It depends what photos (or story) I'm scrapping. If a page is photo-heavy, I usually don't have a very "element full" page. If I have one or two (sometimes three) photos, then usually I use a Fiddle-Dee-Dee template, so my clustering is figured out for me. I also like "minimalist art journaling," which seems like an oxymoron lol, but it's about negative space to let the items on my page a shine. Usually my AJ pages are photo-free or photo-light. Oh, my traditional pages are sometimes rather simple with a large photo. That's because I don't always print in 12x12. Sometimes I print 8x8 or even 5x5, and so I kind of size everything up so that you can see it better on the page. I don't want the photos to be too small to enjoy (or the font too small to read lol).
Put me in the eclectic category. I went from lots of photos to fewer photos. I love paint and dislike flowers in general. Clustering is like my bowling - hit or miss, with lots of gutter balls. Overall, my elements tend to the minimum side, but I fill up that background with paint and photos. I love a good messy AJ style even on my regular pages. I love the clean and simple look but find it hard to do. I love MOC and the challenges because it gets me to try different looks.
I definitely tend toward full pages and lots of layers and custom shadows BUT I'll do a bit of everything. When I'm in my comfort zone, I tend to stay there and ride out the inspiration. It's nice to switch gears every once in a while to keep things fresh.
Is it difficult as a designer to take your preferred Dressed Up style and produce your Dressed Down versions?
I gave up on clusters. They’re just not my thing. I like lots of pictures and I like big pictures. Most of my layouts are double page layouts. In the case of some of my MOC layouts, if I did the single page, I then reworked it as a double. When I print my books, I like to see the whole story in front of me.
My style is just "hot mess". Most of my layouts tend to be clean, but painty, and then I try to pile on elements. I am most comfortable with one photo pages.
I love cluster pages. My husband says I "girl them up" too much meaning lots of flower clusters. When I think I am done with my layout, I will stick more flowers on it!
It was VERY difficult when I first started the line. I felt like I was ruining something that was perfectly wonderful already. LOL Over time, I've come to really appreciate the beauty of the Dressed Down series, especially when I see the templates in action from my Creative Team, the Pollys, and the wonderful members here. I have to admit that some weeks it's still harder to get to the dressed down level I try to achieve, but overall, it's part of my designing process and I just go with it. Which version do you prefer?
I used to always get the Dressed Up templates, but for the last year or so, I've switched to the Dressed Down. More and more I like layers of paint, paper, and photos with fewer embellishments. So, I'm happy that you provide the two options.
What is my style? Well, I can tell you what it isn't much easier. It isn't artsy or messy. I scrap multiple photos on a page with minimal elements or small clusters (if any at all) and tell the story of the photos. I will do single photo pages once in awhile and will do more clustering on those. I don't like the pocket page style at all nor do I like washi tape, paint or splatters. If those things are required in a challenge, I no longer do them. I do a lot of multi page layouts and tend to coordinate by choosing one or two kits for use so they flow nicely in my books. My main focus of scrapping is to tell my stories the way I want. Scrapping time is precious for me so in my mind spending time on something that I will never print is wasteful. That being said, I do enjoy looking at the MOC challenges because there could be something that I might be able to use once in awhile. It was funny this year with a couple of the challenges as I had done those techniques back in 2008/2009!
I wa cleaning out one EHD this weekend ...eek it's getting full! and saw my very first layout. Oh the grief! the agony! the tears! I never paper scrapped and really hated the few books I saw from women I knew who did those. All those glued on bits falling off when pages were turned, and buttons??? I digress. My first and still goal is to tell a story so while I have definitely learned and liked doing simple pages, a photo and two or three bits does not tell a story for me. It may be pretty but I've also learned the hard way that if there isn't something written my husband and I will often forget what it was about the photo. On travel books, I've enjoyed putting 6x12 inserts with more detailed journaling. However, my D ring binders are not my choice any more. PL gets a printed book and I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with travel layouts in the future. I just downloaded all my Flickr photos so I have a boatload to scrap. I know I tend to like neutral and linen-like backgrounds and will often reduce the opacity of a small print. I like overlays and masks and enjoy using them behind a photo rather than a block of papers. I would rather buy pride clusters than bother to make them. But I can make a 3 or 5 element cluster, starting with leaves or branches usually. I also like clean fonts and big 2 or 3 word titles. I have definitely become more of a kit scrapper because the fewer choices I have to make the better. Oh, I like a bit of humor on a page and also a touch of red like a heart.
Do I have a style? LOL I don't do art journal or messy type pages. I'm not big into one photo pages (but I just did one and I love it). I like pocket scrapping but don't do it often. I can do a page with few ellies but I also LOVE the Dressed Up templates from Fiddle-Dee-Dee. I'm all over the place.
Hmmm.... difficult question for me. When I started with digital scrapbooking in 2012 I loved the traditional style - big shadows, a lot of elements. But my style changed and now it depends on the kit or challenge. I try my best to learn every style. I love artsy layouts and clean & simple and of course blending/masking. I don't like journal pages, me pages and art dolls. And I think I will never learn to scrap like @MrsPeel LOL
I don’t have time to ponder this thoroughly but I have a simple answer. I don’t think my style has changed much over the 12 years I’ve been digital-scrapping. I do think my earlier pages looked more like paper scrapping and I’ve evolved to embrace the capabilities of the digital format. Mostly I just think my skills have improved. My style has always been to focus on the photos — multiple photos! — and never forget journaling. Telling my life story has always been my focus, making it pretty with the beautiful papers and embellishments the creative designers provide for us.
