Final Sketch Mania Challenge

Last week was the third and final week of the Sketch Mania competition over at Scraps of Us.  I had such fun with these challenges and I'm certainly going to miss them.  If nothing else, it gave me an excuse to site down and scrap (well, digi-scrap) even during the busy holiday season.

The challenge for week 3 was to create a double page sketch to house 6-8 photos plus journaling.  Loved this! I am always looking for ways to get more photos on a single page.

Here's what I came up with.

Once the sketch was submitted, the next part of the challenge was to scrap it - with a catch:  The layout must have only 2 colours plus black or white (choose one), AND we must use buttons and ribbon.

When I saw this I was stunned since buttons for me are a big problem!  I don't tend to use them much because quite frankly, I am just never happy with the way they look.  So I was a bit concerned.

Nonetheless, here is my layout - and despite the difficulties I had with the buttons, I am pretty happy with the final result.

Unfortunately I can't give the appropriate credit right now on all of the page elements, since they are from a whole bunch of different kits (I hate it when that happens!)  I need to remember to keep track of these things as I'm creating!  Usually when I digi-scrap I choose one, maybe two kits at most and work with them exclusively on a layout, however here, because I needed some buttons and ribbons that coordinated, I couldn't find everything in one place.  If you have a specific question about an element, just holler, because I'm sure I could figure it out if I needed too.

Also, remember if you create a layout based on one of my sketches, I'd love to see it!  Just upload it somewhere, pop me an email or send me a link!  I just love to see how sketches come together as art!

Playing with my Cuttlebug on Craft Critique

I just realized that my article on embossing with the Cuttlebug is running on Craft Critique today.  Pop on over and check it out!  My goal for this piece was to find as many non-traditional materials that I could emboss using the machine and the embossing folders.  I found several!  Pop on over to www.craftcritique.com and check it out.

More Digi Fun.

I mentioned the other day that I was participating in a Sketch Challenge over at Scraps of Us.  For week two, we had to create a sketch using circle photos and flowers.

Circle photos are a bit outside of my box, but here's the sketch I submitted.

And here's my layout!

This was done using a freebie collaborative kit that I picked up last year called Mango Tango.  I just love the cool brights colours and the floral accents!  They matched my daughter's bathing suit perfectly!

I also scrapped a sketch submitted by Tracy - one of the other girls participating in the challenge (and funnily enough, she's also my sister).

Here is her sketch and the layout I created based on it!

 You'll notice that yet again I switched things up a bit.  I just couldn't get my head around journaling in the centre section.  I tried several times, but couldn't make it work for me.  That though is the beauty of sketches in my opinion.  They are a great 'launching point' for the creative process.  You don't always have to follow them exactly in order to make them work for you!

Thanks for stopping by - until next time.

What I've Been Up To!

Wow!  The time just slips away doesn't it?

Over the last couple of weeks I've been busy busy busy to say the least but I have had some time (although not enough as usual) to get crafty.

I'm participating in the Sketch Mania challenge over at Scraps of Us which has been really fun.  It started December 1, and so far I've created two sketches, and one layout as part of that challenge.  I can only post the first sketch right now as the second hasn't been released to the group yet, but I will post it as soon as I can.

Here is my Sketch Mania Sketch #1

The directions for the challenge were pretty straightforward - create a sketch that includes 4 photos and one spot for journaling.  If you'd like to create a layout based on my sketch that would be awesome!  I would love to see it!  Just create away and then post it out there in cyberspace, but be sure to send me a link (via email or a comment).

Liz Weber, another gal in the Sketch Mania group was assigned my sketch to create a layout as part of the contest.  I have requested her permission to share her creation here, but haven't received a response yet.  Hopefully she agrees to let me share, since she did a fantastic job with it.  It is so fun to see a sketch come to life.

The layout I created as part of the Sketch Mania challenge is this one.

I decided to go all-digi on this, and used a freebie that I picked up from Studio Baers Garten @ Scrapbookgraphics called Turkey Day by Iara Gomes Baer.  I think the freebie is still available, so if you're interested in picking it up try this link to download.

The sketch I received was by Tracy Sherriff, and is below and while I admit, I did interpret this one a little creatively and incorporated lots of extra 'white' space, the layout of each element matches her sketch exactly, although in reverse.  This was a ton of fun to pull together, and I'm really looking forward to designing future Sketch Mania sketches and layouts.

Tracy's Sketch

The other thing I've been working on, although not quite so faithfully is my Jessica Sprague Holidays in Hand album.  I actually don't even have anything to share on this quite yet, but it is in process.

AND....I haven't forgotten about my KaiserCraft Advent Calendar project that I promised to post, I just haven't had a chance to take the pic.  Hopefully this will get done today and I will post my finished project tomorrow.  The kids are just loving checking out the little drawers each morning.  It's really fun!

Until next time.....