product overuse

i have a problem with using a lot of product on a page. i could name on one hand the two layouts i've done that have been heavy. i once described myself as a skinny scrapper (the only part about me that's skinny...) it's really hard for me to continue adding things. but this page i did for the journaler's junction challenge that i cohost with some good friends is the exception.

for the heck of it, i'll walk you through my process:

the challenge was to journal about your favorite aspect of summer. i'd found this picture while cleaning the laundry room. why it was in the laundry room is another story. i knew what i wanted to call the layout (WHY DO WE NAME EVERY LAYOUT? HMMMM?) i pulled the chipboard out a studio calico kit and with a piece of striped paper as a mat for the picture, i added a few chipboard shapes. i thought the bird was a nice touch, kind of mimicked (ASIDE: love that word in the past tense, adding a 'k' just makes me feel so smart. like picnicked...) the direction of the slide. had to have a flower, but not just one, multiple flowers are better. then the dragonfly was cute and the colors matched annie's shirt, so i added a few more dragonflies. there was the problem of the picture, taken on one of those wonderful cameras that date your picture for you, well i had to cover up that stamp, at least for the average viewer. and so i had to add a few more shapes. by that time, i had about 1/3 of the package spread across my layout and decided, "what the heck!?! i'll just throw them all on!" that took a little creativity and some pop dots, but they did all fit. by then the patterned paper just wasn't working, too busy. hee hee. but to add some more dimension, i decided i needed some flight lines and so the stitching came into being. while i was stitching, the paper ran into the butter that someone had graciously left on the counter. so a quick couple of slices with the trimmer and the page got a black border. the date stamp, you'll notice, isn't covered up. putting chipboard there interrupted the flow. i can't interrupt flow! so i live with the date glaring at me (i'll be ok, really). then i started adding ribbon and brads to some of the shapes. i was getting giddy. i was losing control! then i decided that the stitching was too bus y so i moved everything to a plain sheet and got it arranged all nice and showed it to my husband. kelly said he liked the stitching better, the next morning i decided i agreed with him. i attached everything, wrote the journaling in pencil, then set it aside. it took me almost a week to get that journaling penned. arrgh! that should have been the easy part!

ok, very anti-climatic ending, but there you have my process. steph howell commented that it made her happy to see me doing fatter pages, well steph, this page should make you ecstatic! it's BuMPy!




see what updating my blog more often gets you? ramblings into nothingness. :)