I’m one of those line-them-up kinds of scrapbookers. I rarely put elements on angles, and I prefer to have things looking organized on my page. Enter the grid. I found that I can actually use the Photoshop drawing tools to create a grid shape, print it onto my background cardstock, then measure and cut photos and patterned paper to fit my grid shapes.

One of our family’s favorite simple pleasures is grabbing some cheeseburgers and heading to the park for a picnic. I snapped Elliott in action enjoying his cheeseburger and organized three of the photos in a five-space grid. Got a letter-sized printer? No worries! I printed this grid onto 8 1/2" x 11" paper, cut it down and mounted it to the patterned-paper background.

Happiness Is a Picnic by Jessica Sprague. Supplies Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0; Printer: Epson R1900; Photo paper: Epson Premium Semi-Gloss Photo Paper; Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper; Patterned paper: 7gypsies (brown) and BasicGrey (background and brown dot); Chipboard “happiness” word and buttons: Fancy Pants Designs; Letter stickers: American Crafts; Rub-on letters: Making Memories; Font:Steelfish.

Check out my online tutorial for more information about creating a grid for your next layout.

Download some grid templates for free. Print a grid onto cardstock and use it on your next layout!

Appeared in:

April 2009