Scrapping Outside The Lines

When I named my blog, I picked a name that reflected not only my favorite hobby, but also my outlook on life. I like the familiarity of things that make me feel secure, but I also like the challenge of thinking outside the box, of looking at things from a different perspective, of trying something new.

In scrapbooking, I feel the aim stays relatively the same – preserving precious memories. But the means and the style for me seem to be always evolving. There is a constant release of new products and techniques that keep me on the creative edge. There are also many digital options that keep me intrigued, from photo editing to digital scrapbooking. Plus, I am constantly being inspired and challenged when I see other scrapbookers’ creations. I so admire the talented women I know that can seem to just pull a beautiful layout together with very little effort.

Lately, I have been challenging myself to use some different products and techniques on my scrapbook pages. Stamping, ‘bling’, more flowers (even on my sons’ pages), glitter, crystal lacquer and embossing are just a few of the things I have been trying to add to my pages. I have decided to make some goals for myself that will hopefully stretch my creativity.

Five scrapbook goals I hope to accomplish include:
· Allowing more white space on my pages (and being comfortable with it!)
· Using larger photos (5x7 or 8x10)
· Stamping more on my pages (it is getting really hard to justify my collection of stamps)
· Adding more journaling to my pages
· Working with layout sketches

I challenge all of you to scrap outside the lines as well. What is it that you like about other scrapbookers’ pages that you haven’t tried for yourself? What would one of your goals be?

Here are a couple of layouts that I did recently. (A couple of them were inspired by Karan’s designs.) Maybe they will inspire you!