Digitrends: Spring 2011

Think Spring!  Think yellow and green!  Think flowers, green leaves, butterflies, and buzzing bees!  Let’s dive in to what’s hot, what’s new, and what’s fresh in Spring 2011…

One of the largest influences in the Scrapbooking World — also spilling over into digiscrapping, of course — is CHA (Craft and Hobby Association).  CHA is an international, not-for-profit trade association consisting of thousands of member companies engaged in designing.  CHA holds two trade events each year — one in January and one in July.  Because it is the largest craft and hobby trade show in the world, we must start by mentioning some of the news from CHA 2011…

First, the bright, happy colours.  Pastels, yellow and green, pale pink and pale blue.  Colours that follow spring fashion trends, accompanied by creme and sand.  CHA was also filled with vintage — vintage inspired ephemera’s, vintage inspired themes, etc.  Think black silhouettes; pearly cameos; French fashion; and old telephones, cameras and typewriters.  Classy and elegant!  Something that also goes very well with the vintage trend — lace, in romantic creme or perhaps even black?!  There is also an overload of flower embellishments coming into the stores this spring, which of course suits the vintage trend, but also any theme.  There seems to be greater variety in the recent flower elements, as well – larger roses, ruffly, and rolled!

And it wouldn’t be spring without beautiful butterflies and twittering birds, right?!  Almost any kit can be found with an elegant butterfly or a cute little bird.  Along that same line are birdcages and feathers (again, vintage!) as upcoming embellishments this season.

Lastly, and a bit different from the other trends, are the colourful and oh-so-cute baby kits, cupcake kits, and birthday kits that are entering shops right now.  Sweet and soft, yummy, and filled with all the cuteness you could ever think of! Perhaps a trend that follows this year — a new beginning and a new life. And, ah well… cupcakes are always nice, right?!

Here are a few examples – fresh from the SugarHillco Designers – that are in the shop now:

Animals V 1: Butterflies by Angel Hartline Designs Create gorgeous finely detailed butterflies in moments! Add patterns, kraft or speciality papers, textures or styles to these amazingly flexible layered templates.

a Pea in the Pod by Meredith Cardall Designs Do you have a sweet little pea on the way? Do you have sweet little baby photos to scrap? Then this kit is just perfect for you!

CU Resin Cabochons by Amy Stoffel A set of twelve vintage inspired resin cabochons, photographed and extracted by me.

Cute Birds & Cages by Luiza Garay 6 Cute doodles for your kits!

Vive La Paris t for me designs and Just Jaimee Vive La Paris is the perfect kit for everyone who loves romantic weekends, especially in Paris! Even though the kit is filled with the beautiful city of Paris, it is versatile enough to suit any love – layout and includes unique hand-drawn doodles as well as classy ribbons and bows.

In addition to what the designers bring us, it’s also interesting to look at what we, the scrappers, choose to use for our layouts/hybrid projects (and how we compose the page).  And where better to search for the latest scrap trends than to browse through the galleries?!  Here we have picked three pages that capture the latest trends in how to create outstanding masterpieces!

The use of repeating pictures, similar to each other, or exactly the same, is eye-catching and a great way to capture much on one page! Here it also helps bringing lots of elements together. Clustering, but not completely overloading! Lots of patterned papers, but very organized and matching. And the use of cute and fun doodles — extremely common on layouts from the SugarHillCo – Gallery!!

Friends by Sasha – U + Me = BFFs by Shilo Designs and Sugary Fancy Designs

Focusing on the picture, but also using all the fun elements! Letting paper pieces and flowers surround the story — still not letting it be messy. Colourful pages to be seen now — of course!

Lucky in Love by Shawnbear – Lucky To Love You by Shilo Designs

And finally. We are not tired of doodled frames. Can we ever be? They are so useful. Simple pages — for precious snapshots. Just a wordart and letting pictures speak for themselves — we want, we love, to scrap a lot, and sometimes we want to tell the whole story from the beginning to the end. But sometimes we just want to capture a moment. Quick and cute!

You make me smile by Cherylraydesigns – You Make Me Smile Kit and Clip ‘n Doodle Frames by eNKay Design

- Terese