Keeping Things Simple

Go Here For A Chance at A $25 shopping spree!

I've been fightinga cold for most of the week and have spent almost no time in my scrap room.  But when I have wandered in, I've been working really differently than I often do at home.

I have a tendency to start a layout and obsess over it for days.  I leave it out on my work table and swap out embellishments and paper til it looks "perfect."  It's common for a layuot to take me days to complete when I'm working at home.  I'm better when I'm at a crop because I only have some of my supplies with me and I try to stay focused on the page supplies I pulled when I was packing up.  But I can still spend a couple of hours on a single layout. Over-thinking does not lead to better layouts. 

This week my attnetion span was non-existent, so I focused on working on simple layouts that captured the feel of the moment captured in the the picture.  I really liked the layouts I came up with and wanted to share them.  

The first was inspired by the "drawing challenge" at My Scraps and More for their online back to school crop. (I like to participate in online crops because they often create a pressure to produce quickly that forces me to go with my first instincts.)  The layout uses pictures from a visit to my hometown.  I was trying to capture the way I feel about Ashtabula.

I limited journaling to noting the time and place and really tired to let the pictures, papers, and embellishments capture the way I feel when I go back to Ashtabula.

The second layout I want to share is titled "Wings."  It is my submission for the 

I realy wanted to focus on the great photo of the butterfly my husband took.  This layout wasn't as successful, but I can look at it and see how to edit (I think removing the pink charm would make make a huge difference.  My second change would be to remove some of the sequined butterflies.)  And I love the look of the naked chipboard letters (which I would ordinarily think had to be altered in some way.)

So two lessons learned this week - don't overthink and edit when you aren't happy with a final product; taking away may be the answer.

Hopefully I'll have time and energy for some scrapping this weekend.  (I have five challenges left at My Scraps and More.)  And if I do, hopefully I can apply the lessons I learned this week.

Hope you have a great weekend!