The following article is the first of a series titled, Reclaim Yourself.
How do you feel about your age and your life right now? Do you feel young or old? Are you what you’d always hoped you’d grow up to be? Do you like the direction your life has taken you–the decisions that brought you to where you are?
I challenge you to make a layout answering one or more of these questions. It can be light and fluffy like mine, or heavy, deep and introspective.
Let me tell you about my own layout…
The Story
The journaling reads: I may be over 30, a stay-at-home mom with 3 kids, but I can still pull out that rock star attitude like I was only 21.
This type of journaling may be a little on the shallow side for what I typically like to write, but combined with my design, I’m not just showing some attitude, I’m also revealing something deeper about myself. I feel young. I live young. And I am exactly who I want to be.
My biggest wish was always to be a stay-at-home mom, just like my own mother. But I also had those other secret dreams from childhood that many of us have, one of which was to be a rock star. I still rock out in my car and in my shower and in my living room–at the club on rare occasions. I got my greater wish to be a mom, and I get to enjoy the fantasy of rocking out, even if I’m the only one it entertains.
The Story Is In The Design: Rock ‘N Roll, Leather & Lace
Remember the leather and lace days of the 80’s? It was the unique combination of the hard and the feminine that characterized that style. I went with a similar concept, but in my own current style (not the style of the 80’s). I began with lace.
I have some fabulous lace in a gorgeous cream color. Its hem is pulled into a ruffly edge. This was my inspiration for much of the layout. I decided to use a “hard lace” look to enhance the rock-theme. Aside from the actual piece of lace that I used to anchor the photo, I found other elements that combine something “hard” with something lace-like.
In the shot above you see the black lace-paper. The black is the “hard” element. In the photo below is a hard metal lace flower. There is also a second lace flower anchoring the photo to the page.
So, back to you, my fellow scrapbookers. How do you feel about you, right now? Begin by writing down your thoughts. Find or take a picture that exemplifies you in your state, and then let that be the inspiration for the design of your layout.
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Respect (Baby, I Got It)
12×12 Layout
Additional Journaling: Kansas City * Christmas time at the farm, Dec. 2006 * Little Noell showing spunk.
Song lines: R.E.S.P.E.C.T. find out what it means to me * Just a little bit
Adhesive (3-D Dots by E.K. Success, Creative Memories, Glossy Accents) * Epoxy sticker (s.e.i.) Game Spinner (Tim Holtz) * Letter stickers (Creative Memories, Thickers by American Crafts) Metal flower brads (Creative Imaginations) * Patterned paper (Basic Grey, K.I. Memories die cut paper, My Mind’s Eye) * Pen (American Crafts) * Rhinestones (Heidi Swapp for Advantus) * Transparent flourish (My Mind’s Eye ) * Misc. (Lace from own stash).
