This needs serious help!

[SashaMommy]

This layout is in dire need of help... LOL. I want to get across the idea of "devoured" because the lava covered over a housing division, there's a picture of a grid of roads that's been covered over and a house/barn that's buried. So, it's not a springy happy layout... But it's so BORING! I'm not in love with the tag... I like it, but it doesn't need to go on this page. What can I do to spruce it up? TIA!

[andyapc]

Well, I like the general composition of the layout, but maybe you could try a couple of things.

I think your photos are blending too much into the background and are therefore losing their impact. Maybe try a different kind of matte behind the photos, and/or lowering the opacity of the background. Try adjusting the size of the photos - right now, most of them are sized about the same so no one photo really stands out. Maybe have one photo somewhat overlapping another?

If you want to keep the tag, maybe have some sort of thingy on it to "attach" it to the layout.

HTH a little!

[wfclair]

This layout is in dire need of help... LOL. I want to get across the idea of "devoured" because the lava covered over a housing division, there's a picture of a grid of roads that's been covered over and a house/barn that's buried. So, it's not a springy happy layout... But it's so BORING! I'm not in love with the tag... I like it, but it doesn't need to go on this page. What can I do to spruce it up? TIA!
Agreed...dump the tag. Try puting an overlay on the background. Maybe with a red tinge to it. Then the foreground photos would stand out more. If you want to put words on the LO, don't use any tags or mats. If you try this and it dosen't work...send me a nasty message.

[Lisa Carter]

maybe you can just call it "The big cover up"
do like an evidence page or something.
Just a thought.

[Margie]

wow, pretty amazing pics! i started to say just lower the opacity of the background, so it's just visible, but i think i like wflcair's idea too. (and love the nasty message comment, too funny!) but if it were me, i'd try brighter mats (small as to not distract, but something that would help the photos pop). i'd try white, light brown from the pics, maybe even orange or red, but i'd just play. and i'd try a stamped looking font so it looks like you stamped words on the background. those are my quick ideas anyway! :)

[SashaMommy]

All, thank you so much for your suggestions... here is what I ended up with...
http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=27468&nocache=1

I also found the following journaling, from a book about Pele: "She is Pele-honua-mea, Pele of the sacred land. She is Pele-ai-honua, Pele the eater of land, when she devours the land with her flames." I'd like to add that, but don't have a lot of room... :-( Maybe I'll save it for another page.

[Starling]

I put a suggestion that you have a focus photo in the gallery, but that was before I saw that you also want to have journaling.

You might want to use the background photo as the focus photo in a new page that would go first in your album before the pair you have now. And put your journaling on that page.

[SashaMommy]

Well, I like the idea of keeping all these photos together, so I'll think about your suggestion to make one of them the focus photo. If I did make one on the left side the focus, do you think it would look okay for all 3 on the right side to have the same edge effect? Or should I vary it?

[Kristen]

I'd keep the same edge effect on all three. If you change the edge effect, it has the potential to distract from the photos as the eye tries to take it all in.

[SashaMommy]

Oops too late! Check it out now and see what you think..!

[psy]

You could move the Devoured, Consumed to the top of the right page and put your journaling at the bottom of the right page. Would that make it look too busy?

[SashaMommy]

Thanks for the suggestion... I think I will save that journaling for another page where I actually have photos of molten lava. It seems to fit better since they talk about "flames"...