Quick Layouts through Product Inspiration

With children, volunteer opportunities, exercise routines and other activities taking up my day, it can be hard to find time to work on my scrapbooks. The most time-consuming part of the process for me involves getting out the supplies, making the multitude of decisions for a layout, and then putting the supplies away. To solve these problems, I learned how to do many layouts in a short time by using the products as inspiration. In half the time, I can complete several layouts that look unique and also allow me to be creative.

Here are a few tips on using your products to save time and provide inspiration:

• Stick to one line of patterned paper. Choose a patterned paper line that appeals to you. Make sure you choose something that really sparks your creativity. I instantly fell in love with the original line of patterned papers by Crate Paper. I bought several sheets of coordinating colors from this paper line and used these papers for several layouts. To save time, use only one coordinating line of paper at a time.
  
  
• Stick to either one or a few coordinating solid colors. Choose a solid base paper that coordinates with the patterned paper line. It may be a selection of cardstock or another solid paper. With the double-sided Crate Paper, I was able to buy extra sheets and use the back side for my base cardstock colors. By choosing the colors I saved time by not having to constantly flip though my cardstock looking for a useable color. I had already chosen what I needed. A quick way to do several layouts at once is to choose one color as your base paper and stick with it for all your layouts. A neutral color like white, black or brown works really well for this technique.
  
  
• Select photographs that coordinate with the paper. Instead of searching for the perfect paper for the photograph, do the opposite. Lay out your patterned papers on a table, and then select photographs for the different patterns. Hold the photographs to the paper until you find something that matches. To save time, choose a series of photographs, a season or an event that coordinates well with the patterned paper.
  
  
• Choose inspiring embellishments. Is there a type of embellishment you often use or something new that you want to use? Go through your embellishments and find embellishments that match your patterned paper and photographs. Choose some of your normal embellishments (examples: flowers, brads, ribbons, decorative tape, letter stickers) and some new embellishments (example: stamping set, rub-ons.) Have fun using embellishments that you enjoy.
  
  
• Limit your embellishments. To save time and space, choose a small selection of embellishments to use. For example, if you choose flowers, only get out the flowers that would match your line of patterned paper. You don't need to get out all of your flowers. If you want to stamp, limit the colors of stamping ink to what would work with your line of patterned paper. Limit the stamps to topics or designs that will fit with your photographs. Limit your choices and you'll save time.
  
  
• Set everything out in view. You've chosen papers, photographs and embellishments. Now lay it all out on your table so you can see it. Leave a small working space. The key here is to have visible the papers and embellishments you want to use, so you can easily see what is available.
  
  
• Create. With many choices already made, now proceed with creating your layouts. You can complete one layout, set it aside and immediately begin working on your next layout. Your papers and products are already in front of you ready to be used. If you have scraps of paper just set them aside and maybe you'll use them on another layout.

Here are several layouts I made quickly using this process:

There are a couple advantages to scrapping with the product as inspiration:

• Saves time
• Keeps a ll the needed papers and embellishments in sight while scrapping
• Creates less mess to clean up between layouts
• Uses embellishments that are inspiring and fun

So, next time you're inspired by a product, use that product as a springboard for scrapping several layouts. With a little planning, you'll be able to complete several layouts in a shorter period of time.