By Jen White

It started off with just one. Manageable. Quiet.

Then they just kept on coming. I’m talking about my nieces, of course.

I now have 5 little girlies to call my own. They are ages 4, 3, 2, 1, and newborn.

When photo opportunities arise, I am hard-pressed, however, to get them all in one photo.

Just when I think I’ve got them all together, I have to chase after one gone astray.

I do better if I get just one at a time. That’s when we can truly connect.

When I started digital scrapbooking, things were very similar.

It began off with just me and my Elements.

Then I met Digital Scrapper and well, they just kept on coming.

With Premier I was getting the kits, the tutorials, the tips. It was like Christmas every month!

But, not being a multi-tasker, I found myself quickly overwhelmed.

It was very difficult for me to learn a new program and be creative at the same time.

I actually found myself just not doing anything, because the task was too big.

I fell victim to the Scrapbooking Blues!

How about you? Feeling overwhelmed? Know that you are not alone.

Digital scrapbooking, like any refined skill, is learned. It takes time.

My biggest piece of advice — if your scrapbooking hobby is no longer feeling manageable and quiet…

Scraplift.
Seriously… it’s OK. No one will think less of you. In fact, it’s considered a compliment in most circles. All that’s expected of you is to give credit to the original page being lifted.

The two images above were the target one of my first scraplifts ever. This two-page spread was designed by Digital Scrapper member ncscrapper back in 2006. She used the kit Tradition by Heather Ann Designs.

And here is my scraplift from February 2007. I didn’t have Heather Ann’s kit, so I made all the papers and elements myself using my new skills (thanks, Linda) and my Photoshop Elements 5.0. Because someone else had already done the ‘creative’ part of designing the page, the papers, and the elements, all I had to do was sit and try to copy all that I saw.

Scraplifting helped me to focus on the ‘how’ of the program. Before long, I was trying my hand at more complicated layouts.

Eventually I felt comfortable enough with my skills that I could focus on the creative aspect and be original.

So, just to encourage you…If you are feeling a bit of the Scrapbooking Blues, let your buddies here at Digital Scrapper help you along. Try a little scraplifting and see if that helps.

And just for one more quick example of scraplifting, check out this page that we used for a past Scraplift Challenge:

and how our winner of the challenge, connieg, interpreted it:

This Digital Scrapper Blog article has been by Jen White. To see more of her beautiful pages, check out her gallery here.