Chatting With Wendy Smedley

Transcripts from September 18, 2003 Page 2 - Organization, Color Composition, Upcoming Events

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Wendy: We are currently working on a feature about scrapbooking space from the kitchen table to your own dream space. You can use a nightstand and a breakfast tray if you want to scrapbook while you are watching TV in your room. I want to build a Murphy-bed style desk that will hang on the wall. Now if I can just get someone to clean up after me. Does anyone else have that problem?
Rebecca: What are some tips if the only space I have to scrap is the dining room table?
Wendy: Great question about the kitchen table. I suggest that you get a binder and place the photos you want to scrapbook in the protectors and include sketches of the page designs you want to use as well as product. Then, store your non-consumable supplies in a portable and manageable container and pull out at the table when you scrapbook.  I almost got more scrapbooking done in the early days when I didn't have so much product to sort through. Just buy product for the current photos you are working on - imagine that. I have a product problem. I love to buy everything and then take pictures
that will match my product instead of the reverse -  my kids don't appreciate that.
Rebecca: Shhhh, that's supposed to be a big secret, none of us really scraps to our products do we? <wink>
Wendy: I also suggest scrapbooking in groups whether it be at the local scrapbook store, or with a group of friends. You tend to share product and you can test drive product to see if it is what you want before you spend the money on it. One of the columns I write is all about investing your money in scrapbooking supplies. The most recent one was about scrapbooking clubs. The one that is going out in the next issue is discussing adhesives and I think it will be very helpful and informative.
Rebecca: Any tips for getting layouts done at your local scrapbook store or with friends, I think I may talk too much in groups? :)
Wendy: Well, that is a serious problem but I do have one suggestion. You need to pre-plan your layouts/projects prior to ever sitting down with your friends. Gather the ideas/products/photos before you go to the store.
Rebecca: Speaking of planning, do you sketch most of your layouts before you start on them?
Wendy: I do some sketches but mainly I follow some basic design principles I learned when our editor-in-chief, Stacy Julian authored her first book, Core Composition: Select a focal point photo treat it differently that the rest of the elements. Stick within a color scheme using the proportions rule. Place elements/accents in a visual triangle. Those are the rules I follow when laying out a page.
Rebecca: Question from the Forum - How do you keep layouts of the same event each year from looking identical?
Wendy: When you are doing some of the same event photos year to year you can change the look of the layout in a few ways. To keep all of those Christmas pictures from being dull and repetitive, my favorite way is to change the photos to black and white. Then, you can be in charge of the colors such as "The Artist" page I have posted (see layouts).
Rebecca: I love scrapping B&W photos.
Wendy: I was able to choose any colors I wanted because the photos were black and white. I have recently discovered that you can take your film to be developed and ask for doubles with one set in color and the other in black and white. It only costs a couple of dollars more. It is not true black and white (like that kind you get when you mail it away) but it works! Imagine being able to scrapbook your Christmas layouts in colors other than red and green. I also enjoy being able to use all of the new holiday product available to keep my pages different.
Rebecca: I have started getting my photos developed as 5x7 instead for 4x6, I can crop some and don't have as much trouble coming up with a focal point photo it seems.
Wendy: I love to enlarge photos and have recently been introduced to online developing by Donna Downey (a board member at Simple Scrapbooks). You pay for only the photos you want and can request the enlargements online. Now if only I could take some excess weight off of my body shots.
Rebecca: One of the questions on the forum was about photo matting, I think scrappers tend to get in matting ruts, how do you decide when and when not to mat your photos on any given layout?
Wendy: Another great question. Why do we mat in the first place? To add contrast to the page? To emphasize the photo? To add color to the page? Why do we do it? I personally think it works great when you have a photo with a dark or distracting background as it gives you control over what color you are emphasizing in the photo. You have a photo of your dog and the neighbor's dog, and you want to emphasize your dog. Well use the color of your dog as the mat. This can help avoid confusion in the layout. I like to use two colors in my mat. One color can be torn and placed across the middle of the mat. Or try tearing just one side of the mat to direct the eye on the page. Try using the middle of a color-blocked piece of pattern paper as your mat (SEI). Select a complementary color mat, for example, if your background is red use green. I also like to use warm colors to mat since they advance on the page. Using cool colors as the background since they recede on the page. Try this for a simple page combo blue/yellow. Blue as the background and yellow as the photo mat.
