Hi, Erin here with a new post on pocket scrapbooking!

I often hear pocket scrappers asking other scrappers how they decide where to place elements and clusters.  This is especially of interest when using a template that does not designate element placement. It is neat to hear what different people do in different situations, so this week I thought I would walk you through one of my layouts and talk about how I decided to place the elements.

I made this layout using DSI Perfect Pear and Life Captured April Templates which only have the photo and paper blocking masks.  I love the page design and the shapes of the blocking.

There are no element placements on this template set, so I am free to play with it.  I know I want my title here like this.

And that wordage is balanced by the journal cards in the opposite corner.

So as I think about where I want my element clusters I realize that the photo of my daughter has a bit of my two-year-old’s arm showing in the bottom right corner.

It is really bothering me so I try to fiddle with the photo but I don’t like the results.  Instead I decide to use a cluster to cover it up.  A cluster here will also accentuate my daughter’s photo, which is in focus and really cute, making it a focal point on the page.

Since my title is going to be offset by the quote cards on the bottom I decide to mirror the cluster in the opposite corner as well.

This time however, I will go with a very small cluster.  This is partly because there is less room, but also because the photo of my two-year old is a little out of focus – his pictures are almost always out of focus– and while I LOVE that photo too, I want to draw less attention to it due to the lack of focus.

So after I play for a little while, this is what I came up with.

I like the way the attention on my daughter’s picture creates a softer feel for my son’s picture – which to me goes with the attitude of his pose.

Every page I make takes a different path, but thank you for joining me on this short journey.

Happy Scrapping!