Sketch Week, Part 3

The day three layout takes on a completely different look from the previous layouts. It's a completely different style of papers and I really changed things up with this one.

The sketch that I'm using as the starting point for all five layouts this week.


This sketch is now available to download and print. To access it you can click on the orange "downloads" on the right side bar of my blog.

Layout #3 - "Oh Brother"

Supply list - Cardstock: Bazzill; Alphabet stickers: American Crafts (oh), KI Memories (brother), and My Little Shoebox (quotes in the bubbles), everything else: My Mind's Eye

I'll start with the photos first since there are actually three different photo variations on this layout. The most obvious difference with the photos as a whole is that I took a 10 photo sketch and turned it into a 16 photo layout.

• Variation #1
Just like yesterday's layout, I used two larger photos in place of the four wallet size photos on the sketch. I have tons of photos of Drew and Jackson together but very few are vertical like the wallet photos on the sketch. Substituting a larger horizontal photo in place of two smaller vertical pictures ended up being an easy solution to my lack of vertical pictures.

• Variation #2
In place of the three 4 x 4 photos on the right page I used a collage of smaller photos. I have so many pictures of Drew and Jackson together and wanted to include as many I as could on this layout. I love that the pictures are a mix of fights and laughter, some happy some sad. They are so back and forth. They can be screaming at each other one minute and then the next they are giggling together.

Wallet size prints are perfect for including smaller sized photos on your layouts. It's so much easier to crop a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" print to a 2" x 2" than trying to get a 2" x 2" out of a 4" x 6". Most of my pictures are close up and frame the subjects without much empty space. That can make it difficult for cropping photos. With the wallet size you get the whole picture in a smaller size so you don't need to do much or any cropping. I get mine printed through walmart.com.

• Variation #3
The five larger photos on the layout are similar to the photos on the layout yesterday. The only difference is that these aren't 4 x 6. They were all cropped from 4 x 6 photos. One reason I did this was so that the photos didn't cover up too much of the large star. With the 4 x 6 size you couldn't really tell that the is was a star.

Another thing to note about using smaller sized prints than the ones suggested on the sketch, it's one way you can use the sketches for smaller sized layouts like 8 1/2" x 11" or 8" x 8". It's just a matter of shrinking everything on the page to fit the size you need. I only reduced the size of the photos but the same can be done for all the elements on the page.

• Variation #4
The subject of shrinking carries on to this variation too. I used a smaller striped strip across the layout than the one suggested on the sketch. Once the smaller photos were arranged on the page I thought the smaller strip just seemed to go better. Plus I didn't want to cover up too much of the large patterned paper star.

• Variation #5
This isn't the first time you've seem me use a large patterned paper star on my page! There is something about it that I keep coming back to and keep using it over and over. I thought the star would be a fun way to change the look of the layout and of course it fits perfectly with the boy theme. It still sits in the same area as the die cut patterned paper piece on the sketch it's just a different shape.

• Variation #6
When it came to the embellishments I was determined to use the cute little chipboard monsters from My Mind's Eye.


The difference in the size of the two pieces were perfect for my brothers theme. For a fun touch I added the quote bubbles with things I often hear Drew and Jackson say (or scream) when they are together. This is obviously larger than the two circles suggested on the sketch but with them being in the same area as suggested, it keeps the layout balanced.

• Variation #6
Again, I could have used journaling strips as suggested on the sketch but instead decided to write my journaling directly onto the page. It's still in the same area as suggested on the sketch, just in a different form.

Day three = your third chance and the My Mind's Eye and Sketches for Scrapbooking giveaways! :)