So I was browsing an online gallery today looking for some inspiration to feature on the blog today and I came across there three layouts.  They were right next to each other and all by different artists but they caught my eye because they all shared a design element.  Do you see it?

Credits: Layout by ellasspace; Romantumn Kitty Designs

Credits: Layout by Bush Girl; Scraplift of: Lisa Hoffer, oscraps gallery, “Turning Point”; All Elements: Paislee Press & One Little Bird Collaboration, oscraps.com, Dialogue; Font: DJB Another Mandy by Darcy Baldwin & Diesel

Credits: Layout by tettletop20, Cutesy Christmas - Meghan Mullens; DJB Joan Euro - Darcy Baldwin; Round the Corners - Janet Phillips

Each scrapper used paper to edge just one or two sides of the background.  Often times we see background papers stacked with each layer getting a little smaller to sort of border the whole page.  But this time these layouts only have bordering on one or two edges.  It really changes the way my eye looks at the page.  In the first two, my eye starts in the middle and then moves to the side.  In the third I find that my eye starts on one side and moves across.  Have you ever thought about what your eyes do when they look at a layout you love?  The way you set up your page can help to bring people's attention to different parts of your layout.  One of my favorite things about these layouts is that I love variety and these side strips are different enough from my normal that they really got me looking!  Thanks for the inspiration ladies!