Layout Anatomy - Session 6

Lord knows my digi-stash is more than plentiful, but when I saw this beautiful collection and read about the story behind it...I couldn't resist buying it!!

Photo Notes: Don't forget to capture the little details! These pictures in the woods behind our house were taken in a matter of minutes, as my daughter was a bit timid about climbing on the log. When I was able to look through them, I was so happy I had snapped a picture of her cute little toes and flip-flops walking on the log.

Layout Notes:  Blending a photo into the background of a layout can sometimes be a happy compromise between lots of white space and the desire to make the most of every inch of the page.

I actually really liked this layout without the background photo. The white space really drew the eye to the pops of pink in the photos. However, there was just something about that particular photo and expression that made me want to include it in the layout. Putting it 'full strength' caused the layout to be too busy and left no focal point. By reducing the opacity to 30%, the focus fell back to the photos on the right and the background photo became a more subtle complement to the main photos.

Hope  your day is blessed! :)

Layout Anatomy - Session 4

This photo brings back such happy thoughts from our recent vacation. We drove about 3 miles down this dirt road, looking for a geocache, only to find out it was a dead end. When we turned around to drive back out, there were literally thousands of small yellow butterflies along side of the road. They were not there on our drive in. The girls got out and had fun chasing them and trying to catch them (with no luck).

Photo Notes: A subtle vignette goes a long way in adding depth and focus to a photo.

Here is my photo, using the exact same edits, except the one on the right has a vignette added (in Lightroom). The vignette deepens the color tones in the photo and also helps draw your eye to the subject.

Layout Notes: Use clustering wisely on layouts to create a sense of balance.

A layout is a bit like a teeter totter. If you place too much on one side or part of the layout, it can feel a bit out of balance. On this layout, the cluster in the upper right corner nicely balances the title and photo cluster in the lower left corner.

"Chasing Butterflies" digital scrapbook layout by Christy VanderWall uses:

• Feelin Krafty Collection - Christy VanderWall
• Digital Scrapbooking Scripts: Copy & Close, File Save 1, Supply Tracker - Christy VanderWall

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Layout Anatomy - Session 3

Hello scrappers! I hope you are all doing well! I have just returned from a fun filled family vacation and am ready to get the creative juices flowing again! I was so happy to see some of you using the Woodland Cottage collection while I was away. If you have made a layout, please share it on the SpeedScraps facebook page...I love seeing what you create!

Now for a bit of layout anatomy. If you are new here, you can find the original Layout Anatomy post here. It tells a bit about my thoughts and purposes of the layout anatomy posts.

This is one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. It is at the beach in Holland Michigan, where I grew up, and contains some subjects that are pretty special to me. :)

Photo Notes: Don't be afraid to get down and get dirty.

When I took this shot, I was crouching down as far as I could go, without sitting or laying down in the sand. When I came home and opened the photo for editing, I realized the silhouette of my husband and daughter was chopped off at the knees because my position was too high. Had I laid down on my stomach, I think it would have changed my perspective enough that most of their legs would have been in the silhouette.

I was able to somewhat rescue their silhouettes by using the dodge tool in Photoshop and slightly lightening the sand behind my husband and daughter.

Layout Notes: When your viewer looks at a layout, they often 'read' it like they would a book. The eye tends to move from the upper left corner of the page then down to the lower right.

With this in mind, I chose to put my title in the upper left corner and my other design element, the date code, in the lower right. As the eye travels from the title to the date code, it now passes right across the subject of my photo.

Have a blessed day!

"First Sunset" digital scrapbook layout by Christy VanderWall uses:

• Date Codes - Jennifer Labre Designs
• Sunkissed: Sunset - Jennifer Labre Designs
• Digital Scrapbooking Scripts: Copy & Close, File Save 1, Supply Tracker - Christy VanderWall

Layout Anatomy - Session 2

If you missed my first Layout Anatomy post, you can find it here. It explains a bit about my intentions of these posts! :)

My friend Chanell at the Instinctive Scrapper created a free kit that she is giving away! In honor of her first creation, I thought I would make a layout with it! My favorite part of the collection has to be the great alpha and the word art Chanell made from it. So, I started with that as my inspiration.

