Depth Perception: Creating scrapbooking pages that evoke deep emotion.

Good morning to everyone!  First I want to remind you all to please check out my guest post on Kludgy Mom on Wednesday.... Yay! 

This layout is for my sweet dog Kash-Pea who passed away about seven years ago.  It's hard to believe that much time has gone by, but he is still my angel and I think of him often.  I wanted to do a layout to highlight this picture of us taking a nap together... it's one of my favorites.  Unfortunately, this photo doesn't show off Kash's awesome underbite and male-pattern baldness.  He was a handsome fellow! 

Today's lesson is on layering elements to enhance depth.

1.  The flowers from this page came from a regular ol' patterned paper and I just cut them out.  If you want to duplicate this, I suggest finding a large pattern that you love and then work with the pattern to create your layout.

2.  Pick a frame for your photo which doesn't detract from the large pattern... Here, you'll notice I picked a cream color to match the pattern background.  Also notice that I didn't busy up the page with any other patterned paper... Sometimes simplicity is beautiful.

3.  Layering technique #1 is to piece together different portions of the pattern that you've cut out and simply place them on top of one another.

4.  Layering technique #2 is leave some negative space between the photo and the mat and then weave the pattern underneath and on top of the mat.

5. Layering technique #3 is to add yummy embellishments on top of the pattern to give it some kick.  I used some metal sticky frames (I think they are by K & Company) and stuck them on top of a few of the flowers.  I'm pretty sure they are intended to frame photos... but they happened to fit pretty perfectly.  See:

6.  Layering technique #4 is to add some some sticky rhinestones or 3-D flower stickers (which actually came from my original scrapbooking kit that I bought waaaaaay back in October 2009).  For some variety, I decided to add these to flowers where I didn't use the circular metal borders.

7.  The next technique is to create a block-like title and use some foam tape to make it 3-D.  Use that negative space from step 4 to layer your title between the photo and the mat.

 8.  And finally (whew!) make a fabulous frame around your journaling... the rest of the layout is relatively simplistic (simplicity in the scrapbooking world is somewhat of an oxy-moron) so you can gussy up your journaling a bit.  Repetition, repetition, repetition: I used another circular sticky frame to go around my journaling and layered it on top of the pattern.  But notice (sneaky KeKe) that the plain white paper is actually layered beneath the pattern. 

Here is a tip:  This layout took me several sittings to complete because it made me sad every time I sat down to work on it... but the patience paid off because I think this simple-yet-sophisticated page is a perfect tribute to my Mr. Handsome Pants (poor dog had about 300 nicknames).  If you ever feel frustrated, stuck, or any other burdensome emotion, put it away for a few days.  Pages that evoke strong emotion definitely deserve your all.  I love you Kash-Pea.


ONE FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT:  I'm looking for other crafters who would like to do a guest post in the upcoming weeks.  I prefer it to be scrapbook or card-making related, but I'm open to suggestions!  Please contact me directly at kreatebykeke@gmail.com.  And remember.... Kludgy Mom tomorrow...!!!