Article written using Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 with Windows 7
This digital kit was designed by Ang Campbell, one of our much-loved, veteran digital scrapbook designers. I liked the title, “The Story of My Life,” when I downloaded it.
At first, I thought, “Wow! What fabulous colors to play with,” then I started sifting through the wonderful patterned papers and all the detailed paper-craft pieces, especially the flowers.
This kit will fast become a go-to for spring/summer, little girl pages, kindergarten photos, carnival pages, and more, so I wanted to find a different way to use it, to show its versatility.
I found lots of photos I could scrap with this kit, but since so many of us have little boys to scrap for, I thought I would take that angle in this layout. The colors in Ang’s new kit are perfect for boy-themed layouts! I turned away from the flowers and started thinking about ways to use the other elements: Arrows, hearts, stars, and gorgeous word art. Let me show you how I tackled this layout.
After placing my photo in position, I started slipping various papers under it. I really like the zigzag paper, so I ended up using it because it reflected so many colors from my photo.
However, it needed toning down or my photo would be lost. I chose some coordinating neutrals to “break-up” the pattern.
This allowed the eye to focus on the photo and provided some visual interest on the page as well as reducing the impact of the larger pattern.
Next, I added some embellishments for texture and balance and a little extra color. For boys, I find stars, arrows, brads, ribbon, and paint to be wonderful “go-to” embellishments. And luckily for me, this kit had lots to choose from! I have been known to use hearts on a boy-themed page, depending on the nature of the page – and I liked the way these hearts were not too girly and also that they tucked in perfectly behind my vertical layers.
Article written by Jody West
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