How To Design Layouts Using Grids

Posted by Kimandasmo (Cindy):

I am sure you have heard it talked about or read about it...the grid or a grid layout. They are very hot right now.  I am seeing them in magazines, on blogs and in our awesome gallery.  
But what exactly is a grid layout? Well, by definition a grid  is a series of horizontal and vertical lines that meet at 90 degree angles. 
What exactly does that mean and how can you use that in your scrapbooking to make great layouts? Well, I am going to show a few great ways to use grids on your projects. And you may just be surprised how easy they can be to use and what exactly falls under the concept of a grid layout.

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TIC TOE BOARD GRID:


For starters we are going to make a layout with a grid that is similar to a tic tac toe board...only using hearts.




For this layout I started with a solid color base and layered on a piece of Bird Cage from Fancy Pants and 100% Perfect from Simple Stories.

Added a row of solid cardstock, that I edged top and bottom with a punched border from Totally Adorable.

Next I matted my photo and adhered it to my layout. 

 
Then, I punched 12 hearts from from 100% Perfect. Next, I placed them in 3 rows of four. I used Pop Dots under some of them to give my layout some dimension.

  

To finalize my grid a little more, I cute small strips from Totally Adorable and placed them in a tic tac toe style grid around my hearts. I finished off my layout by adding some layered embellishments from Baby Steps Fundamentals and Expressions.

And here is my completed layout.....

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QUILT GRID:


The next grid style I am going to show you is more of a quilt like grid. For this layout I utilized the entire space to from my grid.


I started this layout by layering two solid cardstocks. Then I cut 23 2x2 squares from Blossoms and both sides of Dream.

I laid out the squares in a grid on my layered background.

Then before I adhered them I distressed all of the edges.

I finished of the layout with some rolled roses from the same papers, a Fancy Pants It's the Little Things journaling card, and some of the new Mistables scallop ribbon from Pink Paislee.

Here is the finished layout:

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DOUBLE GRID:


The next layout I did is using a double grid style layout.



I started by layering my background using Celebrate and Adventure paper from MME. I then cut a quadrillion 1X1 squares( actually it was only 36) and laid them out in three rows, all touching. 


Then, using floss I created a second grid offset on the top of this grid. I did this by going from the middle of one square to the middle of the next.

 

 

I matted my photo and placed it on top of my grid. I added a row of Pink Paislee Mistables scalloped ribbon and some embellishments from Everything Layered stickers and Ordinary brads from MME.

Here is my completed layout:

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CIRCLE GRID:


My last layout is using a grid of circles.


I started by punching 40 circles from Totally Adorable, Sweet Dreams, So Precious, and Baby Steps.

I lined them all in straight lines, with their sides touching.

To finish off the layout I added embellishments from Fundamentals and Expressions.

Here is the finished layout:

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Now that you have seen a variety of ways to utilize grids in your layouts, look around and see what other ways you can make grids work in your scrappy
projects. I bet you will be surprised. Stay tuned next month for the second half of this reveal...Making the Grid...with pictures.