Decorative versus Storytelling
Okay. I have to post this now. It's driving me nuts.
I'm a member of a few online forums - for scrapbooking. Won't say which one I'm talking about. :-) Don't want to offend anybody in particular.
I realize everybody has their own scrapping style and that's fine, but it just drives me nuts because most of the layouts I come across on my forum(s) are, what I personally would call "decorative scrapbooking". I would describe it as simply decorating one photo as if you were going to frame it and hang it on your wall. Can you imagine having your scrapbook filled with 1-photo-layouts? And all the layout typically has is embellishments and a title. What really drives me is that in the descriptions of the layouts when they're uploaded, they describe what is happening in the photo and the reason for the layout. Why not put that ON the layout?
I came across one layout - a white page with a pretty border, a small object on the bottom of the page, it was the topic of the layout, and a title right across the middle of the page. I totally did not understand why this person had done a layout about this object. It was bizarre. When I read the description, I understood completely, but personally, I would have included that description on the layout itself.
Personally, my style is to fit as many photos on the page as aesthetically as possible AND save room for journaling. My pages tell stories and document my memories, feelings, everything.
I hate going through people's photo albums, having them hang over my shoulder and say, "this is Uncle Bob and Auntie Sara - we were at camp that day, 3 years ago or something" and then proceed to tell me the whole story about every photo. And I hate doing that to other people. I have all that information on my page, so they can just enjoy my pages at their own whim.
'Course, I must be the black and sheep and maybe all the white sheep don't like my style either, because my layouts rarely get comments posted, and are even more rarely picked for Favourites of the Day.
Kinda discouraging, kinda childish, but it was eating away at me, so I had to rant. :-)
Jeff made me. I think he's tired of listening to me complain.
Just because I was curious... I took a look at the Disney layouts I've done for my Disney album. I have 5 layouts (double page spreads) with 12, 14, 23, 24 and 31 photos! And I tell my story on every one of those layouts. To me, that is scrapbooking.
My Disney Album
I'm a member of a few online forums - for scrapbooking. Won't say which one I'm talking about. :-) Don't want to offend anybody in particular.
I realize everybody has their own scrapping style and that's fine, but it just drives me nuts because most of the layouts I come across on my forum(s) are, what I personally would call "decorative scrapbooking". I would describe it as simply decorating one photo as if you were going to frame it and hang it on your wall. Can you imagine having your scrapbook filled with 1-photo-layouts? And all the layout typically has is embellishments and a title. What really drives me is that in the descriptions of the layouts when they're uploaded, they describe what is happening in the photo and the reason for the layout. Why not put that ON the layout?
I came across one layout - a white page with a pretty border, a small object on the bottom of the page, it was the topic of the layout, and a title right across the middle of the page. I totally did not understand why this person had done a layout about this object. It was bizarre. When I read the description, I understood completely, but personally, I would have included that description on the layout itself.
Personally, my style is to fit as many photos on the page as aesthetically as possible AND save room for journaling. My pages tell stories and document my memories, feelings, everything.
I hate going through people's photo albums, having them hang over my shoulder and say, "this is Uncle Bob and Auntie Sara - we were at camp that day, 3 years ago or something" and then proceed to tell me the whole story about every photo. And I hate doing that to other people. I have all that information on my page, so they can just enjoy my pages at their own whim.
'Course, I must be the black and sheep and maybe all the white sheep don't like my style either, because my layouts rarely get comments posted, and are even more rarely picked for Favourites of the Day.
Kinda discouraging, kinda childish, but it was eating away at me, so I had to rant. :-)
Jeff made me. I think he's tired of listening to me complain.
Just because I was curious... I took a look at the Disney layouts I've done for my Disney album. I have 5 layouts (double page spreads) with 12, 14, 23, 24 and 31 photos! And I tell my story on every one of those layouts. To me, that is scrapbooking.
My Disney Album