So back in 1985 & 1986, St. Olaf (where I now work) hosted the Regional 4-H Public Speaking Contest that I participated in. There were pictures taken both years, but only in 1985, did I have a picture of me taken on the steps of Old Main. Wonderful memories and experiences, but then those memories were just filed away in the back of my mind. Fast forward to the past couple of years, and going thru and scanning in old photos, I again came across the picture of me on the steps of Old Main. Yes, I'm just a speck in the photo, and really, it could be anyone, but I do know it's me!! I remember the red/white dress I'm wearing well (it was also a 4-H Constructed Garment project), and so the idea began to percolate that I really wanted to do a 'Then & Now' page. Last weekend when I was hosting family, I once again had my photo taken on the steps of Old Main by one of my brothers, and was so excited to know that this page could finally happen!!
So, first up, the background. I have not used it much, but I absolutely LOVE & ADORE the Seriously Teen Kit (133475) in My Digital Studio (MDS). Only reason I haven't used it much is that I haven't found just the right photos to go with the designer papers--but I know that's just a matter of time for me. In the papers for the kit, there is a brick wall paper--but it's in Wild Wasabi.
Now, I LOVE green, but I knew that was NOT going to work for this page. So, in MDS, I actually have one file that I created called 12x12 Backgrounds. I always like to export backgrounds that I create and put them in a file in the actual MDS program, and then they're available for me to use like any other designer series papers (DSPs). This file is just all of my various creations, whether it be overlays or re-colored DSPs or what have you, and it's the first place I go when I'm going to be playing around with my backgrounds. So when I create a new page in the file, I insert a photo box, resize it to 12" x 12", and center it vertically & horizontally on the page. Then I inserted the brick wall DSP that I liked (above).
Inserting the DSP as a photo allows you to re-color it (LOVE that feature!!), so I played around a bit and finally settled on Cajun Craze.
Close to what I wanted, but still felt a bit too orange/red for me. So, I lowered the photo opacity to about 60% and added a background behind it of Early Espresso and loved the result!! Just perfect (below)!!
Still has the red tones, but is muted a bit with the brown behind it. So after exporting it as a jpeg and putting it into a file in my program, here's the final page I created:
The title color came about by color-matching one of the roof tiles in the photo on the upper left. When I saw how well the navy blue coordinated with the background of the page, I knew it was a keeper!! The '&' is just Basic Gray. The other fun thing is that I managed to find an .svg file of the college lion that I could put on the page to add just a smidge more interest. I actually made the lion white, but then reduced the opacity to 20%, and added two more, each a tad smaller.
Behind the text, I also added a punch again filled with white and reduced opacity to 20%, to help the journaling stand out. I went back and forth with adding anything more to the page, and in the end, I decided that I was going to leave it simple and let the photos & the journaling stand on their own.
I am so excited to have this page created! What sorts of ideas are running thru your head now that you could do along this same line?! You can always check out My Digital Studio by visiting my online store!!
In the meantime, Happy Stamping!!
Pam
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