Using 8.5x11 paper in a 12x12 LO?

[piratesmate]

The first few times I went shopping for scrapping stuff for DDIL Mike's had 8.5x11 paper on sale. I saw a few sheets that I thought I could use in my WDW album. (I hadn't completed a single page at that point & was only concentrating on that album.....a CM 12x12.) I had no concrete ideas on how to use it - meaning wallpaper vs mounting paper etc.

One of the papers I bought looks like water & I was planning on using it for pool pix from our WL stay. Yesterday I cropped & mounted a bunch of the pool pix....but when it came time to actually put together the page itself...well, I'm stuck!

I did use the wavy edge CM tool to cut one of the sheets in half - thinking I'd use them that way. (I always buy paper in pairs, so I do still have an uncut sheet.) Any ideas on how to use the smaller paper on a larger page? I thought about lining up the corners of the page & paper, but am honestly not happy with the way it looks where the page is just - well, white.

Does anyone have any LOs posted (or someone else's bookmarked) that show something similar? I've spent all morning looking through bookmarked pages, but haven't really seen any yet.

I've known for some time now that I don't really care for the CM format of just sticking mounted pix on a white page with stickers. (Over simplied explanation I know - not meant to offend) But, now that I've been preparing stuff for actual pages I realize that I do like the wallpapered thing. It doesn't have to be a solid sheet, I just want the white page covered I think.

Also, tt sounds like the top loading pages would suit me more, but I don't know anyone that uses them. Can you give me any ideas on brands and where you've purchased them?



Soooo, any suggestions on the 8.5x11 paper?

 

[bananiem]

I don't know how to post pictures. But I've used 8 1/2x11 paper on 12x12 cardstock of a coordinating color. I put the paper in different places to make it look "right". Sometimes I 've lined up the corners so the cardstock is the border at the top and down one side. Then I've put a title on the cardstock. Does that make sense?
I've also used it in the middle of the paper either horizontally or vertically so that there is a cardstock border at the top and bottom, or on either side.
As far as top-loading goes....I like the Making Memories albums and the Dalee albums. I get them at local LSS's.

 

[Stephres]

You can also use it as a border strip. Just cut it in two pieces and have something overlap it, like a picture of journaling block. That way it looks like it is extended 12 inches. I hope this is making sense!

I use 8 1/2 by 11 paper to to journaling and titles too. You can use your patterned paper to mat those pieces.

I buy top loading albums from various places: my LSS, Disney and JoAnn's and Mike's. I usually use Pioneer top loading refills for everything I've bought and they seem to work fine.

 

[pjlla]

I have also used 8 1/2 x 11 paper on 12 x 12 pages many times. One of the best looking ones... I cut the smaller paper down so it was square. I mounted it on another plain coordinating paper square, leaving a narrow border, and then mounted it off center on the 12 x 12 page (up toward the upper left corner) and mounted an embellishment on the lower right corner. I love the way it looks (happens to be a Disney page!). Wish I could show you, but I don't know how! I have also cut them in half diagonally and used them that way, mounted on a large page...........P

 

[sweet maxine]

Well, I was thinking about that same thing a couple of weeks ago. I had posted before about a gift shop going-out-of business sale, and I was so excited to find scrapbooking goodies there. Well, I looked at the 8.5 X 11 papers, and they were really cute. I bought a few, and found some that I thought I could use in the same way as you have suggested. Since I'm new to scrapbooking, I didn't want to get too much of that size paper if I might not end up using it. By the last day of the sale everything in the store was marked down to 90% off. As my daughter and I were walking into the store we headed straight over to the scrapbook and paper aisle. I started to reach for a page of the smaller paper, and the owner told me it was sold already. "All of it?", I asked. "Yes, someone just came in and bought it all", he said. About that time I noticed someone coming over with boxes to box it all up. Okay, now we're talking 90% off of 25 cents a page.....can you just call me BRAINLESS!!!!!! I went home just shaking my head on that one. Why didn't I think of getting more sooner, before it was all gone? ??????

Now I'm going to hear all the neat ideas everyone has for using that paper for their pages........

 

[bananiem]

You can also use it as a mat and the leftover can be used in a die cut machine for the letters in the title. I've seen paper with basketballs all over it used as letters and it looked neat.