Recently on a Scrapbook Facebook group I am a part of called The Scrap Gals, a newer scrapbooker asked a question about redoing old pages. She had started scrapbooking a year ago and disliked many of the first pages she made especially now that her style is completely different. She wondered what she should do about those pages and if she should redo them to fit her current style.
Before I respond to her question with thoughts of my own, I want to say, first and foremost, "You are the boss of your own scrapbooking. There are no rules. You can do what you want, how you want, and when you want when it comes to scrapbooking." My thoughts, comments, and opinions relate to me personally and if you disagree with me, that is ok. You can do whatever you want with your crafting.
Now that we got that out of the way....
I have been scrapbooking now for 17 years. I am not a designer and will never be a professional. I scrap for the pleasure of creating and the importance of recording my story and my family's history. I have made lots of really ugly pages over the years. I'm not a natural designer because I am not a visual person. I often break all the design rules because I don't even know what they are.
I don't have any intentions of redoing old pages because my style has changed so many times, and will likely change in the future. What has remained the same is that I always try to include photos and I always journal about the story.
When I look at my old pages, I don't cringe (much) because instead of focusing on the hokey sticker placement, the boring paper, and the cutout photo shapes (why did we do that?), I am so glad that my memories were recorded so soon and that I get to revisit the past in my albums. Back then, I created albums just as I saw they were being done. I was so proud of myself for recording my experiences and thoughts. So much has happened to me in the past 17 years and I'm grateful that I took the time to make these (not-so-great) pages so that I would remember my years as a first-time mother and the early days of my marriage.
Many of my pages that I created in those early years were just me trying to do my best with the materials and .supplies I had. At that time, I lived in Sweden and my husband and I were very poor with an extremely limited budget I was fortunate that I had a few supplies. I didn't agonize over getting the perfect patterned paper, I was just happy to have paper and adhesive.
I also didn't know about the online scrapbook communities. I never read any magazines. I just scrapped with my friends who were much in the same boat. We got together once a month and shared memories and laughter.
Over the years, my style has changed. I have improved and I have learned from magazines, books, blog articles, and instagram. What hasn't changed is that I still enjoy being creative and sharing my stories.
I prefer to look at the changes of styles within my scrapbook as an opportunity to see an evolution of style. Just as most of us have changed our hairstyles many times in the past 17 years, so have our scrapbook pages changed and evolved. We may cringe a little, but I also hope we laugh and remember how things were back then. What seems fresh and beautiful to me now, may very well look dated and ugly to me in the future.
If scrapbooking were only about the creative aspect, then perhaps it would make sense to redo older pages, but I already accomplished my goal with my older scrapbooks. I was creative and I told stories, lots of stories that wouldn't be remembered without my work. When I go through my old albums, I feel that same rush of pride of accomplishment, as well as happiness in reviewing old memories.
Have you ever redone old layouts because you disliked the old style so much? Did you feel happy about your decision? Does it bother you to have different styles of scrapbooking over the years? Do you have a different perspective than what I shared here?
© 2007-2016 TIFFANY WACASER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Before I respond to her question with thoughts of my own, I want to say, first and foremost, "You are the boss of your own scrapbooking. There are no rules. You can do what you want, how you want, and when you want when it comes to scrapbooking." My thoughts, comments, and opinions relate to me personally and if you disagree with me, that is ok. You can do whatever you want with your crafting.
Now that we got that out of the way....
I have been scrapbooking now for 17 years. I am not a designer and will never be a professional. I scrap for the pleasure of creating and the importance of recording my story and my family's history. I have made lots of really ugly pages over the years. I'm not a natural designer because I am not a visual person. I often break all the design rules because I don't even know what they are.
I don't have any intentions of redoing old pages because my style has changed so many times, and will likely change in the future. What has remained the same is that I always try to include photos and I always journal about the story.
When I look at my old pages, I don't cringe (much) because instead of focusing on the hokey sticker placement, the boring paper, and the cutout photo shapes (why did we do that?), I am so glad that my memories were recorded so soon and that I get to revisit the past in my albums. Back then, I created albums just as I saw they were being done. I was so proud of myself for recording my experiences and thoughts. So much has happened to me in the past 17 years and I'm grateful that I took the time to make these (not-so-great) pages so that I would remember my years as a first-time mother and the early days of my marriage.
Many of my pages that I created in those early years were just me trying to do my best with the materials and .supplies I had. At that time, I lived in Sweden and my husband and I were very poor with an extremely limited budget I was fortunate that I had a few supplies. I didn't agonize over getting the perfect patterned paper, I was just happy to have paper and adhesive.
I also didn't know about the online scrapbook communities. I never read any magazines. I just scrapped with my friends who were much in the same boat. We got together once a month and shared memories and laughter.
Over the years, my style has changed. I have improved and I have learned from magazines, books, blog articles, and instagram. What hasn't changed is that I still enjoy being creative and sharing my stories.
I prefer to look at the changes of styles within my scrapbook as an opportunity to see an evolution of style. Just as most of us have changed our hairstyles many times in the past 17 years, so have our scrapbook pages changed and evolved. We may cringe a little, but I also hope we laugh and remember how things were back then. What seems fresh and beautiful to me now, may very well look dated and ugly to me in the future.
If scrapbooking were only about the creative aspect, then perhaps it would make sense to redo older pages, but I already accomplished my goal with my older scrapbooks. I was creative and I told stories, lots of stories that wouldn't be remembered without my work. When I go through my old albums, I feel that same rush of pride of accomplishment, as well as happiness in reviewing old memories.
Have you ever redone old layouts because you disliked the old style so much? Did you feel happy about your decision? Does it bother you to have different styles of scrapbooking over the years? Do you have a different perspective than what I shared here?
© 2007-2016 TIFFANY WACASER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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