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Using Scrapbooking Sketches


By Jill Costello, 7th August 2005. Copyright © The Scrap Witch. No part of this article may be reproduced or otherwise used without prior written permission.

What Is A Scrapbooking Sketch?

A scrapbooking sketch is a rough drawing of an idea for a page or layout. The sketch presents a proposed placement of photos and accents on a scrapbook page. Scrapbooking sketches are intended as a guide or a starting point for you to create your own page.

Right is an example of a scrapbooking sketch. This example is intended for a 12″ x 12″ sized page, but you could also scale it down and use the idea for smaller page size such as an 8″ x 8″.

Using A Scrapbooking Sketch

You need to apply common sense when using sketches in scrapbooking. Sometimes a particular sketch idea will not work exactly for your photos and available supplies. Perhaps your photos are landscape instead of portrait, maybe you don’t have exactly the right size or shape of accent or perhaps you don’t like to journal on your pages. This doesn’t mean you can’t use the sketch idea. It simply means you need to do a little improvising!

One Idea Many Looks

Take a look at my version of the sketch shown left. Is it exactly the same as the sketch? No! If you look closely, you can see that I’ve incorporated the page title into the items originally designated as accents on the sketch. That’s perfectly ok. I’ve also placed a label with the date on it in the bottom left hand corner of my layout which isn’t on the original sketch. That’s ok too.

If you wanted to put a journalling block where a photo has been designated on a sketch, then by all means do it. These little variations make your layout unique from someone else’s version. If thirty people used this same sketch, you would probably get thirty very different looking pages. That’s the beauty of a sketch! How much you deviate from the original idea is completely up to you.

Monthly Sketch Challenges at The Scrap Witch

Here at The Scrap Witch, we post a new scrapbooking sketch idea each month to our Sketch Gallery each month as a challenge for our members and regular visitors. We hope you enjoy them!