NEWSLETTER
INSPIRATION
DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKINGFashion Inspiration – Accessorize!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Hi everyone! Beckie here!
On Mondays we try to bring you a fashion, shopping, or beauty related tip…but you’re stuck with ME this week, so we’re doing this my way! LOL! Last week SP brought you a free template based on an advertisement. Today I’m going to show you ways to draw inspiration for your layouts from FASHION!
I love Banana Republic – not just the clothing itself, but the gorgeous styling of the outfits and the presentation of the brand. That was my destination for this week’s fashion inspired post. I desperately fought off the urge to SHOP and focused on the gorgeous apparel before me (only because I promised myself I could shop LATER!) – and immediately noticed how the styling of each outfit was complemented by the perfect accessories.
Accessories are the finishing touches, the final pieces we put on before heading out the door. And they can TOTALLY change the mood of an outfit!
I selected this simple dress as the starting point for this week’s fashion inspired design lesson:
It’s a simple white dress (summer’s version of that versatile little BLACK dress!). But notice how the stark contrast of the leather accessories really pull the outfit together! And the metal accents (her earrings and on the shoes) are a wonderful new texture against the softness of the dress.
So how does this apply to scrapbooking? Let’s get started!
- A simple, neutral backdrop is the perfect foundation for creating a wonderfully “pulled together” layout.
- Limiting accessories to a few pieces that say “wow!” not only saves time, but also emphasizes the beautiful qualities – or even the theme – of the pieces you utilize.
My fashion inspiration challenge:
Use these principles to create TWO layouts in one afternoon that I’d be proud to add to my family album. The results? I spent less than one hour on each of these layouts but I love the way they came together! Best of all – These are photos from the past few months that I just hadn’t taken the time to scrap yet. So if you’re like me – you take photos at a faster rate than you can scrap them – give these designs a try!
“he is Batman” is SO DIFFERENT than my usual style! But I just love the way it came out. I started out with the photo, which I absolutely ADORE – and wanted to keep it clean and simple. I kept the background neutral, in natural gray and black and realized that the yellow paint on his face presented a way to add a tiny pop of color to the paper background for this layout. Finally – that bow. I just love it. To me, it sits on top of the layout like a big warm hug ;o).
It was pretty easy to do a clean and simple design for a one photo layout, but how about a THREE photo layout? For this design, which was about my kids “fishing” in our cul-de-sac, I wanted to add a fun element that would create the theme and add a necessary touch of playfulness. Once I had my neutral background , I added the cute little pond doodle, and the fun swirly “splash”!
It took all the willpower in my being not to load my layouts up with the gorgeous patterned papers from Shabby Princess’ kits, but by challenging myself to create from a new perspective, I got new life from kits that have been in my stash for quite some time!
Each of these layouts were inspired by one simple white dress. So the next time you’re shopping – at the store, on-line, or even browsing magazines – challenge yourself to pick an item and let it inspire YOU on your next layout!
Jun 19, 2010 @ 03:08:48
I loooooooooooooooooove these clean and simple layouts!! Love love love!!!
Jun 14, 2010 @ 14:44:34
super cool, beckie :o) and thank you for the reminder that our layouts do not always have to be so ‘accessorized’! you proved that point very well with your ‘simple’, but awesome layouts! THANKS!
Jun 14, 2010 @ 13:14:26
That Batman layout was SO SIMPLE! I started with a simple rounded rectangle and created a clipping mask for both the photo AND the dark gray paper. Then I just moved them up and down until the dividing line between the two looked good to me. (to clip two items to one shape, just place both layers – the paper and the photo – above the shape and just clip them both down! piece of cake!).
Jun 14, 2010 @ 11:54:27
Great post, Beckie. I am naturally a minimalist, so I am constantly studying and scraplifting pages that are all dolled up, but I love that you show beautiful pages pulled together with just a few perfect accents.
Jun 14, 2010 @ 11:11:16
I was just creating a layout that your post has helped me with! Sometimes sinple IS better!!! BTW-I love your “Batman” page!
Jun 14, 2010 @ 10:29:15
this is such a good point… so many times “layers and doo-dads” become the focus of a layout and the photos become lost in the mix. i love the “batman” layout! awesome!
Jun 14, 2010 @ 09:23:27
Loved that post… In design school, one of my professors always said “edit, edit, edit” to encourage us to really focus on what was going to make the best statement/impact & to always regard our projects with the thought- “is that really necessary”? ‘Course, he was a minimalist & that did not/does not come naturally to me! LOL! But you can’t deny that there is beauty in simplicity & that VERY often, “less is more”. Thanks for the great reminder!