While I'm working on a special Best of My Blog As Voted by a Panel of Me post coming tomorrow, I thought I'd share with you my year end "Best of" layout, as created by a Panel of Me.
I know, I know…it's challenging to pick the best photos of the year, when you take so many and have lots of emotional connections to so many of them. The way I do it is to think of a couple of memorable events, then pick a photo from each, and then to just find a handful of photos of the people I love. And that's it. The end result looks like this:
SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 30 • Classic Cardstock Natural Beauty (Katie Pertiet) • Avenir font
Two events that were my favorite? the Green Day concert and our summer vacation to northern Minnesota. The rest of the snapshots are just a few of my faves of all of us from throughout the year.
The journaling reads: 2009 was a memorable year, both for the good reasons and the not so good. The good? Our family outing to see Green Day in July, our amazing Northern Minnesota road trip we took in late summer and Dan selling the coffee shops back to ERC. Also good, and the definite best part? Another year of health and togetherness. Aidan made it to 13 without too much teen angst. Cole made it to 10 with his usual joie de vivre. Cathy to 43, and Dan to 44, but looking much younger in real life, of course.
The few not so good things—namely Cathy losing her job—really turned out to be a pretty good thing, with new creative opportunities to explore. As the year comes to an end, we’ll remember things like: kids playing in the corn, obsessions with the Who, first boyfriends, bouts of insomnia, a little knee, wrist and elbow pain, and new ways of thinking about work and life. But always being grateful for all the we have in this life. The Zielskes are lucky and blessed and thankful.
I simply flipped the template design to create the second page (instructions on how to do it are included in the template package.) A very do-able approach to documenting a few favorite shots of the year with a clean and simple design.
There's also a 12 x 12 version of this template available.
Betty says
OMG Cathy I’m so excited about DYL I could pee!
Barb says
Aaaaah Cathy, you make it all sound so easy… the year-in-review LO, I mean. If I were to reread your post and then close my eyes for a moment, I would get the feeling that I could fly… erm, I mean, I could make pages like yours, so simple, so beautiful and so meaningful. Aaaaaah… thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
cathy says
But Barb, you CAN! : )
cathy says
Betty, adult diapers may be in line if you plan to continue sitting at the computer. I’m just saying… : )
Debby says
Done with my pre-work layout and chomping at the bit to get started with DYL. Can’t wait to see what fun you have in store for us.
Sindee says
I’m signed up too! All pre-work is done and I’m anxiously waiting to get started.
Linda says
Love the review lo!! With all the excitement going on here I still could probably get this one done!
young c says
Ooh, really like the year in review layout – thanks for sharing!
Kelli says
Love your journaling and layout for the year in review.
Sharon F "Fletch" says
Great inspiration to recap the year. I want to do this and now have a great inspired and templated way to do so! Yay! Can I just say, how much I have enjoyed being your virtual friend this year! I look forward to sharing what this new year will bring, being one of your 4,046 friends on FB too!
Paula Cook says
I’ve downloaded several of your templates at DD,(love ’em), but I can’t find the 8.5 x 11 for #29. Do I need new glasses? 🙂
Stacy says
Hey, Cathy. I will be taking DYL for a 2nd time. I’d like to refer to this time around as the DYL for Dummies course. :o) As far as the best of 2009 template…I am going to purchase it. But, I do have one question. I’d like to make a best of layout for previous years and I’m wondering if you could tell me what font you used for the 2009? Thanks.
Suzanne says
Looking forward to the class starting. Finished my preassignment layout and now I’m just waiting patiently.
Susanne H says
Cathy, I love the look of all your digital templates but I am not ready to enter the digital world yet. The computer and I have a love/hate relationship. I would love to be able to use those templates, do you think that you’ll ever put together a book of templates/patterns for the nondigital scrappers? I’d be first in line or online to purchase it!
Thanks
alexa says
Love the journalling too – great to be able to condense so much! Looking forward to DYL, second time around, and to doing it hybrid or digital this time!
cathy says
Susanne, never say never! : ) My Design Your Life class has 33 sketches for our assignments, all originally designed for paper scrapbookers.
cathy says
the 2009 is Avenir and the script is Amelie!
cathy says
Whoops! Wrong link:
http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/supplies/product_info.php/products_id/8835
That should be the right one!
Deb J says
If you haven’t taken DYL DO IT!!!! It will really give you a lot of things to use to make really good pages. Even if you are a shabby or collage scrapper this class will give you a lot of help in figuring out how to do it so that things meld.
Whitney P. says
Beautiful layout! I wish I had such great photos to scrap!
I’m so excited for DYL to begin… I’ve always loved shopping for school supplies, and these ones were the most fun to buy! I can’t wait to be inspired!
Angela says
It’s the 31st here I can’t wait to start your class. Need to do my preassignment layout today – better get moving.
Amy L says
Oh wow, I just signed up for class! I am not stressing, however, over the fact that it looks like I’m behind already! Thanks for the suggestion, really looking forward to this.
Deb says
can’t wait to start this class. Done my pre-class assignments but I need to add 1 last small photo before I upload.
Stacy says
Please don’t kill me for asking…but which Avenir? I know you are a type lover and likely purchased a professional package, but I noticed that there is an option to purchase them individually. So, I’m wondering whether you used something like Avenir 65 Medium? I’m just trying to save some pennies. :o) Thanks again and Happy New Year.
cathy says
I believe it was Avenir Heavy. i can’t confirm because i already rasterized the type. it was either Heavy, or Bold. Not medium 65.
: )
Stacy says
Rasterized…hmmmmm…she speaks a foreign language. : ) How about you make some date/year art for your DD shop and I just buy them? Now that sounds like a plan. hahahahahaha I’m off to look up how to rasterize type. That just sounds wrong. : )
lisamcg says
I love this layout Cathy. Brilliant!