Working with papers from different manufacturers.

One of the most difficult things to do when you first start scrapping is successfully combining papers from different manufacturers or ranges. The thing to remember is that there are no rules about combining papers - you can put any colours or patterns you like together if you think it works! But there are some things you can do to ensure that your combinations will be pleasing to the eye:

Firstly, you could combine using colour. You might choose papers that have similar colours, for example the pinks and light greens used on the layout in this post, or you could go for contrasting colours. Try using a colour wheel to decide which colours would be complimentary.

Second, you could combine using pattern or design. Whether it be spots, stripes, hearts or flowers, you could look for a linking element on the papers and use that as a starting point.

Finally, you could combine via a theme - if you are making a beach themed layout, you might look for papers that have a 'sea' theme - often these will be in similar colours anyway which will make combining easier.

If you are really struggling, try starting with combining papers from the different ranges of one manufacturer - you will often find that while the papers are different, they will have similar tones or designs making combinations successful.

The key is to practice - look at what other scrappers have combined, what works and what doesn't, and make notes of effective combinations. One thing to do is look at the papers that kit companies choose to combine - this can often be a guide as to what colours will work well together, especially if you find it difficult to go to a shop and see colours in the flesh.

For this layout, I combined papers from three different manufacturers - there is a sheet of My Mind's Eye Penny Lane as a backdrop, a sheet of green designed paper by Basic Grey Urban Prairie and a sheet of floral paper by Bo Bunny Alyssa (also a strip of the brown coloured reverse). The papers work well together because of the pastel tones, complimentary colours and recurrent floral designs.