Once a month learn how to use scrapbook sketches and adapt them to fit different styles, photo sizes, and themes.
The last day of Sketch Week for this month has arrived. *Sad, pouty face.
In case you missed Day 1 and Day 2 you can check them out here:
You can download the full sketch with measurements and placements by clicking here.
For the third day of Sketch Week I always like to do something that is a far representation from the sketch. Sometimes it can be one element, one piece, one tiny corner of a sketch that inspires an idea. Sometimes a two-page sketch works great as a one-page layout and vise versa. Sketches are meant to be a starting point, a guide, not a rule that you have to follow.
It is not an exaggeration for me to say that I have an obsession with black and white stripes and flowers. Peonies, especially!
Our living room and dining room have black and white striped accent walls, I have a black and white striped table in our entry, and even my scrapbook room has black and white striped vases with peonies in them.
I was going through some papers, looking for a good match for the photos I wanted to use and I kept coming back to this black and white striped paper. I also had this set of chipboard and sticker flowers from My Mind's Eye that I really, really wanted to use for the design I had in mind. It didn't take long for me to realize that putting the black and white stripe and the flowers together, (like I do so often in my house,) could be just the look I was hoping to create.
Variation #1 - Shrinking the design from a two-page sketch to create a one-page layout.
I never let a sketch decided the number of pages I'm going to create. I love using a two-page sketch to create a one-page layout and I love using a one-page sketch to create a two-page layout.
There are three easy ways you can transfer a two-page sketch into a one-page layout.
1. Use one side of the sketch.
2. Use a smaller section of the sketch.
3. Shrink the whole design down to fit.
I opted to go with number 3. I took the whole design from a 24 x 12" layout and shrunk it down to fit 12 x 12" layout.
If you look at my layout you can see that I still followed the general design concept of the sketch.
• The background is centered on the layout.
• The photos are centered on the background.
• The flowers are in the same corners as the stars on the sketch.
• The title is in the bottom right corner.
• The journaling is in the top left corner.
This is why sketches are so much fun! You can follow a sketch design concept exactly and still end up with a completely different look!
Variation #2 - Change the shape of the background.
A big trend I see often on Pinterest and in the Silhouette store are circles/wreath designs with clusters of flowers, stars, hearts on opposite edges. I love the look. When I first got my Silhouette, I went crazy buying cut files that had that look. To me, it's an eye-catching design that is beautiful and fun to customize.
I decided to change the shape of the background from a rectangle to a circle and use those clusters in the corners to create my own wreath design.
Variation #3 - Changing photo sizes.
I went with a smaller photo size, 2-1/2 x 3-1/2", so that those photos could fit in the center of my circle background.
I also arranged them slanted, instead of straight across as they are on the sketch. This helped give me space for the floral clusters to slightly overlap the photos without covering too much. Plus, I like the balanced space it gave me for my title and journaling strips.
Fun fact about this layout:
I had a big scrapbook fail with my first attempt at this layout. I knew I wanted to include hearts and I had this cute heart stencil, some Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, and I decided to get all artsy. Well...long story short, I ended up with big artsy mess. After way too much time and just no way to fix my fail, I abandoned the idea.
I know it's frustrating to spend time on a new technique and then not like the outcome, but as with most things in life, we have to fail here and there to learn what works and what doesn't. This was one of those moments for me. I definitely won't be abandoning stencils or Nuvo Mousse anytime soon! I just clearly need to play with them a little more and learn the ins and outs of using them.
And, while the stencil/mousse was a fail as a whole, I still managed to use some of it on this layout. There are three small hearts (1. on edge of journaling strip, 2. on the top left edge of the left photo, 3. on the bottom of the right photo) that I cut out of my artsy mess and used to accent my layout.
Supplies used - Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Carta Bella Paper Co.; Floral chipboard and sticker pieces: My Mind's Eye; Alphabets: American Crafts; Vine cut files: Echo Park; Nuvo Embellishment Mousse: Tonic Studios; Wink of Stella Glimmer Brush; Nuvo Drops: Tonic Studios; Embroidery floss: DMC; Pen: Zig Memory System