Ah, February! I smell romance in the air! Or is that just more snow? Hmmm… regardless of whether you're snowed in or are enjoying a sunny locale, now is a great time to celebrate loving relationships, be they romantic, familial, or friendship-based. Take some new pictures, refer to older ones, or just put a precious moment down on paper. Whatever you do this month, find time for a little "romance" in your albums!
For this "Triple Play" assignment, I selected pictures of my youngest son and his best friend (a girl!) enjoying themselves one afternoon this past summer. Notice that the layouts are done in purples and not in the "typical" Valentine reds. Dare to be different! There's nothing wrong with making red your dominant color, but know that you can takes cues from your photos and still convey a romantic mood.
In the Beginner Layout, a monochromatic color scheme unifies both pages of the layout. For scrappers not yet confident in using many colors, the monochromatic color application is the easiest to master.
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Using a shade and a tint of the base color on both pages strengthens the "flow" between the separate pages. Note that on each side, the elements take up the same visual space. This also helps in making the layout appear balanced. In the Intermediate Layout, a hint of green is added to make the focal point photo "pop" off the page. Once again, the color is repeated, but in a smaller amount, on the page opposite.
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A good matting tip: when double or triple matting a photo, you can increase the visual impact by making the mats of various thicknesses. Texture is also introduced in this layout by the paper-tearing technique under the title strip. While there is no tearing on the right side of the layout, the same colors are used, thus unifying the title strip and the journaling block. The punched circles are repeated on both pages, underscoring the balance once again. In the advanced layout, a patterned paper is added to the mix while other elements are subtracted.
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Note how pattern and shape are repeated on each page. Also pay attention to scale, line, and proportion, key ingredients in keeping visual balance. The large circles were removed because of scale. However, the small circles were kept and the skinny lines were added. The placement of these serve as "brackets" keeping the viewer's eye contained to the pictures and not wandering off the page. The photo squares on the right page also contain the viewer's attention. The result is a layout with equal "visual weight" on both pages. Whether you are a beginning scrapper, an advanced, or somewhere in the vast middle, you can create visually pleasing layouts that don't under or overwhelm. Take a moment to think about the importance of balance in your work.
