Matching Patterns for a Lemonade Stand Layout

"It's not really about the money, it's about making people happy." ~ Quote from the Lemonade Stand.

Yesterday at Ella Publishing's Spring Training 2012 we learned how to match patterned paper with Lisa Dickinson, Design Coach. I normally use Stampin' Up's Designer Series Paper Packs which take out all of the guesswork. But, I have a lot of scraps and a lot of retired Simply Scrappin' Kits so I was up for a challenge and ready to learn something new. I had taken some pictures of the kids at their lemonade stand and I knew I wanted to create a layout in yellow patterns.

With the help of Lisa Dickinson, I learned three simple ideas for matching patterns:

1) Look at the pros and use their examples for inspiration.

2) Select several patterns with the same scale so that they will work together.

3) Use a common color palette. 

Our first exercise was to use one of the guidelines above to select a group of patterned papers for our next page. I was inspired by the layout on this magazine cover:

Next, I selected a group of patterns based on scale and combined papers from the same color palette. I realized that I don't have any yellow embellishments except for ribbon. So, I used my Big Shot and the Buttons #5 Sizzlit Die to cut out some buttons. Ta da! What do you think? This is not a process that I would have ever gone through, but it was quite easy and the exercise motivated me to use my scraps. I definitely learned something that I will use again!