When I think about designing a scrapbook page, my first instinct is to look for inspiration from home decor. When I'm feeling creatively "stuck" my favorite place thing to do is go to the mall. Not to shop...but to be inspired! I look for colors, textures, shapes that are catching my attention, and what feeling they evoke. What’s on trend right now? What’s new and unique? How can I take what I see, and translate that feeling into a page design?
I find inspiration in store windows & displays, high end magazines & catalogs. Some of my
favorite places are: Anthropologie, (maybe best known for their amazing hand crafted window displays) Pottery Barn, Magnolia, Crate & Barrel. It's what I see that inspires me to look beyond the actual display window.
What are the color combinations? What are the textures? What are the layers of dimension? What feature stands out the most? What story is the display telling me?
This is how my mind works with all things design. These companies spend the big bucks on eye catching marketing & design. Even online. I follow social media pages and sign up for newsletters just because I love seeing how their products are pulled together in a design on a page.
Let's take this photo from Pottery Barn Teen as an example and translate what I see into inspiration for a scrapbook page. When you look at this page...what do you see?
When I look at this photo I see:
the title
pops of color that stand out against the crisp white
gold accents
shapes; squares + rectangles
the texture of the bedding
the pattern on the rug
the repetition of books
So with this list in mind, how could this become a scrapbook page?
use a black word strip in your page title
use lots of white; white border on your photos, white backgrounds, white clothing
add pops of color (chipboard)
add gold accents to your page (think brads, washi tape)
use a texture plate to emboss white card stock with a pattern
add minimal pattern (accent with pattern paper)
keep horizontal + vertical placement in mind
What do you see in this photo?
Here's one more inspiration photo to practice this page inspiration technique. Jot down what you see to make notes then shop your photos, kits or stash to turn your ideas into a page plan.
For this example, when I look at this photo from crate&kids I’m inspired by:
The interlocking design of the hanging light. A great background design
The offset circles of the floor lamp
The repeating element of linear lines from the crib, to the ottoman to the floor lamp
The softness of the quilt. I immediately think of hand stitching a design onto a journal card
The pom poms on the pillow.
The layering of the rugs.
The basket on the dresser adds texture. (I think cork)
The combination of fonts.
The dotted swirling arrow adds a playfulness.
I see so many starting points for a page (or pages) could come from this one image. And if I were to create a page layout it may actually look nothing like the image above. Or it may have a strong connection to it. But in the end it sparked creativity and that was the end goal.
THE WORLD IS BUT A CANVAS TO THE IMAGINATION.
Henry David Thoreau
The inspiration for this mini book cover was found in the pages of a Pottery Barn catalog. I took inspiration from the quilted bedding and scrap lifted it into a cover for this mini book using a mini paper pad from Basic Grey. I made this album several years ago and its still one of my most favorite projects I have designed.
Inspired to try this? I'd love to see what you create. Tag me at @kh_papercrush with the hashtag #colorstorychallenge for a chance to be featured in our gallery.
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