Sketch Week, Part 2

Today's layout is a simple approach to the sketch. Keep in mind that I'm not really a simple scrapbooker so it's more like simple the Allison way. :)

The sketch that I'm using, from our DVD - Stretch Your Scrapbooking, as a starting point for all five layouts this week.

Layout #2 - "Lovable, Sweet Chewy"

Supply list - Cardstock and border strip: Bazzill; Patterned paper, chipboard, and stickers: BasicGrey; Alphabet: American Crafts, Pink Paislee

Variation #1 - I wanted to show a layout this week with a much faster, easier, and more simple way to do the circles. Instead of using a bunch of smaller circles I used a large circle for most of the area that the circles are on the sketch. Then I added a few smaller circles and some embellishments. This is a great option for those that wouldn't want to put the time into arranging all the smaller circles or if you think all the small circles on the sketch are too much. Using that larger circle takes up so much of the space that it only need a few accents to finish the look.



A super easy technique you can us to get the most out of your punches is to use the negative. I have this tiny dog paw print punch that I love but the individual pieces of the paw are so small that it would be hard to adhere the actual punched paw print. So, what I like to do is use the negative of the punch, the punched out paw print left on the paper. To make the little dog paw print circles I used a small dog paw print punch and punched it out of paper. Then I used a circle punch and punched around the dog paw print on the paper.

Variation #2 - On this layout I had two vertical pictures that I wanted to include on the layout but I didn't want them to be cropped down to 4 x 4 for the right page. That left me with using them on the left page in place of the 4 x 6. The good thing about this sketch is that it's easy to adjust to the amount of pictures you want to include. You can always use less circles to accommodate the pictures. In this case I placed the two pictures side by side and then arranged my circles like they are on the sketch, around the left edge of the photo. Doing this is what I like to call my "extend" technique. Extending a sketch is making it wider or longer by adding more photos or elements that you want to include.

Variation #3 - On my layout yesterday I showed you how it would look without the large circle on the background and the layout today shows what it would look like to use a different shape. I cut a 12 x 12 piece of patterned paper down to 11 x 11, rounded the corners, and added a hand stitched border around it. Die cut patterned papers of all shapes are a great idea to use there too.

One thing you might want to keep in mind with this sketch, when it comes to that background circle, be careful of what kind of paper you use. With the smaller circle accents the layout can become a little too busy if you don't use the right paper for that circle background piece. Chances are you would use a variety of colors for the circles accents and if you do the same with the background circle the whole overall look of the layout can get a little lost in all the colors or patterns. I'm not saying that you shouldn't use a multi-colored background, it's just something to watch for when using this sketch.

Day #2 = your second chance for the Pink Paislee and Sketches for Scrapbooking giveaway!