Sketch Week, Day 3

Day three is here! If you haven't had a chance yet be sure to visit the Scrapbook Generation online store to grab the free sketch for March. It the same sketch that I've been using as a starting point for my layouts this week.

Scrapbook Generation's Free March Sketch

* you can download by clicking here

"One of a Kind Jackson"

Supplies - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Echo Park; Alphabets: Echo Park (one), October Afternoon (of a kind), and American Crafts (jackson); Star punch: EK Success; Brads: Doodlebug and unknown; Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink; Embroidery floss: DMC

The biggest change on this layout was with the design/papers.

Variation #1 - I am in love with the look of banner/notched/(insert whatever you call them) strips. In love. You can take a plain strip and with just a simple snip you get a whole different look.

I followed the sketch as far as the width of the strips, the 4", but I cut an inch off the length to accommodate the notched ends. Another idea would have been to the leave the top edge of the strips straight and just cutting the bottom end.

Variation #2 - I wanted to add in some more colors and patterns so I add a few smaller strips in different sizes. They are kind of filling in for the striped strips on the sketch. One reason I like to use a stripe on my layouts is that stripes are great for tying all the colors on the layout together.

Variation #3 - I used a 6 x 4" photo in place of the two 3 x 3" photos on the left page. There is only a 1" difference so I didn't have to make any major adjustments for the photo to fit. Using a larger photo in place of a few smaller ones is always a great way to adjust a sketch to fit what you want to use. Most of the time it only requires a few small adjustments. In my case, I just moved the top photo up a little so that the two photos together had pretty much the same spacing from the bottom of the bottom photo to the bottom of the layout and from the top of the top photo to the top of the layout. (Hopefully I didn't confuse you with that one!)

Variation #4 - I didn't add the banner across the page. Part of this had to do with the larger photo I mentioned in variation #3. There just wasn't a lot of room left for the banner. If I would have had a picture that had some open, empty space at the top I could have gotten away with still using the banner and overlapping it onto the picture. Since Jackson's head is all the way to the top of the photo I couldn't do that without covering him up. I wasn't too worried about it though since the background banner strips added so much more interest to the layout. 

Variation #5 - I used a larger title than the sketch suggests. This is one of those areas that I don't worry about following the sketch exactly. A title is always an easy way to add a unique look to each layout and very rarely does the title I want to use or make fit the actual title on the sketch. 

Variation #5 - I used much smaller embellishments than suggested on the sketch. Again, this is an area that I usually don't follow often. I use the sketch in areas of title and embellishment as more of a suggestion of where those elements should go, not exactly what they should look like. 

I used small stars accented with brads for my embellishments. The title was long and had so many colors and textures that I didn't feel like I needed a large embellishment. I thought simple was the way to go.

Check this out!

On Sketch Week, Day 1 there was a comment linking to a wonderful (and very clever) use of the sketch this week that I really wanted you all to see. 

Ruth at scrapmachine.com tried out a little experiment and used the sketch from this week for her Project Life layout. And I don't mean like a normal 12 x 24" layout. She used the sketch and made it all fit into the divided Project Life page protectors. You can check it by clicking here and reading about where she got the idea and how her experiment went. 

It think it might be kind of fun to start sharing some of the layouts you all do based one the Sketch Week sketches. If you create a layout based on the sketch from that week leave a link in the comments and then on Monday I'll post all the links so everyone can go check them out. 

Sketch Week, Day 2

Day two is here and since we added the new March downloads to the Scrapbook Generation online store you can go grab the free March sketch. The free sketch is the same sketch that I'm using as a starting point for my layouts this week. If you haven't had a chance yet, you can also check out the other March downloads that I posted about yesterday. 

Scrapbook Generation's Free March Sketch

* you can download by clicking here

"Pawsitively Adorable"

Supplies - Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned paper: We R Memory Keepers; Stickers: We R Memory Keepers; Alphabets: My Little Shoebox and American Crafts; Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink; Dog bone clips: unknown; Embroidery floss: DMC

Variation #1 - The biggest change I made for this layout is the pictures. All of the photos that I wanted to use were vertical 4 x 6" photos instead of the suggested horizontal 6 x 4" photos.

On the left page I had to make sure that I didn't lose the space for the title so I lowered the picture. I also added a photo mat to help that photo stand out. Because the width of the photo is the same as the strip behind it (4") it looked a little odd and the picture was getting a little lost. The mat was an easy solution.

