Get Inspired Scrapbooking Challenge: Buffalo Plaid

Good morning everyone – at least I think It’s morning! This is Sharon, and I am slap bang in the middle of packing up the last 21 years of my life. Moving house in the week leading up to Christmas was not exactly in my game plan, but then again, we all know that life has a habit of springing all manner of surprises on us doesn’t she!?!

So . . . with all that in mind, I’m keeping it simple and focusing on Buffalo Plaid this month. Love it or hate it – it is a sure sign that Christmas is coming!! I have concentrated on two of Katie’s past Christmas bundles that feature that gorgeous red and black plaid:

I thought it would be a nice follow on from Linda’s Saturday Scraplift Challenge where we lifted Amy and used lots of patterned paper. Some of the more vibrant papers, like Buffalo Plaid, can be tricky to use without having it overwhelm your pages. However, there are techniques we can use to get around the problem – even for a dyed-in-the-wool white space fanatic like me!

The first technique is to use just a tiny bit of the pattern. Some of the Chalkboard Christmas Chipboard Elements would work well for this technique, but I used the Buffalo Plaid Tree from the Christmas Lodge Bundle and duplicated it so I could use it as a group of three.

The second technique is to layer the patterned pieces with some “quieter” elements – such as the blank journaling cards I’ve used here. Note how the plaid flair makes a group of three on the horizontal – emphasising the horizontal design, while the addition of the black and red label at the bottom edge draws the eye around the page.

In my last page, I’ve used a black & white check as a background paper, with the black & red used in smaller pieces clustered around the photo. To prevent all that check overwhelming the viewer, I’ve provided the eye a place to rest. To achieve this, I clipped some white paper to a large mask and placed it behind the photo cluster.

I hope these little tips for using BIG pattern are helpful and that you’ve been inspired to use some BIG plaid on your pages this Christmas.

My pages with credits will be in Get Inspired Gallery and I hope you can join me there!

Don’t forget to include your 100% KPD layout in the December Challenges Participation Thread in the forums in order to earn shopping rewards!

Happy scrapping everyone – And a very Happy Holiday to you all!