Using patterned paper with bigger patterns

Of the four Fancy Pants Designs collections I've been using these past three months--Swagger, Trendsetter, Park Bench, and Down By the Shore--my favorite is probably Down by the Shore. But I have been hoarding that collection shamelessly. Why? Last summer I went to Maine, and I want to use it for my vacation album, which I'm still editing photos for. More to come on that vacation album next week.

I couldn't wait any longer to use it, so I took some photos of my boys at the local pool and pulled out the collection. The best paper to use for the pictures was one called Whale:

The main side has a pretty big pattern. I tend towards smaller pattern, so it was a challenge to use. Here's what I did:

As you can see, I printed the photos smaller, 4x4 and 2.5x2.5. That made it easier to put them into a constricted space to the right of the whale and the flourishes.

To balance out the flourishes on the bottoms, I added some rub-on flourishes to the upper right.

Supplies:
Fancy Pants Designs Down by the Shore collection: Patterned paper: Whale, Strips, Saltwater, Striped Towel; Rub-ons; Sticker Fundamentals

Here's some details:

To add a smidge more color, I used strips of patterned paper plus the banner stickers, which remind me of the banners on the ceiling of the lap pool. And for fun, I added a deep blue rub-on to the whale spout.

To add more texture to the flourishes, I put gold gems randomly throughout. Think of them as sparkles on the waves.

Thank you for sharing my page! Tell me: Do you swim? If so, where?