Scrappy Irritations

I'm continuing to binge-listen to The Scrap Gals Podcast, in hopes of eventually getting caught up. I recently listened to Episode 108 from March 7, 2016, titled Scrappy Irritations. Tiffany and Tracie spent just under an hour griping about the things that bug them about scrapbooking. I loved this episode. Like them, I LOVE scrapbooking but still find plenty of things that irritate me!

Tiffany and Tracie mentioned quite a few irritating things, like stickers that don't stick (so lame) or companies that do a poor job with the size or location of their branding tear strips (infuriating). I completely relate to Tracie's frustration with where to put the trimmer while I work (I'm constantly moving it between every cut). And trying to get decent photographs of my work, especially in winter? Aargh! It's maddening when stores are out of stock of staples- I once waited 2 months for black cardstock to come back into stock at my preferred store before buying it from a rival. And photo management. So irritating!

And there are a lot more than that. Here are my top scrappy irritations to add to their list. Let me know in the comments if you have anything to add!

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Cindy's Scrappy Irritations

• Oddly Specific Embellishments

I absolutely hate die-cuts, stickers, or other embellishments that are way too specific. I can use a star or a heart on practically anything. But take that same star and write something on it, anything, and now there are way fewer ways to use it. Sometimes it's so specific that I can't imagine ever using it.

• "Best Day Ever!"

Practically every summer-themed or everyday line has a sticker or other element printed with "Best Day Ever!" I know I'm way too literal, but I don't use these because it makes no sense for so many days to be the best. Why can't they say, "Such a great day!" or something that isn't superlative?

• Cracking Rub-Ons

I HATE when rub-ons crack. So irritating. There are certain brands I rabidly avoid because they're always bad, but sometimes even good brands crack.

• Letter Stickers with Ridiculous Letter Distribution

Any company that makes an alphabet sticker sheet with the same number of z's as vowels does not understand what scrappers need. There should always be extra vowels. I appreciate extras of S, R, T, N, L and other common letters.

• Fonts That Make it Impossible to Substitute Letters

I really appreciate being able to alter chipboard letters or letter stickers to make others, like trimming down an M to make an N or cutting down an E to make an F. Some fonts seem to be designed specifically so you can't do this. It's so annoying.

• Having to Move Things to Adhere Them and Never Getting it Back Exactly Right

I can't count the number of times a layout looks PERFECT... until I carefully lift each item, add adhesive and replace it in what I THOUGHT was exactly where I'd gotten it.

• Poor Color Matching Across Lines

The #1 thing I love about Doodlebug is that their colors are ALWAYS an exact match. I can pull out product from 2001 and it coordinates perfectly with this year's releases. Other companies never seem to use the same shade twice, making it really hard if not impossible to mix across lines.

• Poor Color Matching Within Lines

Sometimes I come across a paper line that has poor color matching WITHIN the line! You'd think that the point of it being a line is that everything goes together, but apparetly that's not universal. One subset of this is how annoying it is when a line uses white as a neutral on some papers and cream as a neutral on others, making the pages look completely mismatched.

• Dark Photos

The photos look good on my camera. They look good on my computer screen. They look good on the blog when I view it from my iPad or phone. The photos print too dark. It happens so often and is so irritating!