We thought it would be fun to bring back our sketch feature here and there, as sketches are still such a widely popular tool in scrapbooking. We shared the sketch with two of our Creative Team designers, to see how they would put it to use. Feel free to give this sketch a try and as always, we’d love to see what you do with it!
“Wild Thang”, by Missy Whidden.
I love how sketches can give you a jumpstart on a project, and they are one of my favorite ways to get an idea flowing. This sketch leaves lots of room for a creative background, and so I pulled out my favorite spray mists and some clear gesso and went to work. Some of my favorite colors in the Bella Blvd collections are the bright pinks, yellows and teals. I was first inspired by the 3×4 card from the Color Chaos paper. It reminded me of my little “wild child,” and so I decided to create a bright, fun and “wild” layout. As you can see from the photos, my daughter is a pro at making silly faces and making us all laugh. The saying on this card is perfect for her, and I echoed all those bright colors on my background. She’s a messy kid, and so I wanted a messy background.
I used the plastic packaging with my spray mists to create the watercolor look and then added some splatters with the nozzle. I stitched through the 3×4 card with some black thread to add a bit more texture and then backed with some black paper. I added pop dots to everything to give it more dimension. I just love the Wild Things Washi Tape, and I had to repeat the word “wild” several times using it.
I love how this turned out. I wanted to mimic the large title in the sketch, and the Amorie Alphas were perfect. I left them white because they look so pretty on top of the watercolor background. I used all the rainbow colors on the layout to stitch through the letters. Stitching is a great way to add detail, texture and color. You can use that same sewing thread and create a fun little messy bundle to use as a layer on texture as well. The Tiny Text alpha stickers were just the right size and colors to finish my title.
When I have a layout with everything centered in the middle, I like to create smaller clusters at the top and bottom. The sketch had a little detail in those areas, and so I used more of the Washi Tape, a Trinkets sticker, some Enamel Hearts and some patterned paper strips to create a few cluster areas.
Here’s one more look at the photo area. These Enamel Hearts are perfect for adding finishing touches on paper or the photo itself. You can see how adding tangled thread adds a great pop of whatever color you need, and it also gives great texture. I hope this sketch inspires you to get creative and make a fabulous layout!
Supplies:
Color Chaos: Words of Wisdom, Orange Strandz, Trinkets; Fresh Market: Whole Lotta Seeds; Just Add Color: Passcode, Trinkets Full Color; The Zoo Crew: Treasures & Text, Wild Things Washi Tape; Amorie Chipboard Alphas: White; Tiny Text Alpha Stickers: Bold & Beautiful, Fruit Punch, Pumpkin Spice; IF Enamel Hearts: Oh My Heavens Mix, Black Eyed Pea, She Blooms Mix
“Positively Love Watching Her Play”, by Laura Vegas.
I love incorporating sketches into my design process. It takes so much of the guesswork out of the equation, as the general placement of photos, title, etc are done for you. Of course, I always remind people that you can tweak the sketch as needed or to give it a whole new look. Turn it or flip it around. It’s all up to you how to interpret it. I’m pretty straight forward when I use sketches, and use them as is, but that’s just me. We’re at the tail end of high school soccer season for my youngest, and I thought it would be fun to create a layout around where you’ll find me every Monday and Wednesday evening. At the majority of the games, I’ll snap a quick photo with my phone, and share it on Instagram. I picked out a few of my favorites for this page.
When I sat down to start this layout, the first thing I did was go searching for patterned papers to go with my photos. Our school colors are green and white, and I always like to add in black and grey as well. I ended up with a random mix of patterned papers, most of them tone-on-tone with simple patterns. I thought the star patterned paper from the Just Add Color collection would be perfect for the background of the page, instead of my original plan of using white cardstock.
I matted each of my three photos with different patterned papers, distressing the edges of the papers and then machine stitching around the edges before adhering them across the center of the page. Instead of cutting one large piece of the grey Strandz patterned paper (from the Color Chaos collection) to layer under the photos, I cut four separate pieces of the grey patterned paper. By tucking two pieces above the photos, and two pieces below the photos, it gave an even more layered look to the page.
As most of my titles go, I browsed thru my Silhouette library for a word and/or phrase to use for part of my title, knowing I would mix in either chipboard alphas and/or letter stickers to complete the title. I like to die cut my titles from both patterned paper and black cardstock. By layering them together, but keeping them just slightly offset from each other, it creates a shadow effect and adds some dimension to what is actually a flat title. I also used the grey chipboard heart in place of the word “love” in my title.
I cut a few small, thin strips of coordinating patterned papers to add to the bottom and top corners, as shown in the sketch. I kept my embellishments super simple, as usual, by adding some enamel dots to the page. I hope you’ll give this sketch a try the next time you sit down to create!
Supplies:
Just Add Color: Starstruck; Color Chaos: Scallop Strandz; Let’s Go: Borders; Max: Text Me; Daily Chevies: Chevy Pickle Juice; Making The Team: Soccer, Borders; High Five Alpha Stickers: Black-White; Ciao Chip Elements: Hearts & Stars; Enamel Dots: Guacamole
Source: Bella Blvd