Finding my style ...workstyle that is.

Everyone talks about having a style when it comes to scrapbooking. While I haven't quite found my style yet, (unless it's eclectic), I do think I have found my workstyle.

Last summer when I worked on my entries for the state fair I had mocked up my layouts in design software so I knew exactly what size to print my photos and cut my patterned paper pieces. This certainly made it quicker to assemble my layouts, all while relieving the pressure of a mis-cut that would waste my coveted October Afternoon paper. :)

This past weekend I was scrapping with my mom and only got three pages completed in three days. Not exactly a pace that will help me get through the loads of photos I have waiting to be scrapbooked. The second and third pages I was working on were a challenge -I needed to get 9 photos on the layout. I agonized over how to do it, looked at a sketch book and two magazines -all in search of inspiration. To add more pressure to my scrapbooking predictament, I was planning to use some more coveted October Afternoon paper!

At this point I turned to my design software. I pulled in the photos I wanted and mocked up a layout in about 15 mins. Here's what it looked like on screen:

The nice thing about this approach is that I can quickly generate a sketch of my layout. I can click on any part of the layout and quickly determine what size the image, pattern paper, or embellishments need to be.

Then, if I have certain product that I want to use I can adjust that element in the layout to make it work. For example, the letters I planned to use were 1.25" each, so I could adjust the title mockup to be sized based on that. I had snowflake chipboards that I wanted to use as well, but once I clicked on the representative snowflakes on the mockup, I knew they were too big to work.

So out of this three-part process a layout was born...

As I'm noodling the viability of this method, I am getting more and more excited! One of my personal challenges is getting my scrapbooking organized. At my house I like to be in the same room as my husband even if it's just when we're surfing online or watching TV. This is something that I can do at night without being down in my scrapbooking room away from my family. At the same time, I always take my laptop with me when I travel and this way I can promptly record our memories before forgetting any of the important details.

If you try this technique, post a comment and let me know how you like it!

If you scraplift this layout, please link us to your project!