Anne Frank Huis: Color

Anne Frank Huis

Have you ever had a group of photos that you felt were so important you were actually intimidated to scrap them? Or had an absolutely brilliant idea for a group of photos that you were almost scared that it wouldn't turn out how you imagined in your head. These photos, from my trip to the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam, fall into both of those categories.

It's almost impossible to describe my visit to the Anne Frank Huis, to have walked where she walked and to see where she lived. It's one of my most memorable places to have visited and I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to see it. And ok, so maybe I cheated a bit with this layout. I'll admit that most of these "photos" aren't mine, but rather postcards I picked up from the bookstore. They do the space much better justice than Kori's point and shoot ever could. (Did I mention that my camera had just been stolen while in transit to A-dam?!)

Crazily, we didn't take photos outside of the house (nor inside) but Christian and I felt it was too important to not have a record. So we hiked it back the few miles down the canal while Kori went shopping. I got two shots outside the building, one from across the canal and one right in front of the building. The little silver plaque says Anne Frank Huis but it was too shiny to photograph well. And being the perpetual ticket hoarder that I am, I couldn't not keep this one, written in Dutch no less!

So I had an idea about masking and patterned paper, and I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out. As scrapbookers, we all have these ideas of what we want our layouts to look like. Sometimes we're disappointed and frustrated with the outcome. But surprisingly, this layout ended up looking almost exactly as I'd imagined it in my head.

I also had so much to say about these photos, that I wanted my journaling to be a big part of this layout and one of the major focal points. I decided to hand write it to get a more "diary-esque" feel. I even scratched out a few words and added a few in, when re-reading the whole thing. I'm not upset that it's perfect, I think it just adds to the charm.

Prima has these awesome felt stems that are meant for embellishing. But the second I saw them, they screamed "use me as a mask!" I balanced them on the edges of this layout and hit them with Gold Metallic and then Brown Maya Mist. Using a craft knife, I carefully cut out the relief and then traced around the edge with a black pen, to give it more definition. Then, using strips of patterned paper I had in my scrap pile, I adhered them to the back of the layout, to add some color and dimension. I'm so happy with how they look! It was an idea I had in my head that actually played out how I wanted it to. When does that ever happen?!

I finished the layout with some Dymo labels, these amazing new Thickers, and a few handmade flower embellishments. [I wrote up a tutorial on these a few posts back: Paper Posies]. Not only am I happy to have scrapped these photos, but I'm also relieved to feel that I did them justice. Thanks Handmade Love for posting a truly inspiring Color Challenge. I don't think this layout would have turned out half as nicely, otherwise!

xxbesos

j.leija