The Easy Page - A Four Square Design (not reinventing the wheel)

This has to be the easiest of layouts to assemble.  It's a simple four-square design; it can be layered heavily or not so much, depending on your personal taste.  I used it here on this page, partially because I had used it on another page about wearing Boppa's hat. 

See the original Wearing Boppa's Hat page here: 
http://cheryl-husmann.blogspot.com/2014/12/all-layered-up.html

 

There are subtle differences between the two pages, but I mostly wanted the same playful feeling.  It will probably go into my own albums (rather than into the kids') with some extra journaling on the page back about the boys so far apart in age, but both taken with wearing Boppa's hat (at the same age).  And there is another page nuance---the same, but different, just like the boys. 

I like the four-square design for this sort of page because you don't have to line everything up perfectly, the layers can be slightly askew (adding to the playfulness of the page I think) and while there are embellishments, they are minimal and tucked into (or onto) the squares.  

Papers are mostly from Echo Park (About a Boy and A Boy's Life collections).  Embellishments are from Simple Stories, Heidi Swapp, and Crate.  And the title is made up of lettering from the A Boy's Life sticker sheet and the red corrugate alphas are a Thickers set I picked up from Tuesday Morning quite a while ago. 

Reinventing the wheel...not always necessary! 

Favorites - The Last Installment - I Promise

Probably sick of my oldies but goodies, huh?  Well, bear with me through one more session while I get this out of my system... 

Favorite # 7 - a two page layout

This set of pages isn't that old, the papers are, but the layout I did just this past summer and it has become a favorite due to the contrast between the photos, papers and the black background page.  The photos, paper feathers, and title pops and I was able to include six photos across the two pages. 

Favorite #8  - a one pager

Another more recent layout.  Again, it's the simplicity and the colors I think I am drawn to.  The red and yellow plays off the colors of my Isabella's little shirt and it feels to me like a summer day, a play day.  Still not a ton of embellishments, but those that are on the page are sprinkled on to lead the eye diagonally across the page, so I guess while I really do love all the embellies that are out there on the market for us to play with, I really don't NEED a lot of them to make my pages work for me. 


Favorite # 9 - another one pager

This has to be one of the first pages selected as a favorite that is heavier on the embellishments.  But it's still not the embellishments that I think make me happiest with this page.  I think, for me, that it the embellishments would actually detract from the page if it were not for the monochromatic color scheme.  (and that little behind just makes me laugh)

And finally,

Favorite #10 - a one pager

This is the most recent of my favorites and it is embellishment heavy, but it really only works (for me that is) because the embellishments are the layers for the photo and are somewhat subtle in color.  If the ephemera stuff I layered up was brighter in color or more modern and not vintage in feel, I think it would have over-powered the photo. 

I've learned a lot by going back through layouts and selecting some favorites and then trying to view the pages objectively to determine what about them I really like.  It's not going to be the same for everyone...but for me I've learned that I can be really happy with simpler pages.  I should maybe quit struggling to include a bunch of embellishments (maybe just because everyone else is using them I've tried to use them too?) and focus on color, small tight clusters of embellies or tiny embellies sprinkled on in select areas. 

So, maybe go back through your pages and try to take an objective view of them to determine what you really are drawn to.  It's been a true learning experience for me.  I will still try new techniques, my style will still change and evolve, but I will try to pay attention to the core things that make me happy with a page. 

Done blabbing on this subject...blah, blah, blah and returning shortly to the posting of new pages and such... 

best,
Cheryl