STORY OF THE PAGE: On October 19, Dan and I marked our 23 year wedding anniversary. It’s our tradition to exchange cards on these most auspicious of occasions. We generally eschew gifts and neither of us know exactly how that tradition took hold. But in any event, it’s all about that card. Plus, it saves money. One less yearly gift. Of course I like to get crafty with my card. Why buy when you can make, right? So with the help of InDesign and my Silhouette Cameo, I created this lovely card and placed it into a clear envelope.
The card features a list of 23 reasons/items/things detailing why I would do this whole thing over again without hesitation. (True, I would do a few things differently, but that’s for another layout and another post.)
The next day I thought, “Hey, that list would make a fine scrapbook page,” and so I set out to make said page. I’d been savoring the patterned paper you see and figured now was as good a time as any to use it. Here’s a look at the page.
Yes, there is a black bar on this page that has been digitally added. When I typed up my list for the card, I wasn’t thinking public consumption and so when it’s just me and my boo*, swears will happen.
*Technically, I have never actually called him my ‘boo.’ I’m just trying to bridge the generation gap of crafting.
JOURNALING READS:
1. Your lips.
2. The babies that we made.
3. Joe Jackson’s music.
4. How fun it was to smoke cigarettes with someone I was actually dating.
5. Spooning as a method to alleviate menstrual cramps.
6. Your sense of humor.
7. Your general taste in women (as most of the women you find attractive usually have something similar to me.)
8. You do all the yardwork.
9. Your even-natured personality.
10. You’re not super picky about food and even though you don’t love chili, you don’t make demands in the kitchen.
11. Your sentimental side. I know, we aren’t supposed to embrace sentimentality, but [eff] it, I still do sometimes.
12. Your facial hair abilities.
13. The way you smell.
14. You look good in glasses.
15. You look good in clothes AND out of clothes.
16. Your willingness to work on yourself and not give up on this marriage of ours.
17. Wine expertise.
18. Your hair.
19. Your work ethic.
20. Your mix-making abilities.
21. Your kindness.
22. Your family is pretty alright.
23. The lifetime of memories we’ve created together.
DESIGN BREAKDOWN: The page balance is primarily asymmetrical, because the journaling block is ever so slightly wider than the paper/title/photo area. That said, I made sure to add weight to the left side of the page, using the wide strip of patterned paper to hold the title, the word strip, the photo and the little wooden heart. Repetition is seen with the color white, picked up in the paper, the ’23 years’ tag, and the border on the photo. I love how simple and monochromatic this whole color scheme is. Monochromatic is very soothing and inviting.
TECHNICAL SHIT: I created a simple list using InDesign. One of the things I love about that program is its ability to let you format lists with hanging indents quickly. I tried to do this in Photoshop, thinking I could package this design up and sell it as a template but after about 30 minutes of Googling “create a hanging indent in Photoshop” I got frustrated and said, “Hello, InDesign.” Yes, I’m sure you can do it but it wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. Let’s face it: Photoshop is not a typographer’s dream. However, Photoshop is perfectly adept at letting you create title strips, like the one you see on this page. I made an 11-inch tall rectangle, changed it’s color to brown. Next I added a text box on top of it and changed the text color to white, creating the white type effect. I sent that to print (along with a few other color options I was considering) on smooth white card stock with borderless print settings, to create the full length strip. Next, I created a ’23 years’ tag of sorts. I opened a new document in the Silhouette software, made the box with rounded corners, added my text (Avenir) and duplicated it a few times to try a few different sizes. I used my favorite textured Bazzill card stock for the tag, to add some visual texture. I seriously love that Silhouette. It was money well spent. I think I’ve told you this before, but I tried to wrangle a freebie from that company to no avail. The salad days of freebies? Not what they used to be working in this business. That said, I did get to write it off in 2013 so in a way it all balances out. #selfemploymentforthewin
Next, I took a photo I had of Dan and created a little print that was supposed to mimic the look of an Instax print. I’m not the owner of one of those bad boys, so I have to make do with my mad Photoshop fakery skills.
Finally, I trimmed one edge with my Fiskars scallop blade, something I do frequently just to add a little visual interest without being annoying. But seriously? Mama needs a new blade. That sucker has seen its better days.
SENTIMENTAL SHIT: 23 years is a really long time. We still work every day to be the people we want to be and the mates we know we are capable of being. It’s not all moonlight and roses, that’s for sure, but I am still so very grateful for the opportunity to keep showing up. At the core, we’ve got a very good thing here. We just need to keep excavating.
