Scrappin' stuff.

Here are a few more layouts I did yesterday.

This one contains the Christmas card photo I sent out last year. I think the Basic Grey background paper is just perfect for it!

I started scrapping nine years ago in 8.5x11 (vertical), then moved to 12x12 after a couple of years since I needed more room on the page. I was using lots of photos and journaling a ton then.

After five years of 12x12, I wanted a new page shape to work on, so I moved to back to 8.5x11, only horizontal, or landscape format, this time. I've done my last two years' albums in that format.

In January, I hit a clearance sale at Michael's and found some very nice linen 8x8 albums that looked like they would hold a lot of pages. This inspired me to make the switch, for my 2007 album, to an 8x8 format, just for a challenge, and also in the hope that someday my wall of albums won't be big and heavy enough to crush me and leave me lifeless, although I think I may already have enough albums to accomplish that!

So I did my first two 8x8 layouts for my 2007 album yesterday:

If ever a piece of paper thoroughly evoked a child, this is it. Love the scribbly flowers, and when I saw them, I immediately thought-- Marissa!

This was fun...I used a gorgeous piece of Basic Grey paper that ended up barely showing at all...ain't that always the way?

8x8 is definitely a challenge. I like to use multiple photos and write a lot of journalling, and it's going to be hard to cram that all in. But the albums themselves will be so much easier to enjoy than the massive 12x12s full of pages, heavy as a Gutenberg Bible.

I found another unexpected benefit to 8x8, too...I can't remember if I mentioned taking down my scrapping area in January or February. I'd had an 8-foot piece of countertop for years, mounted to the wall, with plastic drawer carts underneath and shelving above. It had been moved to three different homes over the years.

When we put it into this room when we moved in last year, I became increasingly unhappy with how it looked, like a set-up that should be in a garage, not a nice bedroom. So a few months ago, I pulled it all down, boxed up all the contents of the drawers, tossed the carts and countertop, and got a nice computer desk and flat monitor, so that I could also get rid of my old mammoth desk and monitor. Just trying to make my study look more like a real room and not the cave of a hobbyist squatter.

At the time, I wasn't sure I'd ever scrapbook again, but since the desire has come back over me in the past couple of weeks, I wasn't sure where--or how--I'd work, since the work surface was gone and the supplies were in the cupboard.

I did my beach album sitting on the floor. It worked okay, but was hard on the back. Since I didn't have every single thing I own at my fingertips, I had to pull out what I wanted and just go with it, which was actually nice.

Working last night, I realized that an 8x8 page fits perfectly on my computer desk, in front of my monitor. I couldn't work on a 12x12 page here, but 8x8 will work great, and I have a little room on the sides to hold a few supplies as I work.

So I may end up going even simpler with my style, since I have fewer opportunities to pull stuff out, but maybe scrapping will become fun again when I'm less overwhelmed.

That's my saga. Funny how a hobby can just take over your life. I needed some breathing room, and I think I've found it.