This Fernbrae 12 x 12 paper "Garden Gate" is one of my favorite Memory Box papers...
I love the flowers and the variegated color running through the background... but today when I pulled it out to use it for a layout, I didn't want the flowers... I wanted to make use of all those fun circles.
Out came my circle punch... after a couple tries, I discovered that the 3/4" circle would punch out just the inside of each circle, making a fun embellishment for a page with a picture of my kids with their cousins.
So I got to work... punching lots of little circles and placing them along the left edge of the page in a random pattern... (Note how I've got circles running off the edge of the page - this is a design trick that helps your pattern look balanced and more random than if all the circles are fully on the page...)
(As always, click on a photo to see a larger version of it.)
I used remaining 'Garden Gate' paper for my photo mat and the mat around my journaling block and then decided to dot my 'i' with a leftover punched circle... this creates the all important visual triangle on my page and leads your eye around the layout...
(Foam letter stickers by American Crafts)
And there you have it - a page VERY different from the original sheet of paper:
...but still utilizing some of the great design elements of the paper to create a completely new look.
How can you use your printed Memory Box papers in a new way this week? Look at the paper from a new perspective - find a way to cut it down and use part of the print - or pull out a punch and see what happens when you punch only parts of the print...
Challenge yourself to think outside the box with your printed papers... you might be surprised with what you come up with!