Scrapbooking Articles

Create an echo

Simply beginning is often the most challenging part of a project. Actually making that first choice to nail down something tangible — a size, a texture or a colour scheme — can really be the issue when it’s something intangible you’re trying to express. The more you love a photograph, the more difficult it can be to create a layout that features and enhances it adequately. In this situation, the perfect place to look for inspiration can be the photo itself. Danielle Quarmby explains the theory behind the echo technique and how to put it to good use.

How many times have you sat wondering where to begin as you stared at a treasured photo you were dying to scrap? Trying to concept a layout that will be powerful enough to do justice to your image can be difficult. The endless variety of choice that is available when it comes to papers, embellishments and other scrapping material doesn’t help!

This technique is about looking within the photo itself to find your visual cue. The idea is to think of the layout as an artistic echo of an element in your photo. In other words, you want to create a visual echo of the photo featured in the layout using the page around it.

It was an incidental layout challenge that led to my discovery of this fantastic scrapping technique. I was scrapping some favourite travel photos — treasured happy snaps of our little family in Paris — and as with most of my photos, the focus was heavily on the people, with much of the background cropped out. When I looked at it, it seemed such a shame. This photo was shot in front of the breathtaking architectural body of the Eiffel Tower, a favourite icon of mine.

When I started scrapping the photo, I really wanted to highlight the shape of the Eiffel Tower in my layout, expanding on the glimpse of it in the photo itself. This idea led me to develop the technique of using the background of a page as an echo of what is featured. In the case of my travel shots, this meant repeating shapes of actual monuments in my layout but the concept is wide open. Anything can be echoed if you get creative — patterns, colours, even memories.

In Paris
By Danielle Quarmby
Materials
Cardstock: Bazzill
Paper: Creative Imaginations, 7 Gypsies
Other: Heidi Swapp journalling spots, Heidi Swapp roller stamp, American Crafts alphabet stickers, 7gypsies enamel plate, Rouge de Garance rub-ons, thread, ink pad, ZIG Writer

For this layout, I began by roughly sketching the shape of the Eiffel Tower on the back of patterned paper and cutting it out. The outline was defined with black pen and the French rub-ons over the top enhance the Paris theme. I placed the tower shape at an angle to create a balanced triangle in the design, leading the eye through the page.

Day dreaming
By Danielle Quarmby
Materials
Cardstock: Bazzill Linen
Paper: CherryArte, BasicGrey, Daisy D’s, Urban Lily
Adhesive: Power Pritt Gel
Other: Doodlebug paper frills, SEI ribbon, Making Memories staples, Making Memories acrylic paint, Heidi Swapp mask, sandpaper, pen

With 'Day Dreaming' I was able to create two echoes on just one page in both the illustration and the title. First I digitally edited the photo, making everything else in the image black and white to highlight the features I was echoing. For the title I simply hand-wrote on white cardstock and cut around the edge. To make the rainbow echo I combined pieces of ribbon, paper frills and hand-cut patterned paper, putting it together with staples and tape. I carefully placed the rainbow on the layout to draw the eye across and up the page. The placement also gives the illusion that Sienna is looking at the rainbow from within the photo.

Butterfly baby
By Danielle Quarmby
Materials
Cardstock: source unknown
Paper: Urban Lily, Bam Pop!
Adhesive: Power Pritt Gel
Other: Urban Lily rub-ons, Doodlebug flowers, Doodlebug paper frills, Making Memories velvet alphabet, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphabet, Making Memories staples, thread, pen

The echo in 'Butterfly Baby' is a little more subtle than in the other layouts, but it’s still very effective. To eliminate the distracting background in the original photo, I had it reprinted before carefully cutting out my subject. This highlighted the profile created by the wings beneath her body. I sketched a rough enlargement of the wing shape across a piece of patterned paper and then filled it in with a handwritten quote. Using a sewing machine, I stitched around the wing shapes twice, choosing two thread colours to match the wings in the photo. This echo manages to show the original subject as well as reflect it.

Rosie
By Danielle Quarmby
Materials
Cardstock: Bazzill Linen
Paper: Imaginisce, Bam Pop!, KI Memories
Other: Heidi Swapp chipboard alphabet, My Mind’s Eye rub-ons, ZIG Writer, acrylic paint

A floppy fabric sunflower on my childhood friend’s hat was the detail I chose to focus on in this layout. I began with a richly coloured and textured paper, sketching a rough shape of the sunflower lightly over the top. Then I added a black pen outline and a white painted highlight for further definition. Notice how the colour of the title placed to the left balances the strong presence of the yellow flower.

Love is friendship
By Danielle Quarmby
Materials
Cardstock: Bazzill Linen
Paper: Autumn Leaves, MOD Designs, Rouge de Garance, Kelly Panacci
Other: Heidi Grace alphabet rub-ons, Heidi Swapp silhouettes, SEI buttons, Making Memories acrylic paint, ZIG Writer, thread, masking fluid

My funky polka dot headband was the inspiration here. To echo the colour and pattern of the headband, I made my own patterned paper to use on the page. I painted rough dots with masking fluid all over a piece of white cardstock. When the masking fluid was dry, I painted over the entire piece with red acrylic paint. After that layer dried, I carefully peeled off the masking fluid to reveal my homemade pattern.