Scrapbook Generation Review

What clubs do you belong to, what do they offer, would you recommend or beware...
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jfugina
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Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by jfugina »

I posted some layouts in the gallery, but I purchased several more kits than that. One kit that I purchased made 6 finished pages (two double-page spreads) and was $18. I had some materials left over, and was able to make several cards. Everything that came in it was flat - all papers and a die cut sheet. And there were three sketches with a set of cutting instructions, and a printed color photo. Not bad for the money.

The next one I put together was one of the two-page layouts from a monthly kit. It was the "generations" page kit, which appears to be seasonal or holiday themed. This kit was $13. It contained two 12x12 papers, one 12x12 scalloped paper, two half sheets (12x6) and one smaller. And there was one die cut. The resulting layout was cute, but for $13, I didn't feel as good about the price. This one came with a sketch, cutting instructions and a photo also, but I still thought the cost was a bit steep.

The next one I got was even more expensive, as it's also a single two page spread, and it's $15. But I haven't opened it to see if there's more to it. The last kit I got was the November "super sketch" club offering, which was $20, and definitely seemed like the most bang for the buck. It will make 5 two-page spreads. There still wasn't any more than paper items in the kit, but you get more pages out of it, which I like.

The upside for me: I tend to not use a lot of dimentional stuff on my layouts, because it makes the book not hold as much, and it makes dents in facing pages. So the fact that there aren't flowers or whatever doesn't really bother me. I've got more than I need of that stuff. Also, I love the style, for the most part. I've never been able to pair down photos to just one on a layout (unless it's a single photo/portrait someone gave me). So I love a layout that will hold 4-5 or more photos.

The downside: BANNERS! While at first glance, the layouts all looked wonderful, closer inspection of their web site has now revealed that 3/4 of the layouts have banners as the primary design element. Once in a while, that's fine. But they're way too prevalent in these sketches, and I did not have a good time cutting and inking all of these tiny strips. And I'm sure there's an order to the strips that is the most visually appealing, and it was a pain to make sure I cut each of the patterns to the right length and got them ordered properly on the layout.

Will I order from them again? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I did go ahead and join the super sketch club, along with the generation layout add on. I know I said I wasn't thrilled with the amount of "stuff" in the generation layout, but I don't need a ton of holiday layouts, and I'm thinking that having just enough to make a single layout for any given holiday or to mark a season is good for me. It should get me just what I need to keep the special occasion stash from getting out of control. I just need to figure out some variations on the whole banner glut. :-)
Julie Fugina
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pamcook
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by pamcook »

Sounds really good, Julie.
While I like banners - I don't feel I need them on every page. They are very time-consuming - so I feel your pain! But they are really cute...
Pam Cook #48
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mpizzazz
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by mpizzazz »

Thanks for the review, Julie!
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pbp908
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by pbp908 »

Inking and cutting the little strips couldn't be any worse than the hours that I spend shoving things around on a page and then rejecting it all and starting over until I like it. :lol:

I'm seriously thinking that I'm going to do this. I have lots of dimensional things to supplement with if it comes down to wanting to add them.
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Trixie
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by Trixie »

Very interesting. Thanks Julie.
Judy Gunsaulis in WV
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ScrappinJen

Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by ScrappinJen »

Thanks for the review. I have had thoughts about joining this club because I do love her sketches. I think I would be better served just buying a few of her books. What do you think?
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jfugina
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by jfugina »

They have their books available in electronic format for download, so I did go ahead and purchase their latest one. Their directions for working with the sketch (cutting instructions and whatnot) are pretty much like the page kits. Some sketches were hard to decipher, because (at least in the download version), the different types of papers are represented with different shades of gray. And when the sketch calls for 5-6 different papers, the shades of gray are tough to distinguish.

