Call me old fashioned, but I still love using the paper tearing technique on my layouts. It’s fast, easy and a cheap way to add interest to your layouts; you don’t need any special tools to tear paper! Simply place your palm on the piece of paper, hold it and tear the paper towards you and your done!

You can see how Jennifer did just this on her layout “Golden Dreams”. Another layout that caught my eye this month is “Me, Myself and I” by Petra. Wow! I love how she tears several small pieces of paper to create her angel wings; Brilliant! And the creativity doesn’t stop there. Did you notice how Smitha decorated three squares with torn paper with stitching to help make the squares pop off the page? Take a look…

Me, Myself and I by Petra Offrell

Supplies: Paper: Jenni Bowlin Studio, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Alphabets: American Crafts, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Ribbon: Lagerhaus, Pearls: KaiserCraft, Staples: Making Memories.

Design Notes: I wanted the page to be playful and a bit surreal with the wings so I just tore a lot of small peaces of paper to form the shape of the wings and then I tore the paper on the bottom to match.

Golden Dreams by Jennifer Matott

Supplies: Paper: Prima Marketing, Cardstock: Couture Cardstock, Alphabet: American Crafts, Tags, Staples, Pearls: Prima Marketing, Pens: Faber-Castell, Gold Leafing, Ahesive: Mona Lisa Products.

Design Notes: I wanted the focus to be on the photo and the texture on the page. I started by ripping the cardstock and papers and layering them. The gold leaf was done over everything using an adhesive to outline the edges and add interest to the page. I wanted it to feel like a fluffy cloud where the sun is shining through. I added the heart and wings to enhance this feeling.

Journaling: I have big dreams. I dream of goals in my art, life, kids, teaching career, and personal goals for making the world and myself better. 2010

Together by Smitha Katti

Supplies: Paper: K&Company, Cardstock: The Paper Company, Alphabet, Chipboard, Brads: Making Memories, Pen: Uni-Ball (Signo), Colored Pencil: Prang.

Design Notes: For this layout, I took a piece of paper, trimmed it to form a square and covered it haphazardly with different torn edges of paper. I then cropped the excess paper off to make squares of 3 by 3 inches and stitched a border using my sewing machine around each block to define it and used these squares as accent embellishments. This is an excellent way of cleaning up all the leftover bits of paper you have accumulated. This is also a perfect way to bring in the colors of your choice and mix and match them on your layout to create a unique one of a kind embellishment of your color combination.

Journaling: These photos were taken in 2008, the first summer we really enjoyed in our new home. Together we have worked so much over the past year to renovate and bring our home to life. Now we are enjoying the lake, house, green grass and all the flowers we have planted together. That’s a nice word. Aug 24th 2010.