Sketch Week, Part 4

There are a lot of changes on my day four layout. It really shows that you can take what you want to use or what you have on hand and make it work.

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

Layout #2 - The Day Before

Supply list - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Bella Blvd.; Word stickers: Creative Imaginations; Alphabets: BasicGrey (the), Imaginisce (Day), and American Crafts (before); Jewels: KaiserCraft; Chipboard stars: American Crafts and Scenic Route; Paint: Making Memories

Variation #1
Die cut papers are one of my favorite pieces to use for a large background. They add a fun, decorative touch to the page and can completely change the look of a sketch.

On my layout I didn't have a die cut patterned paper that matched the other patterned papers that I used so I made one myself. My go-to tools for doing that are stencils from Crafters Workshop. Not only is the stencil that I used a big shape but it also has a ton of other stencils and designs in the center.

One thing you might want to watch for when making your own die cut patterned papers is that they can look a little bland and flat. Most die cut patterned papers that you can buy have a frame of some sort around them. Usually it's a pattern in the middle with a solid frame or two around it. To get a similar look and to help the paper from looking flat I like to add a stitched border around the edge. You could also try brads, buttons, Memory Thread, word stickers, or ribbon as a border too.

Variation #2
I had these pictures left over from a frame that I made for Drew's room. When I order wallet prints they come with two so I'm always left with extras. The frame had mostly wallet prints so that was pretty much all I had to work with. I love wallet prints and use them often. They are great for shrinking a layout, similar what I've done with my layout today.

Shrinking a layout is also a great way to take a two-page sketch and turn it into a one-page layout. Wallets can also be a great help with that.

Variation #3
The wallet size worked well with the group of photos on the left page, but I didn't have enough to go all the way to the top and bottom edge of the layout. The problem that causes is a hole above and below the pictures between the two 1/2" strips of patterned paper on the left and right. On the sketch those two strips are arranged so that it appears that the paper goes behind that group of photos, so that was all I had to do fill the holes. Instead of using two small strips, I made a whole piece that goes behind the photos and fills in that hole above and below the pictures.

Variation #4
I had another wallet size photo that I really wanted to include on the layout. I couldn't add it to the large group of wallet photos because it was the only vertical one I had left and I would have needed two to complete that column of pictures.

My solution was to add it to the left by the title. Because I used smaller pictures I had plenty of room without cutting my title area too short.

Variation #5
On the right page I wanted to include more journaling so I used part of the space for one of the 4 x 6 photos. The only adjustment I had to make was moving the embellishment on the top over to the right of the journaling.

Variation #6
Out of all my photos I had one horizontal wallet. I thought it would work well underneath the journaling and overlapped onto the 4 x 6. There weren't any adjustments that I had to make to add that to the page. That's another thing I love about wallets, they are so easy to add to a layout and they are small enough that you can pretty much add them anywhere.

Variation #7
Instead of circles I went with chipboard stars on this layout. I also added stitching around the biggest star on the right page.

Stitching on chipboard is completely doable and really, isn't any more difficult than stitching on paper. I would recommend that when you pierce the holes that you make sure your foam board is on a hard surface. This will keep the chipboard from wrinkling when you push the piercer through.

Day four = the fourth chance to win the American Crafts and Sketches for Scrapbooking giveaway.