What happens when you show your mosaic layouts to your friends and family? For me, the reaction has been immense! “It must have been so difficult and taken so much time!’ everyone exclaims as they gush over the beauty of the page. “Finally!” I think to myself, “I am receiving the Scrapbook Diva recognition that I deserve!” Nonetheless, I tell the truth and explain that it is really quite an easy technique. The non-scrappers, still awestruck, look at me skeptically while my scrapping friends clamber to learn more.
The first person I shared my mosaic skills with was my sister Kathy Williams. We sidled up to Tami Potter’s Mosaic Moments booth at the Orlando Scrapbook Expo and loaded up with supplies. I guided her towards the self-healing mat, cork-backed metal ruler and repositionable glue. She also chose a few packs of grid paper in her favorite colors. Her first page came out beautifully, but I really love her latest ‘Pumpkin Patch’ creation. I’m fighting hard to retain that Scrapbook Diva crown!
I like how Kathy cut some of her photos into one-inch squares while leaving some in strips. She matted photos of her and her friends and anchored her page by placing them in the corners. A photo without any distracting elements makes a great backdrop for her title and the page is further enhanced by a sprinkling of pop-dotted pumpkin stickers. Journaling circles the page creating an informational border.
“I get great reactions from my friends,” says Kathy. They ooh and aah over the page and all want to know how I did it and everyone in my crop group says they want to do a page like that too!”
Of course word of mouth is the best advertising, but let’s not forget our Internet friends. Rhondarae and I met online in a scrapbook forum where she also admired my mosaics. I convinced her that it was easy to do and pointed her to www.SnapNCrop.com.
“What attracted me to your mosaic pages was the fact that they use primarily photos,” says Rhondarae. “They have a crisp simplicity yet they look very intricate. I like that you can highlight small details that would get lost in a regular layout with complete photos.”
In Rhondarae’s ‘Say Hay’ layout, she was able to fit photos of each member of her family and fill in around them with squares of her hay photos for a pleasing effect. She loved using the metal ruler with cork backing claiming that it really held her photos in place without any slippage while she cut. She also liked the repositionable tape which allowed her to play around with the arrangement of the squares. For further inspiration, Rhondarae checked out Tami Potter’s book on making photo mosaics called Designing Photo Mosaics & More. “I got it through interlibrary loan and liked it so much that I ordered one for myself from the SnapNCrop website.”
Rhondarae plans on making many more mosaic pages. “I have found that they lend themselves well to scenery photos as well as photos that aren't taken real close up,” she says. “Another nice feature is that you can use ‘imperfect’ photos and mix and match your pieces.
“My father actually commented on my mosaic page when I posted it on Facebook. It is the first time he ever commented on one of my layouts. It made my day!”
Well, it looks like another Scrapbook Diva is born. I guess I will just have to share that crown!
