When You Don't Like a Layout

I know it's happened to most of us. We make a layout. We spend time (and usually a fair bit of money) working hard to preserve a memory. Finally, we finish, sit back, and frown. There's something wrong. That happened to me recently. I followed a sketch on 2PeasRefugees and was unhappy with my results. In all honesty, the sketch wasn't necessarily one that sang to me to begin with. It had large circles - a shape that's not inspired me much recently. I wanted to try it though Bloom, Dear One was the result.

Elizabeth had recently tried on her new Captain American dress to wear to a comic book convention we were meeting a friend at later that day. I snapped this quick picture and thought it captured how she's starting to grow up. I signed and dated the back and brought it downstairs to put into the 2017 album. And then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I uploaded the picture to the challenge and still couldn't stop thinking about it. It felt off...not quite done. But, what was wrong?

After much thought, it came down to two things. Just a note - this is me. It's my thought process. I'm sure many would look at this page and think it's just fine. The conclusions I drew after dwelling on it though are related. Most of my layouts include inking around the edges. Since I wanted this to be a lighter layout, I didn't ink. I wasn't sure what color to use anyway. Black or brown would be too heavy. With the variety of spring colors, I didn't know what to use unless I used every color. This was a decision I made from the beginning before I starting cutting into my paper.

The other thing though, I think is related. The plaid "weave" of the background paper is very open. There's nothing wrong with that. Since I didn't ink though, it feels like the entire layout is open. Like it continues to flow off the pages into the world around it. I finally figured that out after staring at this photo for a while. It needed a border - something to keep everything in. I asked for suggestions on 2PR and finally decided to go with just a plain pink cardstock board. I trimmed off two sides just a bit and matted the entire layout.

I am so much happier with the overall look now. Finally, it feels done. I did nothing else but add that border (and the date in the lower corner apparently). It's finished now. I have it in my stack of layouts to bring downstairs and insert into albums. Now, I'm quite happy with it. Have you ever changed a layout before? Either in a minor or major way? What did you do? Are you happy with the end product after the change? 

Here are some detail shots before I go. Have a great scrappy day!