My discovery of patterned paper signaled a shift in my scrapbooking (a mental break, if you will). Patterned paper, by it's very virtue, allows the scrapbooker to bestow his/her pages with a virtually weightless, 2 dimensional decorative accent that can be used to tie other elements of the page together as well as reiterate the theme of the photographs, if they so choose.
With so many different weights, colors and patterns available, it is very plausible to believe that one there is a perfect paper for every layout...if you have the time to search it out. Patterned paper is definitely one of scrapbookings' "good things"...
Unless you have too much of it...
In my minds eye, there are different types of patterned paper collectors:
- The efficient collector who buys for each project. She is a picture of control as she restrains her greedy inner child enough to enable getting out of the store with only what is needed in their shopping bag.
- The opportunistic collector who buys for life's many opportunities. You never know when you will be called to captain a ship across the Atlantic only to have it pirated...so the opportunistic collector buys papers for what could be a special moment in their lives. Ever bought Disney papers knowing that you'd probably never step foot in the magic kingdom because of your child's unrelenting fear of 6 foot rats? How about those papers that depict lovely snowy ski theme for people who know good and darned well that they have no intention of taking a trip to the mountains in the winter, let alone throwing themselves off a perfectly good hill with popsicle sticks on their feet and toothpicks in their hands?
- The paper hoarding collector. Destined to make it on the Most Wanted list in every fire department within a 50 mile radius, this collector buys what is pretty. Sometimes she does go into a store looking for a particular theme of paper, but rarely walks out without taking some intentioned 'extras' with her (sometimes she even manages to get the paper she came in the store for as well!)
- The doomsday collector. She buys only what she needs...but she has a slightly pessimistic view of what those needs are. Every opportunity to buy a particular paper is viewed as possible the last opportunity so she tends to buy in multiples...just in case. 3 or 4 of everything makes for a very secure scrapping experience for this collector who can sometimes be found huddled in a corner clutching the last sheet of a particular pattern in her white knuckled fists. Approach with care.
I'm not going to admit which kind of paper collector I am...but I will say that I have a lot of it. I'm not bragging...believe me, I'm not proud of the position that I've over-obsessed my way into! If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times, the presence of overwhelming possibility is an open door for indecision and stagnant progress. I'm stagnating.
When I start my layouts, I tend to start with the pictures and my color wheel for back up support. I then choose my patterned paper. Let me reiterate, I then start looking for my patterned paper. I have 7 CH paper files full of paper and a drawer of 'special' papers. I have to go through every stinkin' last one of them to find the paper that I feel will do justice to my pictures. I've tried every organizational trick known to scrappers but it doesn't seem to matter how I organize my papers, every search is going to result in sweat and paper cuts!
My problem? I don't really know what I have and I can't come up with an organizational system that will allow me to search what I have without constantly getting up, sitting down, and getting up again! I currently have my papers sorted by manufacturer for the most part (left over from my contest/dt days when that stuff mattered). I'm thinking about filing only sets by manufacturer and individual papers by color/pattern.
It never fails that I start a layout and wind up spending 30 minutes (and much of creative motivation) looking for the perfect paper. Mind you, when I start with the paper and work backwards (searching for a photo to scrap that matches the paper) I have a deal more success, but I have a hard time picking the picture because a part of me knows that I have "better" paper that will better suit certain photos somewhere. This is pretty much where my kit idea failed me. I have about 8 kits but no pictures that I want to use with them.
I remember the good old days when I only had a couple hundred sheets. I only had a limited amount of options so my decisions were made pretty quickly. Those days have gone the way of the dinosaur unfortunately. How could something so pretty do so much damage?
You want to know a secret? Patterned paper is very fertile too! I've given away/sold over 1200 sheets of paper but my stash always looks the same. Paper is like lays potato chips to me, you can't have just one, well you can...but where's the fun in that?
I am really interested in knowing how others go about organizing their papers and how they make that initial decision concerning which paper to use. I'm getting my butt kicked by my paper and it's no longer what I considered a 'good thing'.
