M o n o c h r o m a t i c  H o w - t o
De-mystified!

Did the technique of the month frighten or excite you? Creating monochromatic layouts may look like a formidable task, but with a few helpful hints they can become one of your favorite techniques. First of all we better have a definition of what monochromatic means. Webster's dictionary defines monochromatic as follows:

1. of or having a single color.

So does this mean your layout has to be all one color? Not in the least, a better definition for us scrapbookers would be that for monochromy which means: the art of employing a single color or its shades in scrapbooking. (Webster's used painting in their definition but I like mine better.)

So where do you begin? First of all you are going to want to choose the color you want your layout to encompass. Next, sort through all your papers and choose the ones that contain your chosen color. Even patterns and prints can work for this, just be sure that your chosen color is dominant. Check out your cardstock too. As we all know there are a ton of choices out there, sometimes too many!!!

Now here's the tricky part, you have all of this paper in front of you but don't know where to begin. A good tip to remember when doing monochromatic layouts is to follow the gallon, quart, and pint rule. If you have three different papers or cardstocks in your color choices make sure you use a “gallon” of the color you want to dominate the layout. This could be the background of your entire layout, or just the paper/color you use the most of on your layout. Pick your secondary shade and use a “quart” of it. Your last color choice will be the one you use the least of. It could be in the accent pieces/embellishments or a touch of fiber; just a little bit can go a long way, especially in monochromatic layouts.

Another tip is to place your papers in order of intensity or darkness. You can go either way with this. Your main color could be light and your secondary choices darker, or your main color could be dark and your other papers lighter in intensity. There are no hard and fast rules when making monochromatic layouts. Here are a few examples of some monochromatic layouts that follow these tips:

In this layout Shelly followed the gallon, quart, pint rule as well as placing her papers in order of intensity. You can see from this layout that her main color choice was a dark evergreen that she used as her background paper. Next she chose a lighter shade of green for the large strip of paper in the middle of her layout. Her accent color was a very pale green that she used in her photo mat, title and accent flowers. Following these rules gave Shelly a layout that may be simple in design, but big on impact.

If you do a monochromatic layout does that mean it can not have any other colors in it? Of course not, in this example you can see that I used a light background paper that had several intensities of my color choice in it. But since they are used in such small quantities you still “see” the paper as being mostly pale lavender. I then used darker lavender for my photo mat and strip at the bottom of the layout, which constitutes my secondary color choice for this layout. My accent color was white – which isn't in the purple family, but since my papers were so light it still worked well.

Monochromatic layouts are a perfect choice when working with black and white photos. In this example by Carla, her black and white photo is showcased by her color scheme. Carla used several different papers to display her monochromatic color scheme. Don't be afraid to mix patterns, especially on your this type of layout. By adding “movement” to your page thorough the use of patterns you can really make a monochromatic layout “POP”.

So as you can see, monochromatic layouts don't have to be boring and plain. You can spice them up by implementing the two “rules” I spoke of earlier and playing around with different pattern and print choices.

Still need some ideas? Check out our Technique gallery for more examples of this wonderful technique. Who knows, it might become one of your favorites!!

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Shawn Lofing

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