and take some of the first ones that show up.
2. Focus on the goal: complete all 31 challenges. Sometimes a page doesn't look good enough, but if you have little time, just save and post it. You don't need to have all perfect layouts.
3. Scroll down challenge topics and look for inspiration from other member's layouts, especially when the rules are too long and we're afraid of missing the detail or misunderstanding somethings.

 

Great tips!!! Thanks for sharing!