by Ethan Johnson
October 30, 2007

As one might notice, I haven't been posting much of anything to this section of our fair site. It's not that I've stopped doing scrapbook-style layouts, or have lost interest. Quite the contrary. I've been making layouts that were designed to be gifts and therefore I really can't publish them prior to being received and acknowledged by the recipient. Plus, I have been on the fence about publishing the "gift" ones because I don't want to come off as in some way cheapening the sentiments expressed in those layouts. As something of a trial balloon, and as an instructive exercise, here is a layout I made for Danny, one of my brothers-in-law.

(Click here to see a larger copy of the layout.)

Danny had quadruple bypass surgery last month, and I'm here to say that he is my hero. Maybe he put on some sort of brave front for us while we were at his bedside, but his recovery was pretty amazing from the moments he was wheeled into the recovery area at the ICU to the following day when he got his own private room. Less than 24 hours after the surgery, he was sitting in a chair, making jokes and surfing the internet through his cell phone - as if the surgery had never happened. This was in sharp contrast to other families we met who were riding an emotional rollercoaster of recovery and relapse. I hope to never require any sort of heart surgery, but if I ever do, Danny is my role model.

The journaling block references one of Danny's "isms" in the wake of the surgery: "They stopped my heart." Danny being Danny, he called his sister Cathy to let her know that he pulled through the surgery OK. But being a dork, he can't say "hi, it's me," or some normal greeting. The call went like so (per his re-telling):

Danny: They stopped my heart.

[Male] Call Recipient: Huh?

Danny: They stopped... my heart.

Recipient: Who stopped your heart?

Danny: They did.

Recipient: Who is this? Why did they stop your heart?

Danny: Is this Cathy's phone?

Recipient: Who is Cathy? Who stopped your heart?

Danny: Sorry, I misdialed.

Techniques:

This is pretty typical for me. Matted photos, linear placement, and a journaling block printed off of the computer. I painted some bare chipboard letters red, and used rubber stamps to mark out the page title. I "winged it" with the placement, which was kinda scary, but overall I think it worked well.

This layout contains a "first" for me in terms of 12x12 layouts: Normally I would use cardstock as the backing, but this time I used a sheet of pre-fab patterned paper. The medical theme and the placement of the pre-fab imagery worked for what I hoped to accomplish.

Another first was the use of rub-ons. Marlena hates rub-ons, partly due to the iffy quality of some brands, which means the rub-on ends up anywhere other than its intended resting place. I got some really nice ones that fit my theme, and best of all, they stayed on the mylar or whatever until needed. Sweet.

Finally, Danny received a homemade Get Well card from a friend's 4 year-old daughter, featuring Danny's "happy heart". While he was off in the hospital, I snuck the card onto his scanner and emailed the file home for later. Since he kept picking up and putting down the card, and constantly commenting on it, I figured it meant a lot to him. (He's not big on emotional displays, so you have to pick up the clues.) I shrunk the image down and worked it into my linear design without comment. I figure he knows what it is, and what it means.

Lessons learned:

• Pencil is your friend. Don't be afraid to lightly pencil out where you want elements to go on the page, and gingerly erase the lines out afterward.
• This was a tricky theme to pull off. As Danny said when he called to thank me for the framed layout, "nice photo of me looking dead up in the corner." I had to exercise huge care when selecting my photos because this was too easy to steer in the "morbid" direction. The theme (which drove the layout) was recovery, renewal, second chances. I downplayed the "looking dead" photo in favor of the prominent "what surgery?" photo.
• I could have written a book about the experience, and his heart pillow, and so on, but I opted for short and sweet with the journaling. The heart pillow really could be a layout unto itself, but I didn't take enough photos to support the theme, sadly.
• Danny wondered how I got these photos. I wouldn't expect him to have any recollection of anything that happened in the ICU recovery area, but unlike certain people who shall not be named (but who know who they are - not Marlena) I made a point of fading into the background and using the zoom to capture key shots. It's a hospital, not an amusement park. The other tightrope: What if (knock wood) he died? The last thing we'd all want to see is a bunch of "Danny in the ICU" photos. This layout works because there's a happy ending. If in doubt, err on the side of dignity.
• Remember, the theme drives the layout. As I sat in the recovery room, I was working out what the central theme was going to be. The song "A Heart Needs a Second Chance" ran through my brain, and I went with it. Everything else fell into place.

Supply list:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
Paper: (Patterned) Unknown - I accidentally threw out the strip with the vendor info
Lettering: (Chipboard) Basic Grey Mini Monos
Lettering: (Computer) Fonts: Melba (Chatterbox)
Paint: Making Memories
Rubber Stamps: Martha Stewart
Rub-Ons: 7 Gypsies

More exciting life experiences are in the pipeline, so watch this space. <EM>

(Want more scrapbooking articles? The full list may be found here.)