Contemporary Pocket Card Pages: Out-of-the-Box Layouts!

Remember when scrapping in pockets became all the rage and when pocket journal cards and filler cards first became a ‘thing’?

Well, it’s been more than a minute, but pocket cards found their niche and are still a regular inclusion in designer releases. They’ve also found their way on to freestyle pages in photo and journal spots but I’m still a fan of pocket pages, just less boxy looking than I started off. So if you have a collection of them in your stash and just aren’t feeling joy in the clean and crisp, flat grid of cards and photos on a white background anymore like everyone created back then, good news! I’m here with some gallery inspiration and ways to get more from your pocket cards on contemporary pocket pages.

All these pages are linked to the original creator’s gallery so you can click them to see them clearer in the gallery. Thanks for the inspiration everyone!

* Use the pocket card clipped to a freestyle blend mask to change the shape of a pocket card or reduce hard edges. Not being confined to a box can be so freeing! Lynn Grieveson & Rachel Jefferies do this really well with their ‘messy’ pocket templates if you want more inspo or ready to go drag and drop templates, or just swap in a freestyle mask for one of the usual linear-look pocket card spots on a more traditional grid template

*Overlap edges or corners of the traditional pocket grid with elements (including cards and photos) to break the crisp boxy look. Those white lines between card and photo spots give definition but also a more rigid look. Breaking the lines with elements, messy stitching or mixed media or other elements gives your pocket page a more freestyle aesthetic but it doesn’t have to be too artsy. A few pieces can go a long way.

*Lose the white edges altogether and make it more collage style. Push your card and photo spots together until they touch or hide the gutters with messy stitching

*Use a pocket card in an actual pocket (or library pocket or envelope)! Solid or transparent, tuck it in by itself or with extra bits and pieces! Good bye flat traditional pocket look!

*Bring some dimension! Pocket pages don’t have to be flat looking! Pop your cards off the page and add some bulky (shadowed) items to give pocket pages a lift !

*Purposely misalign your grid or offset some cards or photos for a fresher look. Just tilting one or a few cards by a few degrees can have a significant effect but for more impact try grouping your pockets and rotating them all together. Nudging some spots up and others down and sideways is also worth a try!

*Or change your scale and spacing entirely while maintaining a loose grid like Elisa of EHStudios does really well, these are definitely not your typical pocket page!

* Drop a pocket, add some negative space or run across pockets. You don’t have to use every spot that was included in a template or use them for separate blocks. You can :

• leave out a spot (just hide the placeholder if using a template) and let the background show through,
• or use the same paper or photo clipped to adjacent spots to change up the traditional grid (you can erase the grid lines or keep them like i did in the parade page).
• Shrink the grid to give border space the whole way around the page,
• or turn one row (or column) into a border area.

*And finally my bonus tip is to throw in some curves! Curved or circular elements or crops can really soften the whole boxy look.

Scroll back through the above inspo pages above and check out how many of them use circles like flair, pins, wordart pieces or organic curved lines from flowers, mixed media and thread, and think about how different they’d look without them. Happy scrapping!