Scrapropos

Megan Clappin is a happy homeschooling mom-of-three (Lexie, 10; Katya, 8; and Ty, 3) who lives and scraps in Northern California. She’s been married for 14 years to her best friend Brian, who sacrificed half of his home office for her scrapbooking habit. Megan has been a Creative Memories consultant since 1999, but she’s mostly a hobbyist now to support her own habit. “I’m my own best customer!”, she laughed. She’s still loyal to the CM brand, but has begun to branch out with other papers recently. Megan is taking night classes (she’s studying to be a nurse!), and her studies have been cutting into her scrapping time lately. Even so, she manages to carve out a little bit of time here and there for her photos, and the stories she wants them to tell.

How did you get started scrapbooking?
When Katya was born, I asked Brian to have all of the birth photos printed. He knew I wanted 4×6, but the lab offered “4-inch” and “5-inch”. He ordered the 5″ by mistake, so I ended up with a big stack of 5×7 birth photos! I couldn’t find photo sleeve albums with 5×7 slots, so I was stuck. Not long after, I met a Creative Memories consultant and was introduced to CM, but the 12×12 albums totally intimidated me. Then I met another CMC who showed me her 8×10 albums, and that size seemed so much more manageable. I thought, “I know what to do with all those 5×7s now!” After one album, I realized that 8×10 was so unrealistic so I switched to 12×12 and never looked back.

When you hit a creative wall, how do you work your way around it?
A lot of times just taking a break and stepping away is very helpful. Staring at the page, what bothers me most is white space. I just don’t like it. What do I with it? I tend to do color blocking and so a lot of times I just use whatever’s sitting there on my desk. Scraps. As I’ve gone on and I’ve done more through the years, I’ve learned there are just some pages you just hate, and you just have to move on.

That’s such good advice! I currently have two layouts, using the same pictures. I hate them both, but I’ve decided it is okay. I’m moving on. lol!

What influences have made you the scrapper you are today?
The way my family enjoys seeing the pictures is really important. One of the things I do a lot is a lot of journaling. What has influenced me that way is going through the cardboard boxes of pictures in my grandparents’ house and just seeing all these unlabled pictures that have become meaningless to people because they don’t have stories to go with them and we don’t even know who the people are anymore. And I don’t want my pictures to become those someday. They’re the neatest pictures but unless you know who they are, they’re not meaningful to anyone.

For layout ideas and inspiration, I primarily use ScrapShare.com. And lately, in trying to cultivate my creativy, I’ve been finding inspiration in advertisements. At Mervyns one day, I saw a wall display with all these shades of blue - like colorblocking - and I liked it, and thought, “That would make a great scrapbook page!” I actually went home and used that inspiration to make my birthday page. (click to enlarge)

How do you approach a layout once you’ve chosen the photos?
Typically, I think, “How many photos can I cram on a page?” I go through all my swap borders to see if I have anything that fits the theme. Then usually I play with the pictures on Power Layout guides just to see how I want them to lay out, and then I crop and get them laid out. Then depending on whether or not I’m using a border, I pull out appropriate papers. Then I journal. I made a commitment to myself not to go on to next page until I journal. It’s been a very good discipline for me, because I feel like it’s the most important aspect of scrapping, and yet I don’t enjoy doing it. I’d rather scrap! So I make myself journal before I go on to the next page.

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
Simplistic. I’m very -I don’t know- I’m all about very simple lines. I do elaborate pages very rarely. I don’t corner round like I used to. I consider mine a classic look. Very simple.

What is your best organizing tip?
I’m an organizer-aholic. I love cubby holes and pen holders and things.
I love -and I know a lot of people won’t necessarily agree with me - but I love CM’s sticker decofile. I have all the little tabs labeled by Fall and Spring, etc. It’s very handy because I go and pull what I need if I happen to want to use stickers.

