Tuesday's Tips & Techniques: Working with sketches

 Sketches are so much fun to use in creating layouts. I have had lots of questions about just how closely I feel I need to follow a sketch. My answer is this: I use a sketch for inspiration, a starting place. I look at a sketch and at my photos and papers and bring them all together in whichever way I like. Sometimes that ends up being a very close follow to the sketch like this:

 This is a layout that I did as a guest designer this month over at Creative Scrappers. Here I did follow the sketch super closely but I didn't use all photos as sketch designer Lindsey Krauss perhaps intended. When I first looked at the sketch I must admit, I panicked a bit. It just didn't move me...at first. So I set it aside for a few days and then suddenly, inspiration struck and now I have one of my favorite layouts ever!

On the other end of the sketchy spectrum...I sometimes don't follow a sketch too closely at all but simply use a bit of it in my own way.

Here is Cheri's sketch this week over at Let's Scrap:

 And here is my take on only the first page...

I love the four big strips of paper on the sketch but I really wanted to use this single photo of baby bear and grandpa. Using full size strips as they are on the sketch wouldn't have worked for this single 4x6 so I cut four small strips, inked the edges and sewed them onto the page. I kept the title on the 3rd paper strip and hand stitched the bee's trail. {That stitching took FOREVER but I did it while sitting on the screened-in porch chatting with Jason. I admit, I really prefer the speed of machine stitching...}

So, this layout is still inspired by the sketch but definitely with my own twist.

And then there really are times that I get a double page spread completed. Not often anymore but it does happen!

Here is another of Cheri's sketches:

And here is how I interpreted the sketch:

This one is about as close to the sketch as possible!!!

A couple weeks ago we had a challenge over at Creative Cookbooking to scrap what was in our pantry. I took that opportunity to clean up my pantry a bit. Some of my fellow design team members took the opportunity to "show it like it really is." Well, Jason and I are pretty fussy about how our pantry looks so I really didn't do all that much. It usually looks pretty neat since the pantry door is left open most of the time and you can see right in it from the living room.

My favorite all time sketch is one done by Julie Bonner. I don't have a copy of her sketch {help Julie!} but here is one of my takes on it;) I've used it several times...

 This particular layout holds a very special place in my heart...it was the first one of mine that Scrapstreet Magazine published.

While I often put my own unique twist on sketches, one thing that is always a MUST for me is to credit the sketch artist.

Happy Scrapping!