Light Bulb Moment!

If you see my layouts, you know I’m a pretty linear scrapper.  I like clean lines, orderly titles, a few impactful embellishments and I especially love matted photos. I was thinking about that as I worked with some photos from a cruise last year.  And it suddenly occurred to me – why not “mat” the patterned paper! 

It was a classic – why didn’t I think of that sooner? – moment.  So, I started planning the page.  Of course, the photos would be matted.  But what was the best way to achieve the same effect with patterned paper?  I decided to use three different papers with different widths for almost the full length of my page.  With a little (OK, a lot!) of trial and error, I discovered that I liked just a sliver of the base cardstock to show along the edges and in between the pieces of patterned paper.  Of course, this is a personal preference and you can adjust it to suit your taste.

A few embellishments and a simple title and my layout was done.  I love the result.  It’s still my style, but with a little more interest.  Of course, you could turn this 90 degrees and have the pieces of patterned paper placed horizontally.  That would be especially cute with a single, vertical 5x7 photo and the title placed along the bottom. 

 

A Walk Downtown by Moanica Caston.  Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper, chipboard, brads: Basic Grey; Wooden veneer arrow: Studio Calico; Alphas: American Craft Thickers.

Happy Crafting!

Moanica

Captured

Aside from doing layouts, there are other creative ways to display your memories.  With a little ingenuity and some found objects you will be amazed at the things you can create.  My project this month fits that description.  When I do my "junkin around" at my local thrift stores, I always grab a few picture frames.  These are perfect fits for a vast array of crafty projects.  With this project I adhered some lightweight wire to an inexpensive picture frame, applied some paint and in an instant( not really that fast) a nifty home decor piece was born.  Of course I added some embellishments( but not too heavy so as not to take away from the focal point) The instant photo frame was cut using a cookie cutter die and the "Captured" die-cut was cut using my Silhouette Cameo.  So why not try to craft up some of your own "instant" memories.