Digital Scrapbooking Blog and Scrapbook Inspiration
from DesignerDigitals

In today’s short video, I’m taking a look at “embellishment clusters.” Using an embellishment cluster lets you combine several items, including images, that reinforce your page subject AND contribute to the page design.

We look forward to seeing your pages with embellishment clusters in the Gallery. Find more ideas and design lessons for embellishing scrapbook pages in Embellishing with Alphas and Every Little Thing, e-books by Debbie Hodge and the DesignerDigitals team.

A great way to make a scrapbook page with unity is to incorporate repetitions with variety.


Consider the recurrences of stormy weather in Wuthering Heights, of debt in the novels of Charles Dickens, and of smoke (from pipes, cigars, gas lamps, and, finally, of the fire) in Citizen Kane. Repeating images in a variety of ways brings a pleasing circularity to a piece. Check out the following short video for some embellishing ideas that use repetitions with variety.

We look forward to seeing your pages embellished with repetitions and variety in the Gallery. Find more ideas and design lessons for embellishing scrapbook pages in Embellishing with Alphas and Every Little Thing, e-books by Debbie Hodge and the DesignerDigitals team.

A great starting point for embellishing scrapbook pages is to ask yourself: What does my page need for meaning? Is there an image that supports my page subject? You can use images that are specific (i.e., a suitcase on a page about travel) or images that have become associated with emotions or abstract ideas (i.e., a bird in flight might connote freedom). Check out this short video to see some pages embellished with images in symbolic ways.

On “Love Always Wins,” Anke represents the troubles and temptations her daughter might encounter with clouds and rain. See her labels “inappropriate television shows,” “bad choices,” and “selfishness” hovering in the storm. Anke represents her love for her daughter with a sheltering umbrella. Her honest journaling tells her daughter to remember this protecting love and let it prevail.



Materials Used: Forecast Kit by Lynn Grieveson; I Heart U Kit, Dated Cards: February 2010 by Jesse Edwards; Love You Embellishment Collection by Ali Edwards; Grunge Overlays No. 03, All You Need Overlays No. 07, Collaged Hearts No. 01, File Labels: Love by Katie Pertiet; Stitched by Anna Red No. 01 by Anna Aspnes

On “happy[colorful]ness, Aino has scrapbooked a brightly colored pinwheel on a “blue-skies” background. She embellished the page with a kite triggering our associations with thoughts of flight, play, and happiness.

Materials Used: Cloudscapes No. 03 Paper Pack, Alandia Element Pack, Yarn Swirls by Katie Pertiet;Beaming Paper Pack by Jesse Edwards; Fasten Its! by Pattie Knox;Nia Kit by Michelle Martin


Share your pages with symbolic images in the Embellish It! Gallery. Find more ideas and design lessons for embellishing scrapbook pages in Embellishing with Alphas and Every Little Thing, e-books by Debbie Hodge and the DesignerDigitals team.

The next time you’ve got a scrapbook page with a spot that needs a little something more, add a “sprinkling.”




Simple Classics No. 02 Kit, ArtPlay Palette Mini Kit No. 02, ArtPlay Palette Mini Kit No. 08, Bedazzled! Layout Jewelry

A sprinkling of what? A sprinkling of something small. Buttons, brads, gems, and sequins all fit the bill here. You could also use a brush—just ramp up the jitter settings for size, orientation, and color, and brush away! A sprinkling of small embellishments can soften up a linear page, create a bit of whimsy, and just simply add charm.



Crystallized Flakes No. 03 Brushes and Stamps with foreground set to purple and background set to pink. Brush settings: spacing at 48%, size jitter at 81%, angle jitter at 77%, scatter at 460%, foreground/background jitter at 65%, opacity and flow jitters both at 50%.

While a sprinkling should appear random, a little tweaking and attention to the balance of the elements within the sprinkling never hurts.

Tips:

• Incorporate repetition with variety. (You can repeat and vary the embellishment type, size, color, and, where relevant, orientation.)

• Work with odd numbers and threes.

• Still stuck? Use one of Katie’s “Scatterings” on its own, beneath other elements, or as a temporary placement guide for gems, buttons, and other small delights.


Scatterings No. 01



On “Sorry Little Buddy,” Amy LeJeune {Amy L} sprinkled an assortment of flowers, hearts and gems in shades of blue and red at top left and bottom right corners of her photo. These two groupings set a light tone and move the eye in a path diagonally down through her page.

Materials Used: Just a Hint Paper Pack, Beth Kit, Worn Hearts, Worn Flowers, Tatty Alphabet by Lynn Grieveson;Stitched by Anna White No. 02, Stitched by Anna White No. 04, Stitched by Anna White No. 05, Spiced Jewel ElementSet by Anna Aspnes; Botanist Notebook No. 03 Paper Pack, Seeing Stars Paper Pack, Border Templates by Katie Pertiet; Corner Its!, Fanciful Felt Page Mats and Frames: Hearts by Pattie Knox
Font Pea Carolyn



Merrilee Larson {digigrandma} sprinkled white buttons and chipboard asterisks on “Snapshots of You.” The simplicity of the white buttons and their seemingly-random placement give the page a fresh yet whimsical feel.

Hint At It Love Brush by Lynn Grieveson in store January 31; Cathy Zielske’s Layered Template No. 19 by Cathy Zielske; Classic Cardstock: Authentic, Seeing Stars Paper Pack, Alandia Meadow Element Pack, Chipboard Alpha Whiteby Katie Pertiet; Just Linens Paper Pack No. 02 by Michelle Martin; Love Bandit Stickers by Mindy Terasawa


Share your pages with sprinklings in the Embellish It! Gallery. Find more ideas and design lessons for embellishing scrapbook pages in Embellishing with Alphas, an e-book by Debbie Hodge and the DesignerDigitals team.