I try to clean up as I go. I’m not great at it, and I don’t always hold to it, but at least every couple of pages, I’ll gather all my scraps and put all my stickers away and put my pens away, and it’s like a clean work space again.

Where do you scrap?
I stole my husband’s office! I used to have a scrapbook room before Ty came along. When I was pregnant with him, we took the scraproom/school room and it became the girls’ room. Their room became the nursery, and I took over the computer desk in my husband’s office. Sometimes, during certain TV seasons, like the Olympics, I’ll bring out a card table in front of the fireplace and bring a power layout box with me and scrap in front of the TV.

How do you find time to scrap?
I’m slowly perfecting the art of grabbing a few mintues here and there, like when Ty’s napping in the afternoon… and I sometimes grab some time in the evenings. Last November, I went to my first scrapbook retreat. I got 70 pages done in two days! I did my whole cruise album that weekend.

I still haven’t gotten the hang of…
hand lettering! I really wish I could do some of that gorgeous handwriting that I see others do. I have not gotten that down and I wish I could.

What’s your favorite page and why?
The title page in Ty’s baby book is my favorite! You’ll enjoy this: it was actually inspired by one you did for one of your boys. I saw it years ago and filed it so I could remember it, in case I ever had another baby. When Ty was born, I came across that file and was so excited to remember it. I love that page mostly for sentimental reasons.

Do you have a favorite manufacturer?
I use a lot of CM because I’m a CMC. But besides that, I like Basic Grey, especially their monograms. That’s the first thing I bought of theirs. I like their papers, too.

I can’t get enough…
Stickers! I don’t use them as much as I used to, but I’m still a sticker collector. I’m a child of the ’80s, so it’s natural. Remember sticker albums? lol! And paper. At least I use the paper!

Do you have a favorite tool?
I couldn’t scrap without my personal trimmer by CM.

Tell me about your first page.
Actually, it’s not that ugly! I went to my first workshop and brought all my pregnancy and birth pics of Katya. It’s a 2-page 8×10 spread with 4 photos, all cut in ovals, which I traced and cut. I had purchased some stuff at Walmart -funky little stickers. The whole background of the page is decorated with tiny dots. I told you I didn’t like white space! Even back then I guess I didn’t like it. All of my lettering is the dot lettering, where you draw a big dot on the end of the letters.
Another sign of being a child of the ’80s!
(laughing) Yah. At least it’s journaled.

Besides the obvious gift that scrapping is for your family, why do you enjoy it?
I think I’m actually good at it. I found something that I’m good at, that I’m interested in, and it’s something I can do. I don’t paint, I don’t write. I don’t do a lot of other creative outlet things. But this gives me a good outlet, and it’s just good downtime. I feel like I’m doing something procutive in my liesure.

You knew you were a scrapbooker when…
immediately. I saw how all the pages went together compared to slide-in-pockets. It turned pictures into stories rather than just snaps of life. But I knew for real that I was true scrapbooker when I started buying stickers because they match so-and-so’s dress. LOL!

What do you think is your strongest ability, scrap-wise?
I have fairly good printing. I match up odd mixes of colors, but people tell me that I have a good eye for color.

Is there anything else you do when you’re scrapping that keeps you moving along? Music in the background. iPod or radio. Generally, I don’t scrap in quiet, mostly because my house is NEVER quiet and I wouldn’t know how to function. LOL! Chocolate is always good. I keep something hidden in my desk.

What’s your best advice for a beginning scrapbooker?
Don’t allow yourself to become overwhemed with the choices. There are dozens of stickers for this page, and dozens for that one. Same with pieces of paper. Keep it simple. You can always branch out, but start simply. You can always add to it later. Being caught up in a lot of choices becomes distracting to what you’re trying to do.

Anything else our readers should know about you?
I’m a pretty avid swapper and paper piecer. One of my favorite pages features a paper piecing I did, of Olivia.

Creative Memories, CM, Basic Grey, scrapbooking, scrapbooker, journaling, photos