One of my favorite ways to scrapbook is with friends. Every few months, I invite friends to my house to share my tools and supplies and to work on our scrapbook pages together.
It’s always fun, but I get teased every time, because while all my scrapfriends are creating 3 or 5 or 10 pages each, I rarely finish even one!
So I guess their teasing is justified, and I have to confess: I am THE Slowpoke Scrapbooker.
It’s Not My Fault!
Okay, so maybe it is.
In my defense, I do spend a lot of time running back and forth to my craft room grabbing supplies my friends want to borrow. I have a ton of stuff! Plus, sometimes I help the ScrapNewbies get started.
But I cannot tell a lie: the REAL reason I’m the Slowpoke Scrapbooker is that I spend a LOT of time planning my pages.
Not Just a Cropper
I’ve been a crafter most of my life, and I enjoy the creative part of scrapbooking. I’ve learned design principles like balance, color theory, contrast and texture, and I like to incorporate them into my pages.
What’s Taking So Long
Here’s how one layout played out:
I found four faded photos from my college graduation and decided to create a layout at a recent ScrapParty. I decided to use my school colors, red and black.
To start, I had to solve a few design snags: First, the black paper I chose for the base was too dark and made my faded photos look worse. White was too blah, and red was too bright.
One Down
Since this was a ScrapParty where we share, my friend Vanessa rescued me by giving me a sheet of black denim paper. It was the perfect backdrop for my faded photos.
The second problem was lack of oomph.
Another One Down
It took forever, but I came up with a design idea for my layout, but the paper I had didn’t give me the look I wanted for my focal photo.
Once again, Vanessa saved me, this time with a leftover piece of white paper with “congratulations” printed in black all over it. It worked perfectly. It kept my red-and-black color theme going strong and highlighted my focal photo.
And One to Go
My final snag was the fourth photo. This was a photo of me holding my diploma. It was taken inside, after the outdoor graduation. So it didnt quite work on the page with the others.
So I glued a pocket on the page beneath the black-and-white paper that highlights my main photo. I used a punched-out circle to create a pull tab for the photo, added journaling to the back side, and tucked it in the pocket.
Notice the blue arrows? They point to my fourth photo—one to the front and the other to the back. Anyone who 
looks at the page can just pull the tab up to see the extra photo and flip it over to read my journaling about graduation day.
By hiding the extra photo and my journaling, I got all my photos into the scrapbook layout without cluttering it up.
The Finale
As you can see, the final page is simple. Designing it took a long time because I had a tough time deciding on the details.
But I didn’t mind.
The page ended up with just enough “designer detail” to make me smile, and I had fun working on it.
Now, I admit that I wish I could turn off the obsessive “design noise” in my head, but it’s really hard. So I guess for now, I’ll have to be okay with my slowpoke ways.
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Now let’s hear about YOUR approach to scrapbooking. Do you go for speed? Are you spontaneous or more methodical? Let me know in the Comments below!
