In a block

The latest ScrapBook Coach Class - in a block

could have been made just for me.

Debbie Hodge suggests letting go of templates and following her step by step suggestions to tell our stories.

I have to be honest and say that it is a little outside of my comfort zone, I love templates because they usually have many more layers than I would use if left to my own devices and as most digital kits have the most fabulous patterned papers I want to include more of them.

I do however LOVE blocks and Grids.

the latest Masterful ScrapBooking Article highlights this.

Lesson one requires two photos placed kitty corner and a bold back ground.

What? This is bold for me!

I struggle to not pull colours from my photos and her blazer even though it's navy blue in real life, reads as black in the photos so I chose the chalk board background.

I used flowers from the kit (my pet name for her is Rosie) to create the visual triangle. I love the brushwork that anchors the foundation of the focal cluster as well as cue-ing theme. (it was a school outing). The stitching, string and pencil add a feeling of dimension and lead the eye around the page.

Scrapyrus is a guest designer at ScrapMatters for September.

 In a block 2 uses the golden ratio. We were instructed to contrast the intensities of the layers. So because my photos were fairly dark I layered them on a light matting, followed by a dark, etc.
I loved adding the crocheted circles to break the grid adding tension and drama as well as the dimension they add. The Mama bird represents me, peering over her shoulder and fixing the dropped stitches.

Laughing Garden