Thursday, February 3, 2011

Yesterday & Today: Intro Layout

I feel really lucky to be taking part in Ali Edwards' 12-week online scrapbooking class entitled, Yesterday and Today.

In the first week of class, Ali set the stage for the class by posing the following question:
If you were gone tomorrow, what would you want others to know about you and the life you have lived?


Thought-provoking, huh?

My first task was to grab a pen and paper and list all of the stories I yearn to tell--stories not only from my recent past, but also from my childhood, adolescence, and 20-something years. For fifteen minutes, I scribbled away, listing a string of memories on a single sheet of paper.

From there, I sorted the story ideas into two columns: Yesterday or Today.

The third task involved browsing through my scrapbook layouts, making notes about what I like most about them, and what I might do differently in the future. Through this activity, I learned that I love layouts with large pictures (5 x 7 or bigger), white cardstock, and lots of journaling (preferably in my own handwriting). I didn't see very many black and white pictures in my current layouts, so I'd like to incorporate more in future ones.

With the reflective activities of Week One complete, it was time to jump into Week Two. This is where I began rifling through stacks of old photos, on the hunt for six pictures to include in my introductory layout. My mom was kind enough to "loan" me a box of family photos, so I could look through them at my leisure. I tried not to hem and haw over which ones to use; instead, I just found six I thought worked well enough, assembled them on canvasses in Photoshop and uploaded them to Costco.

Here's my intro layout:


The little girl pictured in the top left photograph (taken in the 1930s) is my paternal grandmother, Geraldine Rose, who at the time, was probably just 5 or 6 years old.

The little girl pictured below her is me as an infant.

Below that is a family photograph of my parents, my sisters and me taken at my dad's college graduation.

I also included a close-up shot of my sisters and me as well as a picture of Brian and me taken on a cruise ship about five years ago.


The picture above is me in fourth grade during my first year of Girl Scouting. My "Junior" vest looks so bare in this photo; I had yet to earn any badges because I had just recently joined Girl Scouts. Over the next few years, though, I filled up that vest (both front and back) with scores of badges. (And I still have it in a box downstairs.) I chose this picture of me in uniform as the large layout photo because Girl Scouting was such a big part of my childhood. I participated in Girl Scouting for nine years, beginning as a Junior, moving up to Cadette, and then finally graduating to the level of Senior.

I have so many wonderful memories as a Girl Scout; in fact, I have a feeling I'll be scrapping some of those stories in a layout (or two) later on in this class.

J

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