R U a creative scrapper or "get it done" scrapper?

[pigfingers]

I feel so sad that I got this response today from my CMC. Well I am actually stumped and baffled and sad.

I did this really cute accordion book album like that Donna Dewey did (fold cardstock back and forth so it looks like an accordion, add matting, embellishments, photos). CM has a product like it they use for their "gatherings" called the photo share card, so I shared the information with my CMC saying she could do the same thing with her own products using the photo share card and put it in one of the pockets in her CM album.

I get a "I am getting things DONE this year and doing fun things like that is pretty much not what I am doing this year"

How sad that scrapbooking for some people can't be fun. Heck I thought I was giving her an idea she could even use for a display for her customers for selling those photo cards. She is a really nice person and I am so baffled by this response. She might be upset with me for signing with CTMH but if that is the case then that is too bad - but I am going to have fun with my scrapbooks, isn't that part of it?

[ducki]

Brush it off and keep on going! In your heart you know you were trying to help her and if she didn't want to accept your help it's her loss. You will go much farther enjoying your business than having a "get it done" attitude. Enthusiasm is contagious and when I attend a party that the demo has as much if not more fun than the guests that's where I spend more money. I am a swap, scrap, stamp, and card addict. It doesn't take much for my checkbook to fly open regardless when there are supplies I like in front of me, but I am more willing to buy that larger item when the demo is a sociable and fun person as well. Keep your chin up and good luck with CTMH.

just a small note: I have yet to attend a CTMH party or see the product line but my friend is having a workshop in a couple of months. I'm mainly a SU stamps person but my embelishments and some cardstock come from where ever I see something I like. As for CM, maybe I have not met the right demo yet, but I have "converted" many CM clients. From my experience they want you to slap that page together as quick as possible and then toss on some stickers. That's not my idea of scrapbooking, and I dislike stickers. I would rather take 2 days to complete a page and like it when it's done. Ironically, my cousin got me hooked on scrapbooking a few years back and she "was" a CM diehard fan until she saw what she could do with my stamp sets! **okay I guess it was a long note

[Susannk]

I am a pretty much creative scrapbooker. I like a little fun on my pages as well as the pictures and journaling. Too bad she didn't share your enthusiasm for your idea....I think it would probably sell a lot of those photo share cards.
I have to say I have a great CM consultant that I hooked on SU and she is very creative and comes up with some of the best ideas!
Susan
Ps I love close to my heart for scrapbooking kits and supplies!

[mholles]

I think it is supposed to be fun and artisitc. I love "creating" pages. I do think CM'ers run thier business way differently than SU peopel. A friend of mine, who is aSU demo, and I go to a monthly CM crop, and have run into the same attitude. The CM demo misses so many opportunities to upsell her products. My friend and I just grimace all evening long. But we're there to scrap and get stuff done. If the CM gal doesn't want to increase her business than that's her fault.

[ZZZach'smom]

I've had the same experiences as others at a CM crop. The CMC had me get all my photos together and wanted me to go through and crop them all with no idea about what sort of layout I would do. No thoughts about matting or anything before cropping photos. I probably looked at her like she just arrived from another planet as I promptly put those pictures back in my crop bag for cropping at home when I decided upon a layout. She talked a lot about "power scrapping". After I looked at her many scrapbooks, I quickly concluded that her way of scrapping wasn't my style. Maybe it was faster, but not what I liked. I'm more of a slow scrapper, but I usually love my pages when they are done.

Janna

[dgmlmax]

I am a creative scrapper, that is why CM isn't my style (no offense to anyone). I have seen several very creative pages done by a CMC but mostly they are the get it done type. Now having said all that...... I am so far behind in my scrap booking that it's not funny. So each style does have it's benefits. I'm sorry you got that response. I'm sure any of us would have ooooh'd and awwwh'd (SP?)!

Dina

[MaryR]

I agree with the above posts. My style is a bit more creative, too. I don't do the fabulously embellished pages either - I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. My goal is to have something that my family enjoys looking at which includes the photos and the memories and it's my hobby - I love doing it! It's my obsession! I love CTMH paper. I think they have great scrapbooking kits, too. I love SU albums and inks and stamps. Use what you love doing what you love, right? I like to use CM tools, some of their punches and the power sort box (just not power cropping!)

