I have always been what I would call a simple, graphic-style scrapbooker. My layouts are almost always completely linear -- with strong horizontal and vertical lines and very few crooked photos in sight. Embellishments are simple, few and far between. My favorite scrapbook designer of all time is Cathy Zielske, with Becky Higgins (picture simple sketches from Creating Keepsakes from what seems like long ago) and Ali Edwards so, so close in the ranks. I love them, because they're just my style - simple, clean, classic. I just can't get enough of that style in my albums.
I like to focus on the photos and typography, I guess.
But, enter a new class I am taking from Jessica Sprague, Digi: In Deeper (a birthday gift from my hubby). We're only three days in, mind you, but I might be falling in love with the "grungy" style of scrapbooking. Here's my first page exploring this style.
I like it.
Note the brush strokes on all sides of the photos and the messy, uneven, unpredictable borders on the main photo. Heck, there's even a photo cocked ever-so-slightly to the side. Soooo not like me.
But, again: I like it.
Will I ever do this style again? Only time will tell. Honestly, it's time-consuming and leaves a lot to the creativity of the designer. And frankly, I am feeling a little limited in the creativity department lately, at least when it comes to scrappin'. But it's been a fun stretch of my little comfort zone, and it's worth playing around with.
And geez, after wandering the Internet for more than an hour this morning, checking out all of the Photoshop brushes and textures available for free by way-too-kind designers all over the world, I'm pretty sure I could have some fun.