Shaping up

Has your creative mojo been feeling a little out of shape lately? Tired of that same old square or rectangular canvas for your scrapbooking, art journaling, or painting? Maybe it’s time to think outside the box – the box shape of your background, that is.

I scrapbook in all sizes, but 12x12 is my go-to format. Ever get to the point where you feel like you have exhausted every possible photo and embellishment configuration? Me too! That’s when mixing things up by using a different shape can be helpful. An unfamiliar form or size makes you rethink the real estate you’re working with, and conjures up those creative juices.

Die cut scrapbook papers have been en vogue for quite while, and yet I typically wind up cutting a piece of them to use on a square page rather than using them as a background. Not so for this super-quick layout. I just slapped down a photo & title, and was able to further cut corners with the handy, pre-printed lines for journaling.

My style is usually more linear, so I used a rectangle of cardstock to ground this die cut scallop on one side, and let it all hang out on the other. The cardstock gave me an edge to anchor some paper strips, which I used to make a grid for lining up my photo & title.

Circles aren’t the only shape in town, though. I came across an ‘unusually shaped layout’ challenge on the Scrapbook-101 blog, and even linear little ol’ me couldn’t resist trying my hand at a page inspired by Natlalie Macdonald’s.

 

I cut the rainbow from a piece of cardboard and painted it, then cut a piece of white felt into a cloud shape and glued it on. After that, I pretty much just crossed over into the Zone of Creative Abandon, adding a little of this and that until it seemed done. It is so outside my box, it’s like I got shipped to another zip code and dropped on the porch of creative craziness…and that’s why I love it. It’s really fun to just play with the possibilities once in a while. And P.S. – it fits in a 12x6 sheet protector.

Do you dabble in diecut papers? Been thinking about breaking out of the box-shaped page? Let me see what you come up with!

Oh, and speaking of Scrapbook-101, they are having an awesome Charity Extravaganza cyber crop to benefit charitywater.org. It starts at 7pm GMT on Friday, November 13, and goes on for 48 fun-filled hours. Cathy Zielske will be kicking off the first challenge, and there will be a new challenge posted every two hours (including one by me). Lots of great prizes, too! Click on over for all the details if you’re interested in signing up.