Using spots and stripes!

So this month I decided to use some spots & stripes and hopefully give you guys some ideas for using spotty and stripey paper. I do love a good striped paper but they can be a bit hard to use can’t they!

So first up I have a LO I did a little while ago using some stripes. The black and white diagonal paper is one of my most favourite patterned papers ever and I bought lots of sheets of it! It’s from the Simple Stories DIY Boutique line and is this one here. You’ll see that paper on a few of these LO’s! I layered another stripe on top of the black and white, this time from an older Studio Calico line but there’s something very similar in the Brighton Pier line here. Then I layered a photo frame over my photo and it’s from this pack of frames Studio Calico Wanderlust. The Thickers I’ve used also have stripes on them and the black and white has sold out of the store now, but there’s still pink available here. The other embellishments I’ve used are wood veneer from Studio Calico which I coloured with ink or Sharpies and then added Glossy Accents over the top. I think the arrows I’ve used are out of stock but I’ve spotted these Freckled Fawn woodchip arrows in the shop and they look just as versatile and are definitely on my shoping list!

Here’s another LO using the same principal as above, the bold pattern is in the background and I’ve layered over the top of it. There’s actually another layer of pink spotted paper underneath the black diagonal stripe here too. I’ve used a lot of Amy Tangerine products on this one. Like I did on the LO above, I added a border of dots around the edge of everything using a turquoise Sharpie. I love to do this, it often lifts the LO, so next time you’re sitting looking at a LO and wondering what it needs, try adding a hand drawn border of dots or dashes and see if it does the trick.

Next up I used the gorgeous aqua spotted paper from the Shimelle Line, Dowdy and also the black and white diagonal stripe from the same line, Herschel. The ‘today is a good day to be happy’ card is from the Jen Hadfield Home + Made line from Pebbles, it’s a cut apart sheet called Best Day Ever and it has some fab cards on it. I just used small off cuts of the Herschel paper to embellish, the camera is from this pack of Dear Lizzy Daydreamer Dimensional Embellishments, and the Flair badge is from Hey Little Magpie flair.

Next up is a design I have used many times. I’ve also added in some older LO’s I’ve done using the same principal of making a grid around the photo so you can see how the base design is the same but the LO changes with the papers and embellishments you use. I think it’s a great way to showcase a strong striped paper. On this LO my grid is 10″ wide. So however wide my photo is, I just add paper beside it the same height as the photo and the width to make 10″ wide. Then I add a couple of strips above and below the photo, all 10″ wide. I like to give designs a 1″ gap to the edge of the background as I don’t like to get too close to the edge! I used papers from the Simple Stories DIY Botique 12×12 Basics Kit and the coloured stripe is the No Worries paper from the same line.  I used some stickers from the Sticker Set Lables, the title is using Amy Tangerine Twins Foam Phrase Thickers and I’ve embellished using MAMBI Puffy Chalk Arrows, Hey You and Good Life Sayings packs. Those stickers are so worth the money!

These older LO’s follow the same grid design, with a strong spot or stripe paper.

This following LO is another of my favourite designs. It’s so simple, especially with all the Project Life cards around at the moment. Just 4 of the 3×4″ cards in a grid. Again, I’ve added another older LO I’ve done using the same design below. I love to add some striped paper to the design as it helps add interest. On this LO I’ve used 3 cards from the Crate Paper Notes & Things Journalling Cards pack. I can’t recommend this pack of cards enough, they’re so beautiful! The card on the bottom left beside the photo is a vellum envelope, filled with little gold circles and a card which says ‘kiss kiss’.  It’s just lush! The striped paper I used is the Noted paper from Notes & Things, I used a butterfly from the Standouts Layered Stickers, the little tags were cut from the Memo paper  and the gold  arrow and love title are from the Project Life, Heidi Swapp Gold Foil Value Kit.

This LO below uses various cards from Project Life as well as some from a pack of Studio Calico Printshop Die Cut Cards. I’ve layered up some papers including the black & white chevron paper which is one of my favourites,  you can see it on a lot of these LO’s and it’s from Amy Tangerine’s Sketchbook line. unfortunately this paper is out of stock now but there is this one by Pink Paislee or this one by Simple Stories which are similar and would create the same effect I think. Some wood veneer stars and an Amy Tangerine black & white chevron fabric brad finish it off.

These last 2 LO’s are slightly older ones I did but I thought I’d include them because they’re using striped & spotty papers!

This one is done using the Companion paper from Amy Tangerine’s Plus One collection. I’ve also used the orange paper from that line, Co-Pilot along with one of her older papers, my favourite black & white chevron which I talked about above.  My title uses some older Thickers as well as some black ones from from Plus One, you can get them in white or pink in the store. I’ve embellished using Flair from Hey Little Magpie, and also put a line of brads along the bottom. This is a labour of love but it’s very effective. You could do something similar using enamel dots or adhesive rhinestones from the store here. With this LO I think I’ve used a lot of stripe & chevron pattern, but the large area of pink paper breaks up all the pattern and gives your eye somewhere to rest. So if you’re using a lot of heavy patterns, try and incorporate an area of slightly plainer paper, or plain cardstock, so your eye doesn’t get totally overwhelmed with all the pattern going on.

My last LO uses papers from the Simple Stories DIY Boutique range, again, my favourite black & cream stripe paper and the green spots is this sheet. I’ve embellished using Heidi Swapp Favourite Things Jumble Words and Puffy Stickers because the colours matched perfectly! Some good old wood veneer arrows which I’ve coloured black with a Sharpie and put Glossy Accents on top of to finish off with.

So why don’t you try adding a strong stripe paper to your next order and trying a grid style LO incorporating it. If the stripes get too much for the LO and start to take over, add in a plainer paper on top to give the eye somewhere to rest. If you get stuck on a LO and think it needs a little something else, maybe add a border of spots or dashes with an American Crafts Slick Writer. And definitely try using some of those Project Life cards as a grid on a LO too.