WHK | December sketch layout | Love This

Here is the full reveal of my layout for the Wild Hare Kit December Sketch challenge.  There is a full writeup at the WHK blog here, and I did manage to post a process video.  I think this is going on record as one of my all time favorite layouts I've ever made!

Oh one thing I forgot to mention in the writeup and video, I totally forgot to add the little tab on the right, which I'd planned for all along.  Ooops! LOL  I'll probably do that soon - with the date, or a little roller stamp phrase - when put away the layouts that need to go into albums.  I want to go through my stack of layouts I've made this year - more than any year before - and film a little flip-through video and share my thoughts on how joining challenges and design teams has spurred my creativity.  :)

Here are the process video and pretty pictures. xxx Iris

Papers: Pinkfresh Studio "December Days"; AC "Sweater Weather"
Embellishments: Pinkfresh Studio "December Days"; AC "Sweater Weather", Bella Blvd "Ice Mix"
Sketch made by me, see previous post

My very first Scrapbook Sketch!!!

I'm pretty savvy at Photoshop, and I like to play around, but one thing I never thought I'd ever make was a sketch.  But now I've gone and done just that!  

At The Wild Hare Kits, we have a sketch challenge every month, and different design team members have been volunteering to make the sketches.  No one had done one for December and since I had a sketch post due right at the beginning of the month, I thought I might as well give it a try.  That way I could tailor it to what I actually wanted to do with my kit! ;)

The hardest part was coming up with the concept.  I wanted to do a circular layout, but didn't want to use circles or wreaths.  I had a vague memory of a layout I'd seen some years ago with triangles pointed inward forming a circle that I'd always wanted to try.  And I have a quilt pattern that's similar that I also have been wanting to try. So I started with that.

Once I did a rough sketch on 12 x 12 graph paper, I measured out the triangles and figured out that if I cut a rectangle at 1 1/2" x 2 3/4", marked off the midpoint of one of the short sides, and then cut from the corners to the midpoint, I would have triangles that fit the layout.  I used the shape tool to approximate that, and then had the tedious job of replicating it 16 times and coloring them four separate shades of grey.  After that, the rest was easy peasy. I LOVE the result!

I have a hard time doing things half measure, so I even designed myself a little signature logo. :)  I'll be sharing my resulting layout soon!

Rain Gear

Over at Shimelle.com this week's challenge is to use this sketch.  My only experience with sketches was owning the Becky Higgins sketch books, and frankly I never could figure out how to use them.  I didn't find it a good starting point at all.  So I've never really used a sketch for making a layout.  But I decided to play along and here is my entry:

Papers: Saffron Yellow Pepper Soup 6x6 pad jillibean soup; Embossed cardstock Recollections; Cloud transparency Bella Blvd
Embellishments: Mistables (clouds) Studio Calico; raindrop brads (unknown); Ombre tag Pinkfresh Studios

I'd never really built up individual embellishments before. I quite liked working on this.  I think I will give sketches another go.