STORY OF THE PAGE: The year was… oh hell, I’m not sure. 2005? Maybe 2006? And this was very likely an assignment for a special issue of Simple Scrapbooks magazine, probably for our Quizzes issue. The idea was simple: come up with a predetermined set of questions to be answered by two people. The twist? You answer the questions about them. They answer the questions about you. Think of it as The Newlywed Game for scrapbooking. How well do the people you call friends and family know you? I have to tell you how much I smiled seeing this page featuring me and my best friend, the one and only Tara Whitney. Oh, how this girl has my heart in so many ways. She is my hide-a-body friend. She is the “Ima call you out on your bullshit” friend. She is my person.
The photo was a selfie (before selfies were even de rigeuer—talk about original hipsters!) taken with Tara’s big digital SLR on the beach somewhere in Southern California. iPhones weren’t even a thing yet. It was taken during a girls’ weekend. We had a crew of scrapbooking ladies and we all descended upon Tara’s house for a few days of child-free, adhesive-laden debauchery. Those were the days.
Anyhoo, seeing this page made me smile. This girl? She gets me. She knows me. I’m so grateful for her friendship. Plus, this is a fun page idea. Holla!
The journaling is pretty easy to read here. It still cracks me up that Tara would describe me as tall and thin. True, I was much thinner back then, but I’ve always just been 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Tara is 6 feet tall so I think she was just feeling sorry for me. I love that almost 10 years later, my lack of bras and my orange sweatshirt are still a thing in my life. Some things never change.
DESIGN STUFF: Yet again, the core structure of this page is symmetrical. Slice it down the center and what you have on the left, you have on the right. Do you want to know why so many of my layouts feature symmetry? Because it’s the easiest type of balance to create. It’s just so straightforward. It allows for clear communication of the story. I don’t have to think as hard to achieve the end goal: a layout that works. This page, while it was an assignment many years ago, also started out with product. See that chipboard? Those are old Heidi Swapp products. Man, I loved them then and I still look at them and think, “Aw yeah!” I can’t tell you exactly what font they were based on but it just feels like a Helvetica to me. Classic type products never feel dated to my eye. Their color informed the other color choices. I found some floral paper with the same hue of pink and then I created a pink to put all of the questions in. The pink creates a visual link, repeated in three areas of the page. Repetition of any element—color, embellishment, photo size, type treatment—enhance the overall unity of any design.
TECHNICAL SHIT: I made three text boxes of equal width to add the journaling. Keep in mind, it’s much easier to do stuff like this in a desktop publishing program such as InDesign, as it let’s you create columns that link together with ease. However, you can do the same in Photoshop. Just make one text box that is one column, define your font choices, then just make copies by holding down your Alt or Option Key, clicking on the text box and dragging. I also experimented with the pink color in the text until I got it right. Sometimes it takes trying a few different options to get the right one. I always do test prints on cheap copy paper to see if the color is good to go.
MAKE ONE OF THESE AT HOME! I created a new template for my Story Guide series using this idea. Get a page partner, come up with a handful of questions to answer about each other, add a photo of the two of you and voila—a fun page to add to your album.
Maybe “that’s what she said” is a little cheeky, but I like the idea of it. Each word in that title is a graphic, so you can change the colors as you see fit. Also included are the layers containing the phrase, “that’s what he said” in the same format. Of course, you could delete that title altogether if you are so inclined, but I like the feel of this. Why not have some fun with titles on our layouts, right?
This type of page is perfect for a hybrid approach. You print out the title and the journaling onto card stock, but then add your photos and some patterned paper behind them. You could even print the top on a different color of cardstock than that of the journaling. The questions you come up with are up to you. All you need is a willing page participant. I’ve decided to ask Dan if he wants to do one of these with me. I’ll let you know how that all shakes out.
Find this Story Guide No. 10 here.
WANT TO LEARN HOW TO USE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS TO MAKE HYBRID PAGES? I have just the video for that here.
HERE’S ANOTHER FUN IDEA: Have an idea for a great question to add to a page like this? Leave your idea in the comments. I bet we can get some good ones going.
