Have you thought about the rest of your layout yet?
Chances are, you haven’t. It’s so easy to get caught up in picking the perfect patterned paper to use as a background, that we forget all of the other important elements of creating a layout. What other products are you going to use? Where are you going to journal? What should the shadows look like? The truth of the matter is, picking the right patterned paper is only the beginning…it goes much further than that.
Secret No. 3: Pay attention to everything else.
It seems so simple, but it’s always so easy to forget about all the other pieces of creating a layout. When you use a patterned paper as a background, paying careful attention to the other details help to create a dynamic layout. There are a few things that I always tend to forget when I am creating a layout with a patterned paper background.
- Watch the other elements I am putting on the layout. When you are using a patterned paper background, it’s important to keep the other elements on the layout contained and to make sure they work with the background. I tend to stay away from overly busy elements on these layouts or to make sure I keep them very tightly clustered. It’s not about using all basic elements, but making sure you choose ones that work with your paper, not against it.
- Make sure the focus stays on the photos. I talked a little about this in the last post, but I always make sure that I keep the focus of the layout on the photos. You can frame them, back them with a solid paper, or put a simple inner stroke on them. Whatever you need to do to keep the eye going to the photos, and not the other parts of the layout.
- Don’t skimp on the journaling. It’s so easy to do when you think there is nowhere to put the journaling. It’s important to make sure you include it, as it adds so much more to the layout.
- Shadow, Shadow, Shadow. When you are using a patterned paper background, the shadows become even more important, because of how easily they can fade into the background. When I am creating a layout with a patterned paper background, I often shadow a bit more darkly than I usually do, to make sure it stands out, and that the elements I use stand out from the paper.
Let’s check out some of these tips on my layouts.
On Spring Time, you can see that while I used a lot of elements, I kept them all tight into the center of the layout. This way they are not competing with the patterned background.
On Unicorns, I really worked on the shadowing of the elements to make sure that they stood out against the bold patterned background.
On Once Upon a Time, I made sure to use some solids around the photo to separate it from the patterned background.
Finally, on Changes, you can see that I still included a lot of journaling despite using so many patterned papers in the background.
I hope that this series of secrets have helped you better master the use of patterned paper as backgrounds on your layouts. I’d love to see what you come up with. Don’t be afraid to link me up here!!!
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