Pocket Page Challenge with Shannon

Hey there, scrappy friends! Shannon here with a fun pocket page to share. Pocket pages are kind of my jam and I love finding new ways to make my pages a little different. One of my favorite ways to make my page unique is to make my own journaling/accent card. I did that on this page by cutting down a piece of 6x8 patterned paper and layering tons of embellishments from the August 2020 True Stories Life Crafted kit. I started with the "be groovy or leave" word art and then built behind it. I loved the sort of whimsical look of the seaweed/coral so I used all of the pieces from the pack. It added tons of color and visual interest to the page and the word art on top grounds it all. Since the bottom right corner is pretty busy, I added a chipboard banner piece for balance in the top left corner. This is a great way to get some of the incredible ephemera on your page and create a custom journaling card!

You'll notice that the photos in the middle of my page are black & white. This page is packed with so much color that when I added these two photos in color it wasn't pleasing to the eye. Thankfully, the photos look great in black and white! The other photos have colors that match the colors on the page so they blended well. Although I try to keep most of my photos in color, turning them black and white is a great way to prevent colors from clashing with the product you're using. By putting the photo of my daughter doing a handstand on a journaling card, I was able to bring coordinating colors into that photo using embellishments from the True Stories Kit and the digital cutaparts.

I couldn't resist making a small cluster in the bottom corner of this pool photo. I used a label, the True Stories kit stamp, and a puffy sticker to add a pop of bright color. I'm a big fan of adding labels with a stamped sentiment to my photos as a finishing touch. This one just happens to describe my daughters and their friend perfectly!

I used the subscriber bonus journaling card to make notes about each of my photos and add a title. I love using cards with defined spots like this so I can add clear notes about each photo. I used the foam alphas from the True Stories Kit to add a title to my journaling card and to my series of photos. Alphas are a great way to add a word or phrase with some big impact.

This page is full of lots of bright colors but by making sure I have plenty of white space and coordinating colors in my photos it's not overwhelming. Using lots of color like this used to scare me because I wasn't confident in pulling it all together. Using the tips that I shared will help your pages be both colorful and cohesive. I can't wait to see what you create!