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Lauren says
Cathy I love this! I love brown, lists and black bars (not necessarily in that order).
Glenda says
First of all congratulations on 23 years together. In this day and age when divorce seems to be the “out” for so many couples without even blinking. I have been fortunate to be with my first love a total of 46 years and of those 46 , legally married for 41. Has it been easy, heck NO, but that has kept our relationship growing. Love your scrapbook layout and the interesting sentiments. Enjoy the next 23 plus years together.
heidig says
Beautiful!
Holly Corbett says
I love this layout Cathy, and this journaling concept! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me!
G- says
Great layout. I enjoyed your directions – very clear.
So happy to see this celebration of long-time love. It is the little day-to-day things that make a marriage strong. 21 years and counting here. Year 20 was pretty rough but we made through to the other side and it is appreciating the small things that made it possible.
Karen J. McLean says
As someone who appreciates every minute detail of the “technical shit,” this is like being presented with a giant bowl of jelly beans.
And as someone who is totally a mush inside and out … Awwww. 🙂
Joanna says
Nice. 🙂
Yolanda says
Our 17th anniversary is this weekend (and yeah, some of those years have been spent in therapy). Definitely feeling that sentimental shit. Especially as I watch my husband carry such a heavy load as I make my second recovery from surgery in 2 years.
It’s amazing how light and airy you have made a monochromatic brown layout appear.
And, I think “bridging the generation gap of crafting” may just be your next tag line.
Barb in AK says
The simplicity of your pages always knock my socks off! Simple but totally spectacular.
I want to scrap like you, but I have a room full of cute stuff to use.
Keep up the great inspiration though. One day, I’ll “get it” and go full-out CZ 🙂
Lida says
Sweet!
Samantha Chapman says
I love this page! And I love how you get into the details for how our made it. While some steps are always obvious, there are always new techniques to be learned and you provide those in a such a clear way that makes me believe I can do the same. Thank you and Congratulations on 23 years of marriage!
Kendra B says
Great list!! Congrats on 23 years!!
Kim Smith says
Love the simplicity of a list and a photo…..so cool! Happy Anniversary to you and Dan!
Kelli Panique says
Love this and congrats on 23 years! Our marriage becomes an adult today as we celebrate number 18! And, if you don’t mind too much, I think I will steal this idea as a fun way to celebrate! (We don’t do gifts either. 😉
Michelle t says
Love this. Perfection. Michelle t
Maureen says
Don’t you hate it when you realize too late that you’ve used the last ‘new’ blade? and btw, you didn’t have to explain what had been bleeped out to your regular readers. We know you kiddo! You speak my language.
SarahJane says
Mad photoshop fakery skills. ((Giggle)) Adobe InDesign for the win…. YAY! (I do almost EVERYTHING in InDesign now. Once upon a time, in my former life, I was SO LOYAL to QuarkXPress… NOW can’t imagine giving InDesign up.) Congratulations on your anniversary.
Cathy Zielske says
Yep. I remember my relationship with Quark. I was SO desperate to stop using Pagemaker and go to Quark.
Then, hello InDesign.
AnnG says
Congrats to you both! Love this layout. One more reason why I love reading your blog. You keep it real, every day. We celebrated our 25th anniversary in August and I don’t feel so bad as we don’t typically do a whole lot for anniversaries either except maybe a nice dinner and a card. Though January will bring a great Dominican vacation!
Debby says
Congratulations! You are likely around the point where you have been together longer than you haven’t and that has got to be a little trippy and awesome at the same time.
I am looking at purchasing some of the the Archer and/or Avenir fonts and was wondering:
1. Which Archer font style(s) do you use for your journaling?
2. Do you find yourself using any of the other Archer font styles?
3. Which Avenir font style did you use here?
4. Do you use any of the other Avenir font styles with any regularity?
Thanks! 😀
Cathy Zielske says
I use all weights of Avenir with regularity, but most often I use the Roman weight.
Here I used the Avenir Next Demi (slightly different Avenir font package) for the strip. Sometimes when you are doing the white type effect, you need a slightly heavier weight to accommodate dot gain (ink bleeding into the space where the white type is).
I used Archer Book on the journaling, which I do find I use a lot.
MichelleGB says
Seriously fabulous page and list! Congratulations on that milestone!
Abby P says
Congratulations on your anniversary, and thank you for reminding me hubby and my first-date anniversary is next Wednesday – hey, 38 years is something to celebrate (high school sweethearts)! Love the page and all that comes with Make-a-Page-Monday!