*Originally written for Cocoa Vanilla Studio's blog*
Hey y’all! Laura Alberts here today to share a darling 9×12 layout with you as well as a 12×12 sketch version of the same design! I sometimes create a sketch to plan out layouts that I want to get “just right” before taping everything down to the page. With this layout, I wanted to illustrate how to get a vertical and horizontal photo on the same page without trying to collage them together (which is generally my go-to method!). By creating two separate photo clusters backed with similar elements (i.e. a doily, florals, and banner), that are still connected by the title, I could tie them together despite the different orientations.
I used fussy cut florals behind each of the photos and included other design elements, such as flair badges and rainbows to coordinate the two sections. Now, because I was working on a smaller layout size than the 12×12 I’d sketched out, I did have to compromise on space for the title. So, by keeping it short and to the point, that helped it to fit in the limited space between the photo clusters.
The butterflies, along with the Nuvo drop trails behind them, create a bit of movement on the page and guide your eye from one cluster to the other. Butterflies are my favorite icon and love that they are a consistent part of the Cocoa Vanilla Studio collections! I also love these tiny flowers that can be fussy cut from the floral patterned paper and used for sprinkling around my clusters. Those tiny details make such a big difference in the end!
By layering my photo clusters onto a beautiful mixed media style patterned paper, rather than white card stock, it gives my overall layout a very soft feel to it. The borders on either side narrow the space for my clusters while giving me a linear element to contrast all of the whimsical, soft touches.
I hope the sketch for this layout inspires you to look at your photo placement a little differently! It’s fun to see how you can change things up. If you’d like to see the Shine On layout come together, I have the entire process in the video below!