Welcome to Day 2 of LOAD Mini 824. I am honoured the be the featured designer today and to tackle Alice’s prompt.
All this week we are scrapbooking a layout a day from prompts based on the movie Footloose. Today we are talking about acts of daring. In the movie Ren is dared to play Tractor Chicken and ends up winning because his shoe gets stuck and he can’t bail off the tractor. I have not played Tractor Chicken, or car chicken, or any kind of chicken I don’t think, but I’ve done many things in my life, both big and small, that could be considered daring.
So today, let’s tell the story of one of those Daring Deeds!
Sometimes a story comes to you in a bolt of lightening, sometimes you have to massage it out. This was a little bit of both. It took me a bit of time to decide on a story, as I don’t necessarily think of myself as a daring person. I don’t sky dive or rock climb, or anything like that. But when I thought long and hard, I realized I tend to trust my gut more than the average person and that can sometimes lead me to flirt with danger a bit.
Embarking on this Retail Store Owner journey was very much a “leap and hope you land on your feet” type act. We knew we had three years to make it successful, and we came close. Some parts were incredibly successful, others were not. Ultimately I blame the current state of the economy for our failure. When the average family is paying up to double for their groceries these days, it’s no wonder there’s no money left for creative hobbies, kids day camps, and hand made goods
In case you’re wondering, as daring as it feels to have both opened and closed an arts and crafts store, I don’t feel “finished” with this particular daring act. I am in the process of trying to establish an online store where I can continue to serve my customers with quality yarns, and some scrapbook adhesives and mediums too. So stay tuned as who knows where this next daring act will take me!
Here’s a closer look at the finished layout.
There are two things about this layout that I am loving. The split page design for one, and the way the background feels like an extension of the floors in my store. The hits of blue even bring the blue accents from the front of the building into the design. Not something I purposefully did but I’m sure on a subconscious level I knew I needed that dark blue.
Because my story has two very distinct parts, using a split page design with such an obvious separation means that both sections, and therefore both stories, hold equal weight on this page. And yet they are not competing. And that comes down to making sure to keep things balanced. I talk about it in the video a bit. When I add something to one section, I make sure to add something similar to the other section. Usually to the opposite side but not always.
When I set out to tell this story I didn’t know that both sets of photos were taken exactly three years apart. To the day! To be honest, that just makes this even more perfect. To be able to talk about my feelings on the very first day we welcomed customers into the store, and then on the very last day of our lease agreement adds a depth to the story that I’m super happy to share.
And just like how I used the same embellishment items in each section, I ended the journaling with the same sentiments. That of a great sense of pride in our accomplishments. This is a trick to tying two different story arcs together. Find the common thread. In this case I was talking about my feelings on both days and how even though I was sad at the end, I was just as proud as I had been on Day 1!
Thank you for joining me on this journey and for Day 2 of the Mini LOAD challenge. I can’t wait to see your layouts based on this prompt. And I welcome you to scraplift my page design today. Try this split page design and tell two separate but connected stories. If you do use this page to inspire your own, please tag me over on Circle, I’d love to check it out!
Enjoy the rest of LOAD and I’ll see you on the message boards!