Sunday, February 24, 2013

My Favorite Brand

I love "MY FAVORITE"'s.  They actually give a little insight as to how someone feels, thinks, connects, creates.  I know I've touched this subject before, but occasionally one has to revisit, redefine, reestablish their favorite anything - movies, songs, food, color.

Everytime we start a new adventure about paper, the question is asked:  What is your favorite paper?
Well, of course, this could be answered in several ways.  My favorite all time paper is:  OA Woodland Park Blue Sky... or DL 5th & Frolic 6th & Main... or EP Everyday Eclectic Hot Air Balloons... at least this year... maybe.  My favorite all time collection is OA Sidewalks... or DL 5th & Frolic... or EP This&That Graceful... or K&Co Amy Butler... maybe.  So, I find that each time I answer it I find it's the wrong answer... or not enough.  But one thing that is truthful enough is that I usually have favorite papers that go with favorite themes - K&Co for heritage pages, MME Lost & Found for family pages, DCWV Nanas Kids for baby pages, etc. 

As I was restarting the Scrapbook Remix class, the question came to my mind once again.  So I thought in broader terms - what is my favorite Brand?  A look at the above would say that it's probably October Afternoon as that came to mind first; or American Crafts, or maybe Echo Park.  Then I decided to look inside my stash and let it tell me the answer... What brand do I have the most of?  Well, one of those stated answers was right - but only half right.  The answer:  American Crafts.  I have A LOT of American Crafts.  All that Dear Lizzy and even that bundle of Crate Paper is actually American Crafts (I'm not actually a big AT fan...yet).  But the largest portion of my American Crafts stash belong to those other collections:  Blue Skies, Craft Shop, Botanique, Junior, Backyard, Love, Baby just to name a few.  And all of those papers are small, repeating patterns on the A-side with solid B-sides.  And yes, there are more than a few of which I own several sheets.  I can make layouts and layouts and layouts from these sheets and none look the same... in fact, sometimes I don't even notice that I've used one of those papers over and over and over in my albums until I actually look for it - and I bet you wouldn't notice at all.  And even though I buy them for 1/2 price at a Scrapbook Warehouse, it's definitely not the price that drives the purchases - these are my investment pieces.  These are the cut up bits and pieces... the backgrounds for titles and embellishments... the photo mat... the stacks... and every once in awhile, they make it all the way to the background.  These are those doses of just the right color.    These are the papers that I don't worry about finding just the right photo or subject for, that I don't worry about not showing off enough, that I don't hoard.  These are my perfect papers.
And then, second to all that AC paper, I love.love.love. October Afternoon. and Echo Park. and My Minds Eye. and Fancy Pants. and Simple Stories. and Cosmo Cricket. and K&Co. and...

A couple of the layouts I've worked on for ReScrapbooking Remix... definitely imperfect:




These two layouts rely heavily on AC and EP with a little shot of Freckled Fawn Washi, SC Veneers, Evalicious Stamps,OA MiniMarkets & Sprinklers and a couple of things from 'the box'.

Okay, so I am seriously into 'camera' love at the moment.  You may see a camera on every layout for months to come as I have 3 more camera stamps and all those mistables to use up.  Also, like these two layouts, they usually go in different albums, but even if they didn't that's okay - everybody needs a theme, right?!!
And that's it.  Starting with my dad, each day one of us in the family has come down with this horrible stomach bug that just doesn't seem to want to go away, so I'm feeling rather puny.  Dreamt this whole post up while sleeping off the Phenergan.  I do want to say a great big Thank YOU for all the comments regarding your epiphanies on the last post... it's great to hear how creative minds think (and I've seen your work, yours is definitely a creative mind!). 

Now,  I would love to hear what your favorite patterned paper brand is, why, and how you love to use it.   And don't be afraid to drop by an example!

Cheerio!

"Strangely enough, this is the past that somebody in the future is longing to go back to." - Ashleigh Brilliant


2 comments:

  1. Favorite paper.......hhhhhhmm. I have to think about that one. It used to be that I loved Chatterbox, Scenic Route, Daisy D's, and other non-existent companies now. I have a half of a sheet of Chatterbox, 2 sheets of Scenic Route and none of Daisy D's. I loved the Liberty line for Scenic Route as it was themed but not overly so for the military/patriotic layouts I do. Now that I am back and scrapping with new (to Me) papers and companies it is really fun discovering who I really love.

    This time I can say for certain I am a "B" side scrapper. I fall for the "A" side but have a hard time using it but if it has a great "B" side I am in. For this reason Bella Blvd stands out as a favorite and some I want to get my hands on from this past CHA's offerings. I used their Thankful line for pages that had nothing to do with Thanksgiving or Fall and I loved the versatility of their patterns. Always beautiful and the colors lend themselves to be distressed or they are great on their own. I quite enjoy using Heidi Swapp's papers but the only drawback is that there are 3 of each in the collection pack.....I would rather there be more patterns. I have had fun using her file folders especially the smaller ones for photo mats to start a messy stack. I have bought a lot of MME Collectable collection and look forward to buying Webster Pages; both Alison Kreft designs and the regular offerings from them. I haven't used them before but always love the papers. I do have some paper designed by Alison Kreft that I love using. Echo Park is a company I really am forming an attachment to. I have 3 collections from them, the For the Record 2 Documented and Recollection collections and Everyday Eclectic. I look forward to trying Carta Bella, I have never used this company before. I just use OA's mini market alphas found in Archivers.....just want to stay away from this companies drama and inability to fulfull their commitments on time no matter the issue. It would be lovely to use it but I don't want to get sucked in.

    So many companies, so little time and money! I would love to try them all but alas I don't have a space or wallet big enough. I might try buying ala carte instead of collection packs so that I can try a few more companies. That might be the way to go!

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  2. Let's see....Tim Holtz's paper pads are my fave. I do tend to hoard it though. ;-) Then there's Graphic 45. I buy single sheets, not lines or pads. And K&Co. I love their pads too. I do love OA, but nobody around here carries much of it. I end up buying whatever my local store carries...like 7Gypsies, My Mind's Eye and BoBunny. (I swear the owner of the closest scrap store has a freakin' fetish thing going on with the BoBunny stuff! Maybe the sales rep is hawt or something!) I live in such a small town that we don't usually get new stuff in a timely fashion. ;-p Like I've never actually SEEN any Echo Park around here.

    I don't have a favorite brand (other than Tim Holtz) because my locals stores usually display their papers by season or event, not by company. And honestly, I don't really buy it by the brand anyway. I buy paper cuz I likes it. ;-) And secondarily I buy it for a specific event--travel themes mostly.

    Most of the patterned paper I use for scrapbooking, while the Bazzill solid cardstock I use for card making. I have way more Bazzill than anything else.

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