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Help Me With A Layout - I'm Stuck


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I was asked recently if we had a thread where people could ask for critique on a layout or help with something specific that they are stuck on.  I think we might have a long time ago (as that seems familiar) but instead of trying to dig up an old thread...let's just start a new one.

Some rules to remember.  Please read the member's question very carefully and only respond on what they are asking about.  For example if I post a layout and I say i'm happy with everything but I really want to use this specific embellishment on it, but no matter what I do with it I can't get it to look right.  That is what i'm looking for help with, please don't respond back with how my title would look better if I made x, y and z changes.

I don't think this is one I really need to say, but constructive criticism only.  Everyone has put their heart and soul into these layouts. 

If you are posting a layout, and are looking for something specific PLEASE make that very clear.  That way we can focus on the part that is bugging you and hopefully give you some ideas.

I think that's really it.  I'm excited to see if we can help some people get past their "stuck" point

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Hi! I recently finished this Wedding Peonies layout (go to text link for bigger version in the gallery), but couldn't figure out a way to include the extensive journaling without disrupting the colorful background or the angled photos and title work. I think the frame with the journaling is clunky and I am not pleased with where it is located. I am looking for some suggestions on how to deal with the large amount of journaling against a dark and busy background. This will eventually go in my daughter's wedding photobook. Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

Wedding Peonies smaller ver 2.jpg

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So funny, I loved this page when I saw it and still do!   I didn’t notice any “clunkiness” but we often are our own best critics, so now you say it I understand what you mean....  Even though I still like it as is!  :)

My first thought was what if you left the journaling as is but removed the frame, embellishments, etc?  Not sure how that would work or look but I’m envisioning it appearing to be written right on the background.   You might have to darken underneath the light type (which I really like!) but it appears now that you’ve lightened it a bit right there so you’d just need to make it as dark as the rest of the background?
I’d also slant it a little pulling the top left corner down so it would sort of balance the opposite slant of your photos 
below.   And maybe move it a little more towards center.

Someone else will probably come along with more ideas;  I’m not sure how this one would work or I’ve explaining my thoughts well.
I’m interested to see what others think!

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Celestine, I agree with Marilyn. It  might look more appealing to just have the journaling on the background - remove the frames and embellishments. That pretty butterfly might sit nicely on the P in peonies.  Also as Marilyn mentioned.. the journaling on a slant to match the photos.

Do you know the trick to make journaling on a busy background stand out more?..... add a layer below the journaling .. pick a dominant color from the background paper - choose a soft brush with about 30% opacity and brush on the new blank layer below the journaling until you can see the text stand out more. Do not add too much brushing or it will affect the look of the background paper.   Hopefully my instructions here make sense if you have not done this before.

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4 hours ago, A-M said:

Do you know the trick to make journaling on a busy background stand out more?..... add a layer below the journaling .. pick a dominant color from the background paper - choose a soft brush with about 30% opacity and brush on the new blank layer below the journaling until you can see the text stand out more. Do not add too much brushing or it will affect the look of the background paper.   Hopefully my instructions here make sense if you have not done this before.

I didn’t know this trick, Anne Marie.   See, we can all learn from this thread!  :)

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1 hour ago, lindarobin said:

Instead of a journal frame in the upper left, I'm imaging another photo box just above the title, same slant, with the journalling in it.  Perhaps a pastel pink/yellow font against a dark green background?

OOOOohhhhh, I like that idea!

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Everyone has been so helpful. I definitely need to move in the direction of deleting the frame, angling the text and making it brushing behind it in some way. Let me work on these suggestions a little today or tomorrow and I will post the results here in this thread. Thanks for the great suggestions! Interesting that everyone began to have a little "group think" - so helpful!!!

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Thanks for all the input, everyone. I used several suggestions, including placing the text on a diagonal, not fighting the background by using a brush in a similar color (I always go light and it never looked right, so thanks for that tip Anne-Marie). I played with colored text, but ultimately decided not to fight the white. Adding the black and white corner flowers plays off the 3D white and black text in a more subtle way than the frame with the colored embellishments. I also played with different text box shapes (i.e. long and narrow, tall and narrow, square), but finally settled on this one due to the fact that the center part of the background didn't really have peonies peeking through the overlay in that section. I've spent entirely too much time on this single LO, but this is an important story for the wedding album, and I wanted to get it looking right. Thanks  so much everyone - I do think it looks better! :thanks:

Wedding Peonies redo.jpg

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Celestine, This newer version certainly looks great. I like your addition of the corner embellishment and I like that little butterfly on the letter P.

