Hi, Leah here! Shapes are considered one of the basic elements of design, whether it is graphic design, drawing, or scrapbooking. Shapes help the designer add interest or organize elements of a design.

Sometimes, I am drawn to a layout when I see geometric shapes used on the page. By geometric shapes, I mean the basic squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, etc. They typically include sharp corners but may have rounded elements.

Today, I will show you how to play with geometric shapes using a patterned paper.

Before we get started, look in your stash for a bright multicolored paper. I am using a paper from Digital Scrapbook Ingredient’s latest kit, Our Trip: In The Desert.

1: Open a new document 12×12 size at 300 ppi

2: Open the multicolored paper of your choice.

3: Using the Move tool, drag your paper onto the blank document.

4: Duplicate the paper by pressing Ctrl-J.

5: In the layers panel, click on the visibility icon (eye) of the bottom paper layer to hide it.

6: In the layers panel, make sure the top paper layer is active.

7: Press Ctrl-T (Cmd T in Mac) to get the Transform options.

8: PS Users: In the Options bar, set the Horizontal Skew to 45°.

PSE Users: In the Tool Options, click on the Skew icon. On the document, click on the top middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the left. Then click on the bottom middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the right.

9: Click on the check mark to accept the transformation.

10: In the Menu Bar, choose Filter > Pixelate > Mosaic.

11: In the dialog box, set the Cell Size to 200 square then click OK.

12: Press Ctrl-T (Cmd T in Mac) to get the Transform options.

13: PS Users: In the Options bar, set the Horizontal Skew to -45°.

PSE Users: In the Tool Options, click on the Skew icon. On the document, click on the top middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the right. Then click on the bottom middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the left.

14: Click on the check mark to accept the transformation.

15: In the Layers panel, set the Opacity of this layer anywhere between 50%-70%. Pick your setting based on what works for you. I set mine at 65%

For the next steps, we are going to repeat the same process using the bottom paper. However, we will be skewing in a different direction.

16: In the Layers panel, activate the bottom paper layer by clicking on the visibility icon to reveal it.

17: Press Ctrl-T (Cmd T in Mac) to get the Transform options.

18: PS Users: In the Options bar, set the Horizontal Skew to -45°.

PSE Users: In the Tool Options, click on the Skew icon. On the document, click on the top middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the right. Then click on the bottom middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the left.

19: Click on the check mark to accept the transformation.

20: Press Ctrl F (Mac: Cmd F) to apply the Mosaic filter.

21: Press Ctrl T (Mac: Cmd T) to get the Transform options.

22: PS Users: In the Options bar, set the Horizontal Skew to 45°.

PSE Users: In the Tool Options, click on the Skew icon. On the document, click on the top middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the left. Then click on the bottom middle handle of the bounding box and drag to the right.

23: Click on the check mark to accept the transformation.

24: Finally, in the Layers panel, set the Opacity of this layer anywhere between 50%-70%. Again, pick your setting based on what works for you. Mine was set at 65%

So here is the final output of using the above process.

Here is another multicolored paper I chose to play with. This patterned paper is included in the kit, For The Record: Winter by Digital Scrapbook Ingredients and Becca Bonneville.

This is the final result after following the same steps.

And here is the layout I made using the paper.

Products used in my layout: For The Record: Winter by DSI and Get Festive: Easter by DSI and Kristin Cronin-Barrow

So there you have it. Give it a try and I hope you will like the outcome. Happy scrapping!