Technique Tuesday with Karen Grunberg

Hello everyone!

This layout uses The Girls' Paperie Toil and Trouble line and it's the perfect example for both of the techniques I wanted to talk about today.

The first one is side-stamping. I am not exactly sure why but I am afraid of stamps. I worry that I won't ink them properly or that I will move them as I stamp so there will be smudges, ghosts, etc. But when I saw this stamp, I was so in love that I wanted to find a way to use it.

After staring at it for a long time, I decided I could use it on the edge of my layout so that if it didn't stamp properly, I could layer over it. As you can see, I stamped it on the top, left side of the layout. I then layered colorful papers and ribbon on top of it. I love the effect this gives and it's a perfect way for me to use the stamps I love without worrying too much.

Another technique I use often is "lightening" my embellishments. I like my pages to be open and airy. I also often use small photos. So, big and bulky embellishments aren't always my favorite. Instead of using them as is, I often separate the layers or cut around the paper to make the whole thing smaller.

This also means I get to have more embellishments. In the layout above, the orange embellishment to the left of the title is one of the paper flowers that I separated into layers and put on top of a punched paper. I then cut the whole thing around the edges so it was smaller. This made my embellishment lighter and it fit into my page more perfectly.

Just because they come a certain way doesn't mean you cannot cut, tear, separate or otherwise alter your embellishments. Don't be afraid to try new things.

Check out these other collections from Girls Paperie:

On Holiday
Paper Girl
Tinsel and Twigs