Stuck in a 12x12 rut?

When I first started scrapbooking, I only scrapped 12x12 layouts. Maybe it's because those were the easiest albums to find. Or because of all that pretty 12x12 paper I didn't dare cut up. Either way, that was all I did, and was almost scared to do otherwise. It was like some unwritten scrapbooking rule that everything had to be that size.

Then I stumbled upon Celeste Smith from Simple Scrapbooks. She only scrapped 8.5x11 layouts. And they were fabulous! So I tried it. And realized that I kind of liked it! I found that the standard 4x6 or 5x7 pictures really stood out on the smaller size. Which was great, because back then I hadn't been introduced to the world of photo editing and didn't realize one could actually print other sized pictures. Another benefit? It used a lot less product, which meant I could (a) hoard more, or (b) spend less! Either way, it's a win-win in my books.

So I thought....why stop there? Why not try a 6x12 layout, like this:


Or (gasp!) scrap on whatever piece of cardstock you have kicking around. No one says that it HAS to be 12x12. Or even 8.5x11 for that matter. Like this layout below. I really wanted to use that colour cardstock, but had chopped off part of it for something else. I figured - who cares? The people looking through my scrapbook won't gasp in horror that it wasn't a perfect size.


Don't get me wrong, I still do find myself scrapping 12x12 layouts most of the time. But sometimes, I find that my pictures and layouts can get "lost" on such a big size. Especially for a "white space" scrapper like myself. So that's when I find doing a smaller size works better. It focuses more on the picture and the layout. Kind of like cropping a picture to zoom in on the subject. It's not unusual to see me cut a layout down to 8.5x11 after making it on 12x12 cardstock, just to make it pop.

So that's my challenge to you this week. Get out of that 12x12 rut and try another size! Don't worry, the world won't end. And you just might like it. ;)