Scrapbook Club Layout

Last night I realized I had completely forgot to make my LO for the page of the month club at our LSS. The way the club works is you have to bring in your page between the 1st and 10th or you forfeit your spot. Since I'm not a fan of leaving thing to the last moment I got right to it.

The trouble was, the kit contents this month was a piece of striped paper, a matching rose colored floral, 1 piece of ribbon, three jewels, black and white cardstock. What could I do with that? And remember, no stamping. No altering. No paint. You have to use everything in the bag and nothing more. Eek. I think the matchy-matchyness nearly drove me around the bend. Then I remembered why I signed up in the first place - to challenge myself. Duh! Here's what I ended up with, it's not exactly my style but I'm happy with how it came together.

Click to see it up close

Tips:

* You can add a lot to a scrapbook page by creating layers and texture. This doesn't have to be any more difficult then crumpling the paper, squishing it or roughing up the edges with the blade of your scissors or fingernail. I did all three on this LO and the 'flatness' disappeared.

* Accordion fold flowers are so much fun but they can be a little too girly for boy pages. I find squishing them flat makes them grungy enough to suit masculine pages.

* It's an old technique but sanding the edges of your designer paper creates a nice vintage edge and it softens and highlights just like inking does. Sometimes these old techniques need to be cycled back in to our crafting tool boxes.

* Don't feel like you can't use scallops on boy pages, just make them larger - it takes the fussiness away. I free-hand cut mine for a slightly off kilter (and I hope charming) look.

* Accentuate the lines in a feature with white pen - dots are easy to get right. Another oldie worth visiting again. I love how the dots draw your eye and the black paper grounds the LO.

* Take advantage of the features on your paper. Often you can cut out an image and use it as an embellishment. In this case, I used some of the striped paper as a large photo mat and then cut the rest of the strips apart to use as desperately needed coordinating solids.

* Things don't always need to be straight. Some off-kilter strips or an angled photo can add playfulness to a page.    

* Use your scraps to make your own embellishments. Even small pieces can have big impact on your design. In this case, the piece here completed my visual triangle.

I'll be back later with my art journal post. I've been so busy today that even ten minutes hasn't come easy.