Today’s prompt was “in what ways do you relinquish control to others in your life” or use a sketch.
What a prompt! I often feel like I have no control in my life. I have an autoimmune disease that often leaves me in pain. My husband comes home from a long day at work, and my number two job is to get dinner on the table. Lately, it feels like I’m relying more and more on him to make this happen. I get half way done, and then I just can’t go on. He always smiles, and says I’ve got this. I so agree with Steinbeck, we have so little control over our own journeys, you just have to embrace it all.
There are many times when I scrapbook where I feel like one of the other members of my family could tell the story better than me. I make the page, leave the journaling blank, and hand over a pen. I find it so rewarding. I tell the story I know through the layout, and then someone else actually documents it. I find that documentation is usually from a point of view that I never knew. It’s a great way to learn more about my family’s experiences, and it helps my layouts be more inclusive.
For this prompt, however, I saw this layout on the PhotoPlay Paper Facebook Page, and I just had to lift it. I love doing paper weaving, I’ve loved it since I was in first grade. Once I figured out how to do it I wove and wove and wove. I used so much paper! So when I saw that Nicole Nowosad actually made lattice, I was hooked. Besides, I love the colors of the Paprika Collection! I decided that I would use a scrapbook sketch instead. Ok, it’s a bold face copy. I just love it so.
Mine is a bit different, everything is a bit bigger, the photos, the strips in the lattice, the title. I moved around the embellishments a bit. I journalled… And I love it as much as I thought I would! I remember this day with such fondness. The day my son fell in love with Michigan. The day I remembered how much I love Michigan. Friends who are still your friends after 20 years apart. Water that you don’t have to rinse off after you play in it. Rocks to play with instead of seaweed. No shark warnings… I’ve never seen my son as happy as when he was on the boat in Lake Michigan. We can’t wait to go back.
This layout brings me almost as much joy as that day did. And with both the day and the layout, I gave up control and let what was going to happen, happen. It was so worth the journey.
The “process” on this one was crazy. I went through all my papers to find a color scheme I liked. I think the stripe is the only “mistake,” I’d change it given a chance. I made the stripes too big. I wish I had made them smaller. I found black way too stark, so the nice gray worked well. I had this great Michigan paper, cut out the mitten, added some embellies, and there you have it.
As with the other pages I’ve made this load, there is a supplemental. Let me just say this. I’m worried. Not all my supplemental pages are front and back. Like this one. Just one side, I’ve chosen back. AND, I made slices in the plastic, so it really needs to stay this way. I love how this little map has matching colors… YES, I was supposed to use it. Kismet. I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do if things down come down right… I might force some Mackinac Bridge photos on the other side just to help me out. Hmm. LOAD goes on for another 15 days or so. Should be intereting as we get into Day 28.
If this issue has happened to you, let me know how you dealt with it.
Speak Your Mind