This beautiful layout from Nathalie has die cut arches for the photos and stamped floral panels with fold over flaps. The cardstock and vellum flaps give a soft look and a place for hidden journaling. Take a closer look at the Altenew blog.
If you are short on time or you just prefer a less fussy style then clean and simple scrapbooking might be for you. Also known as CAS (for “clean and simple”) this style can have lots of white space, few layers, a heavier focus on photos or journaling with easy, simple embellishment. But this doesn’t mean it’s short on style or design as you can tell by the wonderful layout examples we’ll be taking a look at today.
Beneath each photo you’ll find a link, click it to learn more like tips, tutorials and products used.
Angela’s layout has lots of white space but she used textured cardstock for some subtle texture and chipboard stickers for depth. The plaid paper reflects the colors in embellishments and ties it all together nicely. Learn more at the Spellbinders blog.
This fun double page boating layout has a soft outdoor pattern paper in grey with a punched blue border of boats along the bottom. A few stripes matted behind the photos and journaling add some pattern and color but don’t detract from the photos. Find all the details at the Creative Memories blog.
This terrific travel page shows white space doesn’t have to be totally white but the subtle cross cross adds a soft pattern. Most of the “action” is along the horizontal center of the page with a cluster of photos, typed journaling on both sides and a few embellishments. I spotted this idea on the Hey Scrapper Shop Instagram page.
Mini albums are a great place for CAS, since you’re limited on space. This darling doggy page has a large black and white photo as the focus but there’s also a flap with a couple of tags, sentiments and another photo hiding underneath. Take a look at more of Nicole’s pages at the Simple Stories blog.
Here’s another example of keeping the design across the center for a clean layout. Violeta used lots of shapes with different frames, dimension with puffy stickers for the titles and touches of pattern with washi tape and tiny sun prints. Visit the Pinkfresh Studio blog for a closer look.
Add some splatter to your white space so it’s not too stark. This design has photo strips for the pics with grey and softly colored embellishments sticking out from underneath for pattern that doesn’t detract from the photos. Learn more and watch a process video at The Cherry on Top blog.
This darling design from Tracy has a large photo in the center with lots of stripes down the page. She cut strips of pattern papers and printed borders along with touches of foiling to create her background. Notice how they all share similar colors, this keeps the overall design from becoming overwhelming. Find directions at the Scrapbook Adhesives blog.
This pretty pattern paper has printed flowers in the corners for a simple and quick background. Layers of die cut frames sit behind the framed photo along with die cut leaves and die cut sentiments. The sentiments are cut from tan and brown for a cool shadow effect. Find directions at the Crafter’s Companion blog.
Pocket pages and printed journaling cards make for a quick and easy layout. This double page set from Taina also has a few stickers and rub-ons added to the photos and cards for a bit of simple embellishment. Take a closer look at the Cocoa Daisy blog.
This adorable clean and simple double page design has plain green cardstock for the background with strips of purple and green pattern papers that go across both sides. A few happy bees flutter by with hand draw trails and hand written journaling too. The black and white photos really pop over the colors! Buzz over to Stampin’ Up’s blog for more details.
Fiona let the fabulous floral paper do all the heavy lifting on this pretty layout. She tore and distress the papers behind the photo, added a few 3D flowers and die cut words for texture and dimension along with several small sentiment strips. Find out more at the All About Scrapbooks blog.
I hope you’ve been inspired today to give clean and simple layout designs a try for yourself next time you’re pressed for time or looking to keep it clean.
-Heather
You can shop some of our affiliate companies mentioned in this post:
