Simplicity is Beautiful

More often than not the pages I like most are very simple. Lots of white space, lots of colour and an eye-catching design. Of course I love elaborate layouts too--lots of layering, bling, intricate die-cuts and lots of stamping--but I began as a simple scrapbooker and I keep going back to that style.

Simple layouts have important advantages too. Aside from being quick and easy, they tend not to have a lot of ephemera to bulk up a scrapbook. I find they also give me a sense of accomplishment ("Ah! Another page done!") when more elaborate pages sometimes leave me frustrated.

Can you believe this page was pulled together, start to finish in 15 minutes?! Here's how I did it:

1. Start with coordinated products. Here I used Snowhaven paper and Complements.
2. Keep embellishments simple. Just a length of twine and Glitz Glitter Gel added all the necessary sparkle.
3. Trim and mat your photos on a single piece of paper. Keeping all your photos together on one mat creates a tidy visual space for them.
4. Instead of creating a journaling spot, write directly on the white space in your photos.

One of the tricks I used to keep it simple was to use a single piece of patterned paper. The diagonal stripes along the bottom are actually the Zip Strip from the B&T Duos paper! Instead of trimming off the strip, I trimmed off a half-inch from the patterned paper.

For your next scrapbook page, look for the beauty in simplicity.

You and Me, Me and You

Even though there's a fresh, new Idea Book (check it out on my website), I have been on a mission to use my stash. I love Workshop on the Go kits because they contain coordinated products that make putting pages together, and using your stash, a snap. Once I've made the two layouts in the kit, I store all the supplies together until they're used up. That way I don't have to go searching for the little bits that match.

For this layout, I used the extra supplies from my Sarita Workshops on the Go kit. Note: Sarita is also one of the paper lines that has been carried over to the new Idea Book. You can get Sarita Paper Packet, Sarita Assortment, (both seen on my layout) and Sarita My Stickease Assortment right now!

I created a large title with my Silhouette--also using my stash as this was a cut file that had been in my collection for a whle--and added some Dimensional Elements Hearts as accents.

Turning to my stamp stash, I added a chicken wire background with the Distressed Backgrounds stamp set and the subtitle with the Framework Alphabet stamp set. (If you get one alphabet stamp this month, get this one! It includes an upper case and lower case alphabet with numbers all in one 6"x6" package. It will quickly become your go-to alphabet stamp.)

You know how much I love sketches, and so often when I'm planning a page, I spend time surfing Pagemaps or Pinterest looking for interesting sketches. But for this layout, I turned to my stash again and found this perfect sketch in Imagine. The sketch for Three-Part Harmony is found on page 44. It's a versatile sketch that accomodates lots of photos in different sizes. To make it my own, I used an extra large focal photo and flipped the right side of the sketch on its side. I also used fewer papers than was called for, letting the Goldrush cardstock set off the busy paper.

Here's a tip: When you have a layout that calls for a 1/2" x 12" piece, use a Zip Strip (that extra strip of pattern you trim off the patterned papers) or washi tape. A quick and easy way to use up scraps!

I love this layout and now I've got some room in my stash for new product!