Help me fall back in love

Discussion in 'Scrapping Pad' started by littlekiwi, Sep 27, 2020.

  1. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    with scrapping again.

    Now I'll admit its been a tough year in general for me but I miss scrapping. I've bought bits and pieces throughout the year but even that hasn't got me scrapping....I don't know what to do as its my one hobby I do have outside of job hunting and online school so I'd love to keep it in some way, I just don't know how to get the creative feeling back again
     
  2. StefanieS

    StefanieS Think it over, think it under

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    Take a gander through the gallery, or let one of the challenges get you making a layout - even if it isn't your favorite, just playing with pretty goodies will make you feel better and the next layout will be amazing.
     
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  3. HavaDrPepper

    HavaDrPepper Space. The final frontier

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    I had lost my scrapping mojo for well over a year. I scrapped a few pages during that time but even those did not renew my interest in scrapping. Looking back it was because of other things going on in my life during that time.

    What got me going again was a challenge during 2019 DSD. I was again enthused about scrapping and did a lot the following months. But I am again on a down time from scrapping. For me, it ebbs and flows as to my scrapping. With cooler weather coming, I can see myself getting back into it especially with the ongoing global pandemic.

    During my time away from scrapping I turned to reading and doing jigsaw puzzles. I have also found that only having one interest is not good for me. And, looking back over the 20+ years I have been scrapping (traditional and digital), I have always had periods where I haven't scrapped for a long time. I never walked completely away from it, I just had to do something else for awhile and my interest was renewed. But I couldn't force it.

    Just my experience over a lot of years!
     
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  4. patsyt

    patsyt Loop-de-loops? Not a fan!

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    It's really sad when you don't feel the inspiration! (I've been having the same problem.). For me the best "cure" is to pick a product (or products) that I haven't used and just play with them. No expectations, no rules ... just have fun.
     
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  5. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    After a couple years away from digiscrapping, committing to doing the monthly challenges was one thing that got me back into it. Also designating one day a week as scrapping day was pretty important for me.

    Generally speaking, I think going easy on yourself -- it's okay to just scrap without pressure to produce a page to print or share -- will help. Enjoy!
     
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  6. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    I think my main issue is I feel the need to scrap to justify what I spend on supplies but right now the desire isn’t there. I keep saying when I move/have a job/feel better I’ll take more photos and there for scrap more but I honestly don’t know when that could be.

    It’s a hard one cause I know I’ll be tempted during DSD and end up spending money for it to just sit on my HD essentially.
     
  7. Iowan

    Iowan Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa

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    I have found that scrapping themes helps get me going. I have done various themes like Easter, Halloween, patriotic, birthday, St. Patrick’s Day , and sports. The books have pages incorporating photos spanning a hundred years! Currently, I’m doing heritage layouts. Good luck and I hope you get your inspiration back soon.
     
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  8. gonewiththewind

    gonewiththewind I choose joy.

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    Try taking a look through your own layouts - in the TLP gallery or on your hard drive. This is a great way to assess what projects/events/memories remain and are waiting to be documented. For instance, you may have already created a layout about a birthday event, but you need a coordinating page(s) to finish telling the story. If you use the same colors and/or same products, it's a quick way to start creating.

    Take away the pressure of creating something perfect or post-worthy. Just create. Close out the layout and then come back to it a day or two later. You can look at it with fresh eyes and you might just find that you love what you see. :)

    I really don't think you've fallen out of love. I think, like many of us, that this year has brought a string of hard knocks that make it super easy to lose our focus. I know you've got this!
     
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  9. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    @gonewiththewind I’ve always been very much a finish a layout in a session kind of gal so saving and going back to an unfinished layout just seems so foreign to me.

    Yes, I do agree part of my scrapping slump is just 2020 but it’s scrapping has been pushed way way down the priorities for longer than that (I’ve only done 6 layouts in 2 years roughly), it’s just figuring out how to get happiness out of doing it again. Think a lot of it comes down to I’m constantly tied to my laptop for other things that when I do have time, I’d rather be offline.

    Maybe this week I need to dedicate to seeing what stash I have and reconnecting with that - I kind of lost the joy in scrapping when all of my creative time was spent organising my stash (it’s still pretty much a hot mess to be fair)
     
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  10. keepscrappin

    keepscrappin ScrapWithTheWind

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    Organizing is no fun... please don't do it while you're in a slump. If it's still a pretty hot mess, and you said it took away your scrapping joy before, it'll just take the mojo right out of ya. Instead, download the blog hop goodies and unzip and pull things that call to you onto a canvas and allow yourself to play and enjoy. The unorganized stuff will still be there when you're in a better frame of mind. Right now you need to let go of the pressure of being organized or justifying your spending on supplies. Give yourself a break and just enjoy the process. Let go of the pressure and just enjoy by letting the elements and papers that speak to you determine the direction to go. Like others have said just create and don't feel pressured to share it. Scrap it for you and if it doesn't turn out, oh well, delete and start again. I agree with Cheryl about letting it sit and coming back with fresh eyes. It doesn't cost anything to save and come back in a few hours or days. YOU CAN DO THIS! :agree
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2020
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  11. HavaDrPepper

    HavaDrPepper Space. The final frontier

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    @keepscrappin Organizing is actually something that helps to get me out of my slump!

