Happy Tuesday everyone!
Why do you scrapbook? to preserve photos or memories? for a creative outlet? If you're like me, it's a little bit of each. I love the fact that I can preserve our family stories (events or moments) in a fun creative way.
Years ago, before I started scrapping, I was working on a quilt one afternoon. After completing a set of blocks, I laid them out on the floor and stood staring at them. Then I walked around them and stared some more. My husband asked what on earth I was doing, and after a moment of thought I answered, "I'm admiring something I've made that's going to stay done". Perhaps you can relate. Much of what we do each day (especially as mothers) doesn't stay done. Think laundry, dishes, tidying up, windows. No matter how well those things get done, they don't stay done. And that's one of the reasons I love to scrapbook: I get to create something meaningful which stays done and can be enjoyed for (hopefully) generations.
Okay, enough philosophizing - on to the practical side. When I first started scrapping, my pages were very simple. I had few supplies and had to make do. Then over time I collected lots of very fun product and went through a faze where I spent hours trying out every tricky, new technique. It didn't take too long to realize that that was not the way for me and, in fact, the longer I've scrapped, the more I'm convinced that if I incorporate good design principles, my simplest pages are my best.
Now, sometimes it's easy to equate simple with ...well, boring (and somtimes it can be). So when I sit down to create a page, I always ask myself, "How can I make this page simple, but interesting?" For example -
What makes this page simple? Well, for one thing it's made of only cardstock, pictures and ink, the photos are all the same size (wallets) and are arranged in a grid, and it has a monochromatic color scheme.
What makes it interesting? White borders help the photos pop, the photo are set a little bit crooked and some go off the page, the title strip has reverse printing with the corners rounded, and the title is not centered.
Here's another -
What makes this page simple? One photo, cardstock and just a little product.
What makes it interesting? The rounded corners, the colors complement the photo, the title is reverse-printed and mounted on chipboard, plenty of white space allows the viewer to focus on the photo and journaling.
And one more -
What's simple? Again, it's cardstock only and the photos are in a grid.
What's interesting? Having a large focal point photo, the placement of the journaling block, placing the title-tab so that it pokes outside the photo grid.
So there you go - simple but interesting. Come back tomorrow when we'll continue with more design ideas. And, just to mix things up, later this week I may even post a layout using patterned paper. (I hope I haven't put any of you into shock!)
