The Elements of a Layout with Michelle Lindenmayer
The beauty of scrapbooking is that everyone is different and our pages are all unique and a piece of ourselves. Having said that, there are a few basic elements that will enhance your pages by adding visual impact, meaning and a theme to your page. Selecting some or all of these elements you can help you to get the result you are visualising and help to tell the “story” that you are trying to convey.
Title
A title can be one word or several words which, at a glance, summarise what the layout is “about”. It could be a person’s name, a place, an event or even part of your journaling. A title can be situated anywhere on your layout and the text can appear as handwriting, alphabet stickers, stamped letters, chipboard letters, letters printed from a computer and letters cut from templates, just to name a few.
Journaling
Journaling is the text or words that explain the story behind the “photo”. This can be as simple as the date, place and names of the subject/s of the photo. It can also be a quote, a song, a poem, a list, a letter or a block of text that explains the “story” of the photo and its significance. This can be done by using your own handwriting, computer-generated text, alphabet stickers, on vellum or transparency or hidden on tags or under a photo. Future generations will appreciate you taking the time to journal on your pages.
Mats
Although not essential, photo mats are a great way to highlight and make your photos “stand out”. A photo mat is basically a border around your photo and can take on many different forms such as cardstock, patterned paper, vellum and fabric. You can also use more than one mat and give your photo a layered effect. It is a great way to highlight a particular photo.
Embellishments
An embellishment is really anything that helps to decorate your page and support the idea that you are trying to convey. They can also attach items to your page, add dimension and even some “bling”. With the enormous array of embellishments on the market, it s difficult to resist items such as paper flowers, brads, photo corners, stickers, chipboard shapes and label holders - the list goes on.
Borders
A border is a decorative strip that is placed towards one or more sides of the page. It may be shorter than the side of your page and can even be on an angle. It could be made from patterned paper, cardstock, ribbon, a chipboard strip, flowers, a strip of photos or any combination of these and other elements. A border can help to give your page some extra interest and definition, and could even be a focal point on your page.
Photos
It is not always necessary to have a photo on your page, but most pages will include one or more photos. Sometimes you will have only one photo to include on your page and in this case you may prefer to do a single-page layout. If you have a large number of photos to include on your layout, a double-page layout is a great way to include them all.
