CM White ? & CM chatter

Mar 05, 2006 5 Replies

I've seen a couple of references to CM LOs and the dislike of white. I



*jumped* into scrapbooking without ever taking classes or having a rep or anything. The only reference I used was online resources and the few albums I saw at genealogy seminars. There is always a CM booth set up at these seminars but because most of my money is already destined for more genealogy resources little gets spent on scrapbooking. I have noticed two things. Their LOs are usually on white backgrounds and their reps are rather pushy but that could just be for those types of events. They also insist on only using their products. One rep called me daily for almost 2 weeks before I finally told her I wasn't interested in their products. Now I never give my phone or address to them!

What is with the white backgrounds? I don't get it when there are so many pretty backgrounds you can use whether purchased or printed yourself. Generally I avoid white backgrounds. I did, am doing two LOs with white backgrounds for this album but only because they really fit. The first is still in progress. It is the title page "Fun Times in 2005" followed by a quasi-index of mini pics highlighting what is to come. The title page is finished but the quasi-index won't be finished until the end. I chose white for the title page to make the rainbow font pop out and for the quasi-index because of the numerous pictures. The second LO was lifted from a journal I saw. I put a double lined square in the middle but turned to look like a diamond. The title was placed inside followed by a huge bit of journalling in table format surrounding the diamond. It came out really nice so the page beside it had to be white background too so I did a mosaic of pictures. That's it. I've seen very few white backgrounds that look nice. They wash out the pictures.


I started out scrapping years ago with the old fashion scrapbooks that were like construction paper. Then I was introduced to CM when I saw it at a craft event where they had a booth. I went to a workshop on preserving heritage photos. After that I found a rep in my area and started buying from her and going to parties. My first few years of LO's are in the traditional CM style - white backgrounds, cookie cutter mats and photos, and stickers borders. I actually think CM is a good way to get sarted with scrapbooking as they do push the journaling. If you start out with that thought it makes it easier to continue. And they do teach you about colors, titles borders, preservation, and sorting years worth of photos as well. A lot of the scrapbook magazines are so far into artistic LO's I think they loose sight of the main purpose of a scrapbook. I think a LO with several photos of my children and their friends at a birthday party tells more about the event than one photo of my child blowing out a candle surrounded by $5-$10 worth of embellishments. Though I do admit it makes a beautiful LO. I don't mind white backgrounds for some photos especially when I am putting several photos on a page as I use a lot of color in the matting. The thing that really turns me off with CM is their pushy attitude about anything else except their products on a page is bad. I went to a CM crop last fall and they wouldn't count my recipe pages I was making as a LO because it didn't have a photo on it. I have several LO's without photos as there were none available and I still wanted to capture the event with tickets/memorabilia and journaling. I can't wait for the next recipe swap so I can take a picture of the recipe for the page. I'm going to take them to her monthly crop to make. Of course I do like several of the other people who attend regularly. I think I am the only one who ever attends there who uses fibers, embellishments and metals on my pages. Sandy

"Scrappin' Away" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

I'm not familiar with the CM method and also just kinda "fell" into scrapping, still learning as I'm going along. From what I've read, it sounds a bit rigid for my liking.

I also agree with you that some LO's I've seen in mags lately tend to be to artistic, - lacking warmth and a "real" feeling, at lack of a better word. Just my 2 cents :)

Judy, SA

You know I'm not that into CM, but to give them credit they work on the idea of making albums fast. Getting those photos out of a shoebox and into an album. I do take a LOT longer to do my creative and colorful LO's. If I just slapped and colored triangle and zippy strip on each page I might be done by now. But I like the creative aspect almost more than having a completed album. Some day I'll have a completed album of creative pages. It's just going to take me longer.

Lynne

After 9/11, CM had a real push on for people to finish their books because life is so fragile and you want to leave something for your family that tells about your life. I found that angle more than a bit reprehensible, although they did donate tons of family albums to survivor families. They tied it into working faster and not agonizing over layouts.

Well, for some things that might be appropriate. Sometimes you just want to get your pics onto the page. However, I'm a creative person with zip artistic talent. This, and writing, are my creative outlets. I don't do a page just to get the pictures out of the box. They're all organized anyway. I do it to express myself.

BTW, I just got an idea for a layout from a Corelle pattern made of large bright polka dots. Don't know if I'd want to eat off it, but it would be really cute for some of my 1970s high school pictures.

Viv

If you have a color printer or access to one, check out the page sets at

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They have a couple of really cute dot set that might fit your needs. >

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