So, here are some of the things you can do to be involved in this thread if you want to be. 1. Ohhh and Ahhh over the awesome layout or project that has been highlighted and head over to the gallery and show the scrapper some love. 2. Learn something new from the tip or tutorial. It's all about becoming better at our craft! 3. Try the technique yourself and post it in this thread for us to see. 4. Show off other pages from the gallery that use the technique as well. Be sure to link them so we can give them the love they deserve! 5. Ask questions about the technique that you may have or tell us how you may do it differently. There are many ways to do these things and this thread is all about the learning! *note: this is not to be a critique of the page/project in any way, it's all about learning to emulate the awesome technique highlighted. Any negative comments about the highlighted page will be deleted.* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am a huge fan of bold patterned papers and I absolutely love seeing them as the main background of a page. It's so easy for me to go to a neutral paper, that I often don't think about trying out the patterns. But when I see them in the gallery I just oooh and ahhh. This one by @Vrielinkie caught my eye immediately! Making a bold pattern work as the main background paper can be a little scary. I love that even though the background of this layout is bold, the beautiful photos don't get lost. Adding a contrasting or more neutral mat or frame to each one helps them to stand out, as well as the stacked papers behind them. The issue of journaling on a bold background is solved by journaling on the frames. You could also use a more neutral journal card for this or journal on strips. She uses solid color elements and tags so that they are easily separated from the the pattern. This just all around rocks! If you're looking for some other tips and tricks for using bold patterned background papers, Aaron has some great ones on the blog HERE. Check out the Paper Packs section of the store to find some awesome bold patterned papers like these: And here's a page I did a while back using one of Danyale's amazing patterned papers. I like using paints and stamps behind the photo to help it stand out from the pattern. Also using word art with a white outline or stroke helps the title to stand out. Do you have any tips or tricks to share when it comes to using a bold paper as a background? Please share them! And I don't know about you, but now I am going digging through all awesome patterns in my stash and in the store! Are you BOLD enough to join me?
I love big and bold backgrounds!! I admit sometimes I get carried away. A fun trick to get the journaling to show up is to place a stroke around the text. See:
Wow, thank you @IntenseMagic! It's something I hardly do, since it kind of scares me and mostly I find it jarring....So the compliment is extra nice!
I need to read the post again to be sure I've read everything, but... Anniversary Dinner by klee73010 posted May 27, 2016 at 11:14 AM Driving The Boat by klee73010 posted Jul 25, 2016 at 4:23 PM Bath Time Paints by klee73010 posted Feb 24, 2016 at 1:40 PM when I use bold backgrounds... I tend to offset with solid strips or piles of paper. I like to focus my elements/photos in one or two spots (maybe three for a triangle!) and try not to have a pattern that is going to direct the viewer's eye off the page... like arrows (I'd want those pointed inwards) OR... use paint, brushes, or transfers to give me some journaling space.
Another journaling tip is to use a soft paint mask and write on top of that when you use a bold background.
Well, I've been digi-scrapping for over 10 years and have most of my layouts loaded onto a digital frame at work. I've been staring at it this morning off and on and I've realized that I don't do bold patterned backgrounds. Not a one out of hundreds and hundreds of layouts. I did see a few patterns peek thru, but then I plopped a more sedate background on top of it. Tons of painted backgrounds with my art journal pages, but no patterns. That isn't saying that my layouts aren't big and bold, because that is usually where I'm at, but no patterns. Wow! I never even thought about it... I'll have to see what I can do with some bold, patterned paper.
I do something similar for this... I make a mask of the same color as in the BG... then feather it out, and change the blend mode. This always ensures that I can read my journaling no matter the pattern. (Though I am not a usual bold pattern user!)
I love that page, Anne!!! Great tip to stroke the journaling! I've done titles, but not the journaling itself! Well, you rocked it!! Love that page! Awesome examples and tips!! I was noticing the same thing about my layouts, especially recently, and that's what kind of prompted this post. I'm going to see what more I can do, too! What a great tip!! I am going to have to try that!
I too have almost never used whole patterned backgrounds. I too found it jarring and hard on the eyes. But this year I vowed to do different things. This IS bold for me and I also toned down the altered green polka dots with a blending mode and lowered opacity. Still I find the background bold!
Using bold patterns and colours make me all kinds of twitchy, but I am going to play along, being stretched out of comfort zones is a good thing.
Sooooo awesome @AnneofAlamo, I am so using this as inspiration for a scraplift and the tip about the stroke around the journaling is new for me. So using that as well. Thank you!
Thanks for suggesting I share here @IntenseMagic Grateful by KittyY posted Nov 15, 2016 at 11:29 PM I used the new M3 here (sneaky peaky!) I used a textured grey background - - but wanted color but didn't want to use the bold paper as the background. So I used the paint, expanded it and then clipped in the bright pattern. I also clipped in the journaling because I wanted it all to blend *great thread!
I can't wait to see what you come up with! I'm sure it will be awesome!! Oooh can't wait to see!!! This is such a great example! I love the title work, too!!
I used a big bold titled paper as my background and as Courtney said, using a soft mask (clipped a lightly patterned paper to it) to write on, is what I did to make my journaling stand out a bit more.