CP Dots & Stripes: Fun at the Carnival - Katie Ehmann

As one of June's feature specialties, Dots and Stripes is here once again to show you how to dress-up your next project using the infinite variety of polka-dot and stripe patterned papers that Crate Paper has to offer. Today, you'll 'spot' two fun-filled layouts from long-time CP Gal, Katie Ehmann. We love her take on the theme!

***New Collection Reveal starts this Thursday, June 19th + Giveaway!!!

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Whenever I receive a new box of paper goodness from Crate Paper, I always delve into the stack of patterned paper first. While I love paper with big, bold graphics, florals, and cut-apart journaling cards, my heart skips a beat when it comes to stripes and polka-dots. Not only are they incredibly versatile, they provide a big pop of color and interest to any project, without taking away from the embellishments and photos. For these stripe-y/dotty projects, I combed through my stack of Crate papers and selected all the stripes and dots I could find, initially intending to choose a few with which to work. Ultimately, I loved the look of the stack that I had, so I decided to go pretty eclectic for my first layout: Fun at the Carnival!

I began by trimming down a few papers and layering them in an alternating stripe\dot\stripe\dot pattern beneath my photo. I rarely use black in my layouts, but for this project, I felt the black really provided some contrast to my bright photo and embellishments. Once I layered my papers, I adhered my photo and attached the whole pile to a piece of dotted vellum from the Oh Darling collection. Finally, I machine stitched the vellum to a sheet of white cardstock. I selected embellishments and alphas from Open Road, Oh Darling and Styleboard, creating a fun collage to surround my photo.

For my second project, I chose to focus on polka dots and punched circles from a variety of dotted patterned papers. I arranged them in a grid across white cardstock, taking care to alternate the patterns. Once adhered, I gathered circular embellishments from Open Road, Styleboard and Oh Darling, and placed them atop my dots. Next, I decided to place my title, 'So Awesome', directly on my photo to keep the look cohesive. I adhered the vellum 'awesome' sentiment from Boys Rule with This to That {AC} tape runner. Finally, I trimmed the white cardstock and backed it with a neutral paper to serve as a border.