SB- Power Layout....what do you think?

[Lesley]

It seems that most of you are familiar with CM...and I assume familiar with the concept of power layout (where you lay out an entire album at one time....supposed to be time saving I guess...plus give you better organization of the album)

I just did a power layout of my ds's first 18 months and I'm in the process of putting it together. I'm trying to decide if I want to try doing power layout again in the future. The process just seems so different when I have all my pics and paper and stuff picked out ahead of time....it feels less creative, though I'm actually giving the pages more attention than I would if I were going one by one just trying to get them done.

I have in the past done sort of a mini power layout....setting up 4-6 pages of an event before actually doing the assembly. This seemed to work well for me.

Any thoughts? What other approaches do you use?

 

[yummy72]

Lesley-

I'm not too good at the power layout thing. I tend to try to get either too creative or stuck on an idea. I am a former CMC, so I am familiar with it. I keep my pictures, memoribilia, paper, stickers etc... in those top loading sleeve protector things from the office supply store in a 3 ring binder in the order I would like them to go in my albums. Then as I get new pictures developed, by new sb stuff, I add them at the back. When I have a chance to crop or go to a crop, I just grab that binder (already has everything inside)my album pages, tools and go. I get a lot done that way, because it is all set up ahead of time. Also if I have a layout idea or title or journaling idea, I jot it down and stick it in there as well. This is what works best for me. I also think it depends on what kind of album you are working on and how much time you want to spend with each page. I complete my whole page at one sitting. I don't return later to journal. Anyway, hope you find a method that works best for you too!
Happy Scrappin'
Candi

 

[chessie]

I don’t know if I could have the self-discipline and foresight to be able to do an entire album that way. I would get too overwhelmed. I have to task analysis even the simplest tasks.

Sometimes what is in my head doesn’t always translate to the page quite the way I had hoped. The day I discover Hemafix (an adhesive that can be removed and replaced) was a landmark day for me.

I do put everything that I plan to use on a page together though. It makes me more productive at crops.

Chessie

 

[Lesley]

What I had been doing up until now was starting a page by selecting the photos, cropping them, picking out my paper and making a general plan....then I put it together and use stickers, die cuts or punchies to enhance it. Sometimes I would have one "theme" that carried onto several pages, so I would plan all those pages at once.

I also did a file folder system to take to crops...just put the pics and paper (and stickers if I had them in mind for the pages) in a file folder and then I'd crop and assemble them one theme at a time.

I guess there's just so many ways to approach it!

 

[mickey4ver]

I agonize over my page lay-outs way too much to ever be a power lay-out kinda gal!

Its awful to be that way. My pages aren't that elaborate, but I just get goofy about how each thing is placed. I've made mistakes, but that is what makes your album personal and truly yours.

I know they stress journaling so much, and I just don't care to do it. But again, I figure it is my album and I'll do them as I like them and enjoy them.

mickey4ver

 

[LindaBabe]

After attending a crop at my local scrapbook store and being unable to get started - just wasted about 3 hours, my shopkeeper Kris suggested that next time I bring my pictures to select paper and embellishments to go with them.

I brought about 10 page protectors full of pictures grouped and did that. I felt so efficient when I was ready to scrap them - it was like i had a running start.

When I got home, I did the same thing with more pages and my own considerable stock of paper, inserting sticky notes when I didn't have the sticker or sufficient paper of a certain color. Next time I went to the scrapstore, my Shopping was easier because I knew exactly what I needed.

Sometimes, I just don't feel like cutting and pasting - but have got enough attention span to match paper. Then when I am ready to crop, I have a selection of pages ready to go - just pick the topic that appeals on that particular day. I've done 37 pages thus far this month using this method.

 

[lisaschu]

I think the key with Power Layouts is to not look at it as a scrapping technique. It's really an organization technique. My suggestion is to modify the system to make it work for you. That's what I did. Instead of laying out all the pages and then figuring out what pictures I want to use, I organize my pictures, memorabilia and other items I am going to put on the same page. I crop the photos down and then as I'm scrapping, I figure out what paper and/or stickers I'm going to use.

Personally, I think getting organized is more than half the battle of scrapping. How many times have you sat down to scrap and didn't have your photos organized so you didn't know what you were doing? It helps to have some level of organization going.

 

[BevS97]

This is quite an interesting thread. Up till now, I have been just shuffling through my pics, finding a few that go together, then searching through my paper - very
slow process and it takes me hours just to get started.

Last night I went through all the photos from our disney trip, and grouped them very loosely (they were sorted by date, but now I've grouped them by page)

Some of the groupings, like the parade I have too many photos' for one layout, but I've just put them all together into one page protector. I am hoping that when I go to work on them tonight it will be easier to get started, having eliminated one step of the process.

As for the power layout - I am toying with this idea for a small (6x8) wedding book I want to do after my brother's wedding next week. If I am going to make a book (for my mum) then I need to make it quickly so that she can have it to show off to all her friends. I quite like the idea of an ABC book, and thought I might layout all the pages on the table and do it all at once. I'll let you know how it works.

Bev

 

[Lesley]

I think what discouraged me about doing the power layout was that I ended up doing all the photo selection, etc...that I would usually do before a crop, at the workshop and even though I did get something like 18 pages layed out, I only finished one. It started feeling like an assembly line kind of project instead of art. And I really felt slowed down....at the previous crop I attended I got 41 pages completed (it was an overnighter!)

Perhaps what I will try is my old system...and use some of the ideas of power layout to streamline it. I love using the album box...though I do defeat the intended purpose of this to some degree because after I'm done I toss the box into my album tote and all the stuff slides. And I love the power layout idea for a themed album so that I can keep continuity....one of my goals for my next Disney album (and the one from 1999 that I still have to do). I don't know that its the best thing for me to use with my family album, though. Part of the charm of the family album is that it hops from one thing to the next. And perhaps it wasn't necessary for my ds's album.

There's always more to learn....that's what I love about life!