This is recent Double Page Layout (or DPL).  I have to admit to still calling them DPS’s (which means double page spread – a publishers term, I used to design magazine pages!)

You will notice that the lead photograph is actually on the right rather than the left… here is a close-up of the left hand page.

I’ll talk about some of the techniques used on that page next time, but here is the right hand page first, which I want to talk about.

The reason for this lead picture being on the right hand side of the DPL is because the movement in the photograph is from right to left (in other words the subject of the photograph, my daughter) is moving from right to left in the picture).  This means that in a DPL situation that subject (person) had to face into the middle of the DPL.  If not, the end result looks odd if someone is effectively looking, or moving, off the outer edge of the page. 

Here is a close up of the title…

Now the original idea was that I was going to print this picture using my home printer and so I prepared the picture in Word by placing the title over it, so that it would print with the title already on. (I have made a video of this technique).

For some reason, at that time my printer was playing up and I wanted to create a page, so I took the file with some others to the local instant print machine and printed it there.  Unfortunately I ended up with the original picture and not one with the title added!  “Oh Bother” I said… as you can imagine!

So rather than waste the printed 8×6 I thought I would “get round” the problem!  So as my printer was “playing ball” again, I took the image in word (with the title on top) and printed out just the title area.  I then cropped in tight and, matching up the title strip with the background image, used sticky pads to give it dimension.  A happy accident I suppose!

I started with just 2 pieces of 12×12 paper from the Basic Grey Collection “Perhaps”.  I wanted to create a united feel to the pages, but as I only had one piece of each paper, I needed to think frugally.

Take a look at this photo…

I cut out a frame of each of the papers which would then swap with the inners (ie, paper 1 frame and paper 2 inner on the left side and paper 2 frame and paper 1 inner on the right page…clear? LOL)

This cutting was ok on one side as it overlapped, but of course it didn’t on the second page.  So I distressed the edges of the inner square on the right hand page and placing that with the frame left a gap.  I tried my green cardstocks but, needless to say, none were the right colour, so I resorted to a white piece of cardstock.  White just didn’t look right so I coloured just the area that would be visible all the way round (would be wasteful otherwise!) with inks and water colour paint to get the correct tone. The Basic Grey paper was then adhered to the cardstock.

Now although the left hand papers did actually overlap, so there was no visible gap, they needed a piece behind as a base.  I could have used another piece of white cardstock, but that would have been a bit of a waste. 

I happened to be at a crop at the time and there were some “not so nice” 12×12 papers available for 10p each.  It was suggested that I might get a couple of sheets so that I could use them as a base.  So it was irrelevant what the “naff” pattern was, as this photograph of the back of the left had page proves!

TIP: Next time you see some dodgy patterned paper going really cheap, as long at the paper is in good order and preferably white on the back, buy a few pieces to use as bases for your scrapbooking layouts!

I will tell you about how I made the embellished area  on the left hand page next time.