Wednesday 16 May 2012

My Advice on How to Choose Printed Papers and Cardstock if you are Starting to Scrapbook {and a Hump Day explanation!}







Happy Hump Day!
I have this little joke going with my friend Mitra in the
 States, so even though I don't have a new page to share
 today I do have to pop in quickly just to say that!  

I never knew what she was going on about and it seemed 
like Hump Day came round mighty often - then I finally
 inquired and discovered that it was every Wednesday 
- mid week - like climbing up a hill - with Monday and
 Tuesday being the uphill, Thursday and Friday being the
 downhill towards the weekend and Wednesday being
the hump right in the middle of the working week!

-------------------------------------------------

I decided to jot down some information that may
be helpful to others.  Let's start with CARDSTOCK. 
 I rarely buy this.  I seem to have a stash of it
 accumulated over the years.  I used to buy Bazzill
locally but the colours available locally are rather garish
and I use mostly white now, which is always the most
 difficult to find, so I usually buy this online and
AMERICAN CRAFTS is a lot easier to get hold of and
 the texture is comparable.  I far prefer textured cardstock to
 completely smooth.  If you are a LAYERS type of scrapbooker
 then I think that this makes all the difference.

--------------------------------------------------------

Now let's talk PRINTED PAPER.  
When I think about how overwhelming this hobby must
 seem to outsiders I guess it really must be bewildering to
 start with, especially if you want to start a blog, involve 
yourself online and play the challenges, hoping to take a stab 
at applying for Design Teams and all that.

My advice is to buy a bit of all that you love so that you can
play along with challenges at the manufacturers that you like.
You don't need tons of new stuff.  If you look at my last page
I used paper that's 5 years old!  But I updated it with my
 embellishments.

If you want to be in it to win it you really need a bit of what
is currently on sale.  That's my main reason for buying
online.  For locals there are a couple of online stores here that
carry recent lines and I support them when I can, but often
they don't get in many embellishments for some reason, so
that sometimes makes it easier just to import all I need.

If you are scrapbooking just for yourself it doesn't matter
what you buy or how old it is, only that you love it.
If you are wanting to involve yourself in challenges online
and you enjoy the community aspect of online scrapbooking
them you need to buy papers from manufacturers that 
involve themselves with their customers regularly, like
WEBSTER'S PAGES and PRIMA for example.

Spend a little time researching the blogs of the manufacturers
you like and see how much interaction there is.  Are there
challenges you can enter?  Do they have a Facebook Page
you can LIKE?  Do they have competitions with prizes and
deadlines or do they just ask you to share on Facebook or
Flickr?  I always choose challenges with deadlines and prizes
first and then open-ended prizeless challenges second.

I don't like random draws because - well - it's random - and
I've never been the "luckiest" person so if I'm short of time
then these are my last choice.  

As far as printed papers go, there are so many around and
they all have a market so it's down to personal taste.  For
versatility I avoid themed papers (for example ones with
Happy Birthday emblazoned all over them) in favour of
"wallpaper" prints as I call them, such as LILY BEE Papers
for example.  They are very versatile in that they are 
neutral in THEME (not colour) so they can be used for 
any type of page.  

I love PRETTY and I believe that if we are going to 
spend time and money on this hobby we should create
beautiful things.  So WHAT IF YOU HAVE BOYS?
Well flowers won't kill them - but if you really can't bring 
yourself to add them look to papers like ECHO PARK
- their new This and That Line for Boys is simply gorgeous.

STUDIO CALICO always have BEAUTIFUL papers
that are really versatile and CRATE PAPER have very
gorgeous prints that are great if you like strong, saturated
colours that are not garishly bright.  

PINK PAISLEE and OCTOBER AFTERNOON have
always been favourites of mine and, if you are REALLY
after pretty, then THE SCRAP CAKE and LES PAPIERS
DE PANDORE never fail to please.  

Don't write off manufacturers like PRIMA and WEBSTERS
though, just because you are scrapbooking boys.  Prima's
new "Nature's Garden" is very unisex with magnificent
neutral tones and Webster's Pages new "Game on" line
is very cool and sports-themed. (Yes I know I said I don't
like themed papers but if you take a look at that one you'll
see how versatile it is - it could be used to scrap anything!)

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*I know that most of my readers are already experienced 
scrapbookers but hopefully this information may be of use
to someone!  If anything strikes a chord with you let me know!*





22 comments:

Denise Price said...

Happy Hump Day to you, too! :)

Great ideas in this post, Helen. I'm glad that you addressed scrapping "boy" pictures. I have to agree with you that Echo Park's little boy lines ROCK. And you really can't go wrong with Lily Bee and October Afternoon for their classic styles. As far as other companies go, one that comes to mind is Authentique, which has a lot of good "masculine" lines as well.

