Sketch Support #8 | Learn How to Use and Adapt Scrapbook Sketches | Day 3

For my day 3 layout I decided to take one element to the extreme!

Here is the one-page sketch I have used as the starting point for each layout this week.

You can download the full sketch with measurements and placements here.

Supplies used - Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned paper: Simple Stories; Chipboard and stickers: Simple Stories; Foam words: American Crafts; Nuvo Drops: Tonic Studios; Watercolors: Pink Fresh Studios; Circle punches: Fiskars, EK Success, and Recollections; Stars: Bella Blvd.; Embroidery floss: DMC; Computer font: American Typewriter

Variation #1 - Highlighting a certain element.

I love working with a cluster of circles. I mentioned on day 1 how they are the probably the easiest shape to cluster because no matter how much you overlap them, you can still tell that it is a circle. It's kind of hard to mess it up.

I wanted to take the circle cluster on the bottom of the photos and blow it up and make it the main focus of the layout.

First thing, I removed the 4 x 6" photos going across the layout. I wanted to have this huge circle cluster going up the page and I wanted to include all of my photos into that design.

To build this circle design, I figured out which photo I wanted to highlight the most. I made that photo the largest of the circles and placed it on the horizontal strip.

Then I used slightly smaller circles for the remaining three photos. I always start by arranging my larger circles first, so with this layout, that is the four photo circles. Once I was happy with the arrangement of those circles, then I could start filling in the rest.

That's always the easiest way to build a large cluster. Use those large circles to build a base design and then fill in what you need around that.

Variation #2 - Moving elements to fit your design adjustments.

I moved the horizontal strip up a little. Because I was making such a large circle cluster and because I had removed the 4 x 6" photos, I wanted the strip to be closer to the center of the layout.

I decided to align it with the large circle photo. It's a good way to bring attention to that photo. If you look at the sketch, the photo circle is placed right on top of the horizontal strip.

Variation #3 - Adding more strips.

I added a few extra strips to the horizontal strip. Because I had so much open space there was plenty of room to add a little more without having to adjust anything.

One thing I love about this boy collection from Simple Stories is how it pairs bright and bold colors with black and white. I love that combo and I wanted to incorporate it into that strip by having a brightly colored larger horizontal strip with some smaller black and white strips framing it.

Variation #4 - Moving the journaling block.

When I eliminated the 4 x 6" photos, I kind of lost the area where the journaling block was. My solution was to add it just above the horizontal strip.

A lot of times I like to keep the important elements grouped together or close to something that will help bring attention to it. I thought bringing the journaling in, close to the photos and title was a good fix.

Variation #5 - Adding a large background.

The last change I made was adding a large background. With so much white space on this layout, I liked the look of having a patterned frame around the layout. To me it kept that white space from being too overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I love some white space! I just wanted to have a balance of busy and calm and I felt like the background gave it the balance that it needed.

That's all for today! Check back tomorrow for layout #4!