[handstampedhappiness]

This kind of attitude is what's driven me *crazy* about CM for years!! I firmly believe in enjoying the process!! If we're not, what's the point? They make you feel so guilty if you're behind on your scrapbooks. It's so ridiculous. We do this for fun, that is the whole point.

I really think they do this because what is the number one excuse for not scrapbooking? I don't have the time. That is why CM came up with this "get it done fast" mentality. It's a sales pitch, nothing more. I really feel bad for people who are trapped in this mentality. I have enough in real life to feel guilty about without feeling guilty about how much time it takes me to create. Give me a break!!

Can you tell this is something that's bugged me for a while?? Anyway, I feel sorry for your friend. Please, keep enjoying the process and don't let her bring you down.

ETA: Some people really enjoy getting a lot done fast and that's fine, just don't make me feel guilty for not being the same way. KWIM??

[ScrappinGoodTime]

If its not for fun why are you doing it? If I was a get it done person I would not have three boxes of pictures to scrap....Tee Hee

[willwork4stamps]

I'm definitely a creative scrapper. If you're not going to put time, thought and effort into the pages, then why not just stick them into a photo album and be done with it? I personally think I go slower "on purpose" so I won't run out of things to scrap! I love looking at my box of pictures there and knowing I have projects to work on, as opposed to going into my stamping room and wondering what I can work on today. I have a hard time making stuff just for the sake of making it -- I need a purpose. And having that box of photos staring me in the face is my purpose.

[yytx]

i'm sort of a hybrid, i guess... i like to get the title background and color elements down relatively quickly, and then go back more slowly and add my embellishments (stamps!! eyelets, fibers, tags, etc...) afterwards - i like the sense of accomplishment i get in getting my photos in place then i can get the rest of the layout done. now, of course, this all changes when i want to incorporate the stamping into the photo mats, etc etc... so maybe i am a more create as you go type afterall!! :confused:

[thuskins]

I am as baffled as you are about the response, but I think I understand what she was meaning. I am a creative scramper and have lists of ideas and numerous projects on the go at once. It feels great to finally get something finished though. At the same time, I don't just get it done for the purpose of getting it done either. As someone else said, if that was the case why not put the pics in albums. My sister uses creative memories and so does a few of my scrapbooking friends. I always used anything I could find that I liked until I discovered SU. I still use a lot of stickers but am trying to shift more toward stamps because I like the look better. At the same time, great pages can be made from great paper, stickers and embellishments. I used to take a week to a month on a layout before finding this site. Now with the help of the challenges, I get layouts that I'm very happy with in a fraction of the time. My sister uses all creative memories products and she has excellent pages. Other CM layouts I've seen had just pics, frames, and a few stickers. I think a lot of this is because CM focuses on the preservation of albums. Although I don't like the minimalist look of pages, there are quite a few people who do. When I was starting my heritage album, my mother asked me, "You don't put a lot of junk on your pages do you?' I was shocked and asked, "What do you mean?" She said, "A lot of scrapbook pages just have junk on them and not enough pictures." I just said, "I don't put any 'junk' on my pages." Although not very tactfully, I new she was saying that she preferred the minimalist style.

About the whole business aspect. I don't know why she wouldn't want to find new ways to promote her products. However, some people get into a certain way of thinking and crafting and can't imaging deviating from that style or routine. Unfortunately unless she is extremely, her customers would not be the same way.

I think I might have longwindedly hijacked this thread, if I did it was not my intention.

Taryn

[wyabmom]

I really enjoy working on my pages and cards. I have the tendency to take a very long time. I pick out a grouping of pictures, cut them down and go from there. I've had pages that took me weeks. The downside is I'm incredibly behind, but the upside is I love every page I've done. For me it is truly a hobby that I look forward to spending time on. I couldn't imagine putting the time in and not enjoying it at all.

[cardsbyanita]

I have scads of pictures and I am not behind! Too me, there is no such thing. It's actually nice to have lots of pictures because when I scrap I can choose which ones I want to work on. I am enjoying the process of creating something beautiful with photos of beautiful memories. I know some people like to set goals and complete things. And, that's great! But my goal is just to spend a little time each day scrapping. And in doing that, I get things done, I enjoy it, and I love the results.

