One Page Two Plans

Or, the post about the thing I thought I'd never do..

Change a layout? I've always been such a big follower of the it's done, put it in a page protector and move on school of scrapbooking. Even when what I see on the page isn't anything close to what I had in my head I don't stress over it. I can only make what I can make: if that's the way it turns out when I start sticking, then that's the way it's going to be. I have more pretty papers to cut up and many, many more stories to tell.

But. But. Every so often one page stays in my head. This time I've made what it was I had in my imagination, followed my plan, but I don't like it as much as I thought I would. That page sits on my desk upstairs calling to me to come and help it out, spruce it up or put it out of its misery

Recognise it? It's the page I made to go with my Halloween story. Made it, photographed it, posted it, even. Because I did like it. A little. Until it started calling, demanding, that I head back upstairs and start peeling it apart. I thought maybe you'd like to see? This is what I did so it doesn't look like this anymore:

• Lifted the big black word up from the bottom and put it under the photo. I love its drama and how it sits against the white, just like the cottage appearing out of the darkness at us, but I think adding more emphasis to the picture and less to a different part of the page works better
• Added some machine stitching. Sometimes with a white page everything looks like its floating. Stitching, even if it isn't actually over everything, seems to hold the page down. This isn't as obvious when you have the page right in front of you, but it shows up more in a photo
• Added more rub ons in a "go big or go home" kind of way
• Splattered some yellow ink on. It picks up the yellow in the window frames of the cottage

• Reintroduced a touch of black at the bottom to draw the eye right round the page. These chalkboard speech bubbles I got in a Jenni Bowlin kit have been my single most useful embellishment this year. A little splash of black AND they say "listen up, here's a story.."

• And the biggest change of all? I trimmed off the border music paper and added that much brighter border instead. I don't think I have ever done this before. I love my paper! I've never heartlessly chopped it off and thrown it away! I can't help thinking about what else I could have used that lovely music print for. I was brought up in a house where we learned to fold up brown paper and save little pieces of string: wilful discarding of perfectly good paper? Never. 

But I did it. And I like the result. I'd go so far as to say I might do it again if I have to. It's fun to experiment and it's good to take a deep breath and just start cutting. And, believe me, the new Sian cuts fast. 

Maybe I've inspired you to cut? Or maybe I've confirmed you in your belief that walking away once is enough? What do you think?