Hello all my artsy friends!  I’m just dropping in with a tip for designing digital pages that trigger emotional memories.  Sometimes I think we take the idea of preserving memories a bit too literally.  Don’t get me wrong – I love pages with photos of family and friends or literal photos of a memory we want to scrap (like the cinnamon dolce latte we had for breakfast).  But sometimes, I want my pages to reflect certain emotions or intense feelings, as opposed to illustrating a specific memory or moment.

It is difficult to put into words how much I love Autumn.  The colors, the smells, the cooler weather, the cozy clothes (and, of course, the start of boot season).  Instead of journaling about my love of the season, I decided to create a page with representative elements that artfully depict my autumnal  emotions.  I used several October BYOC kits, which were just perfect for the project (click on layout for full credits).  Here is how the page turned out:

I have to say that creating this page was a very emotive experience.  Everything on it represents something about my love of Autumn and the feeling of content that I tend to have at this time of the year.  The colors, the wood textures, the leaves, the grungy paint, the photos – everything.  It can sometimes be difficult to describe feelings with words, but that is where the artistic process really shines.

I encourage you to try this technique the next time you want to create, but aren’t sure about a particular subject matter.  Try to include elements on the page that touch on the following:

1.  The color(s) that best represent the feeling you want to convey?

2.  Texture (or lack thereof) – to be included in elements, background papers, digital paint, etc.

3.  Elements/photos that trigger the emotion you are trying to capture

4.  Instead of journaling about the particular emotion, choose word art that will trigger it (or create your own if you cannot find what you want in a   digital kit)

5.  Even the design itself can convey the emotion (clean and simple, full on clusters, graphic, etc.)

Remember, your goal is to create a page that triggers the emotion in you – it does not matter whether anyone else feels it.  After all, the page is about your emotive response.  I think you will find that it can be quite a relaxing and enjoyable process!

I hope you have fun with this technique.  As always, please be sure to share your pages with us in the TLP Gallery. :)

Until next time ~

Judie (HeyJude)