Michelle said...

I had to chuckle that you just learned what hump day was. I didn't realize it was more of States thing. :) Thank you for all of your comments lately. :) I hope you are having a good week! We are on the downslide now! ;) Is it just me, or are the weeks flying by at warp speed?

Lizzy Hill said...

This was really interesting to read....must say I like random draws as well as the others as for scrappers starting out, there's a chance of a win & it's not as intimidating, either.....I've not looked at Lily Bee so I'm off on a Discover Tour... I LOVE double sided pages that are plain on one, but patterned on the other & will ALWAYS go for them 1st...& I'm finding the more I scrap, the less coloured card stock I use, too...except in card making, where I use it a lot:):) Sorry...always write too much. GOOD TOPIC:):):)

jeanie g said...

What a great post Helen, really enjoyed reading it. I love October Afternoon papers and K&Co but I'm not buying atm as my stock weighed more than my clothes to bring to my flat. lol I've bought some new drawer units to sort them into before I start making again but the itch is getting worse so I'll probably start scrapping and finish sorting at the same time. lol

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

Happy hump day! LOL!! Loving this post!!!!!!!

Lynnda said...

Happy Hump day... Great post Helen... tfs... hugs..xoxo

Desire Fourie said...

Wow, this is real sound advice you shared here and thanks now I also know what hump day means.
Hugs
Desíre
DS4J DT Member
Doing Life

Desire Fourie said...

Wow, this is real sound advice you shared here and thanks now I also know what hump day means.
Hugs
Desíre
DS4J DT Member
Doing Life

Kerryn said...

Hehe I wonder just what you were thinking hump day meant ;).

Lots of great advice Helen. I'm with you on not needing to use the latest and greatest. Apart from the new stuff that comes in mt dt kits I buy very little new product these days. I have too much older stuff I live to use up first.

Marjie Kemper said...

Great advice, Helen! Especially the part about using the old if you still love it, but realizing that in a competition you need something still available/on sale.

Bente Fagerberg said...

Some great advice here even for some of u getting to be a little more experienced scrappers.But then you always have a lot of common sense to offer!!I find I use mostly pp's for my background too, but I go for the calmer side of a double sheet.It makes coordinating everything much easier I find.Then there's a lot to be done with mists and paint too of course.
Enjoy your week end Helen!!

Nolene Burnett said...

Thank you for that. I always wondered about Hump Day but felt too stupid to ask :-)

FiKenward said...

Ha ha ha, to funny Helen, I didn't know what Hump day was either at first and wondered what everyone on FB was about. Great tips here, although you seriously have to talk to my son because he is good at debating the no flowers on his pages, its his rule and apparently I can get away with the occasional little bloom. But in all fairness I certainly would feel bad for him to be showing his mates in a few years and see or frilly lace and flowers, now that would be embarrassing....lol

Alison said...

Great post Helen..just catching up after my few days away. Like Lizzy, I like the Authentique line of papers, and have just bought some new Crate and Lily Bee papers
Alison xx

sandi said...

Great post Helen! Have a great weekend!

Lynette Jacobs said...

Great advise on paper choices here Helen. I love Echo Park, Studio Calico, MME and Creative Imaginations IOD amongst others;-)

Marília Lopes said...

Great post Helen!
I bought roles randomly without much thought ... I have completed several here that do not use nunca.Então your post certainly helped me!

yyam said...

You've brought up some great points in your post Helen. I actually scrap from the colours in my photos or draw inspiration from the patterned papers...if it calls for flowers on a boy's layout, I just put them there! No limits! lol

Eila Sandberg said...

THANK YOU! I've been wondering for years what that weird day called Hump Day is but never had anyone to ask. Now I know and can stop pretending I knew all along he he!
Lots of useful tips Helen, thanks ever so much. Me, I put flowers on boy pages, girly pages, any pages. Just vary the colours and voilà! Started on a massive purge, again. Still days left of the sorting to do, so absolutely - the latest and greatest it is! xoxo

ANUPAMA CHOUDARY said...

Thanks for the info on H day!
I use G45 papers for my dad's pictures. Nature's Storybook by WP looks great for boy LOs. Like you said, most of my brightly colored cardstock is simply sitting on my shelves.

Chantal Vandenberg said...

Great post!!! TFS! :D

Mitralee said...

http://mitralee.blogspot.com/2012/05/creative-scrappers-sketch-mothers-day.html

back at ya Helen, ONE DAY EARLY!!!

LOVE IT!

And, I am loving the paper choices you have been making lately! WOW on that page that won!