Black and White and Lots of Color

Lately I've been loving bright colors - especially the combination of bright colors and black and white photos. So when I was digging through my pile of photos and came across a black and white 5x7 of my children on Easter morning (a few years ago), I got right to work.  Here's what I pulled together.

I mixed papers and embellishments from lots of different manufacturer's and lines for this - most from my scrap pile.  The base and the red heart journaling card are from the new Simple Stories line, I {Heart} Summer.  The yellow paper is from the MME Collectable line and the white paper is from the MME Indie Chic line. The dark blue paper is from the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm line, the floral mini bag is from one of the Websters Pages Allison Kreft lines. The red floral paper is from the BG Piccadilly collection and the ledger border strip is from the new BG Capture line.  And the big yellow die cut is from an Amy Tangerine collection.

I also incorporated some ink splatters, a technique that I'm not very comfortable with.  I mixed white and the neon Mister Hueys.   Then I added some tiny enamel dots to help them pop.

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This Dear Lizzy die cut (I think from 5th and Frolic) as a perfect shape and dimension.  But it wasn't really bright enough to mix with the rest of the elements on the page.  I added more enamel dots to brighten it up.  Then I combined it with an Amy Tangerine diecut and a fabric heart from the American Craft products you can find at Target.

This was also a great layout to incorporate trims. (I have jars of trims and rarely use them any more, so when I came across a challenge at My Scraps and More to use at least three on a layout, I knew I wanted to give it a try.)  I used a piece of orange stripe twill ribbon as a border strip, tied a piece of yellow ribbon around the white patterned paper and added some aqua crocheted trim to the heart journaling card.  It didn't really make a dent in my stash but it was a good reminder to look at all those trims when a layout needs a little something.

Have  a super Sunday!

Chic Tags Color Challenge - and A Non-Traditional Halloween Layout

Chic Tags posts a challenge every Sunday.  I don't always have a chance to complete them, but I always check in for some inspiration.  This week's challenge is a color challenge - full of springy colors.  So I did a Halloween layout - I think it is so much fun to use unexpected colors on seasonal layouts.

 My layout is a two pager, but each page can stand on its own from a design perspective.  I accomplished this by using a common paper for the center block that runs across each page and using a uniform paper and ribbon border across the bottom of the design.  Here's the first page:

And here's the second page:

I also used common embellishments across the pages to tie them together - rubons, wood veneer, and sequins.  I especially like the way the rubons worked when I applied them across multiple papers.

 

 Do you have tricks for creating two page layouts?  I'd love some tips.  Hope you had a marvelous Monday!