    I also agree with @Iowan about scrapping themes. @gonewiththewind also has a good point about looking at previous layouts to see if another layout can be done to complete the story.

    When organizing I found photos that I had only done a one page layout for back in my CT days but I had many more photos that helped to tell the story. With my tracking of supplies used and never getting rid of anything, I was able to do more layouts to finish the story. But if I hadn't been organizing, I would have never found the photos nor would I have known where the supplies needed were.

    So for me, they all tie together!
     
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  12. umyesh

    umyesh President of the Hangry Ladies Supper Club

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    I like rewards, so maybe reward yourself for each page you complete? That way you'll get pages done AND something else you like!
     
  13. adriablack

    adriablack Well-Known Member

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    I go through cycles of the same kind of feeling. For me, its the taking of photos and then sorting them into pages or months (if you do project life type stuff) that often helps to get me scrappin again. I will often go months of just taking photos before I'm ready to scrap. But then I can knock out pages like crazy for a couple months until I'm back in a just taking photos and writing down memories phase.

    As far as your need to justify your spending (I do this too as we have a pretty small budget for such things), I always tell myself I have to be able to do how ever many layouts that the product cost. And then I don't allow myself to purchase anything until I have "justified" my latest purchases. So if a kit cost $3, then I have to make 3 pages (or art journaling spreads or whatever you do) with that kit. I usually buy things in groups so if I spend $20 one month, I have to make 20 pages before I can purchase again. If that makes sense...

    Another thing I do is make DIY kits based on theme or colors. This is something I do WHILE I'm organizing. So it makes the organizing a bit funner for me. As I'm putting things away (things stay in my new purchases folder until I do the above # of pages made with purchases), I can then use this time to make a new "kit" by mixing Designers or styles based on the theme or color I'm building my kit around. So an example of this would be if I've only made 5 pages with my new purchases but I'm getting a bit bored of the same supplies, I can take a couple of those purchases that I still want to do use and go into my stash and find things that coordinate with them on an individual element/paper/etc level to help me meet that 20 page goal. This method also helps me if I'm wanting something "new" but don't have the budget currently. I can usually find something in my stash that feels "new" enough to get me going again in this way.
     
  14. rach3975

    rach3975 Well-Known Member

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    Do you have a printer? If so, have you ever tried hybrid scrapping? That might be a way to use your digital supplies but not be tied to your laptop during your downtime. (If you do give hybrid a try, I'd think about buying cardstock for backgrounds so that you'd be able to get by with printing fewer papers. Either that or choose a smaller size to scrap in to keep printing costs down.)

    I've been scrapping since 2004, and I've gone through two long-term slumps. For me they're a lot different than a short-term slump, when I can get excited again by buying a new product or picking an inspiring challenge. Both times I seriously doubted that I'd ever really love scrapping again. First I took a long break from it--6 months the first time and 3 months the second time--and focused on other hobbies (reading, sewing, and planning a trip to Disney World). After that I came back and forced myself to do some scrapping. In both cases I had a goal, an album I really wanted to finish. The first time it was scrapping baby photos and the second time it was finishing a trip album from one vacation. I gave myself permission to live by the mantra "Done is better than perfect." I focused on quick layouts with minimal embellishment. While I was in those slumps I didn't honestly like any of my layouts, but I pushed through, called them good enough, and moved on. Some weeks I made myself scrap a few minutes each day, and other weeks I made myself do a few longer scrapping sessions since I couldn't fit it in daily. In the beginning it felt like a chore, but somehow that changed. Over time the act of scrapping and my progress toward getting the albums finished really did make me fall in love with scrapping again. I hope you're able to find a way to love it again, too!
     
  15. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    @rach3975 hybrid scrapping and I aren’t for each other.....did physical to start with and my hand eye coordination isn’t great so I switched to digi
     
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  16. Nemla

    Nemla Stretching my skill set

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    Use the kits for something else, that way you have no guilt trips.
    If as you say your hand / eye coordination isn't great, don't worry, make tags,sayings,labels,starter pages for lists,planners (all planner items can be made in the form of srtips. If you don't have a printer, get everything on a 20x30 cm base,put on a pen drive then print in a shop. Cutting out squares and rectangles are not that hard. And since it is smaller things, and you require no photos,none of the excuses you have given your self will work for this ...
     
  17. littlekiwi

    littlekiwi I charge by the hour for anything before noon

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    I think I just need to give myself a bit of time playing with no plan in mind and just see where it takes me
     
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  18. cfile

    cfile My bags are packed for Platform 9 3/4

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    @littlekiwi try making some book marks (print on card stock fold over and use a glue stick).. when you make a few things for personal use and see how much fun you can have then it starts getting the mojo back. I made some book marks when reading outlander... themed bookmarks are fun... I have them for my Harry Potter books, my twilight books just have fun with it... tart small and then get back into the pages with templates.
     
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  19. Angela Toucan

    Angela Toucan I keep looking for THAT wardrobe

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    I either do a challenge, or take inspiration from something in the gallery.
     
  20. meganmecrazy

    meganmecrazy Caution: Randomly Breaks Out into Show tunes

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    Challenges help me! I really need to get back into the swing of things because the past couple months have been to hectic for me so my current issue is finding the time. :'(
     

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