the Undones: Reworking a page

Last week, I shared this page from this post...



I knew the page wasn't done because the story was missing and I just couldn't see how to get it
onto that page.

So I cut it apart. I cut a big square around the photo collage element and put it on a white background.  That wasn't right either so I spritzed a little Sailboat Blue from the Adirondack Color Wash line by Ranger.  Much better but not quite there.

Time for washi tape!  I made a mat for the photo block using washi tape and that solved my problem.

Here's the final layout.



I added some doodling around the edges of all my papers and love how it looks.  I hope you do too because I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing more of that technique.

And here's a close up.



All in all, I'm so happy I didn't give up on this layout. It's not always easy to work through a problematic page.  It's definitely a slow process but it has lots of opportunities to learn and try new techniques or products. I can't tell you how long it took me to make this page but it would probably be a couple of hours. It was totally worth it.

So, dig out a page that's not working. Take a picture of it and see if that helps you figure out what's wrong.  If that doesn't work, rip it apart and start over or cut it up and try again.  You can figure it out if you just give yourself a little time.

I'd love to hear what you think of my rework.  You can either leave a comment or tweet me. My handle is @cathiereed.
 
Happy scrapping!

zove

Cathie

3 tips to get that layout done!

hey, hey!

It's Thursday and that means the weekend is in sight - yays! And it's a long weekend too - double yays!

But  I digress.  Today is about getting those pages and projects done and I have a couple of tips that might help with the most common roadblocks.

Problem 1: "There's something missing but I don't know what!"
Solution: Take a picture of your layout, upload it to your computer and have a look.  Sometimes just looking through my camera view finder is enough for me to see that something isn't right.  The smaller image size makes it easy to examine your whole page for balance and flow.

When I took a picture of this page, I could see right away that I needed more circles and I had to fix that title. Now I'm much happier with this page.






Problem 2: "I don't know what to journal."
Solution: Imagine what you would say to some one if you showed them the page without any journaling. This always helps me figure out my story. You don't need to write a lot - even one sentence can be just what a page needs to finish it off. Then make the time to write it down.

That's what I have to do with this page...



Problem 3: "I don't have enough room for my journaling."
Solution: Make your journaling a design element right from the start.  It's that easy. You can even write it out before you get started to see how much space you need. Just leave space for your story and you will write it down.  Most people can't leave a blank space on their page.

That's the problem with this page.  I have a story I want to tell but I don't know where to put it. If I had made the journaling a part of the design I wouldn't have this problem.  So, I'll either hide the journaling or pull the page apart and try again.



I hope these tips help you finish some your own "undone" projects. If you have any questions or any tips of your own to share, please leave a comment.

Wishing you some crafty time this weekend.

zove

Cathie

note: on Thursdays I blog about projects that aren't quite done.  Maybe they needed some journaling, or photos or both.  I call them "the Undones" and I have a box full of good intentions. In this series, I pick a project, finish it and share the results. I'd love it if you would play along and share a link to your newly finished project in the comments.

Week in the Life: done at last

note: this is a long post so you might want to get a fresh cup of coffee before reading on.

Hey, hey!

Today I'm sharing my Week in the Life album.  It is done.  I am happy, proud and relieved.  Even though I didn't have any idea how my project would look when done, I've never finished a project so quickly. Perhaps my ideas about how things should look is slowing me down in other areas...hmmm.....

So, what was different this time? Well, I knew that I didn't want a 12 x12 album.  I certainly could have filled one up but I find that the 12 x12 albums are so big that people aren't as inclined to pick them up and thumb through them - especially my kids.  So, I went with the We R Memory Keepers 5.5 x 7.5 album.



Here's the side view. You can see that there was plenty of room for this project.



Here's Monday...



The "hello" is from this Cosmo Cricket washi tape. The roll has a vintage hand which I cut off and put in my art journal. The stamp is from the Studio Calico Weekdays set I borrowed from my friend Sara. Thanks, Sara!  I loved it so much I decided to start each day the same way.



I was recovering from a tummy bug on Monday and didn't take many pictures.  I took what I had and grouped them together to give an overview of our home life.



I used the Lawn Fawn Harold's ABCs alphabet set for the "little artist".  I used this throughout the book too.  The wire whale is a project Gabriel brought home from preschool.




Here's Tuesday...














Here's Wednesday...




This is a cautionary tale of what can happen when you have identical clothes for your kids. Gabriel and I ran out the door for an appointment and grabbed Ben's fleece by mistake. We didn't notice until it was too late but I had to take this picture when we got home. Too funny.







This a little note that I put in Gabriel's snack bag on preschool days.  Some days I pick a joke and other days it's a love note.  It's a great way to use up wallet pics and scrap papers.

Here's Thursday...(are you still with me?)









Here's Friday...







I had some extra pictures I wanted to add to Friday so I used a page protector from the Lickety Slippers 8x8 assorted pack. 





Here's Saturday...

And finally, here's Sunday...







More Lickety Slippers.



And that, my friends, is that!

If made to the end of  this post, thank you so much.

I also want to say "thanks" to Ali Edwards. Not just because she conceptualized this project and leads us through it each year but for her daily worksheets.  They saved my bacon this year, so to speak, because I had somewhere to put my notes during the week.  When it came time to put my album together I just punched holes in the pages and added them to the album.  So simple yet so perfect.

Another Week in our (Crazy) Lives is done and dusted.  Next year, Gabriel will be in Kindergarten and our lives will be so different so I'm really glad that I took the time to do WITL this year.

Thanks for stopping by!

zove

Cathie

Reality check and LOAD Challenge update

Hey, hey!

Now that Week in the Life is over - well,  the documenting at least - it's time to get back to reality. And reality is pretty darn busy these days but I'm happy to say that I am up to date with the LOAD challenge.  I took 2 days off when I was sick last week but I was able to make those days up.  So, that's 15 layouts done and I have 15 left - the halfway mark.

Here are the layouts from my first week...

Day One:





Day Two:



 I made this page on Day Three as part of my Paperie Pick post.  Check out the Distress Rock Candy Crackle Paint hearts.




Day Four was inspired by The Paperie's Mojo Monday hexagon challenge. I used old Basic Grey paper from the Urban Prairie collection and lots of mixed media techniques and layers. Yes, I cut all those hexagons by hand so this page took about 2 hours but it's my favorite page from the week.



Day Five:



Day 6: This is one of my favorite pictures of Sam and Gabriel. 




Day Seven:



It is clear that I like to scrap one or two photos at a time. Probably because I'm scrapping stories. Take the page from Day Seven.  That picture was taken on my birthday a few years ago.  Sam and Gabriel went to Starbucks to get me a latte while I slept in. That's the event. But I wanted to capture the story of Gabriel drinking from a Starbucks cup because I do - all the time. He's at the age when doing what we do makes him feel grown up - even though he's drinking hot chocolate. This is the only picture I have that tells the story. So, it's a one picture page.

The LOAD challenge is a great opportunity to practice each and every day, to try new things and be creative.  It is also very, very satisfying to use the supplies I love but have been languishing in my stash. I hope you find my take on the LOAD challenge interesting - maybe even inspiring.  If you have any questions about supplies or techniques, please post in the comments.

zove

Cathie

ps: I'll post the layouts from Week 2 on Thursday.  I hope you'll stop by and check them out.