i want to be a minimalist but I'm a scattered mess...

I'm an in-between, whatever floats my boat kinda girl. I used to try to shove it all on the page... add, add, add, add, and I grew as a cluster-er, but felt that my pages were sometimes too busy. Even lots of patterned paper makes me feel all kinds of busy. Then, I tried adding only a handful of elements, and my pages felt empty. I tried blending patterns, adding more flowers, and layers, and then it was a jumbled mess!

As I scrapped, and with time, I had to come to terms with my own style, and not force a style on myself. So, I'm a middle of the road with a leaning toward an occasional mess. For me, too minimalist doesn't show off pictures or the story. I need a little more. I love an occasional minimalist page, and think those are way better than my dump all the things on my layout pages.

For you... what do you love about your pages? List the items, and then make sure you have those minimum... then see if you want to add or not at that point. That would be "your" minimalist layout. If you do want more, add, and if you don't, leave it be. You have to like your pages and will be stuck with them when printed, lol!

 

Embrace your 'scattered messiness' Seriously, I am a certified minimalist scrapper...but I love seeing pages stuffed with papers and elements. I just can't do that myself. My advice would be to go with your instinct. If you are scrapping happily, your style will shine through. Scrap for 'you' and your pages will be beautiful Sorry, is that at all helpful?

 

I'm a story teller, so if I need 5 photos to tell my story, I'll use 5 photos. Actually though, find that multi photo layouts can work very well with minimalist kits. You don't need very many embellishments to finish off the page, and they tend to suit simple patterns or plain backgrounds. So go for those minimalist kits on your wishlist, and try scrapping multiphoto, or journaling heavy layouts with them. I'm sure you'll love the results.

 

Why can't you be a minimalist and still use more than one picture? I think of being minimalist as not using tons of embellishments. I scrap lots of pictures, usually as double-page spreads. I'm finding that I like my layouts much better without all that fluff! Plus, I can scrap faster without it!

 

I'm a "if its in the kit it's going on my page" kinda scrapper, LOL! I wish I could be a minimalist too.

 

I am with you!!!!

 

Birthday, Christmas, and other 'full'/event pages need a lot of stuff because they are telling a lot: who, what, when, where, why.

Minimalist pages (for me) only need a little bit because they're only telling a little bit of a story: one moment or story in a whole 24 hours full of 'full.'

I'm biased, though, because I generally don't use more than one or two photos on a page regardless of style. My photos are just okay most of the time (which is fine with me) so I don't 'waste space' on them when I could use that page for journaling (which I'm much better at it) or elements. For me, I don't need 3 photos of my kid at the playground or 5 of him in the sprinklers when one + some journaling will accomplish the same thing.

 

The only time I do a minimalist page is for a challenge. They're extremely difficult for me and I never feel like it's finished. I do admire the minimalist pages I see in the gallery, but that's just not my style. If there's a little extra space, I want to put something in it.

 

Two pager girl!
One side fill that page with every part of your memory, journaling, photos and every element inbetween...then on opposite page, a minimalist one part of the memory...breathing space and happiness
two, two pages!

 

I'm with everyone else who's saying give yourself time to find your style again. I consider myself a simple scrapper but not a minimalist. When I try to make minimalist pages they feel empty to me--I love the look on other scrappers' pages, but scrapping like that doesn't come naturally to me. (And I'm with you that too much white space feels like a waste when I print.) I also don't scrap the gorgeous heavily layered pages with huge clusters and patterned paper backgrounds. On my own pages, I feel like they're too busy and the photos and journaling take a back seat to the scrap stuff. I "know" how to do both looks and can pull them off if I spend enough time, but they aren't me. I'm a happy medium between them, a little closer to the minimalist end of the spectrum.

My non-pocket pages tend to have 1-3 photos, and the fewer the photos the larger they are. If the photo is special enough to be scrapped alone, I want it big enough to see the details! (My many mediocre photos go on Project Life pages, where I cram lots of photos on each page.) I like solid or wood colored backgrounds that let the photos stand out, with a few layers of patterned paper somewhere on the page. I make small clusters, but too many of them to be minimalist.

 

I agree that the definition of minimalism can vary - one big stellar photo with less than a handful of ellies on a solid backgrd and i'm pretty ok; use only a quarter of the 12x12 canvas or less, leaving the rest as negative space and i get a bit, or a lot twitchy actually. Over the years i've learnt i can achieve minimalism when i have to - for challenges mostly - by throwing everything i normally would on and then gradually turning off layers so the process takes me longer than me scrapping normally.
Usually those pages i won't print as is, sometimes i go back to the layered file and turn some of those layers back on or add in an extra photo or a few more elements or switch out 'white space' paper for a beautifully patterned paper that i could stare at on it's own! (and there are many of those in my stash of kits!) so my advice is give minimalism a go if you want to, experiment away! but make sure you are happy with the end result and re-print if you need to to be happy

 

I'm not typically a one or two photo person overall. And I would never call myself a minimalist. But I have found a few things that are true in my life.

1) Sometimes 1 photo tells the story better than 3 or 4. This is a page type that always starts with the story for me. The photo is akin to an accent or it's the main focus. Like my husband first meeting munchkin. I have a page, printed out, that is just 1 photo. It's lovely, and the single photo shines and puts the focus on that moment in time.
2) I'm using older photos. I loved my old 2.1 MP camera. But the truth of the matter is those photos don't look too great at bigger than 4x6. Sure, some that were perfectly captured in the outdoor light can go a little bigger without getting too pixelated, but most can't. So, I usually pick out the best photo, sometimes two. And these older photos? There are always blurry or meh shots.
3) I'm using scans. Most of the same issues as above. Except with my slides and some of the scans anything bigger than 3x5 gets pixelated. Because they are scans, it's easy to stick with one or two photos. Usually that's all that was taken!

As I've done the above, I've learned which stories I want a zillion photos, and which ones I'm content with one-two photos on.

I second the tips above too. A minimalist kit can work amazingly well with a full of photos page.
For me, this is a minimalist page, and yet, there are 5 photos:


And this is a One Little Bird kit, which I think of as more minimalist, and yet, this page doesn't feel minimal to me.

 

I am not here to offer advice because I resemble the latter part of your thread title. I want to fit all. the. things. on my pages. All the photos too. I am not concise.

I think your plan to buy a few minimalist style kits and just play is a great way to go though! Good luck!

 

My minimalist pages are usually when I only got one darn decent pic of whatever was happening! I used to be a much more clean scrapper, but with Bella Gypsy & Jaimee, there's just so much to put on a page! Try Cheryl's {Dressed Down} templates.

 

I guess since I'm not a mom or family historian or anything I'm mainly scrapping to "make art". Sometimes that means super simple or sometimes it means a crazy mess. Yes many tell a story, though that story may only be obvious to me. It's just making art. And yes I print everything, but they are in 7x7 books, so even pages with just a small bit don't seem like a waste to me. And those pages I might pair next to something a bit more full just for balance anyway.

The goal is just making pages that YOU love & accomplish what your goal is for your scrapping. And with your minimalist playing, the goal should just be that! PLAY!