Have you ever worked with the Mixed Media products at The Lilypad? If so, then you already know how amazing the products are. But, if you haven’t, then let me share a little secret with you…they are not just for art journaling, mixed media style of pages. They are for all scrapbooking styles and, even more specifically, for minimalist pages.

It doesn’t matter where you start, whether you have a photo chosen and want to build your design around that, or if you spotted some product or paper you just can’t resist, and you have the urge to use them right away (that happens to me all the time, I spot a little piece of a kit and my heart skips a beat, I need to have it and scrap with it).

If you think you might be overwhelmed by the magnitude of products in the monthly mixed media collection and not know where to start or even if it is a collection that you will want to use, try looking at the individual previews that you’ll see under the main preview when you click onto and open the collection in the store. That gives you a better view of some of the individual folders in the collection and may help you to determine if there are products that you want to use. The same idea applies to the main collection preview in the store, click on it to open the enlarged preview so you can get a better look at the products in the collection, then take your time, let your eyes wander back and forth across the preview. I always do this a few times because each time I do it, I spot something I didn’t the previous time, my eye catches something different.

What is so wonderful about the mixed media collections is that there is such a variety of papers and products, there is bound to be something for everyone! One of the first things I check is the papers, then the word art and then I peruse all the other products.

Now, once you’ve determined that you want to use some mixed media products, start by opening a few of the digital products and start creating your page. I usually start with 1-2 papers and a few elements and/or word art. If I haven’t got an idea of the page design already, then I start moving the pieces around on my 12×12 canvas in photoshop until I get an idea of what I want to do. If I haven’t already dragged a photo onto the canvas, then I do so now. I take my time at this point, dragging a few products onto the page, moving them around and often removing them from my page as I decide what fits or doesn’t fit into my design.

Here’s my sample page created with Mixed  Media Monthly February 2019. I also added a bit from M3 Feb 19 Mixed Media Artistry by Rachel Jefferies.

My layout came together quickly because everything I needed was in the February M3 collection (along with a bit of Rachel’s add-ons). What caught my attention first was the paper with the pink paint and line doodles. That was the starting point and I then dragged a few of the elements onto my page that I knew I wanted to use. After that I grabbed my photos and a few more elements, altering some of the word art and adding a bit of my own text.

I hope that I’ve inspired you to look at the mixed media products and think about how you can utilize them in your page design, minimalist style or any other style.