The creative journey continues forward! If you’re just joining me, I’ve been writing a series of posts about my personal creative journey. Today, a seemingly small topic: neutral colors of paper/cardstock…
What neutral are you? I know people who don’t go anywhere without a black purse. Those who prefer shades of grey, chocolate brown, cream over white… for ‘neutrals’ there is a lot of variety and possibility.
So I ask again, what neutral are you?
I didn’t know that I had a neutral for a long time, but once I found it, it really helped me along.
Back in 2006 or so, I finally figured out that black or white are NOT good choices for me despite them being the popular and obvious choices. Cream and kraft are my best neutrals. They work the best with the papers I lean towards, the patterns and styles I go for, in other words – they’re more ME.
Now I’m strictly talking scrapbooking here – and it’s not to say I don’t work with white. No, I’m talking more in a ‘what cardstock do I use and neutral do I feature’ sense.
(layout above from December 2005) It was sometime in 2006 that I figured it all out, and I found that I could still use black pen for my journaling (as I still do 99% of the time), that I wasn’t limited or fenced in, that knowing my neutrals simply freed me when I wasn’t sure which way to turn.
(page above from 2005) In fact, I could print on the kraft cardstock and use it anywhere, anyhow I liked. I even discovered that “shopping bag” colored acrylic paint was a good idea. You’ll note these pages I’m sharing aren’t my “best work” – but that’s ok. Why? Well sometimes seeing what you do and don’t like when looking at past pages doesn’t take the form of ‘best’. These are the layouts that helped me find my kraft love way back in the day, and so I share them with you for that reason.
Fear of failure in my craft projects? Work past it. Working past fear is the only way to have a great time and make new discoveries.
(above, layout from 2005) No, all my pages weren’t awesome, but finding out that I lean towards those neutrals, and making more of a focused effort to reach for them has been great for me creatively.
Finding my style meant a lot of going back to finished pages and noting what I did and didn’t use and like.
The supplies you buy and like vs the supplies you USE are two totally different things. A very noteworthy difference, especially when finding your style.
Finding my own style became less about putting a label on what I am, and more about figuring out what works for me, and getting a better understanding of what *I* like.
I’ve been trying to mix up my neutrals lately (just to stir the pot and keep it interesting) but it really hasn’t happened. I’m a kraft cardstock girl. I purchase it in packs of 25, and it will remain my #1 until some other color can do all that it does. For me, it’s the perfect neutral.
(above page from 2010 CHA show – all product outside cardstock is the girls’ paperie)
note: I’m a cardstock freak. I adore it. I even made an instant download class for Big Picture about it. More on cardstock, as well as more creative journey posts to come…
If you have any questions, or topics you wish I’d cover please do feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at mflaum @ comcast . net
