Tutorial: Layout Start to Finish with Suzanne :)

Good Sunday morning TPV paper lovers! :)

Suzanne here from Scrap With Suzy with a layout tutorial.

I thought it would be fun to give you a "start to finish" look at my latest layout!

Let's get to it!

I usually always start with a patterned paper base... sometimes very bold and layer on the cardstock, other times, like this page, not so bold with more patterned papers coming.  On this layout, I started with a 12x12 monochromatic dot paper from Echo Park's "Victorian Gardens".

Next, I layered this text patterned paper from the same collection. It measures 10.25" square. To add interest, I punched it with the Martha Stewart "Cherish" punch around the page set. For even more interest, I adhered it at an angle.

I wanted to ground my photos, so I added 2 strips of paper near the center of my mat. The grey cardstock brings out the grey text. The yellow pattern is also from the EP "Victorian Gardens" papers. My advice for mixing patterns is to use papers from the same collection :)

I used two circular shapes as the base for my embellishment clusters. The ruffled, fabric flower is from Precocious Paper etsy shop. When using a larger embellishment, it helps balance the layout to add something to the opposite side. The green circle was cut with the My Favorite Things "Decorative Doily" die.

Okay, time for the photos! Since they were taken with my phone and not very "in focus", I printed them in black and white to hide the blurriness. A great trick! This is our 2 year old niece Alexandra, loving on my hubby. 

The photos were cut 3 x 3.5, layered on white, then again on the dark pink. The white really makes the black and white pictures pop. And I knew I wanted to tie in the base patterned paper with the "front" of the layout, so I double matted them. I think it really makes the photos stand out!

Time for my title! I wanted to incorperate the green "you" of the text paper, so I built my title around that. I went with "this girl totally adores you". The Pink Paislee wood alphas were perfect for the word "adores". The mini alphas (in yellow to bring out the yellow patterned paper), Crate Paper tab (with the word girl), and glittered "this" were leftover pieces from my stash.

The finishing touches! I used more embellishments from the Precocious Paper shop. They're called "sweet spots" - the felt circles with the patterned paper heart/butterfly. I tied in the butterfly theme, as well as filled some of the white space with the kraft butterfly stickers from Studio Calico.

(click to view larger)

And there you have it! My layout "start to finish". You can see more photos and details on my personal blog post here. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial today and picked up some ideas, inspiration, or new products to try on your pages :)

I'd love to hear what you think and if you'd like to see more "start to finish" tutorials from me in the future!