planning ahead
You know you have a sickness when, at 2 o’clock in the morning, you get out of bed and head downstairs because you can’t clear your mind of scrapbook layouts.
I’ve been thinking about this layout with Aidan (the one mentioned in the previous post). It’s a letter to him, so I don’t want to print it straight from the blog in blog format. And I don’t really wanna handwrite it, either, because it’s a lot of writing to cram onto a page. I know that I want to use a 5×7 since it’ll be the only photo on the layout.
So for the first time ever, I’ve done a sketch of my own. It’s simple simple simple. I’m allowing space for a title and for some fun accents, but those aren’t sketched in. Mostly, I wanted to see how much space I’d have after the journaling was added.
Then, I remembered my font. I created it a couple of years ago at www.fontifier.com for a mere $9. I had a little trouble getting the resolution to look good when printed, but the guys at Fontifier were extremely helpful and customer-friendly. Try it! Make your own font!
So, issue resolved. I’ll print the letter and it’ll still be in my own handwriting. PERFECT! Even better, I’ll print it to wrap around the photo. When I get ready to scrap this page, all I’ll have to do is stick everything down and embellish it. The “work” of the layout is done. 
I sketched my layout using Microsoft Publisher, but you can do it with almost any software. In MS Publisher, here are the steps:
1. Go to Page Setup (under “File”) and choose a custom size. Make it 12×12 (or whatever size scrapbook page you’re using).
2. Create a text box and enter your journaling.
3. Create another text box (or paste in the actual photo) and make it the size you want the photo to be. Place it where you want the photo to be placed on the page.
4. Go to Text Wrapping (under “Arrange”) and choose “wrap through”. Adjust the line spacing and font size until you make all the text fit.
Simple simple simple!
Now maybe I can sleep.
January 18th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Excellent idea! See, buying that font was a very good idea!!
January 18th, 2007 at 11:45 am
I really need to go make my font…thanks for the reminder!
January 18th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Is that Publisher software expensive? It seems like a good thing. I did a sketch for myself in Microsoft word and it was not easy to get as I wanted.
January 18th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
That is pretty neat. How do you think of this stuff?
January 18th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
You have a sickness! Get some sleep girl…oh no never mind. Stay up write more articles and share more layouts!
January 19th, 2007 at 8:10 am
So, should we be expecting a book of Sketches by Stacy? Layout Blueprints by Stacy K?
That would be awesome!
Thank you for the specific directions, you have a great way of making everything clear.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:39 am
[...] Dear Aidan January 22nd, 2007 by Stacy Kocur Last week, I sketched out a layout plan that included a letter I’d written to my son and a 5×7 photo. When I sat down to scrap it, I deviated from my plan a little, but ultimately, I love the way it turned out. [...]
January 27th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
i have went so far as to download the program and start to do my handwriting…but i haven’t completed it at all…i really really should. thanks for reminding me.