The quote she used reminded me of this tiny little bouquet that Regan had made for me earlier in the spring. I had purposely snapped a couple pictures of it to create a layout.

Photo Notes: Break free from the habit of centering all the subjects of your photos. Off center photos can create a more interesting feel. They also leave you with a great place for some journaling or word art when making scrapbooking pages.

Ali Edwards shares shares some great tips for this here.

Layout Notes: For help with placement of items on your layout, turn on your grids. In Photoshop, the shortcut key is Ctrl ' (single quote). In PSE, go to View>Grid.

In each program, you can adjust the number and spacing of the lines that appear in the grid using Edit>Preferences>Guides, Grid & Slices (or just Grid for PSE). In the preferences dialog, there is a field 'Gridline Every'. If you set the value to 33.33 and change the measurement to percent, your grid will give you a great 'rule of thirds' overlay, no matter what your document size.

Where the heavier gridlines intersect, highlighted with black circles here, are the main points of focus for the page. Putting items of interest at or near these intersections is one way to make sure the viewers eye is drawn to the most important part(s) of your page.

For my layout, I placed my flowers at one intersection, or sweet spot, and then followed the same horizontal line to place the top row of my word art.

Have a great day! :)

"Sweet Simple Things" digital scrapbook layout by Christy VanderWall uses:

• Chanell Rigterink - Sweet Simple Things Collection Mini
• Zen Textures - Zen Textures
• Quick Edge Burn Action - Pioneer Woman
• Digital Scrapbooking Scripts: Copy & Close, File Save 1 - Christy VanderWall
  

Layout Anatomy

Anatomy \A*nat"o*my\, noun; pl. {Anatomies}. [F. anatomie, L. anatomia, Gr. ? dissection, fr. ? to cut up; ? + ? to cut.] The act of dividing anything, corporeal or intellectual, for the purpose of examining its parts; analysis;

Welcome to my first session of Layout Anatomy! This feature of the blog will, hopefully, give you some tips and tricks for making layouts that you love. It won't be a complete dissection of every layout, but a brief tip or two about the creation of a given layout. I will also try to include some photography tidbits in these postings as well.

Disclaimer: I am of the mindset that there is no 'right' or 'wrong' when it comes to making layouts. So the things I share here are not 'rules' on how to make a great layout, they are just little glimpses inside my mind as I create a layout. I believe in the sentiment 'do what you love and love what you do'. I have learned, however, that some people know what they love when they see it on other peoples layouts, but struggle when it comes to making their own layouts. So, my hope is to help you in your own journey to making layouts that you love.

Photo Notes: Take notice of not only your subject, but the surroundings and background as well. Sometimes simple changes in your position or zoom can mean less editing later.

When I first started taking photos of my daughter splashing in the puddle, part of our playground area was in the frame of the photo (left). This would have been distracting later, if I had decided to use the uncropped photo on a layout. It could be cropped or cloned out in Photoshop, but instead, I took two steps to the left, changing the angle from which I was shooting, and zoomed in a bit more. This removed the distraction from the rest of the photos (right).

Layout Notes: When picking color schemes or style for a layout, look at photo details for inspiration.

If I had to pick color schemes by simply looking through my supply stash, I don't think I would ever get any layouts done, as I would find myself overwhelmed by the choices. My typical inspiration for colors comes directly from my photos. In this case, the only thing that had a lot of color, besides the greens in the trees, was my daughters rain boots. Not only did they inspire me with their colors, but the whimsy, doodled circles inspired the style of my layout as well.

Happy Scrapping! Hope your day is blessed! 

"Jump for Joy" digital scrapbook layout by Christy VanderWall uses:

• The Scrappin Cop - Real Ric Rac
• Christy VanderWall - Copy & Close
• Christy VanderWall - File Save 1
• Christy VanderWall - Supply Tracker
• Kevin and Amanda - Highland Perk Font
• HG Designs - Arrow Brushes
• HG Designs - Doodle Line Brushes
• Royanna Fritschmann - Autumn Graces
• Royanna Fritschmann - Christmas in July
• Royanna Fritschmann - Pajama Party
• Christine Mortimer - There & Back Alpha