Wednesday, May 2, 2012

LOAD, The Reason Why

(Originally posted 27 Jan 2012 for the LOAD blog hop.  I've deleted all of the information pertaining to the hop - but the things I wrote about why I wanted to participate in LOAD remain the same, so I thought I'd share those thoughts on this blog since the hop was actually at my other blog.)

For those of you wondering what LOAD is - please see the post immediately proceeding this one.  It will explain and provide links to every thing you need to know.

This is my first time participating and I must say I'm filled with a myriad of emotions about it.  I'm excited, inspired, nervous, and maybe even a little scared.  (Update: 02 May 2012:  This is now my second time and I'm still excited, inspired and nervous - though I'm not scared anymore. I got over that.  The community is so supportive - now if only I can keep up!)

So why did I choose to participate?  Let me show you a picture...


This is a layout I started working on, oh I don't know, days ago?  And it's still sitting here on my scrap desk without anything being adhered.  I walk past it, move pattern papers around, think about some embellishments that I have that might work, pull those out and lay them on the desk and then, inevitably, I walk away from it.  It sits there mocking me, preventing me from moving on to anything else.  It's not this particular layout that does this - it's all of them.  They all linger because of my expectation of perfection.  What if I choose papers that don't go together?  What if the embellishments don't match?  What if I don't do the picture justice?  What if I don't do the supplies I've chosen justice?  The questions go on and on and so nothing in my scrap room gets done - well, that's not entirely true.  They will get done...eventually.

How does that tie into LOAD?  That's an easily answered question - when you have to make a layout every day, there's no time for this struggle.  The time required to do one layout every day brings the art of scrapbooking back to the basics.  It's not about embellishment.  It's not about the latest and greatest papers.  It's not about what everyone else will think.  It's about that picture and that story and as long as those two things are stuck to that paper (preferably with acid free adhesive - but go on and use chewing gum if it's all you have around), then the objective of scrapbooking has been achieved.  The memories are captured for those to enjoy for years to come.

And honestly, isn't that what this is all about?  Isn't this at its very basic level why we all do this?

So that is why I'm participating - I want to be challenged to let go of the insecurities (since goodness knows I'm in no way artistic) and just create layouts that portray the accurate story.

There will be some obstacles along the way - one of which is the amount of time that I travel.  I'm not one of those people who can add extra stuff to a suitcase.  I don't check baggage and I travel with the smallest possible suitcase.  It's the life of a road warrior - so there's no room for scissors and glue, but I have my computer.  Those days I'm on the road, I'm going to reach outside of my comfort zone and try digital scrapbooking.  There's lots of free kits to get started and it's still getting memories into albums.

There are also added benefits.  It's a great way to get more involved in the online scrapbooking community and to meet others who share my same interests.  Lain is so encouraging.  Her energy just spills out of the computer screen and inspires you.  The community is supportive.

I can't wait to get started, but eeek, is it really only five days away?? (02 May 2012:  EEEEK, it's already here!)









16 comments:

  1. We are in this together - I know I will see lots of lovey layouts posted on the member gallery on Flickr - thanks for a great post - see you next week!
    Jennifer
    @atthebluebarn

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  2. Amen! You are so right -- one of my favorite parts of LOAD is the fact that it strips down the process to what important. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. You hit the nail on the head - LOAD eliminates the struggle of all those decisions! Having that realization before LOAD even starts tells me you are going to be very successful! Can't wait to your work in the gallery!
    Kelli (aka scrapbookgirl71)

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  4. I think you'll enjoy pushing through and just making quick decisions to get pages completed! Can't wait to see your work!

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  5. Thanks for being so honest. As one newbie to another, I know where you're coming from....

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  6. welcome! and don't fear. You will soon be able to quiet those thoughts and push out completed layouts in one day's time. :)

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  7. Great post! I loved reading this and as you know, I can totally relate. LOAD is perfect for people like us. I can't wait to see our pages. Good luck with your journey into digi. I enjoy digi too and often make digi pages during LOAD.

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  8. Gina, what a great blog, you have really let me see you the scrapbooker. I love the picture of your layout it looks great and the colours are just perfect. Plus your are so brave doing digi I really hope you enjoy it on your travels. See you Wednesday.

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  9. Yep, LOAD got me into the routine of starting and finishing a layout in one day. And I scrapbooked similar photos of both my girls with spoons on their noses, LOL! Silly kids ;)

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  10. Great post. I'm new too and think it will push us to push through, if you will. See you in the gallery.

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  11. I love that spoon layout. :)
    You rock!!!!!

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  12. sorry i'm late commenting ;-)

    hope your first load is as much fun for you as it is for me - sounds like you are going to do just fine! see you in the gallery ;-)

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  13. I too walk over to my current layout and do alittle then fret about my next embellishment choice or some other detail and just walk away and come back to it over and over. Sometimes it will be days and I just put the layout away totally not happy with what im doing so far and vow to get it out again some other day. Hate when I do that. Im just glad sometimes it leads to me doing 4 or five others at hyper speed (for me) after I give up on that one. Ive watched alot of Lains scrapinars and read alot of her stuff and shes just queen of the process to me. I have been doing my own load thing lately and its working for me. Tfs!

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  14. Oh yeah and...Chewing Gum! LOLOLOL.

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