When it comes down to it, the basic ingredients of a layout are pretty straightforward: a foundation, one or more photos, and the words to say what you wish to say. Even those basics are negotiable -- consider the photo-less or title-less layout, for instance. Once you have the basics covered, anything goes. Add accents. Layer paper. Emboss. Stamp. Paint. Stitch.
This week's sketch gets back to basics while also allowing lots of room for interpretation. The sky's the limit!
The sky, as it turns out, also happens to be a common theme for the pages that Suz Mannecke and I have created based on this sketch. Here's mine, from the land of rainbows:
I usually work with smaller photos, but the sketch challenged me to work with a larger photo. I selected one that would have been a shame to size down, giving the presence of a sprawling rainbow (including a slight double-rainbow, if you look carefully). The focus on the sky prompted me to reach for a sheet of cloud-patterned "Omelette" paper from the new October Afternoon "Saturday Mornings" collection. After trimming the paper and adding a rectangle of it to the layout, I cut out little clouds from the scraps and, using adhesive dots, placed them over their counterparts on the layout.
When it came to the title, I drew inspiration from the rainbow and misted the die-cut letters in ROYGBIV order. Below the title, I depicted my daily schedule by cutting out small pieces from a sheet of schedule-themed "Bacon" patterned paper from the "Saturday Mornings" collection. To break up the hard line in the center of the layout, I varied the arrangement of the small pieces and added wavy stitching across the pieces and the title.
Like me, Suz also had her head in the clouds (in a good way!) as she put her layout togther. The result is a light, airy, ethereal feel.
Suz shares:
"When I saw Jill's sketch, I loved the clean and simple design of it and decided to run with the oversized photo as my inspiration jumpstart. I moved the journaling and title to the center of my design and placed a clustering of embellishments in the bottom right corner of my layout as well as a few others scattered elsewhere rather than the top right corner as depicted in the sketch. The machine stitching is to repeat the design of the spreading butterfly's wings in the cloud formation."
Suz used the following supplies: Public Library "Biography" patterned paper (A&B sides), Daily Flash Eggnog Pop Drops, Daily Flash Chipboard Alphas "Grey Flannel" Signboard, Daily Flash Chipboard Alphas "Strawberry Ice Cream" Signboard, Daily Flash - Flash Chip Bubble Talk, SprINKlers - Boarding Pass - Frequent Flyer, 5 & Dime - Strawberry Creme.
Isn't her page dreamy?
Suz and I would love to see your take on this sketch! Be sure to share yours via the October Afternoon Flickr gallery.
-- Jill