    I also like using a mat just on my focal point picture. You can buy all of those great packs of pre-cut cardstock - these are perfect for quick and easy photo matting. I like to look through magazines/idea books to see unique ways that photos have been matted. Tear out the layouts with your favorite ideas and file in an idea file for future reference when you hit that block.
Rebecca: While we are on colors a bit, Breanne asks, how do you decide what colors to use with B&W photos?
Wendy: Use color as your adjective. Color not only adds interest to the page, it shares emotion. Imagine Doublemint^(tm) gum commercials and the feeling of being awakened and refreshed. The color green communicates that. Red is power/passion/excitement/strength. Blue is soothing/content/calm. Yellow is happy/cheery/positive. Green is nature/outdoors/refreshing. Orange is gregarious/tangy. Purple is regal, etc. etc.
    I have a book that is manufactured for advertisers, that puts color combinations together that will elicit certain emotional reactions from people. Use this in your scrapbooking. If your black and white photos are about prom, what about red? What emotion does that conjure in your mind? Pink is softer more romantic. While, yellow is playful and fun. Camping photos, still-shots, family portraits, these can all work with different combinations and you are the storyteller. You can decide the message you want to share just as advertisers do.
Rebecca: Graphic design classes and techniques are so empowering to scrapbookers, like the techniques used by advertisers.
Wendy: I find that black and white photos work great with pages that are emotive driven such as seeing a photo of my son and not writing about the event or what was happening but I am writing about what I feel. Give that a try!!
Rebecca: Unfortunately, our time is winding down quickly. Getting in some more questions that have been sent to me, MANY people ask about submitting layouts to magazines, what makes a great layout to send to Simple Scrapbooks?
Wendy: Our magazine is different from the rest in that we assign a large majority of our published layouts with specific topics in mind and work with the contributor until it is what we are working for. As for general layouts, we post in our newsletter that goes out every three weeks, what current projects we are working on. We are currently looking for pages with great use of color from emotive color use to color combinations. We also have some reader galleries and two columns that are very reader driven: Our images column - that instructs the reader about photography skills applicable to scrapbookers; As well as the column about writing that shares with our readers unique journaling ideas.
    We love our reader pages and one other aspect of a Simple Page is it needs to be Simple - limited number of product and limited techniques, maybe one-two techniques max.
Rebecca: Someone asks, do you share layouts with Creating Keepsakes, do layouts get forwarded one way or the other if they seem a better fit?
Wendy: We do not share with Creating Keepsakes. They are looking for different pages that fit their criteria. They also share in their newsletter what pages they are looking for as well as they have a link on their website- submit your work.
Rebecca: Wendy, we are getting close to our hour, but I know you teach fabulous classes, can you tell us where and when you are teaching coming up?
Wendy: Well thanks for the compliment. We are have been working on our 2004 classes and Simple is going to be everywhere.  We attend all of the CKU dates. I will be in San Jose and possibly Provo. I also attend all three major trade shows and teach with Stacy to retailers. I will be at the Arizona convention for sure and if possible will hit a few others throughout the year. Look at our web page under "highlights" to see where we are going to be and when. I would love to meet with any of you and swap ideas. One of my favorite parts of this job is meeting and getting inspired by all of the scrapbookers everywhere - it is a wonderful hobby. Keep it up ladies! Remember their is no "behind" only ahead. With every page you do you are a page ahead!!!
Rebecca: Wendy, I love chatting with you, you have been a great and gracious guest, I am sure that my readers will be taking notes when reading the transcripts of this chat tonight!
Melissa - About Scrapbooking Assistant Chat and Forum Host: Thanks, Wendy! Great quote! :)
Rebecca: Thank You so much for coming!!! And our next Guest Chat is with Stacy Julian in November.
Wendy: Yes enjoy! It was my pleasure.
 

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