Hello everyone! We have a fantastic week planned for you, all revolved around our November Sketch! We hope you will walk away looking at sketches in a whole new way!
On our past sketches we've noticed some great questions. Questions about how to involve more photos, questions about how to tweak the sketches...and that's what this week is all about.
Let us show you how to make a sketch your own. Not sure what to do because our sketch only has one photo and you are a multiphoto scrapper? Then this series is for you. Do you freeze and use the sketch exactly because you can't figure out how to make the sketch more "you"? Then this series is for you!
Today we will take the straighforward/ literal approach to the sketch.
November's sketch is full of pictures and little bits that all come together through a cohesive grid like design. Swap out the smaller focal photo for a 4x6 with lots of smaller photos surrounding it. Take the sketch and make it your own.
Supplies: Cut & Paste: Charm - Sweet: 'Treat' paper; Charm -Bliss: 'Delight' Paper; Charm-Smile: 'Shine Paper,' Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots; Charm-Hey You: 'Trend' Paper; Charm- Carefree: 'Relaxed' Paper, Chipboard Stickers; Flair - Small 'Charms' Paper; Flair- Snapshots: Stamps, Decorative Buttons; Flair-Wow: Label Stickers; Chalk Studio- 'Happy Day' Paper,' Decorative Tape: Pink & Charcoal; Misc: Maya Road Mists, NeocolorII crayons, Ranger Ink Archival Ink
I used the sketch to capture an unexpected trip to Munich, Germany. This sketch allowed me to use lots of photos I took on our journey. On my layout, I used a lovely polka dot patterned paper from Chalk Studio as my background. I covered it with a light gesso wash and let it dry. I then added bits of color on the background using, paints, spray inks, and some watercolor crayons. I then stamped some images around the page.
After adding my photos to the page, I pulled out my scraps and trimmed them down to rectangle strips & squares. On some of the spots I used the decorative pennants, enamel dots, or even washi tape instead of scraps of paper. I love those unexpected elements.
you can also stack strips of patterned paper to create a layered look. I journaled around the page starting at the top working my way down to the bottom right corner. The black elements around the page tie it all together.
I asked Missy to join me today to show you how to use this sketch in a straightforward way. This is a great example if you are looking for an easy layout idea. Just follow the sketch to a T!
Supplies: Cut & Paste Flair: “Small” Point Paper, 6x6 paper pad, Label Stickers, “Small” Enamel Shapes, “Snapshots” Decorative Buttons, “Sweet” Enamel Dots, “Small” Decorative Brads. Cupid’s Arrow: No.14 “Chevron” Paper, “Cupid’s Arrow” Paper, “Alpha Love” Paper, 6x6 paper pad, Chipboard Hearts, Sticker Accessory Sheet, Decorative Tapes. Find Your Wings & Fly Up & Away:decorative stamps, Alpha & Word Stickers. Pop dots, Stampabilities ink, cord, black pen
Missy says: I took a very literal approach and didn’t stray much at all from the sketch. I love all the squares and rectangles in this one…it gives you lots of opportunities to use lots of patterned papers or embellishments all around small photos. I began with the “Small” Point paper from the Cut & Paste Flair collection because it coordinated well with my photos. Then I picked out several papers and embellishments from the new Cupid’s Arrow collection.
For some of the rectangular shapes, I decided to use one of the frame papers from the Cut & Paste “Flair” 6x6 paper pad. They’re perfect and just the right size, and I also wanted to add some black into my page, so these fit the bill. I also added a few of the cute quotation mark enamel shapes. Those can add a little pizzazz to any project!
I hope this sketch inspires you to break out those patterned papers and cut them up! Sometimes it’s fun to use small pieces for a layout and create a mosaic type look rather than always use big pieces and create layers. I’m a HUGE fan of layering, and this sketch took me out of my comfort zone and made me try a technique I’m not used to. I really love how it turned out. And remember, you can always just use the sketch as a starting point and go from there. Sometimes it’s fun to use the sketch “as is,” while another sketch you may only use a piece of it for inspiration.
Missy
Thanks Missy!
Now it's up to you guys to decide how you'd like to use this sketch. We will be sharing variations on it all week long but we are also challenging YOU to join in our November sketch challenge.
A random winner will be chosen and shared with our next challenge on December 2nd . You have until the end of the day on Sunday, December 1 to share your project.
Please link your sketch via the InLinkz tool at the bottom of this post. Your layout must feature MME products. Only one entry per participant, please. The prize is any MME collection.