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november 27, 2006 volume one : issue nine This week we are looking again at the concept of personal style in scrapbooking/life art. I want to follow up the last issue with a few additional thoughts. (If you haven't read the last issue (issue eight) you may want to check it out before continuing with this one. You can read it in the AEzine archives.) Enjoy. Peace. Ali style evolution : part two As we saw last week, style develops over time. From experimentation and playfulness and being open to possibilities (even the smallest bits can bring significant changes). The key is being able to adapt and try things that may not become a part of your personal style, but that will help you grow. Have you ever considered "trying on" a style to see how it fits? Find artists you like online or in the magazines and scraplift their pages with the intent of questioning yourself during the process. Even if you are the sort of person that never scraplifts you may find this exercise valuable. Ask yourself, "how does this style feel?" and "are there parts of this style I can adopt as part of my own?" This is an interesting challenge (see below) that can have very cool results if you are open to the possibilities and willing to do a bit of reflection while you work. I know that I have grown as a scrapbooker by being playful and by paying attention to what I love - what feels good to me as I create. Once I identify those things that are most me I repeat them over and over and they become a part of my personal style. And when I start to tire of something - a way of creating, a particular product, or a technique - I use that as a jumping off point and an opportunity to do something different and evolve my own style. And speaking of being bored, it is totally normal to get bored with your own style, to question yourself, to wonder if you are really being true to the you that only you know (the real you). Getting bored with your style means it is time for a change. An update, a new challenge, mixing it up - something is needed to get your juices flowing again and help you regain a sense of who you are and where you are at in this crazy life. I love that style is never stagnant. Even artists whose styles are recognizable are always changing and growing - in so many ways it simply parallels our lives. Your evolution as an artist goes hand in hand with your evolution as a human being - they are one and the same. If you are feeling stuck in your scrapbooking style it is likely that you may be feeling the same in other areas in your life. I encourage you to explore. To play. To do something different this week than you would normally do - it can be as simple as taking a different route home from work or as complicated as really taking an inventory on where you are as an artist right now. Take a step...a step towards embracing the evolution of your own personal style. weekly challenge This week I challenge you to "try on" someone else's style. Pick a layout/project from a magazine or an online gallery and replicate it. Ask yourself those questions from above as you go about the process of creating your own version. If you find while you are creating that something does not feel like it is "you" than adapt as you go along. Simply make a note to yourself of what felt not quite right - this is something that you could jot down in your own style/idea notebook for future reflection. Come by my blog and post your challenge layout link on Friday, December 1, 2006. Looking forward to seeing your creations. question & answer Q from Christy: Lately I find myself struggling to come up with ideas for layouts.�I look at your pages and think, how do you sit down and just come up with this stuff.� I think I worry to much about structure, and "the rules of design" just like some people worry about the rules when it comes to�journaling. I used to but I finally got over that. I feel like�I am stuck with this old school of thought, maybe from my college days of�Ad layout and design where you had to have a�Headline�(to get one's attention) then there is the body of the ad that includes the photo and copy (journaling).� Of course that was a long time ago and I think they call it�graphic design now and though the�underlying principles of balance, alignment, repetition... are the same,�it is different from when I was in school.� I checked out your�"Start to finish layout" on your blog and it sounds like�we start out the same. �When I sit down to do a page, I grab my photos, lay them out and decide which ones best tell the story I want to tell. Then I put them on a 12 X12 sheet of card stock and start moving them around. I figure out my focal�picture or point.� Is this too old school or structured? Does every page have to have a focal point?�I see a lot of pages that do not seem to have a focal point and they seem to work.�Next I try to find a way to�put all my pictures on the page; maybe I�have to�crop�some pictures�so they will fit on one page.�Sometimes�my pictures are chronological in the way they tell a story so I feel compelled to put them in a certain�order. My biggest stumbling block comes next, I have this hang up with coming up with�a title!!! My style has always seemed to be very structured and linear - Becky Higgins and Cathy Z like. But I have always�loved your style. I just love your pages, they flow and draw you in. They tell this great story. You look at one of your pages and it captures your attention and�conveys a message. It holds onto a memory, something so special about your everyday life that you do not want to forget. This is ultimately what�I strive to do!�How do you do it? To me, your pages rarely seem to be built around a title and yet, I can not seem to find a way to get away from that idea. I want to get away from that! I want to tell the story, through the photos, journaling and embellishments, not�some silly, catchy�title/ headline. How can I get away from sitting down with my pictures and thinking, What is my title and where will it go? A : I think this is such an interesting group of questions and I have a feeling they will resonate with a lot of people. Do you need a title? Absolutely not. Titles are great - but so many of them are super (how can I say this politically correct?) cheesy and silly and unnecessary. I like titles that are inconspicuous - that blend into the overall design of the page and become a part of the cohesive whole rather than standing out and drawing attention to itself. I tend to gravitate towards one word titles - usually a "common" word (such as "dad" or "us") and something that will be repeated in the journaling. Try this: focus on your