That said, I feel that it will be a very usable sketch book, and the only reason I didn't just go and download the whole set was because I asked for them as Christmas gifts. :-) After the holidays, I'll be going back to get more.
Julie Fugina
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pbp908
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by pbp908 »

I downloaded volume 7, and the sketches aren't heavy with banners if anyone is wondering. There are a couple that have some greys that are very close - I wish they'd used patterns to distinguish them, but like Julie I think I can work around it. While the light is good in here I may add some dots or something to them so my old eyes can read it at night. :shock: Overall not a bad buy, especially since it was on sale when I purchased. If I can ever get the Christmas photos printed I'll use a couple of the sketches to get them scrapped.
Pam P.
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jfugina
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by jfugina »

Glad that "shades of gray" problem wasn't just me or my computer :lol: Honestly, I went ahead and printed the book and studied some of the layouts before attempting any of them. I went through and did exactly what Pam described - I put extra pattern marks on some, and labeled the sketch all over the place so I wouldn't get confused when I was trying to lay everything down. I probably spent a good hour studying the two sketches I used for our ReCreate weekend at Donna's before I ever started cutting, or selecting paper.

Tomorrow we finish up the holidays officially (Rob's family is coming over tomorrow), and I'll know for sure whether my SIL snagged any more books for me when she was in Springfield last week. Her family lives in the same town as the store. If she didn't, I'll be ordering a few more downloads tomorrow.
Julie Fugina
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troublesmom
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by troublesmom »

I bought the book. Looking forward to it.
pbp908 wrote:I downloaded volume 7, and the sketches aren't heavy with banners if anyone is wondering. There are a couple that have some greys that are very close - I wish they'd used patterns to distinguish them, but like Julie I think I can work around it. While the light is good in here I may add some dots or something to them so my old eyes can read it at night. :shock: Overall not a bad buy, especially since it was on sale when I purchased. If I can ever get the Christmas photos printed I'll use a couple of the sketches to get them scrapped.
Cheryl
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bethrich

Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by bethrich »

Today I made the decision to take the big plunge. I bought the whole package and now have all those lovely sketches on my iPad. At first glance I really like them, plus that the file is in order by number of photos, not by volume.
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jfugina
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by jfugina »

bethrich wrote:Today I made the decision to take the big plunge. I bought the whole package and now have all those lovely sketches on my iPad. At first glance I really like them, plus that the file is in order by number of photos, not by volume.
Now having the whole collection ordered by number of photos could be seriously handy.

I may still get the bundle just to have everything available electronically, even though I have volume 1 in print now.
Julie Fugina
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Laurie
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by Laurie »

Julie, do you still like these kits?
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pamcook
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by pamcook »

Laurie - I've bought a few of them. Like Julie, I was able to get extra layouts from the kits I bought (but I couldn't tell you which kits those were!) and I kept the sketch photo they include to use again (making my own kits from my stash). I would suggest that you get a couple of the kits you really like and try them out. I think you'd like SG.
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jfugina
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Re: Scrapbook Generation Review

Post by jfugina »

Laurie - I had to quit the club, but only because I had more kits than I could store. And, I'd been with them long enough that stuff was starting to look exactly the same. However, I still fully endorse them as a kit club. I thought some of the Allison Davis kits were seriously overpriced for what you got, and ultimately, I didn't even like those layouts as much as the super sketch club, where you got 5 layouts (6 pages) for barely more than the price of Allison's two-page spread. I also adored the "Generation" kit page (I think that's what it was called). But again, it was like $12 for one double-page spread. I finally decided that was just too expensive.

But the super-sketch club - that I think is way worth it. I loved it because three of the 5 layouts kind of have that ALSB feel, where you get cutting instructions and make several layouts. Then there are two additional layouts where you get the supplies for the layout, and then two sketches to choose from. I liked that aspect a lot - and quite often I could actually supplement just a little bit of my own stash and make both sketches out of the materials for one sketch.

If you're looking for a good way to get back into things, with some of the latest and greatest suppliers, I still highly recommend the super sketch club.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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