Gallery Inspiration: Framed!

Hi there!

Frames are one of those often overlooked scrapbooking elements that can serve several purposes. There’s a quote by Otto Preminger that says “It’s not about the frame. It’s what you put in it.”, but I would argue the frame can be just as important. They can:

• be functional, decorative or both.
• be humble or eye-catching to highlight, elevate or ground a particular photo or maybe a journal card or text
• give order or structure when used for a group of images or objects.
• add instant dimension to a page
• be an anchor for clusters and a larger design
• set a mood or aesthetic with their design (think: whimsical doodled designs versus chunky rustic wood)
• give a time context (think: polaroids and negatives/film strips from certain eras, or aged and creased frame overlays for nostalgia)
• provide a pop of contrast in shape, colour or texture or in regard to any element of design.
• corral items (think: shaker card or box) or give a boundary that you can then purposely overflow (think: out of the box frames)
• create a gallery wall effect
• and they work on pocket or traditional/freestyle and mixed media pages.

Let’s look at some examples

Talk about instant dimension, this page by cfile gets an instant pop from this ornate heart shaped frame and it fits the mood for this page called I Do

This layout by designer Lynn Grieveson has that instant nostalgic feel. A modern ‘default white stroke’ around the photo would feel a bit out of place but this frame has a perfectly fitting vintage vibe.

I would call this page by KayTeaPea an example of humble but out of the box framing and it’s really clever if you think about the use of line within the whole page, with the slight angle the photo itself is on through the frame and banister in the background and angle of the box in the upper corner.

This page by tradtke has a dominant photo even though it feels like all the blocks and pocket cards should be competing with it. The frame is a great anchor piece and the overall size helps with balancing the other pieces on the page.

Nfenchak has used these film strip frames to show progression of the action really well. There’s continuity and structure even using so many images.

marnel’s pages can be amazingly busy and clustered to the fullest but she always manages to have her photos hold their own with her frame choices like this page shows.

Gallery wall pages are always eye-catching and effective – check out this one by Cristina (although she credits NBK Designs as doing most of the heavy lifting!)

This is a page by garrynkim and i love how it demonstrates the alternative use of a frame and ability of frames to anchor photos even when they aren’t used the traditional way

And this page by gwtwred is a great example of how a frame can anchor everything and tie together the whole page

And finally here’s my page made for today’s Slow Scrap (can you guess what element may be a bit of a feature in the steps?). I have a few frames going on, some humble, connecting the images by keeping them the same basic stroke style and one multi-spot frame as a window to blur the outside-in that we have at home with ‘pet’ birds both inside and outside, with the palm-edged masks in the background as the view through that frame.

InspiredInspired?

Come join our Slow Scrap in the Scrapping Pad tonight for a chance at a prize!