Template Tuesday!

Welcome to my very first Template Tuesday!  My intentions with Template Tuesday are to encourage the non-scrapbookers out there to give digital scrapbooking a try, and to encourage you veteran digi folks to take a step back and see why your digi pages look good!  Having a free template handed to you is just icing on the cake!  :)

If you are new to digi scrapping, you are going to need some software to get started.  Go to www.adobe.com and download the FREE 30-day trail version of Photoshop Elements.  (For a direct link, click HERE )  There are instructions all over the web as to how to get started in digital scrapbooking.  You can click HERE for instructions too.  Click HERE to for instructions on how to use a template.

Here is today's free template (click HERE for a yousendit download link-EXPIRED)

I created this layout years ago using this design:

I was so excited about this layout because it was the first time I was ever noticed in the digi world.  Silly huh?  I was picked for the Designer Digitals Saturday Scraplift.  You can see what other people did with this design by click HERE (pgs 225-228).

So let's talk for a minute as to why this design "works."  Without knowing it at the time, I applied a few basic design principles to this layout which makes my layout more visual appealing to the viewer.  The first design principal that stands out is the visual triangle.  

Placing items on my scrapbook page in a triangle allows the viewer's eyes to see the page as a whole rather than being distracted by one or two pieces on the page.  A  visual triangle can be created on a scrapbook layout using photos, embellishments, or event text such as your title, date, and journaling.

Another design principle used on this page is white space.  White space is the areas of a layout that is has no text or graphics.

Now, according to the professionals in the scrapbooking world, this layout is lacking a title and a date.  I am a rule-breaker.  There are times when I don't want a title, or maybe I don't want any journaling.  I know, I am a rebel.  Seriously, this is art, and if you don't want a title, don't put on a title.  :)

Want to read more about the Principles of Design.  Check THIS out.

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Tuesday!