It was a rainy lazy Sunday morning. Everyone in my household was still asleep. As a mater of fact I was still rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes. Lying on my back just gazing around my bedroom walls, there was a horrible feeling that crept inside of me. My bedroom walls just stared back at me with a naked dull expression. Suddenly something stirred inside of me. In fact I new what had to be accomplished. If not at this very second, but soon.  Staring around me, now with my eyes wide open, I had a plan. Scrambling through my desk drawer I spotted the book that would get my bedroom walls out of their doldrums.

This fabulous book is an entire catalog of wallpaper borders. With a little creativity and the help of this book, my walls should be ready to hum with delight. There is an abundance of patterns, materials, sizes and designs to fill my decorating needs.  

First of all from the table of contents it informed me that there are three types of wallpaper borders. Pre-pasted so all you need to do is moisten and apply. There are also self adhesive wallpaper borders, which are the simplest, just peel and stick. Finally there are wallpaper borders that need you to apply the adhesive to the back. The last one sounded like I would need help from a professional and the choices of paper seemed more expensive. So I settled my search on the first two.

I knew from doing other projects that it is best to choose colors and patterns that would compliment and co-ordinate with the decor of the bedroom. I was undecided if the border should be applied along the top of the molding going around the entire room or if it should be placed mid way on the wall. Both ways would create a totally different and unique effect.

Visually wallpaper borders allow you to work with bold colors and any pattern that would be to massive for the entire wall. Looking through the catalog, I was debating between bright colorful prints that would certainly brighten up the room or a bold dramatic print that would tender a sophisticated style. This finishing touch would accentuate my decor and virtually make the room come alive with its brilliance.

Finally after many hours one of the prints jumped out at me. This had to be the one that would allow the vision that I imagined to appear. So the next step was to order it and get my walls ready for the change. These narrow strips could easily be applied over my painted walls. The walls had to be cleaned and smoothed before their transformation.

After my rolls of wallpaper borders arrived another idea came to me. Gathering my family together I announced that this would be a project that would be fun for all of us. My family all agreed and we started dividing up what we needed for hanging.  

My husband, because he is a man, decided he would get the tools together. He felt we had everything that was needed around the house. The material was vinyl backed so it would be easy to clean and was also pre-pasted. He brought into the room a razor knife, ruler, sponges and a shallow bin to wet the paper in. It took the better half of the day and evening to complete. There was also enough of the paper so we could put up a border around the windows and bedroom door. This extra touch was stunning and made the windows and doors the focal points of the room. I could not get over the fact that the room looked larger, softer and felt cozier. This certainly was a quick solution for an eye appealing sight.

With a little ingenuity and your imagination you can realize that anything is possible. With a theme in mind you can create a masterpiece for any room you choose.

The Principles of Design have to do with basic assumptions that guide you to arrange elements within your layout. They have to do with pleasing the eye and making things look ‘right’. Often we seem to know what these things are without necessarily being able to name or describe them. I find it helps to have the principles spelled out for me. Then I can think more deliberately about them when a page or a card stumps me. Maybe it will work for you too.

The Seven Principles of Design I am talking about are these:

Balance Gradation Repetition Contrast Harmony Dominance Unity

Let’s look at each of the above principles as it applies to scrapbooking or card making (NOTE: you may find more principles of design mentioned elsewhere. These should get you started though):

1. Balance.

When you were a child and played on the see saw, you were using the principle or balance. When the weight or force was greater on one side of the see saw than it was on the other, that side of the plank was grounded (not balanced). When the weight or force was equal on both ends of the plank (the heavier child may have to shinny towards the centre of the see saw to help this to happen) you could get the teeter totter to balance perfectly.

In scrapbooking or card making, using a large object close to the centre of the page (such as your main photo) can be balanced by placing some smaller objects (or just one smaller object) close to the other edge of the page. Try it and see how your eye responds

Think in triangles too. Using three elements in a triangle create balance for the viewer.

Another item to consider is the tone of your shapes. The darker a thing is shaded, the more ‘weight’ it will have. Lighter tones seem less weighty to the eye so may need to be balanced with darker shapes.

2. Gradation

The shades of colour and toning you use in your layout (the gradations) can help lead the eye along a certain path. If you have a ’static’ gradation, that means the tone or hue you are using is all one colour or shade. The eye will tend to stop still on that place.

If you want movement, or dynamic gradients, use warm colours blending out to cooler colours. The eye will travel from the warm to the cool colours. When using shades of grey or black and white, the eye will travel along darker to lighter shadings (gradients). You can add interest and movement to your layouts with the use of gradients.

3. Repetition

Repeating a variation of a shape can add interest to a page. If you use all the same shapes or shapes of the same size, your viewer may be bored with your page or card. Vary the size or colour or shape of repeated elements to add interest to your project, similar to this idea:

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Or use several different sized circles to add an element to your page – smaller ‘bubbles’ can rise to the top, bigger ‘bubbles’ may collect closer to the bottom of your page. This will lead the eye upwards and downwards and create more interest than if the circles were all the same size.

Using the same sized circles as background shapes for letters may work. The letters themselves will vary, thus adding interest and variety even though the circles may all stay the same size.

4. Contrast

Contrast happens when you place two opposing elements next to or across each other, like the letter ‘X’.

Do you have a colour wheel? The colours on opposite sides of the wheel will contrast with each other. Red and green contrast with each other, as do blue and orange, and yellow and purple.

Light and dark contrast with each other.

Horizontal and vertical lines contrast with each other.

