And why I am a member
I have been a member of ScrapHappy since 2012 – my first LOAD was LOAD212: Past Perfect.
There were only a couple of scrapbooking shops here in Perth (Western Australia) but I didn’t go to crops – and I didn’t have a group of friends to scrap with. There was a Creative Memories group crop, which I attended a couple of times, but the vibe didn’t gel with my own SlapHappy (TM) style. I bought all the magazines that we could get in Australia (and I mean all), so I knew all the US Scrapbookers. I found Layout a Day online through Big Picture Scrapbooking and dipped my toe in the online scrappy waters – I was thrilled to find something that I could relate to and be part of.
The lead up to that first LOAD, for me, was terrifying – as a shy Brit, I was intimidated by all the super friendly scrapbookers in the chat, and I did not want to fail. I read the instructions over and over, and got butterflies while I waited for the first prompt. I was not alone – the chat was buzzing with posts such as:
- Help, I don’t have enough tape runner!
- What do I cook for my family during this time?!
- My internet is poor – what if I am late?
- How do we title the pages?
Posting my first layout was a nerve-wracking event for me. What if people didn’t like it? What if I am no good? What if I don’t get any comments? That sort of thing. Well, I received five wonderful comments, and I was hooked (we now know they are dopamine hits but oh, boy – I felt accepted!). Throughout the LOADs, often the same people would comment, and I have since struck up real friendships with some of those ladies and been fortunate enough to be invited to stay with a couple of them when I have come to the US to attend retreats. Retreats are the best – you get to meet your virtual friends, enjoy a weekend of learning and laughter, good food and some side quests to fun places. And buy stuff. ScrapHappy is more than just LOAD, with a great community, inspiration by the truckload with all the fabulous layouts posted in the LOAD galleries, challenges, Sara’s Scrap School and other tutorials and of course, Alice’s monthly Scrapbook Lives.
With LOAD, I try very hard to follow the prompts and I often take photos to fit them (does anyone else do that?) but sometimes resort to the technique prompts. Some of my favourite layouts are so far out of left field (like my nails) that they make me laugh when I look back through my albums.
I don’t think I have ever missed a LOAD willingly. Life has taken over on more than one occasion and I may have only managed a couple of pages. That is OK – better some than none! I can proudly state that I have finished at least 4 of the many LOADs I have take part in …
I was asked to post 2-3 of my layouts that I have made and previously shared here. I chose the following layouts because the first one was a perfect snapshot of how I felt at the time, the second used a 25 year old photo and the last one is just a random fun page.
LOAD1020 The Royals – Day 13
I went with the story prompt: ‘Scrapbook about something that feels big, vast or important in your life’. I also incorporated the technique prompt ‘Use a powerful colour, title or statement/quote on your layout’. I have so many Project Life cards and this is a perfect way to use them as the patterned paper, as it were. I stuck them at an angle as the selfie I took was actually at an angle (did I do that deliberately??). I allowed them to hang off the page and trimmed them. I then I dug out some elements and stickers with similar colours to fill in some of the gaps.
LOAD1020 The Royals – Day 7
I started with metallic paint, dotted down the side and used a large spatula to pull it across the page. After that was dry, I smooshed texture paste through a heart stencil and sprinkled light blue glitter over the result.
I stamped butterflies with pastel colours on vellum, die cut them and then applied glitter glue. This warped the vellum but I appreciated the dimension. More pocket page cards behind the photo and for a journalling spot, on which I used a toning ink, to keep the layout light. A couple more elements and it was done.
LOAD1020 The Royals – Day 11
I used the technique prompt for this which was ‘use a rainbow’ – I couldn’t relate to the story prompt, regarding clothing colours at that point. The funny thing about my page is that I literally had hundreds of colours of nail polish to choose from at the salon and I went with a nude! Bali is tropical so my rainbow was relevant. I also forgot to put the date on the layout (bad, bad me).
I keep a box full of scraps and pieces where I have played with mixed media. They are very useful as filler pieces. This is what I used for the rainbow behind the photos – when I put adhesive on my photos, I never do it do the edge. This enables me to stuff embellishments and the like behind them without having to pull the pic up.
I have no idea why all of the layouts I have chosen were from the same LOAD – I think it was because I was in a real creative groove during 2020!
Thank you for coming on this journey to 2020 with me! I will continue to be a member of ScrapHappy for as long as there is a ScrapHappy! I am excited and proud to be a part of the design team and, as my life has become more settled, intend to participate in the fabulous challenges here. I may even revisit some old (missed) LOAD prompts!