Technique Week {Simple tricks to make your layouts shine!}

Hi Kim here!  When I was asked to prepare a layout and share a technique with you all, I gave a lot of thought to what I should share and I ended up making a layout using several simple techniques.  I then couldn’t decide which one to focus on, so I am going to share them all.  All of these techniques are simple, but I think they are effective – I hope you agree!  This is my layout …

Now to run you through the techniques that I have used.

The first is using a mistables fuzzy sticker to create a background for the beautiful seahorse.  I thought the fuzzy sticker looked a lot like seaweed and so I decided to incorporate it into the layout to ground my seahorse.  I have lightly inked the fuzzy sticker with brown ink.  By layering it over the misted background paper, it makes it a subtle addition to the layout, but I think it also looks like it has been created by using a mask, rather than a separate sticker.

The second technique is using trading cards to create a grid with smaller sized photos.  Sometimes it can be a challenge to use a full pack of trading cards and this technique can allow you to maximise the use of your stash.  The trading cards also add to the story I have documented as they describe the types of activities that we undertook on our walk by the sea.

The final technique is the handcut banner that is below the photo / trading card grid.  I simply cut a variety of different sized rectangles from the Nantucket papers and then cut notches in one end of each rectangle to create pennants.  I then attached them to the layout using glue at only the top edge.  You can lightly draw a pencil line for your banner, but you can just lay the pennant pieces down roughly where you want the banner to sit.  I then lightly curl up the bottom edges of the pennants to add dimension.  I then put a brad in at the end of the banner and tie some twine around it to finish.  You can do this at both ends, or just one – it depends where your banner sits on your page.

I hope you found these techniques useful and you are able to incorporate them onto one of your layouts in the near future.

Pink Paislee Products:
Nantucket – Lobster Bisque
Nantucket – Crab Cakes
Nantucket – Jumbo Shrimp
Nantucket – Bling Stickers
Nantucket – Trading Cards
Mistables Fuzzy Stickers
Wood Shop Alphabets Lumber Yard

Cheers