Did you ever consider allowing your photos to escape their mats? It can be a fun way of allowing a cool background paper to show through while still anchoring your photos.

On this “DS!” layout, I used a black color block as a mat beneath the two photos. But as I worked on the page I decided to put the blue strip of paper across the top of the black and use it for my title and journaling. Once I’d made that decision, the black block was too small to fit entirely beneath the photos and the blue strip. So I started toying with the idea of adding another piece of paper beneath the black to increase the size. But that gear print….that darn gear print!  : )

I decided to let the photos stick out past the black mat on the top, left and bottom edges and turn them slightly askew. This positioning lends itself to the excited title with the exclamation point and keeps the photos anchored.

I use the term “anchored” to mean that the photos without a mat of any kind might appear to be drifting aimlessly around that busy background. With the black mat, they appear purposely placed rather than slapped on the page and that’s what I’m after. There is a method to my madness.

Try using seemingly too small mats to anchor some photos on your layouts.

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Tagged with: boy | gaming | mats | video game

Categorized as: Cost-efficiency | Layouts | Photos