I am a messy scrapbooker. I like to start with my space neat and tidy, but by the end of things, it is a disaster area. Truly. Yet, I think some people might look at my pages and think I am a messy scrapbooker on my layouts as well. I love my style of scrapbooking, but I can appreciate that others may not. So here are a few of my confessions for what I believe make me a messy scrapbooker.
I hate straight lines. To get out my ruler or my paper cutter means I have tried several times to cut that perfect straight line freehand, and have been unsuccessful. If it is even sort of close to a straight line, then I am happy with it. I do not stress over a straight edge. Sometimes I cut my photos 3 times just to make it look semi-straight!
When I doodle, I sometimes find myself searching for an embellishment to cover up said doodling. This makes me laugh a little to think about. I love being creative. But, sometimes, that straight line I was trying to draw around the picture, or that cute little embellishment I was drawing in the corner just doesn’t turn out quite right, so I have to be flexible. Sometimes, I have to admit that what is in my head, doesn’t always translate into something beautiful when it actually comes out through my pen.
I don’t clean up as I go. Often, I will work and work and work until my surroundings are piles of paper, adhesive, ribbon and buttons, and scraps of stuff all jumbled up. I can’t find my scissors or my glue, or anything really! So, I end up grabbing something I may not have used otherwise because I couldn’t find what I thought I needed. Maybe this is a good thing? I’m not sure!
I like to cluster, and jumble things up on the page. My style is definitely not full of straight lines, and perfectly cut paper, but instead, I like clusters of things. I like to bunch my photos into one spot overlapping each other, or put all the embellishments together. But, this is what I love.
One of my scrapbooking idols is Elsie Flannigan who is the creator of the infamous, Love Elsie line of scrapbooking papers and embellishments. She titled her website, A Beautiful Mess. Genius. Because, to her, it is beautiful no matter what anyone else thinks. That is the beauty of scrapbooking. It is a manifestation of the creative you! Does this mean that I am a mess? Maybe, but I love that mess!
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