What is my “go to” layout you ask? Okay, you didn’t ask, but let’s pretend you did.  🙂  Well my “go to” layout is a total cheat layout. Honest. In a nutshell, I pile some matching papers with some various angles, drop a picture on top, add some embellishments and voila! If I am feeling like kicking up a bit, I will do add some fancy edge work to the piled paper (distress, misting, chalk, punch, stamp, etc.).
Okay, now do you want to know that best part? I usually come up with the paper from my scrap pile! Honest. Take a peek through your scraps – I am always amazed how much is actually in there and how much it matches.  (You can of course create this layout with new supplies, but give the scraps a go.)

Sometimes I spend so long looking for coordinating papers from my new kits, paper collection, etc. and it would have been so much easier to just peek through my scrap pile for inspiration. Here are the two piles of coordinating scraps I came across from my scrap pile:

Take your coordinating scraps and select a matching full size 12×12. Put your 12×12 down and then layer on your scraps in a sort of angled, happy pile. You may need to cut a few pieces down to get the look you want and make sure they do not go off the page – this is when you can add some fancy edge work to the pieces you are layering. Be messy with your paper layering – the less symmetrical the better. (That is usually hard for me to encourage!) Add your photo. Find some great, complimentary, but a bit random embellishments and voila.
Here is what I did with my scraps and photos:

Oh, did I mention what the second best part of this layout is? It’s quick! I put these together in 20 minutes. I think partially because you are using scraps and there is less pressure than with a brand new, whole piece of paper you have a vision for. I still have to glue/tape these down, do some chalking on my chipboard and some journaling – but you can see where I am headed with these.
Here are few others from past albums that use the same technique:

Have fun!