On the right page I didn't need to do much since the two 4 x 6" photos filled the space of the photos on the sketch very closely. There is a slight difference in both the height (a 1" difference) and width (a 2" difference) but it isn't enough to need to adjust anything to fit the differences.

Variation #2 - I switched the title/embellishment up a little. I moved the embellishment (the hearts on the sketch) to the left of the title (the paws). The banner came down low enough on the top right side near the picture that I didn't want to cover it up with an embellishment.

Variation #3 - I pretty much followed the same banner as on the sketch but I added in a few dog bone clips to fit the theme of my layout. I also used dog paws in place of the hearts on the sketch.

Be sure to check back Friday for the last layout I have created based on the free March sketch and then Monday to see who has won the download giveaway. 

Sketch Week, Day 1

This Tuesday is download day so that means that today is the first day of Sketch Week!

Each month I'll be using the free download sketch that you can find in the Scrapbook Generation online store. (For those of you that don't know: On the third Tuesday of the month we introduce a bunch of new sketches both as individuals and as groups of sketches that you can download for a small price. We also offer a free sketch each month. I'll post all information for the new March downloads tomorrow.) Today you are getting an advanced look at the free sketch since it is the sketch I'm using for Sketch Week.

This month the free download is a two-page sketch.

Scrapbook Generation's Free March Sketch

*available for download on Tuesday, March 19

"Meeting Mickey"

Supplies - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Pinecone Press and Queen & Co.; Alphabet stickers: October Afternoon; Title piece: EK Success; Mickey punch: EK Success; Embroidery floss: DMC

This theme of this layout is very fitting for this week. We just returned yesterday from a trip to Florida and Disney. It was such a fun vacation but I have to admit that I'm exhausted!

I stayed very close to the sketch for this layout.

Variation #1 - I used a longer and larger title than suggested on the sketch.

The title fills in the space of the larger embellishment on the sketch and I was still able to fit a small Mickey embellishment in that space too. Actually, the title piece, aside from the "meeting", and the Mickey is all one piece. Talk about easy!

Variation #2 - Instead of hearts I used small little Mickey ears. I kept the banner very simple since the papers are so bold and the pictures have so much going on in them.

Sketch Week Giveaway

This week the winner of the giveaway will receive their choice of one of my online classes (Sketch Support, 6 x 6 Paper Pads, or Photo Arrangement Replay) or one of the sketch bundle downloads (Halloween, Fall, Christmas, Winter, Love, or Spring/Easter).

To be eligible you can leave a comment each day. If you just comment one day you have one chance, if you comment on two days you have two chances, and if you comment each day you have three chances. (If you comment twice on one day, only the first comment will be eligible for the random drawing.) After Sketch Week is over I'll post the winner of the giveaway on Monday. 

Be sure to check back:

Tuesday (evening) - to get the information and links to the new March downloads
Wednesday - to see layout #2 for Sketch Week
Friday - to see layout #3 for Sketch Week
Monday - to see who won the download giveaway

just like his daddy

I had the opportunity to guest design for Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker this month and was excited to work with the new Noah collection. Being the mom of two boys, I'm always drawn to boyish themes and color combos and Nikki's was so fun to create with!

I was in the mood to go through some older photos when I came across a group of pictures of Drew, acting just like his daddy.

Supplies - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper, cut outs, stickers, die cuts and alphabet stickers: Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker; star punch: Fiskars

For some reason, when I take pictures, both Drew and Mike tend to get a little pose-y-ish (so a not real word!) See that middle picture on my layout? Exactly like his dad. I feel like am I a looking at a four-year-old version of Mike. This is probably their most noticeable similarity - their picture posing style. A lot of it has to do with being silly, having confidence and being totally comfortable with who they are. I couldn't have hand picked better qualities for Drew to inherit and learn from his dad. 

Here's a closer look at the layered strips and banners on my layout:

I feel like I should pass on a wonderful little tip I discovered in Creating Keepsakes magazine long ago. When using letter stickers you can cut out the negative of the letter from the sticker sheet to use. See the "A" and "D" in the word "Daddy"? I was all out of "D"s so I cut around the red frame that is left on the sticker sheet. It's an easy way to get more mileage out of those alphabet stickers!
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