Make a Page Mondays No. 8

Welcome to the the eighth installment of Make a Page Monday. With Thanksgiving now a sweet, calorie-laden memory (one that I will be working off for days) I decided to make a simple page to note the holiday, but my story this year is one that even surprised me.

(Click on the image to see larger in a new window)

SIZE/MODE: 12 x 12 digital scrapbook page.

THE STORY: Here's a little story about a scrapbooking Mom who decided to just hang up the camera within minutes of arriving at her Thanksgiving celebration. I took a total of 17 shots for the entire day and guess what? It felt wonderful. The main reason? I realized once we got down to my in-laws (an hour south of our home) that I'd left my Thankful album supplies sitting squarely on top of my dining room table. WHAT? No Thankful album 2010? After a split second of embracing my incomprehensible forgetfulness, I took a deep breath and remembered what I most love about this holiday: everything. And so, I let it go and let the day and the gratitude in. So maybe I don't have a Thankful album to share this year. I have still have my family and the memories inside my head and on any day that is surely enough to fill me up. And besides, what's to stop me and the ones I love from filling it out at another ordinary family get-together? To remind us of our gratitude every time we gather?

THE JOURNALING: Thanksgiving at the farm, gathered in gratitude. After the "Doh!" moment when I realized I left My Thankful album project back in St. Paul, I set the camera aside for most of the day and just relaxed with my family. There are no group pictures of the Zielskes to be Christmas-card ready this year, and you know what? I think that's perfectly fine. The best part of this day is how dependably agenda-free it remains. It's my favorite holiday of the year for this very reason. A simple day to give thanks; to want nothing other than to share the day with the people you love. A brilliant concept for a holiday indeed.

I use this four-square design approach a lot in my scrapbooking. I call it, "Why reinvent the wheel?" Let's look at the design principles at work here.

1. Symmetrical Balance: The four-square base to this design creates an instantly solid, symmetrical design. The four photo/paper/journaling spaces provide a framework in which to build. You can mix up what you use in the space, and you can layer titles and embellishments over the spaces and still preserve the symmetrical foundation.

2. Repetition—Remember how repetition promotes the overall unity of a design? Here, you repeat shape (squares), and color (brown in the papers and type; white in the title and the stitching).

3. Unity—The placement of the four squares via their proximity to one another create a unified chunk of visual content. Add to that the overlap of the title and the placement of both the smaller title and the date, and you have a connected, purposeful grouping of visual content which creates a strong sense of unity and purpose. Placement is everything in a unified design.

Here is a basic sketch you can download to keep in your scrapbooking files. The sketches are on 8.5 x 11 paper for easy printing.

Download CZMAPMSketchNo8

digital template—Layered Template No. 76 (Cathy Zielske

digital papers—Krafty Ledger Paper Pack (Katie Pertiet) • Weathered Neutrals Paperie (Anna Aspnes)

digital stitching—Stitched No. 1 by Anna (Anna Aspnes)

digital brushes—Outline Years, Months & Days (Ali Edwards)

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? Leave them for me and I'll do my best to answer. Also, if you make your own version of the page, don't hesitate to share a link in your comment. I love to see how people are intepreting the sketches to make their own pages!

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