Question for Pam Cook

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Keitha
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Question for Pam Cook

Post by Keitha »

One the things I stuggle with most - as Marianne can attest to because she hears me whinge about it all the time - is deciding what photos to scrap next. And it seems to me Pam, that whenever you say you've got a few hours you manage to turn out several pages, which suggests you don't waste that time deciding what to scrap next. Further, it seems that you skip around from subject to subject; perhaps I'm wrong but that suggests you're scrapping whichever photos you're inspired to scrap next, and not necessarily the next ones in some predetermined order.

So my question is how, exactly, do you decide what you'll scrap next? I have no trouble with switching up the type of project I'm working on if I've been scrapping for awhile and want a break from photos, or messing with techniques and know it's time to make a page; but deciding exactly what photos to scrap next is often what holds me up. I love the freedom of being able to scrap whatever I feel like in no particular order, but it's that very freedom that causes me problems. Even in the middle of a big trip album where I know that's my focus, because I don't scrap trips chronologically I sometimes am undecided. I need specifics: do you choose a batch of photos for the next month, have them printed and work your way through them? Have all you scrap-worthy photos printed as you take them and keep a big box you can rifle through to find the ones that speak to you? Have a master list of pages you want to make and go down the list in order? Take subject inspiration from whatever inspiration page or class has your attention at the moment?

Really, I'm just looking for a tip or trick that will help me make that 'what to scrap' decision faster, so would love to hear from anyone who's struggled with that in the past and found a solution.
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pamcook
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by pamcook »

Oh goodness. I wish I had some magical answer for you. You all are much more aware of what I do/use than I am! Farley mentioned a background paper had a sunburst reflecting my journaling. No one was more surprised than I was when I read that comment. 99% of my choices as far as I can tell, are happy accidents.
There is always a stack of prints on my desk. Two small drawers in a dresser have prints that should be on pages. With all the focus on Valentine's, I wanted to scrapbook a photo of Joel and me. I knew there were several of us from our trip so I chose one and used product from the kit I've used for our WA trip. Sometimes I see a blog or a process video and I want to see if I can recreate something like it (I love, love challenging myself!) so I'll pick up a stack of of photos to see what will work with the design, product, technique -whatever.
I'm always "behind" (it's a hobby, not a race) and it seems like I don't have a rhyme or reason to my process - because I don't!!
If there's more thought involved, it's nothing conscious. I can tell you that when I print a stack of photos, I always intend to scrap them before ordering more. I tell myself, "Just start at the top and work your way through." I'll let you know if it ever happens! Okay, Ill take that back. It happened at the beach last May. Limited choices!
Maybe something in my rambling is helpful? I just love scrapbooking.
Pam Cook #48
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EDelValle
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by EDelValle »

I used to say the photos call out to me,
"pick me, pick me" and that's how they got done. LOL
Be Yourself, Everyone else is taken

Image

Elizabeth in Brooklyn
ScrappinJen

Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by ScrappinJen »

"I just love scrapbooking."

Me, too.
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by mpizzazz »

Yes, Keitha does talk about what to scrap next and printing photos-a lot! To me, her process is long and involved because she prints the photos herself to the sizes needed for a given sketch. So that is a lot of decision making about choosing a sketch for the photos, which photos are what size, where they are going on the layout, etc. There is a lot of prep before she even has photos in her hand. I don't know if she prints enough at a time for several layouts or not. But stopping to print photos, interrupts the creative process to me.

If like Pam does, the box of photos is sitting there, you can grab whatever you feel like and be scrapping in a few minutes.

What size prints do you get, Pam? Do you just get them all a standard size or do you do cropping on your computer, resizing, etc?

I know I spend a lot of time on editing, cropping, etc. and I'd like to speed up that process. Then I get a whole batch of photos printed online at once so I can skip around and scrap whatever I feel like at the time.
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Keitha
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by Keitha »

I'm sure my process sounds tedious to some, but it's what works for me as I like to work with a variety of sizes; I'd be bored with all standard 4x6 prints. I figure everyone else is spending time choosing/editing and printing (or sending out photos to print); it's just a question of when in the process that happens; if you don't print at home, obviously not at the same time you're scrapping them. And while it does interrupt the creative process, as I like to take my time over a layout it's rare that I'm looking to do more that one page in a scrappy session.

What I don't usually do, which I've thought of and Marianne suggests, is print photos for several layouts at a time - unless I'm prepping for an away crop. And in that case I print the photos and kit them up, so perhaps I'll try just printing a few layouts' worth of photos at once for a change. Then hope that when I'm ready to scrap, those are the photos I feel like working with, LOL.
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by pamcook »

And I almost always use 4 x 6 photos which does save me a lot of time. Yes, sometimes I'll print a 5 x 7 and there are those vintage 8 x 10s in my stash. I have a photo printer at home but I rarely use it. There's even a picturemate stashed away somewhere. I'm sure the ink is so dried up that it would never work again. The home printers seem to always be just too expensive for me.

I say, whatever works for you is what you should stick with!
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jfugina
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by jfugina »

This is a very interesting thread! I went through a phase where I picked a sketch for a set of photos, then printed the photos to the correct size for the sketch (cropped and zoomed specifically for that layout), and printed them myself at home. I really loved some of those results, because some of those sketches also called for 4x12 photos, or some other size that would take longer than an hour at Walgreens. But, it was definitely expensive and time-consuming. Running out of ink midway through printing would basically put a halt to my entire scrappy weekend.

