A Fresh Look at Layouts

If you are a digi-scrapping newbie or even if you think your scrapping technique is a bit jaded and not quite working for you, then here are a few hints and tips that may just breathe some new life into your layouts.

Experiment with new techniques

Don't be afraid to stretch your imagination and try new things. Digi-scrapping is a wonderful way to scrap because there's no mess, no fuss and no waste of expensive paper or elements. If you try something new and you don't like it, just delete it and try something different.

Colours

The best way to choose the colours for your layout is to look at the photo you want to scrap and choose two colours that stand out for you. Then use various shades of those colours to accessorise your photo.

Adding photos

Choose your photos carefully because your photo should be the focal point of your layout and using a photo that is blurred and out of focus can make your layout appear dull and out of sync. So choose the best photo you can, one that sort of jumps off the page at you and shouts "look at me"

White Space

The term "White Space" does not refer to the colour of your background. Rather, it means areas around your photo that are devoid of elements and which allow your eyes to rest and then get drawn back again to your photo, the focal point of your layout.

Journalling

Journalling is a very important part of your layout. It can be as simple as a piece of wordart or as complex as a story, but without it your layout is just another pretty picture on a background with no history. When journalling, think about the fonts you want to use and don't use more than 3 fonts in your layout or you risk making it look fussy. Use something large and bold for your title and one or two others for your journalling

Layouts without Photos

You don't always have to use a photo in your layout. Some of the most effective layouts I have seen are made from just mementos from an event that have been scanned, cleaned up and added to the layout along with some very creative journalling.

Elements

Use your elements carefully and don't over-embellish your layouts as this will spoil the effect and detract from your photo. Just because you have a kit full of elements does not mean that you need to use them all at once.

Printing

Don't just keep your layouts for computer viewing only. Print them out, even if it means taking the files to a printer to get them done. Then add a few three dimensional elements to your layout and pop them into sleeves in a scrapbook.

Viola, you have just graduated from a Digi-scrapper to a hybrid scrapper and you can take out your albums and show off your creativity to friends and family in the comfort of your living room.

I hope you find these tips useful.

Another Scrapbooking Hint and Tip

Have confidence in your sense of colour co-ordination

So, you have all those lovely pics that are just waiting to be scrapped and every time you look at them you think - "Aaargh I don't know what colours to use with these"

Well never fear. Here is a couple of ways to make your life easier when you choose a colour scheme for your layout, however the final choice comes mostly untimately lies with what you really like.

Most scrappers use a photo as the starting point of their layout. If you look at your photos, you will see that there are usually two or three colours in your photo that stand out.

So to to help you choose your colour scheme, drop your photos onto the centre of your layout. Then using your set of papers from your kit choose a couple of papers that are similar to the colours that stand out in your photo and place them behind your photo to find the match looks the most pleasing to your eye. Alternatively you can do this with your colour picker and fill tool.

If you want the subject of your photo to stand out, then use a background colour/paper that closely matches the main colour of the subject of your photo, but.....

If you want the background of your photo to stand out, then choose a colour that is similar to the background of your photo.

Once you have done that choose a contrast colour for your mattes and/or other papers and an accent colour for your embellishments and you are ready to start performing some scrapping magic.

Scrapbooking Hints and Tips

Go Large

Larger than life photos can really make your pages stand out from the crowd. In order to make a layout really pop out in your album and grab the attention of the viewer, what can be better than making the photograph the main focus of the page?

Creating scrapbook layouts is all about trying to show your photographs off to their best advantage, so if you are going to go large do it in style and use a photo that is about 10" x 12 ".

Using a large image on a page takes up a lot of the free space and most people would think that there really isn't very much else you could do with the layout. Not the case at all. You still have more than enough space to soften the edges of the photo by using curved paper cutouts , clever use of journalling and elements.

Remember though that a layout like this can quite easily look fussy, so don't over embellish it, keep it simple.