As a ScrapHappy Member, I have just participated in another LOAD Challenge. That’s our LayOut A Day challenge and we do it three times a year. February and May are open to the public, but October is special. It’s just for the members, and it’s created BY the members (yep, we help write the prompts).
Now, you may notice I said “participated in” not “completed”. I managed 9 layouts (10 if you count my Featured Designer Layout) over the 31 days of LOAD. Not my best performance, but not my worst either. I am in the early stages of setting up a new business out of my home which you’d think, with the proximity to my scrappy supplies, would allow for more “play time”. Sadly, not this month!
No matter how many layouts I manage during a LOAD month, I am always inspired by the layouts that flood the gallery in our private forum. Here’s a sneak peek into that private area.
We use a platform called Circle which allows us to create spaces for each LOAD challenge. You can see them listed down the left side of the photo. That’s not all of them, just the ones that would fit in the screen! It’s so easy to find the prompt for the day, to add your photo to the gallery, and then to scroll through it and see everyone else’s.
The other bonus of having this private forum is that it’s well … private! Sometimes the prompt can trigger a memory and lead you to tell a story that you maybe don’t want to share to your public social media accounts. This guarantee of privacy allows more freedom when it comes to telling those stories. I have told some really tough ones over the years because of a LOAD prompt.
Which leads me to my first lesson.
1. Lean Into the Hard Stories
As Alice prepares for a LOAD challenge, she asks the ScrapHappy members if anyone wants to be a Featured Designer. That means you get the prompt before the challenge starts, you create a layout and then send it to her so she can add it into her video prompt for that day. This was mine for LOAD522 when the prompt was inspired by the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and rising from the ashes.
See what I mean, hard stories! And yet, they can inspire beautiful ideas. Like creating that Phoenix cut file to use on this layout. Would I have told the story of this photo in this way if I hadn’t been inspired by Alice’s prompt? Doubtful. But man, what a cool way to start the conversation. I didn’t add much journaling to this layout and I have so much more to say. Put that on my “to do” list for a future LOAD.
But life isn’t all hard stories, right?
2. Love the Little Moments
It can be extremely hard to scrapbook a layout a day for 28 or 31 days! There are a couple things that make it easier. One is to have a project you mean to work on. For LOAD522 I was trying to get more stories from our 2017 trip to Britain and Paris in my album. So I used these photos of Big Ben to tell a story that fit both my travel album, and the story prompt. (In case you’re curious, the prompt was to scrapbook about something that hasn’t seemed to change even with the passage of time, and for technique we were to use clocks or gears on our layout).
The other tip for completing a layout every day, is to have photos already printed from a variety of times, events and covering many different topics. Got the photos? You’re half way there!
It is so easy as scrapbokers, to get wrapped up in the idea that we must “be caught up”, that we aren’t “doing our jobs” if we haven’t created baby albums for each child, a wedding album, and documented every Christmas, Thanksiving, family holiday, and birthday. That kind of thinking doesn’t always allow room for the little moments like what kind of mug you drank your coffee from in 2022.
LOAD has given me permission to scrapbook my coffee mugs, my daily routine, my crochet obsession, and my dogs antics in ways I would never have dreamt of if I was only focussed on scrapbooking all my major family events. Does that mean I’m not “caught up”? You better believe it! And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I will literally never run out of stories because I’ve learned, thanks to LOAD, that it’s not only okay, but it’s important to have fun, use my pretty supplies, and tell the little stories.
And also, LOAD is a chance to
3. Let Your Creativity Loose
This layout was made during the most recent LOAD which was inspired by the women of Pop Music. A lot of my layouts had sparkle on them which just seemed appropriate. One of the most recent sparkly additions to my stash are Tim Holtz’s Distress Spritz Sprays and I’ve been attempting to use every colour of the 12-pack that I bought (I think I’m over half way if you’re interested). For this layout, I used the story prompt and the general theme as an excuse to play with techniques and products I don’t normally play with.
And that’s what is great about LOAD. Every day comes with two prompts – a story prompt and a technique prompt. Those technique prompts can be the excuse you need to cover your layout in sequins, or break out your watercolours, or get messy with some mixed media.
You never know what’s going to happen on a LOAD day!
I hope you’ve been inspired to try a LOAD challenge if you haven’t already. If you want to know more about LOAD, the ScrapHappy Membership, and all the other FREE events we put on, you need to sign up for our newsletter. Every Friday we send out 5 quick things for you to learn about. Subscribe today and maybe, during the next LOAD, we will see YOU in the Gallery!