Stamping Smiles,
Anita

[Onita76]

I am mostly a creative scrapper... i agree with you that it should be fun and I want to enjoy it! If scrapbooking becomes a "chore" for me and just another thing I have to "get done" then I no longer want to do it. I don't care that I am very far behind... my girls are little yet, so they don't care! To me it is a hobby and a creative outlet, not just another thing on my "to do" list.

[craftygrrl]

Hmm ... I see it both ways, honestly.

I started out scrapping with CM products, and then saw all the other stuff at scrapbook stores and got *totally* into supply collecting -- I haven't finished an album since! Meanwhile, the CM albums I made for people as holiday gifts are busy being enjoyed. So ...

I think there's something to be said for "getting it done" -- not in the sense of checking off on a list, but keeping your focus. And if CM has a strength, I think it's in keeping people focused on what -- let's face it -- is the heart of the matter: photos and journaling (oh, poor journaling, so many times it gets short shrift -- as a writer I can't tell you how many times I've been annoyed to see a layout in a magazine that is being raved about for its design/art aspects, and then you can't read the journaling -- grr).

I'm probably showing my bias here, as I tend to be a "Simple Scrapbooks" kinda gal (Cathy Zielske is my HERO), but I don't think simplicity and efficiency are somehow *not* creative. Heck, if you pick out a color of cardstock for a mat to match your photo, you're creative in my book -- even if you aren't sanding and distressing and making wood wainscoting for your background. And please don't think I'm trying to slam the folks that *like* to do those things -- I just think it's really easy to make "creative" equal "five years on one page layout with every embellishment known to man" and "simple/efficient" equal "boring and not creative." To each their own!

But ... as far as the original poster's issue goes ... while the CMC she mentioned is perfectly legitimate in just wanting to "get it done," I can see where it would feel really hurtful to make a (pretty cool) suggestion and have it completely shot down as a matter of course.

[steffie1027]

I am sorry that you had that experience with you CMC. I had a similar experience as well. My 1 st CMC was what my friends & I called the "CM Nazi". She constantly bad mouthed other companies & would move us away from other scrappers at her crops if we brought our non-CM stuff with us. Ultimately, she lost all of us a customers. Our next CMC was a long time, very creative scrapper & was open to us using other products & was into SU also. We all enjoyed cropping at her house & we bought more b/c she had great ideas to share with us & did not jam CM down our throats.

So, to answer your question, I am more of a creative scrapper. I think that it is counter productive to slap a page together & hate it. I would eventually go back & re-do it, so why not do it more creatively to begin with? When I go on my scrapbook w/e's with my 3 best friends, I always get the amount of pages least done, but I love my pages & am happy that I put the extra time into them. And since I am the least behind in my scrapping, that is ok with me.

Don't take what you CMC said personally, the just have a different philosophy that SU. I chose to be an SU hobby demo over CM b/c of that.

Hope this helps!

[mwbs]

i am a creative scrapper...i don't know if i'll ever get all my photos done but i am enjoying the process....i spend hours putting together a page or a double page layout and tend to put multiple photos on a 1 or 2 page layout....

[Erin in Okc]

I am a get it done scrapbooker, but I try to make it as pretty as possible. I'm not a fast scrapbooker, and I can get overwhelmed, so that's why I don't try to put a lot of pressure on myself to be REALLY creative. I have a purpose to scrapbooking, but I'll tell you what I tell others (who don't scrapbook, and don't seem to understand,) ...I wouldn't do it if I wasn't having fun. I take periodic breaks from scrapbooking to let my creative juices get to flowing again. I never, ever let it become a 'chore.' I think sometimes CM people put TOO much emphasis on the IMPORTANCE of scrapbooking, and not enough emphasis on how fun it is. I've met many of them who would just overwhelm my customers, because they make it seem SO serious a task.
That said, I'm off to stamp!!

[Softangelkisses]

I would say that I am a little of both, depending on what day it is!

But as for what she said to you, I would just brush it off. She may be a little miffed about you signing up for CTMH, but she shouldn't take it out on you!