There is nothing worse than finishing a scrapbook page, feeling slightly happy about being able to fit that last charm on the page, and taking a total look at the page and seeing – embellishment overload.
With all the great new embellishments available in the scrapbooking world, and all the items we use that weren’t originally created for scrapbookers, it’s so hard not to get carried away.
However, scrapbookers need to remember, that embellishments are not the focal point on the page. The photographs are and should be.
Obviously scrapbooking is different for everyone, and for some it is nothing more than a creative outlet and slathering a page with every embellishment known to man gives it the shabby chic look that many of them crave.
However, for most scrapbookers, it is a way for us to commemorate and preserve our memories through photographs that we passionately and lovingly create layouts and albums for.
Avoiding embellishment overload is super simple.
When planning a layout, limit yourself to only one or possibly two techniques. Try to include your embellishments in your techniques. For instance if you want to use a rubber stamp as a pattern on your paper, perhaps that would look good matting your journal box. In addition, that cute metal charm or word bracket might look good on a tag with a quote or the date.
Learning to use less in embellishments on your layouts keep the focus on the pictures and text where they should be, and keeps your layouts clean and uncluttered.
But what do you do if you already have a layout that suffers from embellishment overload? Yes, I have them too – the layout that makes you cringe because you can almost see that you were trying to find places to use those cute eyelets that matched your paper, or perhaps that flower charm that went perfectly with the paper, but there just wasn’t the room.
You can either try creating the layout again. However, that is not the most frugal way. In fact, the most frugal way is to honestly leave the layout the way that it is. It’s a learning experience. Doubtful that people looking at your albums will even notice if there isn’t a trend of embellishment overload.
However, if you just cannot bare the thought of leaving the layout as is, try removing some of the embellishments. Obviously things like brads and eyelets are extremely difficult to move, since removing them leaves a hole or tears in your layout. However, if you honestly wish to cover them up, just use coordinating paper, another photograph or something else that blends with the layout.
My advice is to leave as is, and learn from your scrapbooking mistake. But if that isn’t the way you want to do it, I certainly hope this information helps and that it keeps you from repeating your mistakes again.