Reviewing BPC Non-Transferring Classes

I completed the goal I set for myself on Monday, and I've made some more progress on item number 39 (review all paid for scrapbook classes) on my 50 Things To Do Before I'm 50 list as I completed my review and saved materials from the 54 classes in my old BPC account that are not being transferred to the new site.

Almost half (25) of the classes on that list were actually free classes offered by BPC over the years - Creative Crops and Big Idea Festivals and a variety of self-paced classes. Most of those classes I participated in at the time, so I simply scrolled through the classrooms and saved any handouts or digital elements I wanted to add to my stash. Nineteen of the classes are ones that I actively participated in during the live class or completed on my own, so again I simply scrolled through and saved any materials (or checked that I had already saved the materials) I wanted to keep.

Nine of the remaining ten classes are ones that I'm not inspired to work on right now. Some are projects that I'm not interested in currently but would like to try later on. A few are filled with journaling and story prompts that I definitely want to work through, however as I am striving to complete several scrapbook projects this year I am more interested in layout design INSPIRATION right now. So, once again, for these classes, I simply saved the materials I wanted to keep.

I did re-read all the materials in the Finding Your Way class, which I participated in during the live run in early 2011. At that time, I actually printed out the handouts and audio transcripts for the class and put them in a binder, which has sat untouched since then. I thoroughly enjoyed a read-through of all those materials and reminders to find the way that works best for me to scrapbook. Then, rather than put the binder back on the shelf to collect dust, I cut out (quite a few) layouts that I want to scraplift and added them to my INSPIRATION notebook.

Well, actually I didn't add them ALL to my notebook - I kept these three out to use as INSPIRATION right away. You can see that I've made a note of the layouts I have in mind for each one.

Despite the fact that I have all these layouts to scraplift, I'm not worried that I'll end up with a pile of layouts that look like Karen's because I'm not copying them exactly, simply using the INSPIRATION from each one to create my own unique layout. Here's my layout based on the example on the left above.

I borrowed the idea of creating a border with strips of patterned paper, using a variety of letter stickers to create a longer title, and adding three embellishment clusters along the top and sides of the layout.

While I don't think I have a definitive scrapbooking style per se, I do know that there are certain things that make scrapbooking FUN for me:
1. I must have photos printed and ready to go when I'm inspired to scrap.
2. I like to scrap as INSPIRATION strikes, not on a schedule.
3. I like to scraplift! I can get started quickly on a layout if I have an INSPIRATION piece to scraplift and photos ready to go.
4. I love happy colors, so I rarely have neutral or muted-color layouts.
5. I include journaling on most of my layouts, but it's ok to have a layout without journaling. My completed albums tell the story of our lives, not each page alone so it's ok to have more journaling on some, less on others, or none at all.
6. I like a cardstock base that's mostly covered with a pattered paper background.
7. Having a well-stocked craft room makes it easy to scrap anytime and keeping it organized is a FUN part of this hobby.

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?