This layout was a quick little experiment that I was faced with when I was put on the spot one day during a craft demonstration. Surrounded by eager customers I was sharing some tips and techniques for making mens cards when we touched upon the topic of using the men in our lives as the subject of our scrapbook pages. Throughout the whole group present, the consensus was that
(1) we rarely scrapbook about the men in our lives and
(2) on the most part we all agreed that we wish we had more layouts which focused on them.
After all for someone like me – a married woman in her twenties with no kids – my husband is the most important person in my life, but when I look through my scrapbooks I see an array of pages about nieces, nephews, pets, occasions and events – but hardly any of my poor husband. Of course this doesn’t mean that I love or appreciate my other family members more than my husband (I promise) but rather that because I see him everyday, I usually don’t get the same quantity of ‘i must document this moment‘ feelings.
So, faced with a limited number of supplies, the onlookers at my demonstration challenged me with the task of showing them how easy it would be to make a layout about my husband. And, it was relatively easy. With a simple design and a good selection of colours and embellishments, its amazing how quickly a layout can come together. This layout is all about using the products you have got to hand in order to make a great scrapbook page for any chosen topic.
The layout itself has a basic structure, with various elements overlapping and touching slightly so that they all feel anchored to the page. I liked the texture of the blue cardstock – rough, but with character (a bit like my husband perhaps!) and contrasting this with the brown background results in a great colour palate which has a definite masculine feel – a perfect start. Then, to soften the harsh straight lines and bold colours of the brown and blue, I picked out some simple word strip stickers. These worked well as a way of adding colour and also at the same time portraying the journaling or wording that I wanted to use to tell my story. I wasn’t afraid of using coral and pink colours because my page wasn’t just about ‘my guy’ but also the way in which I think of him, and the fun and love that we share.
I also want to also draw your attention to the way in which i have embellished the corners of the page, which was a technique inspired by Noell Hyman of Paperclipping. In one of her previous video tutorials (episode 11), Noell walks us through a technique of making stitched decorative corners. Check out her website to see her finished layout using this technique and also discover a variety of other great ideas from Noell.
As this is layout has such an easy design, it is perfect for using as a layout sketch. Why not give it a go yourself using a few scraps of paper and word stickers or printed word strips.
I’m so glad to see this in use! Thanks for mentioning Paperclipping. I love the colors for this masculine layout, and also the little gatherings of wordstrips at different places!