Sketch Week, Part 5

The last layout of Sketch Week is one that you might not immediately notice that it's based off the sketch and it's definitely the simplest version of the week.

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

Layout #5 - "Balloon Boy"

Supply list - Cardstock and border strip: Bazzill; Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye, KI Memories, Crate Paper, and Fancy Pants; Alphabets: American Crafts; Word stickers: Creative Imaginations and Making Memories; Chipboard circle: Scenic Route

Variation #1 - The photos are probably the biggest variation from the sketch on this layout. I had so many pictures of Drew and the balloons that I want to include on the layout and most of them were ones that I didn't want to crop down.

On the right page I used two 4 x 6 photos. On the sketch it shows the 4 x 6 photo placed just above the striped strip but since I wanted to include two I moved one down to leave room for the one above it. This way I had plenty of room for two photos and the title. The photos still has the same 6" width as suggested on the sketch but the height went from 4" to 8"

On the left page I varied quite far from the sketch, kind of. I kept two of the 4 x 4 photos but substituted two 4x 6 photos for the other suggest 4 x 4 photos. I still kept the 8" width of the photo group but the height moved up to 10".

Overall, I extended the height of the photo layout of the sketch while keeping the same width as suggested. I think there are always ways to add more or substitute larger photos on a sketch. This was an easy way to add more (3 more!) 4 x 6 photos.

Variation #2 - Rounded corners are a great and easy way to change the look of a sketch. I rounded the corners on all of the photos on my layout.

Variation #3 - Since I extended the height of the photo areas it would have been almost pointless for me to add the large background circle on the sketch. The pictures would have ended up covering most of it plus I didn't want the colors on this page to end up being too much. Remember the other day when I talked about how you have to be careful with what paper you use for the big circle? Well, this falls into that same category. The pictures and the balloons are so colorful that I was afraid adding in too much more would have made the layout overwhelming with bright colors. This way the photos really stand out on the plain cardstock.

Variation #4 - I also changed the striped strip and the scallop strip to fit the extra photos and to make more room for my balloons on the left page. I went with a smaller width of the stripe and then added a border strip on top of it instead of below it. I knew that if I did the suggested 2" striped strip my balloon strings would have to overlap onto it and most likely would have gotten lost in the stripe pattern.

Variation #5 - So lets say you want to save some time when using this sketch or maybe you have zero desire to add that many circles, this is probably the easiest solution. Try using a large embellishment in place of all those circles. It just so happened, not exactly planned that way, that my big embellishment ended up being made of circles, but you could use anything. A big flourish, a tree, a house, anything that is big and will cover, roughly, the same area as the circles on the sketch do.


I used different patterned papers to make the circles, added little triangles to the bottoms, and then stitched the little strings. For a few of the balloons I layered three different sized circles and used foam adhesive to give them some dimension. (You can read this post to learn a little bit more about how to make embellishments similar to these.) I also added some Stickles and word stickers to a few balloons for a finishing touch.

On the right page I added one lone balloon in place of the circles.


Variation #6 - Instead of writing my journaling directly on the page I used journaling strips. Mainly my reason for using strips was to cover up a lot of empty space in the 4 x 4 photo beside the journaling area. It was so distracting and with journaling strips I could cover some of it up.

Today is the last chance for the giveaways! Be sure to check back on Monday to see if you've won either the Pink Paislee package or the copy of Sketches for Scrapbooking. I'll also be posting the date for August Sketch Week.

Have a great weekend! :)