Use Sketches for Inspiration - Scrapbooking Tip #10 -

Todays scrapbooking tip is to use sketches for inspiration. Having a blank 12 x12 canvas staring at you can be daunting. It’s nice to have a starting point and that’s exactly what a sketch is – a starting point.

There are no hard and fast rules that if you use a sketch, it has to look exactly like the sketch. On occasion I’ll start with a sketch and the layout will end up going in a completely different direction and look nothing like the sketch in the end. The sketch is just there to provide you with a starting point.

Where can you find sketches? There are lots of places to find sketches but my favourite is on Pinterest. Just type scrapbook (or card) sketches in the search bar and loads of them will come up. I have a whole board dedicated to sketches on Pinterest.

If you are struggling with where to start, try a finding a sketch you like. There are so many different ways to use sketches and to interpret them. So many that I actually offered a class focused on using sketches. You can find it here.

Todays Inspiration

For todays layout I incorporated a sketch and yesterdays tip – creating a mini page kit. The page kit had already been created (back in 2007!) which made the layout really simple to put together. Because so much prep work had been done, I completed it in front of the TV, with only my page kit, paper cutter and a copy of the sketch. A little prep work can go a long way!

I used the Creative Scrapbooker Magazine August 2019 sketch as my inspiration for this 2-page spread.

Notice how I used the sketch? The left page follows the sketch pretty closely and then I did a mirror image of the sketch for the right page. This is a great way to convert a single page sketch to a double page spread. Here’s a closer look at the pages.

These layouts are using some retired Stampin’ Up! papers back from 2007. How do I know they were from 2007? It was back when SU! was dating the bottom corner of their patterned papers! Normally I don’t keep retired papers but it had been tucked into a pocket page in my album along with these photos. When I went to scrapbook them, I didn’t overthink it, I just created.