Dan and I spent one of the best three-day birthday stretches of our lives—his is the 6th; mine, the 8th; we also celebrate the ‘tween day—by going to see our blazingly talented daughter perform in her school production of Little Shop of Horrors.
Aidan was cast in a slightly gender-bent role of Ms. Mushnick, and I’m so glad she was because I’m just gonna say it: she killed in the role.
Seriously.
Needless to say, I had some great shots from the show and wanted to add a page to her album. At first, I was going to print all the photos out separately, create a title using the word ‘horrors’ on my Silhouette Cameo and assemble it all in the traditional way.
Then I was all, “That’s too much work. How about this?”
I created a template, added the photos, found a cute, free Venus Fly Trap graphic and then just printed the whole thing out onto one sheet of photo paper.
I trimmed it and mounted it onto black cardstock.
So much easier than what I’d initially planned.
It tells the story as well as if I’d gotten all crazy crafty with it. Heck, maybe it tells it better.
I’m craving creative simplicity right now.
This layout feeds that particular hunger.
What are you craving with your story telling these days?
PHOTO TIP: Do you ever take photos inside a lighted theater—or other artificially lit environment—and wish they weren’t so warm and yellow? I love Totally Rad Actions Rab Lab because it has a Cool as a Cucumber action that drops all that extra yellow out of the shot. I used it on every shot for this page. Here is a sample of the before and after:
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Keianna says
Do you have a before and after pic with the Rad Lab action? I ‘need’ justification to purchase 🙂
LoriAnde says
Awesome layout Cathy. I am with you on the simplicity idea- using your digital templates for my project life and LOVING them. I looked into Avenir and wondering which weight you use. They are priced separately depending on weight.
cathy says
I do, but not posted here. Maybe Ill update the post! Hold tight!
cathy says
Thanks, Lori. I used Avenir Roman 55, both for the journaling and that little read in text next to horrors. Its a super versatile weigh for journaling and heck, even for titles. : )
Keianna says
And you are AWESOME. Thank you 🙂
Amy J. says
This is totally my speed! Happy belated birthday! And, your daughter is absolutely precious!
Laura says
Great pics and great layout. The Venus flytrap adds an element of fun — and your pictures are outstanding.
cathy says
Thanks, Laura!
Tara says
Love that kid of yours – and so glad you had a fabulous birthday weekend this year. XO
Del says
Happy Birthday…I have to tell you that Aiden is starting to look like you a lot. When I first glanced at the layout (before reading the story) I thought…how did Cathy get on stage for her birthday??? Awesome! One of my favourite plays.
Pattie says
I’ve got a 16YO DD who loves the stage, too! In a few weeks, she’ll be the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. Theater pictures are so hard to take – I’ve taken a bunch over the past two years, and the colors are just off. Any tips would be welcome!
Nancy says
I’ve used the Cool as a Cucumber action for taming the yellow in a lot of the photos I’ve taken of the boys at school too!
cathy says
: ) So funny when people say that. I only WISH id have had the guts to do that when I was her age!
cathy says
I shoot a super high shutter speed (3200 or higher). I wish I could say I have a wide open fstop. i dont. Most of the good shots were taken with my Canon 70-300 USM zoom. Not the fastest lens, but it does pretty well indoors. The other lens is better, but less zoom.
Rosa says
Oh Cathy, you are so lucky to have that daughter of yours. It shows that YOU have done an amazing job raising an amazing girl, truly. With her graduating this year you should be proud that she will be able to stand on her own two feet.
Pattie says
Unfortunately my DSLR only goes to 1600.
Barbara says
I think I just need to buy all your templates and use them instead of trying anything on my own. This is so cute!!
Barb in AK says
Cathy, don’t your photos come out pretty grainy?
Barb in AK says
What’s my craving? To be caught up with all my stories!!
I’m still back in 2006 in my scrapping, and every time I finish one page, I seem to think of something else I need to tell before I move on!
Right now, I’m working on a visit back to my hometown with my mom in ’06. As I worked on the layout, I had the urge to scrap about my childhood home. I’ve been digging through my mom’s old albums, and photos my dh took of the old farm in the ’70s, too. Now I can’t move on til that layout is finished!
Yes, I need to simplify in the worst way 😀
cathy says
They dont. I dont know why, but they dont. : ) All the shots on that layout were shot, oh, gosh, probably over 3200.
Betty says
What type of album will this layout go in? Do you do a separate album for each of your kids in addition to Project Life?
cathy says
This will go into my All About Aidan, Vol. 2 album. Yes, each kid has specific albums about them.
Betty says
Do you have templates for these albums? Or a post sharing how you do these albums?
cathy says
You know, I just realized I dont have a post about how I organize my albums. Essentially, I use 8.5 x 11 binders for each person in my family, plus an All About Us and Places We Go album. I have many digital templates in my collection that can be used for all sorts of pages. : )http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/supplies/index.php/cPath/74_234
Betty says
I would love a post on how you organize your albums!!! I am using the Minimal Basics templates to do my first Project Life album in 2014 and I’m enjoying your blog so much! I was a Creative Memories Consultant years ago and your Project Life method has freed me so much!!! It’s perfect for our year family album. I have 3 kids (10, 7, & 5) and I don’t feel like I haven’t figured out the best way to organize their albums yet – at least in a way that makes me feel like it’s doable.