Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Tips for the time crunched scrapper

What's a busy girl to do, when life gets hectic and her creative time is measured in minutes instead of hours? When left to my own devices, I'm a pretty slow scrapper. I fiddle and putter, pull this out and that, arrange and rearrange. I can spend several hours on one layout or even days. But time is precious and though the creative process is one of the main reasons I scrap, I also like to have some finished pages.

A few things that draw out the hidden Speedy Gonzales scrapper in me:

1. Scrap lift, CASE, copy - don't reinvent the wheel. If someone designed a great page, use it as inspiration! It might be just an element or two, perhaps the title work or photo placement, or it could be the entire page. Just remember to credit your inspiration.


A 15 minute layout! Might be a record for me. This was lifted from the lovely Joy Madison, former design team member at Studio Calico. This was the very first layout I added to my favorites when I joined SC almost three years ago and the design is classic. Loved her woven patterned paper frame with the photo right on the edge. I added a couple of embellishments, but overall my page is a direct lift of Joy's.
SC's Into the Woods kit and add-ons, with some green brads from my stash.


I'm a devoted Lisa Dickinson follower. She has great style and a wonderful sense of humor. Her grid layouts are second to none. I think I've pinned or favorited every one of her layouts. Another pretty direct lift, using Studio Calico's fabulous new State Fair line and wood veneer stars plus some tiny alphas from Jillibean Soup. This one took about 30 minutes.



Jenn Olson is another former SC design team member whose work I really miss seeing on the forum. I loved her large number title with one enlarged picture. Scrap time? About 20 minutes and it would have been shorter, but I decided to do a little stitching between my ribbon and photo.

Large alpha from Pink Paislee, ribbon and jute from Jillibean Soup, stamps from Ali Edwards (Technique Tuesday) and wood veneer heart from Studio Calico. The stamped hearts are embossed with Red Glitter Zing.

Three layouts, all done in 30 minutes or less. Scrap lifting can definitely be a busy girl's best friend!

Come back tomorrow for another time crunched tip :)

5 comments:

Jennifer said...

Reunion is so cute!! :)

Gioconda said...

all of your layouts are great. and the fact that you did them so quick is inspiring.

jamie long said...

jenn was before my time at sc, but I definitely miss Joy too. I also like to scraplift myself when I loose my mojo.

Kelly Noel said...

such great layouts!! scraplifting is definitely the way to go when you're short on time.

lisa truesdell said...

La-ove! Lifting is such a great resource, and now you have 3 beautiful pages to add to your books!!