6 comments:
lol, I so could have written that post! I have a TON of PP(probably literarlly... when I moved last year, the mover suggested that I just get rid of the paper and buy it in my new location since it would probably cost the same as the cost of shipping it by weight. sigh. if only he knew how much it really costs! Besides... there are all those irreplaceable retired patterns ;)
I tried the manufacturer thing, but found that it never worked when I was looking for paper. I switched everything to color (embellishments, flowers, alphabets too. love it!). I have a lot of say my blue Chatterbox paper grouped together within my blue file, but it's been much more efficient for me. Multi-colored paper just gets stashed in the file with the color that I'd be most likely to use it with. I do have a separate file for certain themes, like holidays, seasons and travel.
When I'm picking out paper, I make a special point to just stop when I find a paper that feels right (as in right color, right style, etc..). I'll usually pick about 4-5 patterns and then use what works and put back the rest. I have to deliberately NOT obsess about making sure it's the perfect pattern. I practice the "it's good enough" philosophy. Otherwise I'd spend hours trolling through paper. There will always be new pictures perfect for that awesome paper that I could have used. In fact, until recently there was always newer perfect paper so it never matters in the end. You just have to get into the mental state of not allowing the obsession to creep in. It took a while, but as soon as I accepted the reality of the fact that it wasn't life or death and one blue polka dot paper was as good as another, it was all good :)
I'm stoked to not be by myself in this madness, lol.
I wonder if it's considered optimistic beyond the point of lunacy to think that I will ever wittle my stash down to those beloved 200 sheets...
If anyone has done it...pleeeeaaasssseeee! Do tell...you are certainly an anamoly that needs further study!
I USED to be that way, but now a days I just buy when I actually do need more paper. I also organize mine by color and if it's pattern I put it with the most color on the paper too. I got rid of so much paper by purging. And I didn't have the syndrome of buying more, I just used what I had. I'm on enough DT's and manuf's DT's too that I get product from them, why buy more? It always falls under the new latest and greatest thing too... I keep my costs down by doing this even though I happen to be a pp freak!
Dude...SEVEN CH full of PATTERNED PAPER? Crikey. I have 2. And I thought I had a lot!! I was even going to send you the My Minds Eye papers that I bought at Costco...it's packaged with 3 of each...do you want me to not send them to you?? lol I admit that I have purged and just gotten rid of some because after awhile it gets so overwhelming that it causes me so much grief I would rather just not scrap at all. I have my paper sorted by manufacturer...each manuf. is put in it's only little 'sleeve' with a lable and filed alphabetically in my CH files. I know..obsessive. This works for me simply because I tend to think of a certain manuf. when I'm thinking of what paper to use. My embellies though I just switched to color and I LOVE it. But that's a different topic. lol
All I can suggest is to just USE it. Stop analyzing and trying to make it all perfect. When I finally realized I didn't have to create these masterpieces every time the weight was simply lifted. Now I don't stress over the paper as much...I just put down the memories and move on to the next layout.
One thing I *have* done though is use up ALL my paper. I'm a layerer and rarely use up a full sheet on a layout...so I will take my leftovers and create another layout and another until it's all gone. Thus eliminating that folder of scraps that makes you feel just as guilty as the full sheets. :) (and sorry to ramble)
CS here: (too lazy to login)
Yeah...7...
You remember those DT's? That contest? Those scrappy friends who sold my favorite papers for cheap? Those bulk lots on Ebay? Birthday presents?
I've had a lot of contributers to my addiction.
I don't have much of a problem with using it on my layouts, it's figuring what to use. I tried the manufacture thing but I'm so out of touch with my stash that I don't have a firm grasp of what each manufacture makes. I would love to get down to just being loyal to 2 or 3 manufacturers. Since you only have 2 CH full, I think I'll send you one, lol. I'd love to have a stash give away here but I don't want to fall into the category of blog ho for raking here. Oneday, I'll rise above my insecurities and do it anyway!
I've purged, I've given away so much and it's multiplying...I swear that my paper has chromosomes!
Pattern paper is THE thing I buy the most. And I used to be a hoarder, afraid to use my paper out of the fear that some other photos would work better than the ones I had now. Then I read somewhere...I think it was on someone's blog, or maybe in a book, I can't even remember who said it, but it was someone well known, and she said that she doesn't stress about it. If she doesn't have the EXACT color of green she thinks she needs, she just uses something else. And life goes on.
THAT hit me: life will go on. Plus, I have realized by cleaning out my stash for the umpteenth time that what is horded rapidly becomes what is outdated. So now, I just USE it. I love it and i use it and I move on, and life goes on. Somewhere in the process you have to realize that it's just paper. It's not going to change your life or make you a superstar, you know?
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