Tone it Down, Then Jazz it Up

If you all are playing with the February Scrapbook Kit you know how beautiful and dynamic the Simple Stories, Vintage Cottage Fields collection is. (The Kit is sold out but a few goodies are still in the store!)

The collection has so many amazing little touches that make it classically Simple Stories but also a tad busy ... which I LOVE. My approach when things get busy .. is to tone it down just so I can make it my own kind of busy! Jazz it up, Brande style! 

I started with this bold polka dot pattern paper from the Kit - it felt whimsical and fun. Perfect for some old-school soda shoppe photos! I didn’t want the polka dots to overwhelm my design though so I toned them down with some white acrylic paint. I simply added some water to white paint and messily painted a big square in the middle of the page with a wide paintbrush. Messy! Any white paint or even white gesso will do. 

Next, I let the Kit inspire my photo size. I loved the 2x2 cut apart squares in Kit the pattern papers - so cut up my favourites and printed my photos in the same size to arrange them all in a grid pattern. I love the idea of square shapes in a grid pattern in stark contrast to the circle of the polka dot background. 

From there I took my ‘toned down’ busy page and kicked it up a notch with all kinds of busy! Using the stickers, bits and pieces, chipboard, brads, and foam alphas from the Kit to add all kinds of texture and touches to the page. I used the square pieces and edges of the pages to anchor all the fun.

 

I am loving how this turned out - any chance I have to use ALL the fun and pretty things in a layout is a design that makes me happy. All of the pops of whimsy from the embellishments gave this layout the exact feeling I was hoping for - a fantastic reflection of the feelings of this memory!

Are you playing with this Kit? We would love to see! Pop it up on the Scrap Shotz Paper Crating Group on Facebook or tag SCrap Shotz on Instagram so we can ohh and ahh!