#62 Inspired by Home

When I set out to accomplish this week's prompt I knew I would tell stories I needed to tell. I knew which products I wanted to use from my stash of Ready Set Go stuff. What I didn't anticipate was that I would be making one of my favorite spreads of all time.

I am not sure why I am in love with this page above any other of recent times. The pictures are fun, the products are great... but mostly it is the story that I think makes me love this page. But enough babbling, let's get to it.

The first page of the spread used a sketch from Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership - the November collection. It was initially a 8.5x11 which I easily converted. And boy, am I glad I did. The wood paper really sets a tone for these pictures. They were taken over the span of 10 years and document the transformation of the home. The title doesn't make much sense and the page seems a little bare...

 
That is why I added a 6x6 page. I was able to add a picture of Steve, the mastermind behind the transformation - and a pocket for hidden journaling. I traced the heart from the die cut and placed it on the opposite page. I love the symbolism this creates. The heart of that house was Steve. 

 

But I had SO MANY photos of the years fixing up the house that I wanted to add many more photos. So I added a divided page protector with 6 more photos to complete my spread. I even found a photo of Gaby and I working on the house back in 2002/03! I tried to place the before and after shots side by side for comparison. 

 
I then added the patterned paper with the birds because this country home ALWAYS had colorful birds around. It is one of my most vivid memories of the house. I added the rest of my title to the front of the 6x6 -  and I like the message it has on it's own. I also added the address since it was something I wanted to document. And I used the stamps from Ready, Set, Go to tie this page with the opposite side. 

 
to finish it all off, I added all three layouts into page protectors, lined everything up like I wanted and stapled on the seams of all three pages to create a cohesive page. Pretty cool, huh?

But wait, that's not all.

I had one more [or seven to be honest] stories left in me.  I chose to document my current "home away from home" in this colorful and fun one page layout. believe it or not, I used as many pictures as in the previous layout but I didn't mind shrinking them into there 4x4 collages. It was more about the feelings these photos elicit versus the details of the home. 

 

I had a blast [well, except for all the times the first layout made me cry] making these pages and adding these meaningful stories to my albums. Thanks so much Lisa.

I have already seen knock-out beauties in the gallery and I hope you will contribute your story too. I love seeing your work based on these prompts.

I will be back tomorrow morning with our new assignment.

xo,
Pamage