 | T is for Trends, B is for Bree Beginner Project Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: |
But how do trends happen?
The answer to that question is complicated. Trends begin when many people start using the same colors, motifs, shapes (or when they listen to the same music and wear the same style jeans). It happens in every industry, from fashion to food - not just crafts. There are trend-setters and consultants who predict and decree (what color house paint will be available, what towels or jeans will look like) but sometimes it's more of an organic growth process. I used scalloped-edge circles for a poster in fifth grade; we wore blouses with scallop-edged collars when I was in junior high. The shape isn't new - it's been around a long time. But it's only in the last couple of years that scalloped edges have been available in so many incarnations.
Trends evolve. Origins are never crystal clear. While someone can rightly say that her company was the first to offer a scallop-edge circle punch or die, the decision to manufacture it might have come after a designer for that company saw a hand-cut scallop-edged border strip on a friend's layout, or he might have been looking at scallops of icing on a birthday cake, triggering the idea. And there is also spontaneous coincidence. In another state (in a galaxy far away...), someone else decided that scallops would look great at the edges of 12 x 12 papers, influenced by a fashion show she saw the month prior to her foray into the design studio - even if no direct connection was made. Once it sneaks into the unconscious, it's hard to know why or how it got there.
Once manufacturers see that something is popular, they will add to the mix with scallop-edged oval and square punches, dies and die-cuts, ribbons and border strips. While companies want to offer something new and different each season, they also want to make sure that something people love is available for as long as there is a demand, so some trends fizzle quickly and others take hold and become permanent. People have very long attention spans when it comes to things they hold dear (Artist Trading Cards, tags, chipboard, and chocolate chip cookies come to mind).
For beginners, it is especially confusing. Should you hop on the bandwagon or head in the opposite direction? I recommend that you experiment before you embrace or reject a trend.
Of course, if a trend leaves you cold, ignore it. You can learn something about color and design whether or not you incorporate what you see, and once it passes you can sigh with relief.
If a trend makes your heart leap, go for it full steam ahead. And in months and years to come you can continue to use what you bought because you still love it!
Most people fall somewhere in the middle - neither ignoring a trend altogether nor letting it take over. There is no right or wrong. When it comes to scalloped edges, the trend under discussion, how and where you use them is a matter of trusting your eye and your own taste.
If you looked at the photograph before you began reading, you've probably noticed that I've been talking about scalloped edges, but the layout in the photo has a circle with a zigzag edge! I wanted to see if you'd notice. Just kidding...The real reason is because the scalloped-edge circle in the package of die-cut felt shapes was the wrong color! Besides, there are plenty of rounded curves on the felt frame, in Bree's tail and head, and the tennis ball in her mouth - even if there are no scallops - your brain says "round" even though your eye tells you otherwise.
To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.