BEFORE WE GO: Do you know my friend Tara? Word on the street is she’s blogging again. Check her out here.
Jenny B. says
Oh, I love this page, Cathy! I laughed out loud at the item of clothing she thought you should wear more often. Ha! 🙂 I love that you’re making templates out of these older layouts. So fun!
Deanna says
I totally remember this page! Pretty sure it was for the quizzes edition and if I dig through all my organized (cough,cough) magazines I might just find it. I loved it then and love the idea of putting a new twist on it. Think I will torture my boys with this idea (insert evil laugh here)
Thanks Cathy!
RitaQ says
Not only do I remember this page but I still have the magazine! 🙂 I purged all my other magazines but couldn’t bear to toss this one.
Nicole Hankosky says
You’re going to love this (I think). In your last paragraph, I think your autocorrect got the jump on you. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to read card stock, not yardstick, but the funny part is that my knee-jerk response was “What the heck is yardstick?? Not another Apple program I don’t have and need to get in order to complete a page!” So, thanks for not requiring another piece of software I don’t have in order to complete today’s page and for the (albeit unintentional) laughs!
Yolanda says
Question Ideas:
If I wasn’t working as a ______, what job do you think I’d be really good at?
I’m calling you from jail at 3 AM, what have I most likely been arrested for?
Where would I go for a dream vacation?
If they were remaking The Breakfast Club [or Heathers, or Mean Girls, or etc], what character would I play?
Cathy Zielske says
No, I meant ‘yardstick’. LOL!
I hate that. It ALWAYS autocorrects cardstock as yardstick. Thanks for catching that! 🙂
Cathy Zielske says
These are GREAT! Oh man, love, love!
Chris says
love your LO! think i need to make one for me and my “partner in crime”.
i have a photoshop question for you CZ…can i just buy photoshop elements or do i need the whole she-BANG? and which one should i buy, if so? and can i come and live with you and take lessons on how to use this beast?
i just want to be able to do the cute things you and ali e. do.
thank you, i love reading your blog. you make me laugh.
chris s.
Ingunn says
Aah, I remember this page! So perfect.
Tara says
Good times, Zielske! Love you!
Michelle t says
Oh wow. Awesome. That’s all… Michelle t
Jocelyn Thompson says
Great questions. I really want to try doing one of these pages. Here are some more questions….
If I were a superhero, who would I be?
Taking a day off from work, where would I go and what would I do?
Would I jump from an airplane?
Who would I want to play me in a movie of my life?
I am really liking this one a lot ….getting very inspired!
Thanks Cathy!
Cathy Zielske says
You can just buy Elements. It’s a complete program in and of itself. And it’s affordable and learnable! I have a ton of videos on my Vimeo Channel that can help you learn!
Jocelyn Thompson says
Glad to see you blogging again Tara! I use to follow you …awhile back. You have great inspiration and photography and it is truly nice that you share it with us!
Sally Kemp says
I not only remember this one and still have that issue, but I actually scraplifted it, and had my best friend answer some questions about me. Need to dig that one out – I seem to remember her saying something about how impressed she was with my Pig Latin abilities 🙂
Whitney says
Love these questions!
Jules says
OMG I LOVE your questions …..
elizabeth says
*bra*
You guys are my favorite bloggers! Y’all got me scrapbooking, and although I don’t do it as much as I’d like to, I still really enjoy your respective blogs!
Abby P says
I actually used to tear layouts out of my magazines that both you and Tara made. I still have them from yearrrrrrrrs ago. The designs were awesome then, and they’re awesome now. Nice to see Tara back at blogging again — and it’s doubly-sweet to see her photos! Girl’s got skilz!
Holly Corbett says
Thanks for another great layout design! I actually remember this layout in the magazine! Ah, the good ole days… 🙂
Sally says
Thanks!!! For Being Real People, With Real Lives, Sharing Real Inspiration … ALWAYS !!
You ROCK Cathy and your friendship with an equally AWESOME Tara … cannot be outdone by anyone or anything!!!!