Hello there! It’s Shannon Dombkowski with you today! Sometimes, we find ourselves with fewer supplies to work with than usual. Maybe you’re down to the last few pieces of a kit, you’ve decided to use up scraps from your stash, or maybe you’re on a spending freeze. Whatever the reason, minimal supplies does not have to equal minimal impact! With just a few supplies you can still create an eye-catching layout. Let’s look at how I accomplished it with a travelers notebook layout and the April 2021 Kit and add-ons!
Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Black Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, Love This Smile Stamp
Did you take a look at that supply list? Yep. Only four supplies, with one of them being the main kit! My first tip is to look beyond the obvious use of items in the kit. On this layout, I cut apart one of the 3″ x 4″ journaling tags. I have to be in a certain kind of mood to fussy cut, but this camera had enough clean lines and corners that it was easy to cut out. It’s also large, so it makes a great statement in the center of my page.
My second tip is to use up your paper! Look for “outside the box” ways to use it, which will bring a little extra something special to your page. I’m not quite sure if border punches are still “cool,” but they bring me such joy, so I use them frequently! On this page, I cut up the rainbow striped paper from the Celebrate Paper Stack into stripes according to color. Then, I punched along the edge of each color. Finally, I lined them all up evenly and adhered them to each other first and then to my page. You could also do this by tearing or roughing up your edges if you don’t have border punches. My last step here was to tuck in a few sentiment die cuts from the April 2021 Kit to break up the color blocking.
My final tip is to give special focus to your photo and your story. While a pretty design is one side of scrapbooking, our photos and stories are the other side. I find that the most impactful pages have elements of both. I found this photo of my daughter from vacation back in 2018. It’s still one of my favorite photos of her! The fact that her emotions are totally different than how they appear makes this a great story to tell. I measured the “the story behind this photo” stamp so I knew how much room I needed to leave at the bottom of my photo. Then, I went into Photoshop and added my journaling. Once the photo was printed, I was able to stamp the sentiment right onto the bottom. When you’re looking for impact with your layout, look for photos that really catch your eye—maybe they’re funny, serious or downright stunning. To bring impact with your journaling, let yourself relax while you’re writing! I like to imagine that I’m retelling the story to my kids or husband in the future. That really helps the story flow and helps me infuse more of my personality into the journaling.
I hope that I’ve given you some ideas about how you can create beautiful, impactful layouts with just a few supplies. I hope you’ll give this a try. I’d love to see what you come up with!
Share how you’re using your April 2021 Kit and add-ons to make a big impact on your pages! Post your project on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio, or share in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group!