Over the past two years, I scrap in bursts - like one weekend every 3-4 months. So I try to have a stack of stuff printed and available to work on for when the mood strikes. From there, I have one of two types of sessions. The first type is where I take all of the printed photos and lay them out in stacks on the table. The idea of this type of session is to pair the photos with an "inspiration piece". This may be a collection of papers, or a sticker sheet, or a some other embellishment. But I basically go through all of my papers and embellishments and pull out anything that looks like it belongs with a particular stack of photos. Once I've paired everything up, it goes in a different box for the other type of scrapping session. Not all photos will get paired, and those that don't, go back in the photo box awaiting another pairing session.

The second type of session is where the layouts actually get made. Without being bogged down by selecting a jumping off point, I can fly right through several different layouts in one sitting. Some I love, and some I don't. But if I start by going through the "inspiration pairings" box, I feel like the hard decision (where to start) has already been made, and I shop my stash for the rest of the materials and get on with construction.

I've been in this mode for a few years now - pretty much ever since discovering Scrapbook Generation sketches. I've always been a sketch person, and those work absolute wonders for me. But in the past several years, rarely have I ever gone straight from photo to completed layout in one sitting. I find it takes me two completely different frames of mind for me to do the pairings and the layouts. The inspiration pairings require me to be in a creative mood, whereas doing the layouts allow me to go into full engineering mode. Rarely can I flow from one to the other in the same session. I suspect I'll stick with this process for a while. It only took me nearly 15 years to figure it out (LOL) but hey, it works for me.
Julie Fugina
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troublesmom
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by troublesmom »

I haven't scrapped in a while but have thousands (yes) of photos waiting. I have a lot of completed ALSB's waiting also. I am going to a crop in a couple of weeks and plan on taking a bunch of random photos along and many of the ALSB's and try to pair them up. No rhythm or reason, I always add extra to the pages, some of the ALSB's are not the way CS put them up so they are fairly easy to change up. Just taking along a bunch of extras to fill the pages up with. I have fput the pages ready to go in those 2 1/2 gallon Hefty Zip Lock bags and they will be easy to transport and once completed can go back in the bags. I never scrap in order as all my photos can attest to. I have some from when our oldest grandson was little (he was born in 1984) that still need doing. I have been trying to get some of the newer ones done and complete scrap books and give them so I don't have them sitting around.

It takes a little while to get going but usually once I do I am able to get a lot done. All except the journaling and that is what I have the hardest time of ever doing. Some pages are sitting here just waiting for that to be added. It may never get done.
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Keitha
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by Keitha »

Julie, I enjoyed reading about your process as I too am a sketch gal. I'll noodle over the concept of pairing my photos with an inspiration piece first, but I think my organization system gets me over that hurdle. Very occasionally I know before I pull anything out that I want a specific paper or embellishment with certain photos, but generally pulling the appropriate file of papers which are sorted by subject gets me going pretty quickly.

Cheryl, I have occasionally made pages similar to CS's ALSB system - usually individual page kits I've purchased that I like to have on hand for when I want to play, but don't want to think too hard. If I don't know what photos I'll use I'm careful not to commit to titles or embellishments that narrow the subject of the page too much, although do leave those bits in the bag until the page is done. Sometimes those pages get photos on them pretty quickly, and sometimes they are in my box for months before I find the perfect use for them.

There's no question that the choosing, editing and printing of photos is a different mindset than actually creating the pages. I don't seem to have a problem transitioning from one to the other - once I figure out what photos I'm going to scrap in the first place!
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by ScrappinJen »

I used to spend a lot of time in Photoshop, resizing photos to match the sketch sizes, etc.

For most of the layouts this weekend, I printed the photos with my Selphy. Just the ones I wanted. If I wanted smaller accent photos, I went into one of my apps (like Project Life) and made a gang print on 4x6 canvas. My main reason for changing methods is that in the past, I would spend hours in Photoshop and then order 100 prints when Shutterfly had a deal, and then only scrap 30% of them. I just don't want to leave behind shoeboxes full of photos. I only want to print the ones I KNOW I'm going to scrapbook. So this is my new method.

Even with older photos on my computer taken with my DSLR, not on my phone, I choose them, place in my Dropbox and then migrate over to iphone for final steps. I am getting so lazy about my Photoshop. Primarily because my archaic Toshiba crashes at least twice during each session.

I'm happy with the Selphy quality, especially with iPhone photos, and the fact that they are dye sub makes me feel more confident about their longevity.
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by Keitha »

Interesting to read how you've changed your process. I'm an Epson girl, but have considered getting a PictureMate for printing smaller photos only. Epson's print quality is excellent. I haven't yet embraced photo editing apps on my phone; mostly because the majority of photos still come from my big camera, and I have a good process for getting them onto my computer. But I wonder if the addition of a little wireless printer would change that... Food for thought.
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Re: Question for Pam Cook

Post by pbp908 »

I use both of my Epsons exclusively (except for those rare times I run out of ink - then the HP has to fill in). I prefer to crop and color correct myself in PS, and I generally waffle between 4 x 6, 4 x 5, and 3 x 5. Every once in a while I'll print something odd ball, but not as a general rule.

For me the process starts with the photos. I'm trying to learn to mix patterns and use up some of those Thickers, so I'm getting much better at pulling embellishments. I wish I had a rhyme or a reason for a lot of what I do, like so many of you here, but it's generally by the seat of my pants. As for which photo/s I scrap, that's a seat of my pants thing - whatever strikes me at the moment. I used to be pretty rigid about doing everything chronologically but finally broke that bad habit. :lol:
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