Monochromatic colors are colors of the same family, of varying tints and shades, such as all blues, greens, or reds. They are defined by three characteristics: lightness, saturation and hue. Lightness (light vs. dark) is the subjective brightness perception of a color; it is sometimes called value or tone. Saturation (intense vs. dull) is the colorfulness of a color relative to its own brightness. And hue is the pure color without tint (mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness) or shade (mixture of a color with black, which reduces lightness).

Mixing a color with any neutral color (including white and black), reduces the saturation while the hue remains unchanged. Neutrals are obtained by mixing pure colors with either white or black, or by mixing two complementary colors (any two colors which are directly opposite each other in the color wheel). In color theory, neutral colors are colors easily modified by adjacent, more saturated, colors and they appear to take on the hue complementary to the saturated color.

A monochromatic layout is a layout where all elements and papers are of the same hue with varying degrees of lightness and saturation. The pictures included in the layout may or may not have been colored in the layout’s hue.

Blessed by Maria Snell

Digital Supplies: All kits by Ruby Lane Designs (Funky Playground Designs), Frayed Patch, Chiffon Flower and Eyelet Ribbon: Glorious, Curled Ribbon: Warm Feeling, Mesh Strip: I Leaf You, String, Metal Embellishment: I Remember When, Flower: Playdate, Flower: Simply Sharon, Chocolate Folded Ribbon, Brown Leaf: Man 2 Man, Mother of Pearl Scatter: Seaside, Ribbon: P365 Ribbon Pack, Pop Tab: Daddy's Little Girl, Leaves, Stem, Papers: Serendipity, Tag, Paper Hearts: My Baby Love, Photo Action: Sepia by The Pioneer Woman, Software: PSCS3.

Design notes: I scoured the kits looking for brown elements and I wanted to create a layout with lots of white space.

I Love Being a Mum by Linda Yardley

Digital Supplies: Kit: "You" by Irene Alexeeva (Scrap Orchard), Alpha: word MUM "Reflections" by Jen Reed (ScrapDish), Alpha: word LOVE "Batikki Kit" by Clara Wallace (ScrapWow), Software: Paint Shop Pro x2, Fonts: Milk & Cereal, Miserably Lose.

Design notes: I had to slightly adjust the color of the alpha I used for the word "Mum" so it coordinated better with the page. I used the color changer tool to achieve this.

Journaling: The most important thing in the world to me is being a mum. When I was little I used to pretend that my dolls were real babies! Other little girls used to want to be teachers or nurses when they grew up...not me, all I wanted to do was have babies. I used to nag my mum constantly about having another baby and I could never understand why she kept saying no!! I fell pregnant with David at 17 and here I am, now 41, 10 babies, 11 pregnancies and 9 children later and I am planning my next baby. I didn't plan my last pregnancy, but after losing Mikey, I now have an insatiable desire to be pregnant again. I am scared that something will go wrong again, but I have faith that things will turn out ok. I always knew I wanted a large family and I am so unbelievably blessed to have 9 healthy children that full fill my every dream.

Angelic by Toni Johnson

Digital Supplies: Winter Gifts by Lumik Designs (Scrappity-doo-dah), Software: PSE6.

Editor's Note: The tint of the background in this picture coordinates perfectly with the tones of the elements further enhancing the layout.