It’s tempting to save favorite sheets, not wanting to risk messing up or wasting a creation that you’re fond of. If that’s the case, label a folder or box “papers to save” and hold onto them - consider it a sketchbook, a collection to look at, learn from and enjoy. Otherwise, use them with abandon, cut them up, have fun, and remember - you can always make more background sheets later.
WHAT TO DO WITH HAPPY HANDS AND LACY HANDS
Were you wondering what on earth could be done with the Part I background sheets called Happy Hands and Lacy Hands that have bold borders made of die cut hands in two sizes? If so, I accomplished my purpose. It was not by accident that I designed strong and “difficult” papers. Most of the time, backgrounds don’t call out for attention. Much of the time, if the colors are bright, the patterns are usually small in scale. If the patterns are large, the colors are usually low contrast, tone on tone, or the patterns are mottled. It would have been much easier to make all of the projects resemble the Yellow Experiments with small motifs and overall designs that could easily fade behind other elements in a layout.
I set out to prove that backgrounds can assert themselves, that they don’t always need to disappear. Happy Hands and Lacy Hands include intense colors and a formal composition. Lacy Hands is chock full of pattern on pattern, too.
Using this kind of background paper is easier than you think. Pick a strong photo, preferably black and white so it won’t compete with the colors around it. Cut a hole in the middle of the sheet and treat it like a frame or border. That way, you can keep the center piece for another project. Or mount the photo if you like to layer from the top. Maintain the square within a square, but add small elements like the folded love notes that are tucked under the die cut hands (between the sewn lines) for a bit of asymmetry.
VARIATIONS WITH HANDS
Instead of bright colors, what if the hands and squares were all variations of white and ivory, or shades of green? With a photo of a bride-to-be in the middle, a faux gem engagement ring on one of the large hands, and autographs and wishes from wedding shower attendees written on all of the smaller hands, the white and ivory background can become a scrapbook page celebrating a friend’s big day. The green-on-green page could feature a garden photo and empty seed packs tucked into the hands.
Let a group of students or teammates decorate die cut hands in assorted (or team) colors and the page would be ideal as a gift for a teacher, coach, or friend who is moving away. Tuck a gift card or small holiday ornament into some of the hands, decorate the hands with jewelry and show off a prom photo - you get the picture, the possibilities are endless.
INSTEAD OF HANDS
Now imagine that instead of hands, the border around the pages was made of die cut flowers, cars, kittens or anything else. By using two larger shapes at opposing corners and smaller shapes around the rest of the square, you can customize this kind of background sheet in any way you want and still maintain the general effect. Other ways to customize your background include using punched shapes instead of die cuts, stamped images that have been trimmed with scissors, chipboard shapes, or collage cut from photos and magazines.
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A CARD MADE FROM SCRAPS
Keep the scrap cut from the center of a sheet, as I did, and use it for a card. Add small scraps from other background sheets (the Yellow Experiments) and a die cut hand that wasn’t used in previous projects. Do a bit of layering and some additional stamping with an alphabet set from the office supply store to complete the card.
Other options for scraps include bookmarks, gift tags, place cards, collage, and more. Background papers can be used for more than just backgrounds.
MY DAD JOE
I think one of the easiest ways for beginners to feel happy with their layouts is to feature a single photo, sized large enough to attract attention regardless of what surrounds it. That’s why I used a single photo for both projects this month. Many seasoned scrappers use this strategy; it’s hardly for beginners only.
When I chose Teresa Collins’s Journal-It “Ledger Time” 12” x 12” paper to alter and distress, I had in mind a layout with one of my favorite photos of my father, taken in 1942. Though he is now 90 and frail, the handsome young man whose face shines from the old photograph is still the face I see.
The die cut hand in the layout was a leftover, originally used as a mask when I sponged color on the background sheet called All Hands on Deck. But the mottled color was boring so I stamped the hand with the same image (women’s faces) that I used for altering the printed paper, switching to a dark blue ink for a bit of contrast. You have to look closely to see the women’s faces (I didn’t want to detract from the main photo). Why all those females? My dad has raised four girls and all but one of our dogs was female, so it seemed appropriate. The star cutouts are symbolic of the starring role my father has taken in my life.
THINGS TO NOTICE, QUESTIONS TO ASK
It’s fun to work with the same elements for a series of projects. That’s why I used die cut hands for many of the backgrounds created last month in Part I, and in both finished layouts and the card in Part II. They served as masks and stencils and as layered-on elements. I also stuck with the same three solid color papers as a starting point (yellow, hot pink and bright blue).
Give yourself a creative challenge - see how many ways you can mix and match and combine the things you have on your work table.
I have terrible handwriting. I had to hide the mistake I made when writing the word Gentleman on the My Dad Joe page under a star, turning it into two words: Gentle Man. It worked out fine, and if I didn’t mention it, no one would be the wiser.
Ask yourself the all-important question: What if? What if you started with black or white cardstock instead of colors; what if all of the papers were textured instead of flat, or had a small all-over pattern? What if you put away the scissors and tear by hand - no cutting allowed?
Square One is a starting point, a place from which to methodically move forward as well as a spot from which to leap and soar. If you made background pages last month, start using them! If you didn’t, maybe seeing the projects in this article will convince you to give it a try.
Don’t forget, you can make a project that is the exact opposite of what you see. If you look at the border filled with hands and think that it’s way too busy, it just proves that you’ve started to trust your own eye. If you wish the hands were smaller so you could have more of them, it’s your prerogative. Go for it. You never have to duplicate a project as it’s shown. The goal is to learn things that are useful, try new ways to see and explore, and ignore the things that are not relevant at this point.
To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.
