Stacked Paper: new look for old kits

About a week ago a friend who is also into digital scrapbooking came to visit and somehow we ended up talking about photo albums (could it be because I'm obsessed and the holiday season is almost upon us??? yep, must be that...) Our conversation inevitably turned to the kits we have and how we like some of them and don't know what to do with a few that looked great and promising at the time of purchase but somehow never found their way to our creating hearts.

'I love kits with lots of embellishments. And I never know what to do with all those 50 different papers that come with the kit...I've used the same embellishments over and over but haven't used more than half the paper... not even once...' she sighed.

Oh, I can totally relate to that. That's why I don't like traditional paper scrapbooking or other paper crafts: I can never get the stacked paper right the first time (often not even the second or third...) and computer makes it easy to redo the whole thing without actually ruining my paper stash.

That visit got me thinking... perhaps there are more people out there who are not very confident about using different patterned paper... those who are looking for new ways to use their favorite kits...  or finally start using those less favorite...

For all those people, and for everyone else looking for new inspiration I started this blog in general and this post series in particular: PAPER.

Stacked paper looks great, it's perfect as a background, border/corner decoration or a photo frame  but somehow it's trickier that it looks. Points to remember here:

• Dimensions: stacked paper should be smaller than the background and each additional layer should be just a little smaller than the one before. When creating a border, though, you might consider resizing the paper to the same size as your background.
• Position and rotation: totally up to you, you may have to play for a while here until you are happy with the result. If you rotate the papers both clock- and anticlock-wise, you will get this 'carelessly stacked' look that you are aiming for. (Apologies for the white frame around the photos, I'm new to this whole blogging thing and not sure how to remove it... Any suggestions?)

 

• Pattern: choose papers that come from the same kit - remember, designers are very good at what they do so all the papers go together well. That said, it is a good idea to use both plain and patterned items, and if you are not very confident using bold patterns, position them on the lower levels. This will leave you with a nice and easy paper to add your photos and embellishments to.

• Shadows: remember to add them so your page looks more realistic.

P.S. Try it yourself: take a kit you don't know what to do with and create a page...

P.P.S. For my digital creations I use CraftArtist, easy-to-use software that is perfect for scrapbooking and crafting. For this post I chose one of their free kits, Farther Day 2011, that I don't like very much... not sure why because it's really lovely.