How to...

When I worked at Picture This the question/comment I received the most related to patterned paper. What do I do with it? How do I use it? Is it too busy? I keep buying it but never use it!

Yep, I here you. I am a patterned paper fiend. You ask anyone...of all my supplies, the quantity of patterned paper I own is ridiculous! So why do I keep buying it?!?

Many reasons...
1) It's the cheapest supply out there. Most accent and embellishment packs cost upwards of 4 bucks. Stickers? Atleast $2. But paper, now that's usually less than a dollar!
2) I love to use it. Just test me. Check out my scrapbook pages on the blog. What's the item I use on every page? Patterned paper, of course!
3) It's the most versatile product out there.

And that last point is where some would disagree. But, hey, that's just because you haven't considered the possibilities. Patterned paper is more than just the background for a page. It can be the accent...a block here, a circle there, or even a punched flower. It can be the title...stencil and cut, diecut with a Cricut or Cuttlebug. It can be a photo mat...cut a little bigger than the photo or diecut into a frame. My favorite use? Accent piece. A bit here, a bit there. Mixing and matching patterns. Cut into a border. It's what I live for!

Just take a look at the page here. Took this idea straight from Becky's column in the April CK. I almost always use white, black or brown as my background. It leaves me free to use color almost anyway I want for my accents and embellishments. Here, I chose a brown which loosely coordinated with the pattern I chose. No particular reason for this pattern. I pulled out a few sheets of paper I liked and thought this one worked the best. I liked the colors and the pattern was just the right size. (The size of the pattern can make using pieces rather than the full sheet tricky. You need it big enough to be noticed, but small enough so that when you cut it up you can still tell what the pattern is.) Here, the paper is a modified photo mat.

With black and white photos the possibilities are endless since anything matches. So here, I pulled some of the colors from the paper for my accent colors...you'll have to look close to find the red, but it's in there. Besides, I always think yellow and red look good together!

Supply List:
Paper - (browns) unknown; (white) Georgia Pacific; (red) Stampin' Up!; (paisley pattern) American Crafts
Accents - (chipboard heart) Heidi Swapp; (green paper flower and white paper ribbon) Doodlebug; (chipboard title) American Crafts; (lg white flower) Making Memories; (deco eyelet) WER Memory Keepers; (brads) Imaginisce; (rickrack) craft supply; (marker) Martha Stewart
Tools - (paisley embossing folder) Cuttlebug; (label diecut) Spellbinders; (border punch) Martha Stewart; (corner rounder) EK Success