Throwback Thursday - sharing an old layout "Oregon on Your Own"

For this week's Throwback Thursday, I'm sharing another layout from 2010. I love this one particularly because of the papers - Simple Stories - and because of the photographs of my girl. It's so hard for me to believe that was almost six years ago.

Take a look at the left side of the layout which includes a title and a pocket that I've slipped a journaling card into for safekeeping. Looking back at my choices, I sort of wish that I'd grounded my title somehow so that it doesn't fade into the background quite so much. While I love the richness of all the colors and patterns and how well they complement each other, I do think that the title gets a bit lost on the page. If I were to make the page now, I'd probably put the title on a scalloped solid mat (maybe the brick red you see in the circle) and then pop it up with some foam squares. I'm tempted to go back and do that now, but let's get real. I have too many projects I want to make right now to spend the time going back and changing old layouts. It'll all be okay...

Here are some close-up shots of the journaling if you're someone who likes to read that kind of thing - you know, my inner-most thoughts and stuff.

On the right side of the layout, I used some of the banner style stickers that came with this particular Simple Stories line. I hate that the gingham bathing suit kind of disappears into the patterned paper. Maybe I could have outlined that with a thin black marker to give it more definition? Or I could have popped it up with foam squares? It needs a little something, even though I still love it.

I didn't take these photos of Kelsey, an aunt of Jake's did that when they were visiting Oregon. I absolutely love all the photos that she took of her on this trip and am quite jealous that I've never been able to capture a series of photos of her that are quite this amazing. It's on my bucket list. One day, I'll be that good at photography. Since I love the photos so much, I thought you might like looking at them a bit more closely.

One last look at the layout before you go --

These days, I rarely make two page layouts, but looking at this spread reminds me of why I used to like them. It feels so good to fit so many photos on a page to tell a story. I'm still a fan of a grid based design and of vertical page elements for defining photo blocks. What I love most is that this layout makes me feel happy while still allowing the photos to shine. It's a bit busier than what I might make these days, but I really don't think I'd change that.  Thanks for taking a look back into the past with me!