The fad of cutting everything and anything on a layout into shapes, has long since past. However, if you’ve been scrapbooking for any length of time, you probably have albums full of layouts that contain shapes throughout.
It wasn’t like the shapes were limited to squares and rectangles either. Oh no, we had ovals, and circles too. But what was worse was the stars and hearts and other odd shapes we felt the need to crop our precious photos into.
Of course not everyone cropped just their photos. Often scrapbookers used special shapes for their journaling, using special templates. Journaling genies were a big hit back then. And can still be fun, if used in moderation.
First of all, if you like shapes, use them. There is nobody to tell you that you cannot use shapes on your layouts. It’s what you like and what is your style. That’s what is most important.
If you like the look of shapes, but would rather use them in moderation, or simply find a more successful way to use them, try only using one shape per layout. If you’d like your focal point to stand out, use one oval while leaving the rest of your pictures as is. This has a more subtle effect.
But if you’re looking back at past layouts and cringing, because you have decided you absolutely despise shapes, by all means, attempt to change the layout. If you can, replace the original photo. If it’s cut in a heart shape, try placing a rectangle over the photo on the layout and see if it can cover the funky shape. If you have to, you can disassemble the whole layout and start over, but I certainly hope that isn’t the case.
As the scrapbooking world discovers new techniques and develops new products on a fairly daily basis, there are bound to be times that we look back upon a past layout and see a style we don’t like anymore. You will need to make the personal choice if you can just leave it as is, or if you need to change it.
I figure, for prosperity, I leave a few old layouts in my “old style”, but yes, I’m guilty of redoing a layout to make it look more “modern”. It’s all in the personal choice!