Today I (Vivian) am sharing a quick, easy, and powerful way to embellish a project: the lineup. Today we are throwing out the ever-popular embellishment cluster and turning instead to a more simple method of embellishing. I love using lineups on my layouts and cards, as they eliminate a lot of the decision-making, allowing me to quickly complete projects that pack a big visual punch.
Let's start with a layout:
This layout features two long rows of books, hand cut from the Daily Flash Milk Money Reading patterned paper. All I had to do was print my journaling, grab my 2" x 2" photo and a 2" x 2" patterned paper square, gather a big pile of embellishments, glue it all down, and add a title. (Hint: this is even easier when you use pre-cut embellishments, like stickers or die cuts, but here I really needed these books, so I cut them out.)
I used the same technique on this fun card, varying the model a bit by stamping two lineups with a stamp from the Daily Flash Dude stamp set (aptly named, no?) and adding visual interest by breaking up the top lineup with a chipboard arrow.
While lineups are a simple technique, based on the design principle of repetition, it's worth looking a little deeper to see how to use them to your advantage.
In creating my layout, I was careful about the placement of items within the lineup and the placement of the lineups themselves. The colors create visual triangles that help to draw the viewer to and through the key page elements in the center, moving focus away from the lineups and in to the center row. The lineups and the center row follow the rule of thirds, again helping to support the viewer in focusing in on the photo and journaling. While you see the lineups of books, they don't dominate because of the placement of the elements within the lineups and on the page. Try this way of using a lineup when you want to use it to support your story.
I worked things a little differently with my card, intentionally breaking up the top lineup. While the arrow initially pulls you in to the face element at the center, your brain then says, "Wait a minute!" and goes back up to the top after having noticed that the arrow is a break. The repeated stamping then stands out. Try breaking up a lineup when you want it to play a more dominant role in the story or message you want to convey.
The next time you want to get a project done quickly, or have a lot of embellishments you want to use, try a lineup. If you do, please share your work with us in our October Afternoon Flickr gallery!