Creating Simple Embellishments

I was happy to spend some time this past weekend completing some scrapbook pages for my sample album that I bring to crops etc. I find that having finished layouts using current Creative Memories projects really helps my customers decide which items will work best for them! 

I was working with the "Strut Your Stuff" Paper Pack with its lovely blues, turquoise and greens, which worked perfectly with photos of outdoor adventures we had a few summers ago. I also used the coordinating Slide-In Pack for words and journaling boxes, and the new Watercolor Green ABC 123 Stickers for titles. But after I added the photos and the beautiful papers, the layouts still seemed a bit plain. Since there are no coordinating sticker sheets or embellishments for the Strut Your Stuff patterns I knew I'd have to create some.

 

In this case I often fall back on simple shapes, punched form coordinating papers and colours, and layered to make them more special. But which shapes? I tend to look to the designs in the papers themselves for inspiration.

 

For this "See the Beauty..."layout I used three of the cards from the slide-in pack - one for its intended use as a journaling card, one as a sentiment and one as a the title. Since the title featured a prominent circle and there were smaller circular patterns in one of the papers, I decided that circles punched* from the tone-on-tone papers would work well as accents. Three small circles enhanced the title and two other layered circles were added as embellishments using Foam Squares for some added dimension.

 

 

In the "Off Road Fun" layout I mimicked the gorgeous abstract shapes in the paper by punching various sizes of squares* and then using my 2-Way Corner Rounder to round two of the four corners. Once again I layered the shapes together and adhered them to the layout with Foam Squares.

 

 

(*Note: I used my very old and long retired CM Circle and Square Shapemaker Punches, but you can use any similar circle punches or the Custom Cutting System, and squares can easily be made with the 12" Straight Trimmer or Personal Trimmer )

 

I hope you try these tips next time you find that you have no decorative embellishments to match the papers you are using. What are some of YOUR ideas for creating simple embellishments? Share your best tip or trick as a comment below!

 

Happy Scrapping!