Make a Page Monday, Classic Edition

STORY OF THE PAGE(S): Back in 2011 I was on a creative tear when it came to making layouts and making layout templates to see in my digital shop. This page was part of that creative renaissance. (Yes, I had a creative renaissance, people. What? They happen ALL the time.)

You all know that I’m a huge believer in scrapbookers scrapbooking about themselves, right? We tell a lot of stories and guess whose story we can tell better than anyone else’s? Exactly. This page came after I’d been working with my therapist for about a year or so. It’s funny to me now because the shit I was working on from the start is still the shit I’m working on today. Change is measured in small moves. I think the one thing I’ve truly moved on from, however, is worrying about a clean house. It’s funny to me know how much stock I put into that idea, that somehow a clean house meant a clean mind and a clean mind meant that I was a good person. Oh, how naive I was. But that’s for another day.

After I made this page, I decided it’d be a great concept to apply to other people in my life as a way to share some of my hard fought wisdom with them. When you plus someone else into this format, it really becomes more of a Dear [insert person here] type of page. Writing directly to someone is such an easy way to make journaling seem a little less overthought.

Here’s a look at both pages.

DESIGN STUFF: Ahhh. Symmetry and repetition.  Say it with me, won’t you? [ pauses, waits for you to say it ] Slice this layout in half either way and you have complete balance on all sides. The repetition comes in the form of journal blocks. The style repeats six times on this design. Simple color repeats in each small title and the font is the same for the entire page. When you use a single font for an entire design it creates a quiet invitation to the reader. It’s soothing, welcoming. And most importantly, it takes a backseat to the story. Here it’s the photo and the words that matter. The underlying symmetry supports the end goal of the design which is simply to communicate.

TECHNICAL SHIT: This type of page is a quintessential design for hybrid scrapbooking. You open up the file, you type in your small headings and your journaling. Then you turn off the photo layer and print onto a sheet of cardstock. Turn the photo layer back on, drop in your photo, customize your headline, turn off the text layers and print onto photo paper. One thing I like to also suggest is write to fit each block. Don’t have one block have fewer lines than the other. If all have the same number of text lines, there is a stronger symmetry at work.

Another thing you could do is create a collage of images to fill the center photo area. If you have the need to embellish, embellish away!

BUT CATHY, I MAKE 12 x 12 PAGES! Then do this page, and mount it onto a 12 x 12 and celebrate all that outer white space.

SENTIMENTAL SHIT: That photo of Cole… life moves so quickly, doesn’t it? And with it, so much change.

NEW TO HYBRID SCRAPBOOKING? This video walks you through using a digital template to make a hybrid page using Photoshop Elements.

SAVE 20% ON THIS TEMPLATE: The template I used for this page is on sale for 20% off through Wednesday.

SUPPLIES:
Layered Template No. 79
white card stock