Scraps Of Mind

Have you ever done a Scrapbook Layout Make-over?

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Have you ever done a make-over of one of your old scrapbook layouts?

I normally don’t do this because I like to see the differences in my scrapbooking style as it has evolved and grown through my increasing experience in scrapbooking. I think it’s a good thing to keep a record of where my scrapbooking techniques have come from, so I can better judge my improvements (or not). But this particular layout has bugged me ever since I completed it about two years ago.

The key areas that I felt were crying out for improvement were:

1. it was too dull and blah for the commemoration of such a significant event,
2. the design was too unbalanced, especially on the second page, and
3. the elements seemed too haphazard. They didn’t seem to connect with each other.

So I decided to give it a make-over and oomph it up a bit more. Here’s how I went about it.

• I decided to do a hybrid scrapbook layout, rather than all digital or all traditional. I wanted to get the best of both worlds
• I wanted a stronger colour scheme with more contrast which would add impact whilst still ensuring that the photos were the centre of attention. I used Erica Hite’s Bookworm Collection from Scrap Girls (one of my all time favourite kits) teamed with papers from Hot off the Press Vintage collection.
• I deleted the background from the main photo and cropped it to improve the eye contact with the viewer. Then I created an 8×8 digital scrapbook layout using backgrounds and elements from the Bookworm Collection, angled it and added the text in the negative space. I adjusted the lighting and sharpened the photo a bit using the technique I wrote about in an earlier photomerge article.
• The smaller photos were victims of my early inexperience with digital cameras. For the original layout I had resized them whilst they were at 72dpi and then saved them; rendering them virtually useless. I resized them using the scrapbooking techniques demonstrated in my earlier post, Upsizing Photos. Then I tinted them teal using the Photographic Effects layer style in Photoshop Elements.
• I coloured some white flowers to match the colour scheme using stamp inks; I just stamped the pad onto the flowers a few times to get a mottled effect. And I also introduced a splash of red, just to punch it up a bit.
• Then all that was left was to assemble all the pieces together with some tags from the HOtP Vintage book and some of their really cool Brad Buddies.
• Extra tip: you can’t see it properly in the scan but I created a ‘raised corner’ look on a couple of the smaller photos by sticking a square of foam tape under one of the corners and flicking the edge up a bit.

I’m a lot happier with the result. I think the new layout has a lot more impact than the original and is more in keeping with the momentous occasion. Hope Seona likes it too.

What are your thoughts? Do you do make-overs on your layouts?

Other related posts:

Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips - Upsizing Photos
Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips - Photomerge: electronic versions of your paper scrapbook layouts
Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips - Printing your Digital Layouts
Scrapbooking Techniques & Tips - The Visual Triangle
Scrapbook Design Principles - Rule of Thirds and Z Movement