story first and foremost by writing your journaling. From there, pick out one word from your journaling that will become your title. Choose something simple and wonderfully basic but that relates to the story you are telling. Use small letter stickers to create the title and add it onto your layout. Now, does every page need to have a focal point? This is a hard one - I think that the pages that are most effective have a focal point or some sort of visual hierarchy - a place for your viewer to begin investigating the story you are trying to tell. Sometimes the focal point is the photo, sometimes it may be a cool accent, or it could be a title. Q from Diana: What is it that makes you choose to scrap 8.5x11�pages sometimes and 12x12 at other times? A : So often it just depends on how I feel when I wake up that day. Some days I want the space a 12x12 offers, other days I want a bit smaller foundation upon which to build my page. I like that I can freely choose between either one at any time - I use 12x12 3-ring binders that hold both sizes perfectly. Current favorite 3-ring albums include American Crafts and 7gypsies. Q from D�sir�e : I am used to making 2 page layouts; from reading your books & also CK, I see you make a lot of 1 page layouts. How do your store them? Do you put them in books with a blank page beside it or do you look for matching pages to put next to them? A : My one page layouts go into my 3 ring binders just the same as all my other pages. The next page will be another single page layout and I don't really think much about whether the colors are matching or "go together." I figure that because I made all the pages they go together simply because they are telling the stories of our family. I tend to like seeing all the colors in together as well. Q from Kim: This is a question regarding style... Do you think there are really eclectic life artists out there? I've been really pondering this as I try and define my style for last week's challenge and I'm wondering if you think there are people with a bit of schizophrenic style, or are they just people who haven't found their style yet? If you do believe there are artists out there who fit that 'eclectic' label, can you point them out and define what you think defines them that way? I definitely do not know what my style is... maybe it's eclectic? A : I totally believe there are eclectic artists out there - most of us, by definition, are eclectic. Here's the definition: deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. Do you fit that definition? I know I do - I love grabbing bits and pieces of inspiration from all over the place. That is what makes life art so great - that the life we are living can become the inspiration for so many of the things we create. I also believe that style is always evolving - where you are today is not where you will be tomorrow. We are products of all that we see, do, experience, etc. Some days I feel like I want to be super clean and simple and precise and other days I want to be much more free - the common denominator is that it all comes from me. Q from Kim: This is a set of questions about minibooks:� I've made a couple minibooks now (including one for your five favorites challenge) and I love them also. The main problem I'm having is that the edges of the paper start to peel away from the cover/pages. How do you finish the edges of your pages? Also, do you usually use premade books, or make your own? I've done both and although I like the look of premade books, I find it easier to build my own sometimes (plus it's cheaper!) and use the metal book rings you can buy at places such as Staples. What would you say are the advantages of premade books? Do you have a preferred brand or brands of books?�Also, it doesn't look like you Mod Podge, or�apply a similar product,�to�the covers or pages of your books. Any reason why? I know for me, I'm impatient and don't like to wait for it to dry, only to discover an air bubble, etc. ;-) � A : I find that glue sticks seem to work pretty well for getting those miniBOOK edges to stick - if mine start to come up I just add a bit more glue and stick them down again. One tip I got last week was about PVA glue (bookmaking glue I think) - I am going to get some and test it out and see how it works. I love testing out glues that are new to me - it is a never-ending quest. I usually pick up pre-made miniBOOKS for my projects. They are simple and easy to cover with paper, photos, etc. What you are doing is a terrific idea as well. I don't necessarily think there is an advantage to pre-made books - just personal preference. Some of my favorites come from 7gypsies, Maya Road, Junkitz, and Rusty Pickle. I have started using Mod Podge or another sealant (gel medium) much more lately to give my products more of a finished feel on the cover. I think the reason I have not done it as much in the past is that it is just another step - by that point I am usually ready to be done and move on to the next project. Q from Beth : I have to admit that I�ve bought quite a few of the 7Gypsies mini-albums but they are sitting in a little basket under my scrap table going unused because I don�t know how to take them apart and put them back together so that the pages turn as easy as when it was manufactured. It is a subject that for some reason totally eludes me! I would love to see a mini-lesson on taking apart and putting back together the mini-book! A : You can see a detailed answer to this question, including photos, check out my blog: miniBOOKS. If you have a question you would like to have answered send me an email and write "newsletter" in the subject line. Holiday Project TIP  Are you paying attention to your mailbox this month? Take a closer look. One thing I have been noticing big time around here are VERY COOL holiday promotions, catalogs, and flyers - all things that can be chopped up and made into cool stuff. As usual, I am on the lookout for words - words that can be cut out and used as accents on my holiday projects. Copyright � 2006 Ali Edwards/AE Design/Life Art Media. Please do not reproduce any content without permission. Ali Edwards, author of A Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking and A Designer's Eye for Scrapbooking with Patterned Paper, is Creative Editor of Creating Keepsakes magazine where she writes a monthly inspiration column called Studio A . She is a wife, mother, artist, writer, and seeker of balance. Owner of AE Design and Life Art Media, she conducts life art workshops around the globe. You can find her online on her blog or contact her through email at ali@aliedwardsdesign.com
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