Evolution of a scrapper

I actually finished this yesterday, but was really hoping I'd be able to do another. I have no idea what I was thinking. This pic was taken Feb 2006ish & I did use my Fiskar border punch on the top & bottom of my background paper. Can you tell I'm lovin' these punches. Now why did I go sell all my punches on Ebay 2-years ago?

So, last night while I'm trying to sleep & couldn't because of my coughing fits, I started thinking of how I have evolved in my scrapping...........where it started, where it has taken me & where I am now. My mind started spinning, so to entertain myself, I think I'll lay it all out:


I started scrapping in 1998, at a time when everyone cut their pictures out w/decorative scissors & drew shapes, free-form on their paper with pens & stuck stickers wherever they landed on the paper. If you didn't start at that time...................that's good.............you didn't miss much because it's all come full circle, minus the sticker sneeze. My style quickly evolved into a clean, linear look. Very blocked & very much like Cathy Zielske's work. I did ALL my layouts in 2-pagers & it took me days, sometimes a week or more to do ONE layout, which was ALWAYS 12x12.


Jump forward to 2004 & I make a decision to start making & selling handmade items on Ebay. Once again, a totally different style with lots of machine-stitching & photo matting, but a new & profitable experience. By 2005 my style was trying to change some and though I wasn't as clean & linear as I had been, I was still a clean scrapper. I decided to dabble in on-line design teams & thus started my venture of entering on-line contests & submitting for design teams. This was truly a whirlwind event. I had User IDs on every on-line message board, uploaded pictures everywhere & actually got on the first design team I tried for. I still continued to enter contests & try for more teams, including manufacturer teams..............what was I thinking? This was all in my plan to "make a name for myself in the scrapping world," or so I thought. It wasn't long before I was getting tired of all the message boards & submitting projects only to be rejected, so after this one design team call, I decided to email the owner & ask her why I wasn't selected for her design team. I figured this was a very strategic move on my part, as it would help me to "learn & move forward" in the whole "making a name for myself in the scrapping world," plan. What I wasn't prepared for was the answer she gave me. Keep in mind, by this time I prided myself on a style that would be considered "no style." I had many friends tell me that I could upload 10 layouts & if it weren't for the pictures, it would be hard to choose which were mine because my style was diverse enough that no 2 looked the same. So, back to making a name for myself..................plain & simple, she liked my work, but I was a "vintage scrapper" and she needed someone w/a more ecclectic (Elsie Flannigan) style. Vintage scrapper? WHAT?????????????????

I couldn't be more confused...........me a vintage scrapper? But as I perused the projects I sent her, it became glaringly apparent that is, in fact, what I looked like...........a vintage scrapper. I had gotten in a rut of using lacey trims & flowers w/almost all my work & had not even noticed. What happened to my diverse work? In fact, I decided right then & there I had to change my style, something I have NEVER knowingly done. My work has always been what it has been, I don't care who does & doesn't like it.............I do this for ME. BUT, I did not want to be a labeled a particular type of scrapper, so being pegged a "vintage" scrapper wasn't necessarily a bad thing............it was being labeled a "particular" type period!!! I was very surprised to find that getting out of my "vintage" style was harder than I thought it would be, but I succeeded.

So, I eventually land another design team & then another & in the meantime, started submitting my work. I even had a couple of ladies helping me "clean-up" my work so that it was "publish" material. One friend was the best..........she's not only accomplished in getting published, but she's worked w/various manufacturers & design teams. Her advise was the best. Some of my other friends.................couldn't say the same for them. When someone can't say a single positive thing about your work, or anyone else's for that matter, you don't need them & I definitely didn't. It's not that I couldn't take constructive criticism.................I can, but to find something wrong with EVERY thing I did? Whatever.

Jump forward to April 2008. I'm on one design team, no message boards, I've been published in several magazines & I'm happy. In fact, I couldn't be happier. I do not have an inner desire to participate on message boards, upload my projects to on-line galleries or be on design teams. I'll be honest...............I like being published for the "free" stuff it offers. Whether it's the money, product or free magazines..................hey, that's what I want. I enjoy my blog, the friends I've met & the challenge sites I visit.

So, what with all the "making a name for myself?" I don't really know what type of name I was trying to make? I NEVER wanted to be big in the industry & I really never wanted to work for a manufacturer, even though I thought at one time it would be neat, so I guess in the end, I'll just stick with the name I have.....................the on-line User ID I've become known as............duchessofexcess and ya know what? I'm fine with that..................just fine!!!