Next time you're stuck with scrapper's block, try this quick trick: upsize! Creating one huge element for your layout helps focus your story and provides hierarchy and visual interest. When we look at a page, we tend to glance first at whatever's biggest (or highest contrast) on the layout. This can be a huge photo (like I've done with my "Just This Big" layout on page 32 of the June issue), or it can be another huge element, such as the large ampersand I included on my "8 Years & Counting" layout below. I love the way the huge punctuation in these pages turned out. Here, I'll show you how to add some playful focus to your layouts by supersizing your type!

8 Years & Counting by Jessica Sprague. Supplies Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0; Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper; Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket (stripe) and My Mind's Eye (floral); Chipboard letters: BasicGrey; Tag die cut: Daisy D's Paper Co.; Printer: Epson R1900; Photo paper: Epson Premium Photo Paper Semi-gloss; Fonts: Georgia and LL Rubber Grotesque; Adhesive: Mono Adhesive, Tombow.

I printed the huge ampersand for this layout onto the front of a sheet of patterned paper. I then carefully cut around it, leaving about 1/8" border as I went. It created a great die-cut shape that I could use on either dark or light colors. The sheer size of the ampersand creates dramatic visual impact, while the curling font I used adds some contrast to the lines and rectangles in the rest of the page.

Ready for some quick and easy step-by-step instruction for this technique? Just view my video tutorial here.

I've assembled 15 of my favorite ampersand characters, which you can download here for free! These can be cut out from the .png file and applied to any project you are creating.

Appeared in:

June 2009