Scrapbooking can come with many benefits, but usually, understanding many things is not as powerful as understanding the things which can help you grow what you enjoy the most.
What you want to focus on during your scrapbooking and what you would like to experience as a scrapbooker are two concepts to look at when determining what you need to learn and ask about. If I simply want to focus on memory preservation, I’ll have a distinct difference in the topics I focus on and where I spend my time during moments designed to grow my individual scrapbooking interests. As a similar example, If I were focused on family paper crafting projects, I would be sure to ask about craft projects which are well suited for the kids at their respective ages and attention levels and which are also engaging for the adult.
I might focus on early learning projects that are imaginative and about interesting stories. Such projects could give the kids a chance to identify the sounds certain animals make, the letters of the alphabet or the spelling of certain words. In addition, I may want to explore color and imagination more fully with children present who are highly interested in those things.
Once I voiced these concerns to the crafters around me as well as to instructions during Q&A sessions, I’d have a better chance of getting the most out of experience and out of my brief planning. This kind of planning was centered on asking what was most important to me. Though this is often not the most obvious route to go. When learning something for the first time, we are sometimes prepared to focus completely on another person’s expertise from a blank slate, not realizing that understanding our own personal end goals (by first understanding what we are most passionate about) is a more effective way to get the most appropriate knowledge under our belt.
As our first example, what if I simply did want to focus on preserving family memories? What aspects of paper crafting would most help me get the most out of this process? Brainstorming could elicit many responses which could include learning to display, edit and get the most out of the photos you aim to show off in some of your projects.
Photo experts may be the perfect consultants for you if this highly interests you. But, maybe not… Photo editing may seem boring, and learning holistic aspects of art display (such as connecting meaning through the ways objects are placed near each other or the importance of symbols in crafts) might make more interesting topics for you and your crafting sessions.
The essential thread in all these tips is to know thy self, or, as a smaller step model, use genuine effort to understand your crafting purpose; know what you can gain the most out of by exploring crafting, learn what interests you the most out of general craft projects and plan what your goals are by first understanding your most passionate motivations.