Designing on the Diagonal

Designing on the Diagonal
Hello, friends!
For today’s post, we asked our Memory Keeping Team to design a layout with a diagonal orientation. We frequently see center, right and left aligned spreads, but today, we are mixing it up! We think you are going to love what our team came up with.
Traci’s created a cool diagonal grid with the Poppy Fields Collection.
Designing on a diagonal is one of my go-to techniques, especially in Traveler's Notebooks/Life-Crafted Albums! For this page, I really wanted to enhance the diagonal feel, so I made sure to do a few key things to work with the diagonal, rather than against it. The paper I chose for the background has a leaf motif that is its own visual diagonal with the way the leaves are angled, so I used this angle to orient my whole page.
I used some scrap brown paper to create a base for all the embellishments on my layout and made sure not to add anything else outside that diagonal spot I carved out for my spread. Keeping everything neatly contained in that area reinforces the angle. I made sure that my eyes in the photos also went with the angle of the diagonal. If I had switched their places, then my eyes in the photo where I'm not looking at the camera would have led the viewer off the page, rather than across it.
Finally, I chose to use all the fun rectangular labels that came in the Poppy Field Classified: Memory Kit. I wanted to base a layout around the fun phrases and make the diagonal progression very visible on the layout with the strong lines.
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We love how Traci used the background paper to enhance the diagonal design on her page.
Creating a diagonal design does not have to be complicated, as April demonstrates in this whimsical spread.
“This was a fun, fast, simple layout. I started by penciling a diagonal line and then layered cloud stamps from the Poppy Fields Traveler's Notebook Memory Keeping Kit along the line and then adhered the photo. I used one of the pocket cards + a butterfly punch and had them dance up the diagonal pencil line.
I love the graphic look of big, bold alphas but the blue did not quite match my stamp ink. To remedy this, I colored the alphas red, adhered on the opposite diagonal, and ended with the journaling.” We love April’s use of the clouds and butterfly shapes to embellish these pages. April’s tip about coloring the alphas is a great one, allowing your alpha stickers to be used in any layout.
Audrey features the stunning Tranquility Collection papers in her diagonal-inspired layout.
“I am seriously loving the lush greens of the Tranquility Collection. I had to showcase the beautiful rich greens in a 12x12 layout about growing with my family.
I started this layout by making my own 12x12 paper using two pieces of paper from the Tranquility Classified: Memory Keeping Kit. I just glued them together and trimmed them to 12x12. I then cut 1-inch strips and placed them in a diagonal on the top right. After, I embroidered a running stitch on the edge of the paper.
On the left side, I added a big title: LOVE GROWING TOGETHER with some of the die-cut letters from the Tranquility Classified: Memory Keeping Kit. Because the background paper is so busy, I cut some of the white paper from the Tranquility Modern Memory Keeping Kit in 2-inch strips to make the title stand out.
To finish this layout, I added some embellishments from the kits in the collection around the page. I can't wait to see what you all do with the tranquility Collection.” A diagonal layout with pattern papers is a great way to highlight all the beautiful designs and colors in a collection. Audrey went all-in with the diagonal theme and even oriented her embellishments diagonally, too!
Are you inspired to try out a diagonal design? If so, we would love to see what you create! Share with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page.

Best,

Rachel, Memory Keeping Team Blog Coordinator