Sometimes when I am demonstrating at craft shops people say to me that they would like to make more scrapbook pages but find it hard to get the inspiration. Those days when you take out a piece of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper to start a project, and you suddenly realise that all you have done is stare at a piece of paper for 20 minutes. A blank 12 x 12 piece of paper can be pretty daunting at times, especially if you are more familiar with card making, and often I find it easier to find inspiration if I reduce the size of my ‘canvas’. If you haven’t already tried working with 8×8 paper, you should give it a try, and here are some more reasons why I like working with this size.
The best things come in small packages
As a demonstrator I need to carry numerous samples with me everywhere I go, as people like to see a variety of different layouts. Carrying an 8×8 album or two takes up a lot less room both in my craft tote, and on my demo table… which means more room for showing off other crafting goodies. Another great factor is that these albums weigh less than 12 x 12 ones – obvious I know, yet a highly significant factor especially when I arrive at a train station and realise that there aren’t any lifts or escalators.
Being smaller in size also means that I can display them better on shelves or bookcases, as not all of my shelves are large enough to hold the 12 x 12 albums upright. I tend to keep one out on display, and change it every now and again with mini books and other projects. They are easily seen and visitors can browse through them quickly and easily.
Using A4 paper
If you buy craft magazines, you will be familiar with the fact that sometimes there will be free papers included. If you are primarily a 12 x 12 scrapper, this can be slightly annoying, as the papers are more often then not A4 in size (8.5 x 11) and therefore your design can be limited as A4 paper will not cover the whole background. This is not a problem when making 8×8 pages, and as soon as I started scrapping in 8×8 I used up a lot of A4 printed paper that I had lying around for years.
Using a printer
Of course if you are using A4 paper, this also gives you the bonus option of being able to run it though the printer. The layout above is a page about my husband and his little brother Steven and I purposely used the printer for my journaling to show that you do not have to own the latest die cutting machine or a mountain of letter stickers and rub ons to make a great layout. Anyone who has a home computer and a printer can easily make a title or journaling for their scrapbook page.
So if you haven’t already experimented with scrapbooking in 8×8, I hope that perhaps you will be open to the idea and maybe give it a try, as I’m certain you will love it.
