Life without patterns

I had pretty much convinced myself that I couldn't create anything without patterned paper. And really...why would I want to? With all those amazing papers in the stores (and on my shelves), reverting to solid cardstock just seemed so...well...boring!

But the class I'm teaching at Michael's -- Scrapbook Design & You -- encourages students to start out using only solid colors and add patterns in later. While I don't completely agree that this is the easiest way to put a page together, I thought I should at least give it a try. If nothing else, it was an interesting challenge.

The only papers I used on this were Bazzill cardstock in four colors (Hollywood, Dahlia, Love Potion and Glacier, if you care about the names).

But I have to give a shout out to my friend Martha -- if it weren't for those Martha Stewart Butterfly punches, I think I would've struggled. Hmmm...maybe my next challenge should be to create a page without using punches. Naaah...too hard.


I'm a big fan of doing the title on a curve, especially when there's a handy-dandy circle just calling out for a title. One last butterfly topped with a few Making Memories pins and some sheer ribbon...yep, that'll do it.


This was my first layout using the new pink ATG from Scotch. After trying it at CHA, I convinced myself it was a must-have, and I found it at Michael's last week for a little over $20 (after the coupon). It's taking some getting used too -- this thing is gi-normous! But once I get my technique down, I'm sure I'm going to love it.