Sketch Week, Part 2

Thank you so much for the get well wishes. I am feeling so much better this morning. And just in time for a sunny layout. Today's version of the sketch shows you how to add a fun, decorative addition to that background piece without taking the focus away from the photos.

The sketch that is the starting point for all five layouts this week.

Layout #2 - Everything About You Brightens My Life

Supply list - Brown alphabets: Doodlebug Designs, everything else is from the American Crafts City Park collection

Variation #1
If you've been reading my blog for awhile you've probably noticed that suns seem to be one of my favorite design elements to use. It's like I challenge myself to find a new way to make them.

On today's layout I made a large sun that stretches across the background block of paper. Adding a large design across a background piece can be done on most pages but there is something you might want to watch out for.

If your pictures are full of lots of bold colors you might want to stay away from such a detailed and busy design on the background. There is a possibility that your pictures will get lost in that design. Of course there are always ways to fix that by framing the photos by either adding a mat or edging the pictures with paint or ink. And, of course, there are always exceptions with certain designs or elements that will work.

On my layout the pictures contain a few colors and the pictures are very similar. The lack of color and similar pictures allowed me to easily add a bold design on the background without the need to frame my pictures or worry about them getting lost in the design.

Tips for making the sun:

• I begin by finding my starting point, which is the circle/body of the sun. Since the sun rays go underneath the circle I traced around it and then set it aside.

• I don't get too technical and worry about perfect measurements for the rays. I use a ruler and trace a slant on the patterned paper and then cut it out.

• I recommend starting with a few bigger rays and attaching them first. Then you can go back and fill in the holes with smaller strips of paper and hand stitching.

• When you are going across two pages you'll need to make two different rays so that the whole design stretches across. I make the largest one first and then lay a ruler next to it extending past the side that I will be extending on the page. You'll do this on both the top and bottom of that side. Then you trace line and cut the ray out.

Variation #2
I had a lot more photos that I wanted to include on this layout than what the sketch called for. An easy fix for that problem is to use multiple smaller photos in place of a large photo. I ended up using two 3 x 4 photos in place of each 6 x 4 photo on the left page. This is the easiest way to use smaller prints for a larger photo, by cutting the large size in half and cropping two smaller photos. The two smaller photos still make up the same 6 x 4 size as the larger photo did.

Variation #3
While I'm on the subject of photos, on the right page I used another smaller photo in place of one of the 4 x 6 photos. Today's reason, however, is different from yesterday's. I only had one vertical 4 x 6 with this group of pictures. If I wanted to include another photo, like on the sketch, then I was going to have to use a horizontal. Using the full horizontal 4 x 6 would have covered more of the paper than I wanted and this photo was a perfect one for cropping down. It had a lot of empty space that I could easily crop out of the photo.

Variation #4
One of the good things about using a smaller photo on the right page is that it left me with more space for my journaling. I used journaling strips instead of journaling directly onto the background as it is on the sketch. With the design (and yesterday's) the journaling would have been lost in all the papers and colors. Journaling strips where an easy solution to make sure my story stood out.

Variation #5
While I did keep one of my embellishments as a circle, the other two are different.

The circle embellishment on the left page acts as the center of my sun. I used an American Crafts felt embellishment for the center and then added circles of patterned paper underneath it.

For the remaining two embellishments on the right page I used more American Crafts felt embellishments and added patterned paper behind them. The hardest part about such a bold design on a page is making sure that everything else on the page stands out against it. The added patterned paper to the felt embellishments helped them to stand out more since I would add ink to the edges of the paper.

Day two means is your second chance for the American Crafts and Sketches for Scrapbooking Giveaway.