What’s Your Motif? Ideas for Using Chevron Prints on Your Scrapbook Pages

by Amy Kingsford

Once a thing of the past, “chevron prints” have made a raging comeback.

Everywhere you turn in today’s fashion, home decorating and scrapbooking industry you will find this lively motif!  Read on for ideas on putting this hot trend to work on your scrapbook pages.

Interesting facts about the chevron

• The chevron design dates back to 1800 BC and was used on pottery and architecture by the ancient Greeks.
• Charles Schulz’s beloved comic character Charlie Brown sported a Chevron design on his sweater for nearly 50 years.
• Chevron gas, whose logo is a nested chevron design, is one of America’s five largest corporations.
• The chevron is used on modern-day military and police uniforms to signify rank, but was seen earlier on Spartan battle shields.
• Chevrons appear frequently throughout the history of Heraldry, especially throughout France and Switzerland.
• The origin of the word chevron comes from the old French word for rafters.
• The chevron was revived in the late 1960s as a part of the Art Deco movement.
• In the late 1960s, fashion designer Pierre Cardin popularized the chevron print in his clothing.

Using chevron prints on your scrapbook pages

Use chevrons to give your layout a fresh,  fashion-forward look

Because chevrons are such a hot style right now they can immediately impart a fresh and fashion-forward feeling.

On “Grow,” Kelly Purkey used a bold chevron pattern to drive the tone of her page, creating an energized and trendy feel that is complimented by her bright and cheery colors and fun embellishment style.

Take a chance, and use chevron patterned paper as your “white space”

A larger chevron pattern can be perfect for your background when working with a design that incorporates generous white space.

Because all of the elements are in a tight cluster on my “All We Wanted for X-mas,”  using this large-scale chevron becomes a bit less scary–because there is less danger of overcrowding and distraction.

Create a dynamic chevron border

Vee Jennings created a strong border with paper hand-cut in a chevron shape on “OOTD.” The border sets the stage for her whole layout.  It creates a shelf for Vee’s photo, connects her two embellishment clusters, and establishes an energized flow.

Use ric-rac to mimic the chevron pattern

Using ric-rac to mimic the chevron pattern is a fun way to bring texture and dimension to this trend.

On “What a Hunk,” I made a fun chevron-inspired mat by laying down several strips of white ric-rac across a piece of aqua cardstock.  The trick is to make sure that each strip is lined up so that the peaks are nested inside of the next strip’s valleys. This mat strengthens  the modern feel of my page.

Use zig-zag stitching to repeat the chevron shape

On “Cowtown Birthday,”  Emily Pitts‘ has combined chevron papers, ric-rac, and zig-zag stitching to repeat the pattern throughout her page.  This not ties all of the other fun patterned papers together on this beautifully pieced two-pager, but it also establishes a nice rhythm within the design.

Create a visual triangle of chevron accents

On “Foodies,” Vee Jennings used three separate pops of the same metallic-embossed chevron stamp to create a triangle of eye-catching spots to guide the viewer’s eye through all of her yummy photos and journaling.

Foodies by Vee Jennings

Use chevrons as arrows

On “Where the Heart Is,” I used individual chevrons flipped sideways as arrows that direct the eye outside of my inner canvas to my title and journaling –giving viewers a chance to take in my title and the story behind my page. 

Use a chevron design to draw attention and ground

On “I Love You Too Buddy,” Emily Pitts used an embossed chevron stamp to draw focus to her title.  The stamp’s placement grounds her over-sized title while, at the same time, emphasizing it.

Fill a wide chevron shape with patterned papers

Celeste Smith cleverly used the chevron band across “Today,” as an opportunity for mixing several charming patterns.  The scalloped edges on her photo and the zig-zag border add repetitons of the pattern throughout the page for a cohesive look.

Fill blocked compartments with chevron print paper

While a bold chevron print can overpower in larger doses, a small block of it makes a great accent.

On “Making Spirits Bright” Debbie Hodge filled one of the compartments in her blocked design with vivid chevron print.  The chevron shape is repeated in the zigzag-edged medallion and even in the intersections of the diagonals on the plaid print paper.

These are just a few of the fun ways that you can start using chevrons in your layouts!

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