11.09.2011

Bringin' Out the Old Stuff

Your request has been heard.  I am throwing it all out there.  Be kind!

LOL, yesterday I shared my first '2nd Start' layout.  Today, I'll share with you my very first paper layout.  And a few others from that genre so you can see the progression as it happened.

While I'm at it, I'll tell you how I got into scrapping in the first place.

I'd had several friends over the course of a few years invite me to a Creative Memories event.  I was a quilter at that time and didn't want to get myself involved in yet another craft.  (I was already spending too much on fabric, LOL)

However, one friend finally conned me into coming to her event.  She was a CM demonstrator and the party was at her house.  One session and I was hooked.

It was like quilting!  Only much much faster and more satisfying!  And so, the saga begins.  Here is my very first page, done at a CM party in just a wee bit of time.



I was given very little to work with as you can see, a corner rounder, an oval cutter (she told me I could CUT my photos!!!  Revolutionary!), 2 already cut paper shapes and a couple of stickers.

I was hooked.

I did a number of other pages like this and made two page spreads to fit inside my CM binder. I documented our trip the North East.



I even used ephemera from our trip (and I'm so glad that I did)







I went on and started documenting some of our home-school field trips.







Two things happened next.  I went to my local Joann's and found a magazine on Scrapbooking. I discovered that lots of other people did this and that they did it with a lot more freedom than I was experiencing on my pages.

I went to my CD rep and asked about the varieties of paper and various embellishments I'd seen elsewhere and could I get them from Creative Memories.  In no uncertain terms she told me that I could NOT even begin to trust those products as they could not be guaranteed to be acid free.  She told me I really had better not risk my precious memories with the use of such inferior materials.

I'm afraid she didn't know me very well.  Telling me that was the surest way to get me to go out and forget all about Creative Memories and their acid free products.  I couldn't be boxed in and I would have my way with lovely patterned paper thank you very much!

Off I went to the Local Scrapbook Store and Joann's and Michael's from which I stocked my craft room with all kinds of scrappy goodness. Phase 2 had begun.

This is the first Phase 2 layout.



And here is the second.  I bet some of you will recall the page templates that created these wonderful blocks. I can't recall the name anymore, but they were plastic and gave you a grid design to work off of.  That is where this next layout came from. (by the way, I NEVER use purple anymore, how funny!)



I'd quickly joined ranks with the 'altered materials' people and began using metals and fibers and fonts and whatever else I could get my hands on.  There is a bit more where these came from but this will give you the idea of where I started.

There was a second part of Phase 2.  That was photography.  You'll notice that in my first pages, the photos were pretty typical of what we were all taking at that time.  Photos filled with 'place' and teeny tiny people somewhere in amongst the scenery.   I realized rather quickly that my photos were lacking and you'll see from these first two layouts from phase 2 that I'd already done a whole of learning in the area of photography.

The truth is, I am so very grateful to that Creative Memories representative.  It was she that started me down this road.  I would have never discovered my love of paper crafting or my love of photography if it hadn't been for her.  Thanks Betsy!

I love looking back at these beginnings.  And I'm proud of where I started and how far I've come. I hope you enjoyed taking this little trip down memory lane as well!

Have a happy day!

29 comments:

  1. How fun! I love looking back at older layouts and seeing the progression! Even if they do make you cringe it is awesome to be able to look back on those memories!

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  2. I love looking back and seeing how much a person has changed or grown over time...a great reason to NOT go back and change or update early layouts. :) Thanks for sharing!

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  3. It looks like you and I took EXACTLY the same path to scrapbooking...my MIL was a Creative Memories consultant, and got me started. I'm thankful for the love of scrapbooking that she started, not so much the CM style..... :)
    I love that you shared this!

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  4. Thanks for sharing your first layouts. And thanks to the lady at Creative Memories to bring you to scrapbooking, otherwise I´d miss your inspiration!

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  5. I love your early layouts, I have a whole album like that myself. It is so much fun so see how we "grow" over the years.

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  6. Well, we all had to start somewhere! I think they are great Ursula! Most importantly they tell the story with pics and deco!

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  7. Thanks for sharing Ursula! I too, remember the CM Consultant telling me that other supplies could not me trusted! lol! that made me laugh reading that!

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  8. I was with CM for 7 years~learned so much about sb'ing~It was hard to leave CM but I have never looked back!

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  9. I remember asking the CM consultant about adding real ribbon to the layout and the look of horror that came onto her face! Hee hee! That's when she lost me.

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  10. LOL I think most of us started there, and I have a few books to prove it. I love how you grow and change your style. But CM did give us all the confidence to start.

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  11. Thanks for sharing! I just found this board and love your trip down memory lane. I, too, was turned off by CM consultants acting like their way was the only way. LOL However, I do regularly scrap now with a CM group and the consultant turns her eye away from our contraband! :D LOL I buy stuff from her but also Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Again, I loved your layouts and we are also a homeschooling family!

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  12. Thanks for sharing! It is soo nice to see how you started out :)

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  13. oh Ursula!! I love it!!! Mine look exactly the same!!! LOL!! Thanks for posting!!!

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  14. Great post! My start was very similar to yours. I am greatful to CM because they taught me the basics. I was at a CM crop when a friend introduced me to Bazzill card stock! I was immediately hooked and never looked back.

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  15. You've come such a long way and I think you're brave for sharing :)

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  16. You are a brave girl. Lol... This definately was a trip back down memory lane. Thanks for sharing!

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  17. It is fun to look back, isn't it? I recognize some of your techniques - the circle journaling actually made me giggle because I've done it, too! Thanks, as always, for sharing.

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  18. Your layouts look my first CM layouts too! They never change their style LOL! I'm glad I got started with CM but also glad I moved on from something so basic. Thanks for sharing!

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  19. Looks familiar. What makes me cringe most about my first page is that I used EVERY COLOR of Pigma pen for my journaling. But it got me started, and I do have completed albums. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. Thanks for sharing these!! I'm sure everyone's first layouts look like these... it's like baby steps :) I'm glad you've moved on, though, cause then I wouldn't see your gorgeous layouts the way they are now.

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  21. this is fun to see ursula...i have very similar pages, from both "beginnings"!

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  22. How fun...I might have to lift you and do a blog post like this, too!

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  23. Love this post! I was a cross stitcher and thrilled to find a hobby where a project could be completed in so little time. Got started with CM and have a whole shelf of albums like yours! I've since moved on, but will always be grateful for CM.

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  24. Ah, thanks for sharing these. So many of us started out the same way! I have very similar looking pages in my first album. And I wouldn't change them for anything. It's a good thing to see how far we've come, both as scrapbookers and photographers. :)

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  25. I started with CM too and I'm afraid my pages look about the same as yours! It gives me hope to see yours that someday my pages might be almost as good as yours and the ones I see in the SC gallery!

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  26. Cool. TFS your journey, one that parralels one that so many of us have taken.

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  27. LOVE this post. i came across some of my very first layouts and cards the other day. makes me wonder what we will think of our current creative style 10 years from now.

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  28. How Fun. Your first layouts look just like mine ;-)

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