Remember

Today’s project is my current assignment for thinking*through*design.  My post is going to be a little different than usual today, because I need to share two things about this page.  The first is that the assignment was to “fussy cut” paper to complete your page.  This is my*thought* that I submitted. 

“I’m pretty sure that fussy cutting is called that because that’s how my attitude turns when I attempt it….fussy…yup, just like a tired baby. But for this assignment, I put my big girl panties on and dealt with it. I realized as I was pulling paper that fussy cutting doesn’t have to be intricate, elaborate or curved things. It can be straight lines too! That’s great because my fine motor skills aren’t very good (which is why I get fussy) and it’s difficult for me to cut a beautiful curved line. But with the help of a ruler I was able to easily fussy cut the straight lines of the pattern in this hexagon paper. The great thing about fussy cutting is that it’s a very budget friendly way to add a lot of pizzazz and elements to a page. I used two sheets of 6x6 paper and one sheet of cardstock to make a page that had a lot of Wow without a lot of Pow to the wallet.”

With that in mind, I want to talk about the page a little bit.  Yes, this page was created out of first and foremost the assignment to fussy cut.  However, as you can probably see, the content is pretty deep.  I struggled with this page more than I usually do.  I honestly was torn.  This was a page I’d been thinking I should do for a while, but I just couldn’t pull it together.  There is a lot of emotion involved.  If you don’t recognize the pictures, this is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (or A-bomb dome).  When I was in high school, our Japanese Club took six students to Japan for spring break.  It was a once in a lifetime experience for me, and my only travel overseas.  I remember being a teenager and the intense emotion, confusion and sadness there, at a place where so many people lost their lives. 

As I created this page, I put more attention to the attitude of the design and the colors than I normally do. I wanted it to be calm and mellow, respectful if you will, with a somber tone.  I had originally pulled some pink and grey paper, but that just didn’t work.  Between the grey skies in the pictures, the somber grey of the concrete, and the overall somber attitude of the location, pink just didn’t work, it was too happy.  After deciding that, I matted my photos on the grey paper, with the intent to pull out the grey of the concrete.  From there, I grabbed the Follow Your Heart 6x6 paper and decided that despite yellow being a usually happy color, I liked the combination in the more muted tone (it is also found in the top photo, so it seemed natural fit).  The blue also felt like it carried the mellow theme of the page.  I wanted substance to the elements, without being flashy.  It just didn’t feel appropriate to be flashy.   Lastly, I carried through the somber grey of the concrete in the grey of the word “remember”.

The journaling….yes, this had me hung up the most.  Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted to say about it.  Because of that, I did something I don’t normally do.  I journaled in pencil.  But my reasons were two fold.  First, I could erase it later if I found more appropriate words.  Secondly, the grey again was a repetition of the grey of the concrete and the somber sky.  But also, I wanted it to be subtle.  I didn’t want the journaling to be screaming for attention on a page where everything else was modest.  I only could find a black journaling pen (my journaling pens are favorites among others in this house….).  With that all in mind, the pencil seemed like the best option. 

 

Supplies:  Coredinations (cardstock), DCWV (cardstock), My Minds Eye (patterned paper – 6x6, chipboard elements), The Twinery, Papertrey Ink (alpha dies)

Design Tip:  Use color to convey emotion  (see above)

Price Per Page:  $ (under $2 MSRP)

I’d love to have you join us in the challenge at thinking*through*design!  Go check out what the other team members have done and share your page.