My Style

I am REALLY enjoying class at Getting It Scrapped. I have been blown away by the pages that people are creating. Absolutely incredible work. The gallery is filled with inspiring pages. My kids have been hearing constantly "oh my gosh....look at this one". The people in the class have been so kind and enthusiastic. I'm going to be sad when it is all over...thankfully we have a few weeks left. One of my students was kind enough to ask me about my scrapbooking style and how I had arrived at this point. I thought I might share that with you as well.

I often hear people say "I recognize that it is one of your pages before I even click on the thumbnail". I don't know if it is good or bad but it would be safe to say that my pages have a unique look to them.

I have scrapbooked my whole life. As a paper scrapper, I would say that I LOVED the look of pages by Becky Higgins (she is no longer at Creating Keepsakes). I would immediately flip to her sketch when the magazine came in the mail and try to lift her page. Her pages were always simple and clean. My husband gave me Photoshop Elements for Christmas one year and I had no clue what it was or what I would use it for. He said "trust me, this is right up your alley". He installed it on the computer for me and I tried to play with it that night. I was SO frustrated that I let it sit for a year. Then I wanted to see if I could create more unique looks for titles on my paper pages. I figured out a few very basic things about how to use text. Then I saw a blended image in a magazine advertisement that intrigued me and I was determined to figure out how they did that. I bought a basic photoshop tutorial by Scott Kelby. I played and played with it until I had it down. I could blend a photo before I could do anything else in Photoshop. Then I took a couple of classes at Jessica Spragues site that gave me some of the basics of Photoshop.

While I was in Jessica's classes, she included products in her classes from Katie Pertiet which led me to Designer Digitals. I discovered a whole world of incredible products that could enhance my blending and everything else for that matter. I dropped my paper scrapbooking and went all digital. I haven't looked back. I have taken a couple of classes since then. One by Pattie Knox at Getting It Scrapped called Art Journaling...which was fabulous. I also took another class that was very template based which just isn't my style. One of my favorite things in life is looking at a blank screen and figuring out how to use it.

I honestly think that I have two types of pages. 1) Bold and Artsy 2) Bold and Clean. My "artsy pages" obviously involve blending and these are my favorite pages to create. I love to try new techniques that can enhance my photos and I do a lot of "playing" in Photoshop. I always want my photos to be the most important aspect of the page. If you came to my house, you would see some of these pages hanging on my walls as well as some of the walls of friends and family members. The second type of page that I like to create is a very traditional scrapbooking page that could probably be duplicated as paper if I had the right products. When I am telling a story of an event or something that has a lot of journaling, I go to this type of page. Again, I still like the photos to be the most important aspect of the page and I like clean lines.

I guess I would describe my style as bold and graphic which I think is interesting because if you met me in real life, this would not be how I characterize my personality. I consider myself quiet and reserved. At any rate, I LOVE every aspect of creating art and documenting life. It has certainly become my passion in life and I'm just giddy that I get to share it with others. I never would have thought that I would EVER be teaching a class on Photoshop when I opened that Christmas gift from my husband years ago. God has certainly been good to me and I'm so grateful that I get to share this passion with the people in my class, the members of the Designer Digitals community and everybody who reads my blog.

I saw this quote yesterday and wanted to share it with you:
We shape our lives not by what we carry with us but by what we leave behind.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!