Friday, August 19, 2011

Let's Get Ready to Switch It Up!

 If you are looking for the August Blog Hop, click HERE.

Good Saturday Morning!  I hope you've all had a great week and that you are now getting ready for an even better weekend!  I am very excited to share my first assignment with you, as one of the new DT members at Sassy Lil' Sketches!  I am joining along with some amazing ladies in a new feature that has been added to the Blog starting this month.  Each Saturday, there will be a team working on a sketch and their assignment is to Switch It Up!  What's that mean, you might ask?  Well, we get to change the sketch up in any way, shape, or form we can think of!  FUN!  Some options are flipping or rotating the sketch, changing the number of photos that are used on the sketch, making a single pager into a double pager, etc.  That's the beauty of a sketch...you can use them, as is, if it fits your needs...or you can take some liberties with it and make it into something definitively your own.

Here's an idea that helps me when I have a sketch, that I want to switch up...start with your photos.  Don't worry about printing your photos to the exact size drawn on the sketch.  Print out standard sizes (5x7, 4x6, 3.5x5) or irregular sizes and then start your layout based on the sketch from there.  You may be able to keep the other elements on the sketch as is, or this might give you the opportunity to move things around a little.  Remember, sketches are a jumping off point and once you get going, your imagination can take you anywhere.

For the month of August, I was given this fabulous sketch:


And here is what I created based on this sketch:



As you can see I changed things first, by changing the 1 photo space to 3 photos.  I printed One 4x6 photo and Two 3x4 photos.  Instead of adding a solid piece of paper behind my photos, I chose to do a window look, with a frame cut from the Sweet Summertime kit from Echo Park (this has been one of my favorite techniques on my layouts, lately).  I also moved the journaling from the right-hand side, midway on the page to the bottom right, under my photos (journaling strip form-another of my favorites, which you will probably see on a lot of my pages)!!  :)  I hope this layout has inspired you to think outside the box...or sketch in this case...and find new and creative ways to use all of the wonderful sketches that are floating around out there in the scrappy world! 

On another note...Pinwheels have been popping up on layouts and projects everywhere these days!  I thought they would make a great embellishment to go along with this page and they are really quick and easy.  Here is a little tutorial on how I made these:

1.  Choose your paper (double sided works best) and cut a square.  The one in the following photos is a 2.5 x 2.5 and the ones I used on my page, are 2x2, 1.7 5x 1.75, and 1.25 x 1.25.


2.  Next, cut diagonal lines from the outside corners toward the center, but stop before the lines come together.


3.  Then, start with the left hand corner and fold down towards the center.


4.  Continue folding the other sides of your "triangles" in the same pattern toward the center of the square.


5.  Once you have finished all of your folds, secure the center by adding a brad, button, paper flower...etc., etc., etc.!!  :)


Now hop on over and visit Sassy Lil' Sketches and play along with us each week during the month of August for the chance to win a prize from this month's fabulous sponsors!  You have until September 5 to link up your projects to the corresponding sketch challenge.

AUGUST SPONSORS:


Paper Sponsor


Digi Sponsor

Products Used:

Paper:  Cardstock - Bazzill; Patterned Paper - Echo Park & The Paper Studio
Brads:  The Paper Studio
Acrylic Paint:  Apple Barrel
Rick Rack:  The Paper Studio
Thickers:  American Crafts
Tiny Type:  Cosmo Cricket & Echo Park
Pen:  Zig
Font:  Big Mister C

5 comments:

  1. gorgeous LO! love the color combo, the frame, the cute sun and pinwheels! fabulous work!

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  2. Ashley!! I love how you worked on the sketch! I love multiple photos so you adding two more photos to the sketch is just wonderful. That pinwheel looks so cute too! Thanks for the tutorial! Great job!

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  3. I LOVE this layout, Ashley! I think SLS were picking right when they put you on the Saturday Switch It Up Team! You are AWESOME! I love the colors of this page, and your little boy is so ADORABLE!

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  4. Adorable! I think those pinwheels will make a nice add a nice touch to the mini I want to do for DD

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  5. wow, i didn't know the pinwheels would be that easy!? LOVE your lo ashley! thanks! :)

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