This can be a much debated subject in the scrapping world. Everyone has their own opinions. Everyone has their own rules. Today, I just thought I’d share my thoughts.
We all have layouts we don’t like. Many of them are early layouts, layouts we did before we developed our own style, or layouts that just didn’t flow. With very few exceptions, every scrapper has layouts that they don’t like. Or at least don’t like as much as the others.
Some people have vowed never to re-do a layout. Some scrappers believe that every layout is part of their scrapping history, and each layouts shows their development and progress as a scrapper. Others simply won’t re-do layouts because they have so many other photos to scrap. Others say that you simply don’t like some older layouts cause they look like older layouts, but if you re-scrap them then in 5 years you’ll probably want to re-scrap them again, and again, and again.
This is a subject I had debated internally for quite a while. At the end of last year someone posted a ‘year in review’ thread. Basically the premise was that you posted your lastest layout and then posted a layout from one year earlier. It was great to see what stayed the same, what changed, and how we had developed as scrappers. So I posted a layout, which at the the time I scrapped it was quite proud of. It was my fourth layout. But after a year, I was no longer happy with it and decided to re-scrap it (keeping the original intact). I LOVED the re-do. And a year later, my opinion hasn’t changed. This has led me to the conclusion that, for me, re-scrapping a layout isn’t a matter of cool new products vs. older products. It is simply a matter of a defined style. MY style. I’ve loaded the ‘before (Dec 2003)’ and ‘after (Dec 2004)’ layouts as part of this entry. Beyond using actual scrapping supplies (rather than just some painted paper), I also added more journalling—journalling that I think better reflects the events themselves.
Whether or not you re-do a layout is strickly a personal matter. As I see it, if I don’t like the layout and I wouldn’t put it in the album, then I will re-do the layout when I see fit or the inspiration strikes. I have a few layouts like that. I don’t plan to re-do every early layout. There might be a dozen or so. A couple other simply need some slight tweeking. If a little time re-working some layouts make me happy with them, and make me proud to display them in my albums, then I figure it is worth the time. Besides, they are my albums.
At one point in my scrapping, I had decided to do a very simple photo scrapbook. Basically a 9×6” photo on a 12×12” piece of cardstock with a vellum quote attached. The thought was nice, but I’ve since decided that this is simply a waste of time for me, and besides it was nothing more than a photo album with quotes. I have too many photos to scrap, and many of these photos in this ‘photo album’ were not actually in our main albums. And quite frankly they deserved to be. So, yes, I am re-scrapping them—or as I see it now—scrapping them properly. Giving the photos the layouts they deserve, and the journalling they deserve! Most of those photos bring back wonderful memories, and they should be documented. It only seems right to me. This layout about London in autumn is one of those layouts. Originally it just had some quote about walking through the leaves, but now it has journalling that reflects how much fun we had that day.
I once saw an interesting comment on a message board. The scrapper said she has no problem with re-doing layouts, but won’t redo layouts which are part of completed albums. Personally, I think this is a great rule of thumb, however I don’t have any completed albums, so maybe I shouldn’t agree so quickly. ;)
So in the end, you yourself need to decide whether or not re-scrapping photos/layouts is right for you. Will rescrapping a couple layouts in an album make the album flow better? Will it make you happy? Will it document the events better? Or will it simply cause you stress because of the growing mountain of unscrapped photos you have? I know I will never be caught up. I don’t think re-scrapping a dozen layouts it gonna hurt me that much, especially when it brings back great memories and simply makes me happy.