Designer Showcase: Monochromatic

In many parts of the world, signs of Autumn are starting to pop-up. The colors of the leaves in the northern reaches are starting to turn to vibrate hues of gold, orange, red, and yellow. A reminder to us that time is still turning and the seasons are changing.

For today's Designer Showcase, we are going to slow things down for just a bit. OK, so we don't have a magic wand to slow down time, but we are going to slow down the color changes.  Today we are going to share a few monochrome projects.

Wow. Check out this page by Cindy.  What is the first thing that you notice?  Yep, the picture on the page. Isn't that what this art is all about?  Preserving our precious memories.  I love the way she has made the photo even more present by the selection of differing patterns.  The muted snowflake pattern of the background paper brings just enough texture to create interest, without being overbearing. The striped paper and linear stitching add a really nice flow to the page. The shaped journal spot used as a mat and the accent snowflake really balance the page nicely. I confess that I have never tried a monochrome scrapbook page.  This work of Cindy's really makes me want to try this out!

This page is a great example of how much depth you can get even on a monochrome piece. Vicky has used her shabby-chic style of layering in various shades of the blue-gray to bring this page to life.  She pulled her colors from the photo, that helps make everything on the page an extension of the picture.  There are so many details to ponder of this page, take your time and look around.  I really like the way all of the elements and layers and details are soft, just like the breath of a sleeping baby.  I'm absolutely loving the way she has the butterflies poised as if they are taking flight.

Talk about depth! Nancy has shared an example of a monochrome layout she created that really has depth and texture to it as well.  She has popped up some transparencies and elements across her design. The different patters of dots, stripes and flowers packs a great punch for texture. It all makes you feel like you can reach right in to her page.  Just as Cindy and Vicky have done, Nancy pulled a color from her photo to use in her design.  It really pulls it all together.

I have a card to share with you. This was made for a friend's new baby.  It was easy to create a card in a monochrome scheme and yet have details to the design. I broke up the patterned papers into blocks. That simple technique created "frame" areas around the blocks which became details to the design. A few added elements and it was a finished project.

As I mentioned, I've not tried doing a page in monochrome.  I've never been sure I could fill the page with enough interest. But after seeing the examples that Cindy, Vicky and Nancy have shared, I think perhaps I can do it.  I've got to challenge myself to try this!

Time may not have stood still, but I do hope you enjoyed this little break today!  If you'd like to see your pages here in a future Readers Pages post just email them to me at scrappycath(at)gmail(dot)com.