Unless you want to create an impression of chaos or confusion, make your contrasts close to the centre of interest on your layout or card. This will create a more unified feeling and make it easier for people to study your design with interest.

It is worth thinking about where you want the eye to rest on a page or card and make that your area of the most contrast. The ultimate example of this is a layout using lots of white space (or undecorated, plain background).

Chaos and confusion can reign if you place contrasting elements all over the page! Sometimes you may want to create such a mood, depending on your subject. If you had photos of an exciting sporting event with lots of action they could be displayed with lots of contrast, for example.

5. Harmony This is the principle of creating satisaction for the viewer by using similar and/or related elements on your layout. This is where you would use the colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, or you would use similar shapes or patterns.

Wavy lines can create a feeling of harmony and calm especially if they are long wavy lines.

6. Dominance

This is what you do to give a layout interest – you make one shape or the direction of lines dominant. If every element is the same shape or size, then the effect may be monotonous, like this:

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Lots of scattered lines can cause the viewer to be confused, for example. If all the lines go in one general direction, this is making a direction dominant.

If all of your elements are the same size, this can create monotony. Make one of the elements noticably bigger than its fellows and you have created a dominant shape.

If you use two shapes in equal proportions, this can create monotony. Allow one shape to dominate over the other to avoid this.

7. Unity

This is where you relate the subject of your page to the type of elements you are using on it. For example, if you have a picture of a baby sleeping, to create unity on your page you would use soft, pastel colours, smooth lines, and maybe velvety or lacy textures.

Imagine this technique working with an aggressive subject such as a picture of a boxing match! There you would want primary or darker colours, rough textures and angular lines to create unity.

The subject needs to be enhanced by the elements you use on your page, in other words, for unity to happen.

Visually linking your elements together also causes unity. Adding a trail of dots to link up circles on a page may invoke a feeling of unity, for example.

If you have a dominant picture and a smaller picture on a page, try linking them together with a curved or straight line or other shapes so the eye does not have to make uncomfortable jumps between them. It’s about relationship. Create a link between your subjects to unify your page.

I trust this discussion of the Principles of Design has helped you to think about scrap booking layouts and cards in a new or different way. If you would like more information about the elements themselves, you can read about them on PaperCraftCentral.com under Scrapbooking Tips.

Happy Paper Crafting!

A strong online presence is now essential for real estate professionals. It does not matter if you are a realtor or an investor, a homeowner or homebuyer; the Internet is steadily growing into the world’s largest real estate resource, with thousands of pages of listings, community information, photographs and multimedia tours. The Internet must be utilized if a real estate group wants to succeed in today’s market.

Two things have happened recently. The real estate market crashed and realtors got Web savvy. These events are not mutually exclusive. An online presence is a relatively affordable way for realtors to share their products and information with countless potential clients. It also allows them to take a proactive approach to their work while the market struggles.

It is one thing to merely transfer your current listings from print outlets to online outlets. Being online allows you to easily update and share your listings, but the real estate market is already crowded, and if you do not employ savvy techniques and rich, unique content, chances are that your properties will not have much more success than they did in print. Think of it in terms of the newspaper industry. Many major papers are struggling because they are not doing more with their content. They are not doing more for their readers. They are merely shifting their information from print to the Web. Successful newspapers — and successful real estate Web sites — are using the Web as an advantage, as a platform from which numerous ideas can take shape and redefine what it means to be informed.

Young, innovative companies run the most popular Web sites and blogs. They recognize the advantages and challenges of working online. They engage their readers with community forums and visually stimulating photographs. They collect information from outside contributors. They give advice and notify the public of investment opportunities. Most of all, they provide up-to-the-minute information that is relevant and interesting, useful and entertaining.

One of the most popular is Curbed. The site focuses on all things real estate, in New York and San Francisco, and provides readers with pages and pages of insightful content. Curbed has transformed the way users view real estate. It has turned the buying and selling, the deals and steals into enjoyable, opinionated information that is quickly consumed by a hungry market.

Apartment Therapy is another popular site. It strives to provide users with tips; advice and user-generated comments that will help to maximize what can be done with the usually confined space of apartment living. This site is at it’s most popular now, as the economy and people are looking for ways to do more with less.

Trulia is an aggregate site. It works with real estate professionals to offer the most comprehensive look at the entire United States market. Trulia offers articles and blogs, Q&A forums and maps, listings and updates from experts around the country. It is a destination site, giving readers a truly rewarding experience.

These are the newer Web sites. But what about the companies that have been around for a while? What about the real estate groups that worked for years to succeed and become trusted as the most knowledgeable professionals in the field? Well, they have to work just as hard to succeed online, often times reshaping their approach and technique.

The Real Estate Book, which has one of the largest distributions of any real estate group, has for years been available to the public in countless retail stores across the country. The American public grew to trust and rely on the Real Estate Book for its listings and realtors. It became synonymous with the real estate industry and those looking for property. When the market turned its focus online, the Real Estate Book built a formidable Web presence. Now it is offering a new product, a way for realtors to harness the Real Estate Book’s massive amount of listing information.

The product is actually a widget. A widget is a tool for your Web site. The widget increases your Web site’s functionality. The widget the Real Estate Book has developed allows real estate professionals to work together. They can download the widget, customize it so if fits their site’s feel and size, and then access the Real Estate Book’s listings. This allows every realtor, no matter the size of their operation, to offer their clients an easy and informative way to browse the Web for real estate listings. It is an advantage to both the Real Estate Book and the realtors that use it. It brings together information, offers it to more people, and improves the way listings are explored online. As a successful company must, the Real Estate Book has developed a new way for people to use their resources.