Scrãpp’érs block
n. nasty ailment peculiar to scrapbookers. Strikes without prior
warning
Not done a page in an age? No excitement about
doing one? Or do you half heartedly get some photos together then
not know what to do with them? Maybe you have the dreaded “Scrappers
Block”; some call it Scrapper’s Blues?
I asked two questions in the Forum, here at DSP,
recently, interested to see what members thought brought it on
& what helped them get over it – this is a selection
of their replies:
Have you ever had Scrappers Block? (who hasn't...!!
) Any idea what brought it on?
Overwhelm seemed to be one of the biggies….. different kinds
but overwhelm none the less
• Trying to do too many layouts on various subjects &
challenges without having a larger project in mind, leading to
scattered thoughts & skills
• Too ambitious - too many photos to sort & edit after
an event especially a holiday where it was such fun to snap away,
one member mentioned that she has lots (1500-2000) of photos from
2 trips to Civil War battle sites & she wants to give the
history of the site as well as show the photos.
• Looking at the overwhelming talent in the gallery &
feeling intimidated
• Too much playing around with my 'stash of kits' &
on the internet without really starting anything.....
• Forgetting to focus on the reasons why I scrap
• Trying to scrap photos that I’m not really excited
about, photos which are just not that good, technically, but important
– this is particularly difficult when it is an important
event like a child’s birthday party
• Being away from the wonderful DSP community – I
recently found this after a two week holiday, double whammy that,
& overwhelming number of not-so-great photos - the animals
of Kruger park did NOT behave the way they should have this time
? & being away, coming back & feeling “out of it”
What three top ways do you suggest helps to get over it?
• Get yourself some inspiring photos - go on a photo shoot,
hopefully you will come back with something that you just have
to scrap
• If you have important photos which are not good follow
Sharon’s advice – “I'm trying to do my son's
5th birthday (nearly a year late) at the moment & having a
terrible time because the photos are so bad (note to self - get
someone else to organize the party while I take the photos!!).
But I just realised that I have a terrific photo of him taken
a few days later - so I am using that for the focal point &
will do a montage with the not so great photos.”
• Learn a new technique - there are lots of great tuts right
here at DSP, forget the pages for a while & practice your
program skills
• buy a new & interesting kit – lots of great
ones in our store
• Try something new... book yourself into a class, force
yourself back to get back into the challenges – you know
the expression fake it till you make it ?
• Put it all together as your own kit - make your own elements
from photos of things that mean something to you, go take photos
of things that would make interesting backgrounds
• Focus on why you scrap in the first place, for your family
& most importantly for fun, remember, every page does NOT
have to be a masterpiece & you CAN SCRAPLIFT to my hearts
content
• Keep involved in the DSP community even if its just posting
comments on other people, keep involved with online friends helps
even when you don’t post layouts
• Be gentle on yourself – get started on more limited
projects, slow down….. this is NOT a race
• Plan an album – choose a few backgrounds, a title
font, & a few elements. Set the format – maybe lots
of photos on the left page, favorite photo on the right, a couple
of fonts for continuity.
• If you have a huge number of photos to scrap, get into
project mode, try Power Scrapping
• Try to set aside scrapping time for yourself – I
get up very early each morning, this way I feel no guilt, it is
MY time.
• Remember, working on a layout part way is OK...YOU CAN
come back to it later – if another page strikes your fancy,
or if you have lost the plot, so to speak, do those, but keep
coming back to the larger projects.
• Another surefire way to get unblocked, scraplift!!! Just
remember to give credit to the original poster, of course ?
My very grateful thanks to all those who helped
me with this article by contributing to a thread in the Forum:
wfclair, Timmysmum, Judyy, the scrapper formerly known as Bad
JuJu, Kristen Skold, shazzt, Janet, hoskinsjan, MommyMeg, WyoGal.
© Meryl Bartho October, 2005
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