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Celestine, I liked the original version just fine, but I agree, the final layout is very appealing!  I really like the look of the journaling spread across the entire width of the layout, and the matching slant.  That trick of using a brush behind journaling to lessen a busy background - I use that a lot, love it!

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Everyone was so helpful with my "stuck" dilemma for the peonies layout! I hope others take advantage of this thread for LOs that are giving them fits for one reason or another. This will be a wonderful resource for individuals and their scrapbook projects.....?

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  • 1 year later...

I have a few scanned programs and brochures I need to scrap in a couple of albums, and I've been putting it off because my attempts always look so flat. I would love to have some suggestions on how to scrap a program or brochure so the text is still legible. Tips or links to actual layouts are welcome! Thanks!

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I always have trouble with this and normally end up playing around with the scanned document.   Sometimes, I’ll duplicate the layer and then use a blending mode on the top layer, then adjust that opacity.   If it’s a white background “darken” sometimes works.

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5 hours ago, Celestine said:

Thanks, @MariJ- I hadn't thought of blending layers on top of one another.

I have to play with it and it doesn’t always work, but sometimes it does.   I’ve often had “spots” of dark and light on the document so I will make a light layer underneath and erase down to it in those parts...   If that makes sense?

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  • 10 months later...

So I have been working on an old vacations project, and the Washington, DC section has been using Ginny Whitcomb's Everyday Joy kit, which features blue, red and cream/ivory. However, one of the June Bingo challenges called for black and white, so I took my photo of the Washington Monument and converted it to black and white, but put an ivory/brown tint on the photo. I also turned the brick background black and white and used the black and cream plaid from Angie Briggs' Effortless collection. For the vacation photobook, I intended to use the original creamy brown brick and then a tan and ivory plaid from Angie's same Effortless collection. Now I am torn and don't know which one to use. Does anyone have any comments on which one they like best?

GWH_EverydayJoy_Col_Mktg.jpg Washington Monument.jpg Washington Monument 2.jpg

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1 hour ago, scrapgarden said:

I personally like the tan version better. It seems to compliment the converted photo better and keeps to the colors of kit you are using.

Thank for the input, Lynne. It helps to have someone else looking at it. After you work on something, you lose your own perspective sometimes.

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12 hours ago, MariJ said:

@Celestine I've just been enjoying your layouts and now saw this thread!  I thought the version you used looked wonderful so I had to go back now and see which one it is. I too like that the tan version matches with the collection better and it really does look great.

Thanks, MariJ. I was torn but the votes are coming in.....

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20 minutes ago, Celestine said:

Thanks, MariJ. I was torn but the votes are coming in.....

I know what you mean about being torn.   When I have two versions like that I go back and forth and whatever one I'm looking at looks "best".  Sometimes even side-bypside I have a hard time deciding.    The good news is, both of your looked great.  

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40 minutes ago, bcgal00 said:

I like the tan version more b/c it blends in with the masked photo background more complimentary. You can't really go wrong with either version though. Don't stress over it.

Thanks, Rae. It has been unanimous so far! LOL.

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  • 1 month later...

I didn’t see this when you first posted it.  But, I couldn’t help commenting on the beautiful transformation.  The suggestions to get you unstuck were excellent.  My favorite change was the addition of the little butterfly over the P in peonies. That one little butterfly pulls together all the colors in your flowers and adds a nice pop of color in a delightfully unexpected place.  Framing the corner gives the layout balance and is a very nice touch.  Great work ladies!!

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9 minutes ago, bitzee said:

I didn’t see this when you first posted it.  But, I couldn’t help commenting on the beautiful transformation.  The suggestions to get you unstuck were excellent.  My favorite change was the addition of the little butterfly over the P in peonies. That one little butterfly pulls together all the colors in your flowers and adds a nice pop of color in a delightfully unexpected place.  Framing the corner gives the layout balance and is a very nice touch.  Great work ladies!!

Thanks for joining the thread, bitzee! So far I'm the only one who seems to want a critique now and then. I hope others join this thread when they are confounded by a layout and need some friendly suggestions or input. I have found it helpful - as you can see!

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