THREE WAY | DECONSTRUCTION JUNCTION

Hello scrapping lovelies! Welcome to another edition of our Three Way Series, where we show you how to stretch your stash and/or share some creative ways to better use your stash.

This episode has a little something for everyone: whether you are a clean, neat & organized scrapper or an artsy & messy scrapper, I think you just might find some inspiration worth trying on your next page. The theme is Deconstruction. Just like the gourmet chefs on all those popular Food Channel TV shows, who create those unusual deconstructed plates of food, we are going to take a look at a few ways in which to deconstruct our scrapbook pages ... or at least parts of the page! Ready to get started on today's Three Way | Deconstruction Junction?

Let's roll!

Now, if you're scratching your head and wondering what this term "Deconstruction" could possibly mean as it relates to the world of scrapbooking, let's first take a look at the definition provided by Google:

"It is also a method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary texts based on Jacques Derrida's 1967 work Of Grammatology" as per Wikipedia. While I won't get into the whole essence of this philosophical explanation, I will point out that "it means that any given concept is constituted in terms of its reciprocal delimitation, e.g. being/nothing, one/multiple, truth/false, fair/unfair, beauty/ugly, essence/existence".

For me I look at the Google definition of the verb form of the word and think the first part sounds very conceptual, artsy and creative in meaning and interpretation. The second part of the Google definition is literal, concise and to the point. Combine those two ideas and they kind of sound like opposites a bit, don't they? Sort of like the Wikipedia description of the word Deconstruction ... "reciprocal delimitation"?

The funny thing is that when I went searching for images to help explain the concept of Deconstruction in art form, I found just that! Literal examples of deconstruction and conceptual, creative and artistic examples of deconstruction. I thought this would make an excellent post for digital scrappers since we all come about our pages in rather different ways and styles!

Now that we have a bit of a better understanding of the term, let's take a look at some inspirational images I found on Pinterest, so you can better visualize the idea:

Below, are some fabulous examples of art that has literally been deconstructed or reduced to its constituent parts in order to reinterpret it. I think these examples may speak to those of us who create pages that are clean, tidy, organized and possibly have a bit of white space. What do you think?

While these examples, shown below, show a more conceptual interpretation of art that has been deconstructed and would appeal more to those of us who create more artistic pages.

See where I am going with this?

Not yet??? ... that's OK. Let's break it down (or deconstruct) it further by directly relating this Deconstruction idea to our scrapbook pages! ;)

Example Idea 1: This first example page takes what seems like a starburst shape and breaks it down into smaller components, the individual rays, and reassembles them on the page in a totally new way. Each starburst shape is made with different colors and patterned papers. I love this idea! I'm not sure if this was the artist's original intention or not, but it is sure is creative and beautiful! Think of other geometric shapes you could break down and reassemble in completely new ways! You can get really artsy & conceptual with this idea or keep it clean & simple! My page uses big bold chevrons ... I switched up the orientation of them and added them to the edges of my pages to point the eye to the photo.

Here's my take on Example Page 1:

NOTE: I deconstructed my photo too, just for fun. I layered 4 versions of my photo: an original, a textured painty effect, a B&W and a pencil sketch.

Example Idea 2: I had a hard time finding a page that really explained this idea, so the inspiration image for this idea is to show you the floral paper I used. I simply made a rough cut from one of the corners with the polygon lasso tool (or use the Marquee Tool or Pen Tool). I then used that floral cut out to create a border and as elements on my page. Again, depending on your personal scrap style or mood, you can get really artsy with this idea or keep it clean and simple!

Here's my take on Example Page 2:

Example Idea 3: Again, I had a hard time finding a page example to show this idea, so instead I grabbed some pieces from a few different PRD kits and have placed them here in their "whole" state. Check out my page below to see just how I deconstructed each of these elements to make something different and new. Make it messy and artsy or organized and neat!

Here's my take on Example Page 3:

So whether you choose to create pages that are clean and tidy or messy and artsy ... I think you can apply your style of scrapbooking to at least one of these Deconstruction ideas and create a truly unique and beautiful page with components that have been broken down and made new!