I don't know what it is about January but I always have a desire to clean and purge items in my home. I enjoy purging my craft room and its purpose is two-fold; (1) it reacquaints me with things that I have forgotten I have but love (2) clears me of things I no longer find inspiring. With that in mind I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some ideas this week on using all those little treasures in your scrapbook space...embellishments!
Today we are going to look at ways to use buttons, brads and all those other small round doodads in your stash!
Let's get started!
Ideas for Buttons
Buttons come in all sorts of colors, shapes, sizes, textures and are made in a variety of materials, like wood. I love them and use them often.
This first layout I used floral shaped button in my title as the dot on the letter "i". A simple but easy technique for using buttons in an interesting way.
I put my buttons to good use on this next layout. I used one as the center of my letter "o" which really dressed it up. I also used a couple buttons to finish the ends of my banner. For the perfect finishing touch, I threaded twine through the buttons holes and tied the twine into a bow.
I love how Celeste strung buttons on twine to make garland. I'm definitely going to try this technique.
On this layout I wanted to make a big impact with my buttons so I lined them all up in a row. If you have a large stash of buttons, this is a wonderful way to use them up. This would be great to try with shapes too, like hearts, stars, circles, etc.
Try filling a shape with buttons that are all the same color. On this layout I filled the sun with yellow buttons in varying sizes and one epoxy button. I like the texture and dimension that it adds to the layout.
Celeste used buttons mixed with circles in a variety of sizes to make a beautiful design that leads your eye from the photo down to the title and journaling.
I think we all agree that buttons are decorative, but they can be functional too. I adhered one to the front of a mini album and used it to wrap twine around for the closure.
Ideas for Brads
Let's not forget about the ever versatile brad. They come in many colors, sizes, and patterns. They can even be covered in fabric.
Try using brads for the center of tiny flowers cut from patterned paper, like I did here.
Tip: I keep a pair of wire cutters at my craft table and cut the prongs off so I don't have to punch holes in my layout. I use glue dots to adhere the brads down on my layout.
Try opening the prongs of brads flat and adhering it to your layout with them showing, like I did in this layout. Doing this adds a lot of visual interest to the design. There isn't any need to punch a hole in your layout or cut prongs off with this method.
For the final layout I'm sharing today, I placed a fabric brad in the center of one of my letters. The fabric brads and smaller patterned brads are a great way to embellish a page. They add a variety of sizes, color/patterns and dimension.
I hope these ideas have you inspired and anxious to get your supplies out and get scrapbooking.
I'll see you back here tomorrow with some more ideas for other scrapbooking embellishments.