Friday, April 18, 2014

Sharing a layout - using your stash


In this week's podcast, Tracie and I discuss mixing old products with new. In light of that, I thought I'd try to 'shop my stash' and use some old & new product together. I had a couple of pics of Kelsey on the day of her junior prom glamming it up for the camera. While I've already scrapbooked her actual prom photo shoot, I thought a layout about her personality would be a great match to these photos. With that in mind, I chose two photos of her that I thought were particularly good. I wanted the layout to feel timeless and young, free-spirited and fresh. Keeping that in mind, I headed to my stash.


I started by choosing my papers. I began with black card stock and added this cool laser cut paper that I know is several years old. That pink was the perfect color pink of Kelsey's hair, sash, and flowers. Because I wanted to add a little more visual interest, I added the strip of damask printed black paper that was oldddd as well. (Idk how old but it was super thin; that's usually a sign to me that it's a few years old at least.)


In designing the layout, I just played around with my pics a little. I knew I wanted plenty of space to journal, so I needed to leave room for that. I found some old diecut journaling spots by Luxe - again several years old - and used those in my design placement. When you look at it, the basic design is a flipped grid - what's on the left at the top of the layout is on the right at the bottom. I made sure that my gutters between elements and the edges of the layout remained fairly consistent because I think that helps unify the layout. Likewise, limiting the color palette to just black, white, and pink gives the layout a graphic, modern feel even though the products themselves aren't brand new.


While the pic is from 2009, I told the 'story' from my perspective today. I summarized the fact that it was a prom photo shoot, but the meat of the journaling is really about what these pics tell me about her personality. This time around, I wrote my journaling directly to Kelsey. I don't do that often, but I thought these photos lent themselves to that approach.


I was tempted to use a pink hi-liter to draw attention to some phrases in the journaling but decided that would be disruptive or harsh. With the bold colors, I felt like I already had a lot going on in this layout, so I stuck with underlining some phrases. While that might seem strange to some people, I think it goes along with the intensity of colors and the hand drawn feeling of the journaling spots.


I felt like the title treatment needed the journaling spot & the printed paper to ground it and give it enough substance. The letter stickers are Making Memories glitter letters that have been out a few years at least. 

Once I had the basics arranged, I looked for a few recent embellishments to make the layout feel more current. With just a few touches added with a label, a diecut printed chipboard shape, and some mini tags stapled on using my tiny attacher, I think I managed to infuse old product with new life. 

Here's the finished layout:



Do you have old product that needs to be used? How about trying out a layout that uses some of the oldies but goodies? It felt amazing to use some product in my stash that I still loved in a way that feels fresh to me.  Go and be crafty, my friends!

4 comments:

  1. I like how you used so many older supplies. I don't purge much either; I figure if I liked it once I will probably like to use it sometime. I also like the picture of your daughter with the umbrella--that's a cool prom photo! Fun layout that seems to capture your daughter's fun spirit!

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    1. Thanks Robin! The umbrella is cool, isn't it? It just worked out since it started as a drizzly day. That pose always makes me think if Mary Poppins - hahaha. You're right - most of my stash is stuff I still like, and using it on layouts like this make me glad that I kept it. :)

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  2. Maybe I need to dig deeper next time I craft, cause I have a green version of that die-cut paper somewhere in my stash! (KI Memories?) Such a perfect fit for your layout, and those photos are so fun :D

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    1. Dig, Lisa, dig! That paper intimidated me for the longest time. Then, once I decided to use it, I couldn't think of a layout where it would work. Looks like I just needed to give it some time. Go use that green piece of yours; I'd love to see what you do with it. :)

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