Using a Sketch

Wow it feels like it has been awhile...but I think it is mostly due to the busy weekend we had.  We took a little trip to the West side of Michigan and I'll tell ya...getting ready for the trip was exhausting!  I was glad my husband's parents were there with us, so that I could actually rest and relax

...cuz you know taking a family vacation is not necessarily a vacation wit

h young kids...kwim?!  Anyway, I have been working on this post for a little while because it actually has quite a bit in it...at least for me!  

Anyone that has read my blog knows that I love, LOVE sketch challenges...I actually rarely find myself creating without one to begin with anymore.  Well through a cyber-friend, Nicole of Anderson Arts, I came across a pretty cool blog and free monthly eZine called SheetLoad of Cards.  This eZine gives you a sketch layout and then shows you how to break down the design to make multiples of the card...plus a bunch of designers show you their take on the layout including something that is not a card!  Pretty cool, right?!  So I have taken the latest April 2009 issue of SheetLoad of Cards and created, count 'em, 3 cards and, hold on to your seats, 1 scapbook page.  Although I do feel a little guilty on the last one because I have never scrapped without my girlfriends before, so I felt a little like I was cheating on them!  Sorry girls! 

So my first card took the sketch completely as is, even using the dimensions that were given as well.  Thought it would be good to see what a card would look like without any creative liberties being taken.  I needed a masculine birthday card, so I pulled out an old SU! set called Sporting Goods.  Since the intended recipient was a golf lover, I went for the golf ball and tee.  A little faux stitching with a white gel pen and some embossing with my cuttlebug later, my card was complete.

The Engineering Details - Golf Wish

Stamps: Stampin' Up! (Sporting Goods, Stars and Swirls); Patterned Paper: Unknown; Cardstock: Stampin' Up! (Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Bordering Blue, Whisper White); Ink: Stampin' Up! (Basic Black); Tools: Signo (white gel pen), Provo (Spots and Dots Cuttlebug 

embossing folder), Stampin' Up! (Eastern Elegance Rub-on); Punches - Stampin' Up! (Corner rounder)

My second card actually stuck to the sketch too...well, except for the sizes on the sketch.  The measurements aren't quite the same, but the overall layout remained intact.  For this card, I used my new Birthday Lauren stamp from Paper Makeup Stamps...love these fairies so much!  I used only pastels to color the image to attempt to give it a soft look.  So the coloring outside of the lines was on purpose...please 

don't think I am just a horrible colorer (is that a word?).  I paper-pieced the present with the same DSP that I used for the base of the card and add some silver gel pen to the bow.  Instead of stars for the embellishments, I added some little silver ribbon flags with

 rhinestone brads.  

The Engineering Details - Birthday Fairy Card

Stamps: Paper Makeup Stamps (Birthday Lauren), Stampin' Up! (Birthday Whimsy); Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up! (Bali Breeze); Cardstock: Stampin' Up! (Taken with Teal, Rose Red, Whisper White); Ink: Stampin' Up! (Basic Black); Punches - Stampin' Up! (Corner rounder and Scallop Edge); Tools: Stampin' Up! (Stampin' Pastels); Embellishments : Stampin' Up! (Ice Circle Rhinestones); Fiber: Stampin' Up! (Silver grosgrain ribbon)

I just recently got a stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Women of Life for my daughters birthday party invitations (totally need to get cracking on those...holy cow she is turnng 1 already!), so I decided to get them inky.  Remembering Mother's Day is coming up, I chose to make m third card a Mother's Day Card...although it just says Mom on the outside, so it could be for just about any occasion.   This was my first use of Papertrey Ink stamps and I really like them.  They stamp very nicely...basically I found that not all photopolymer stamps are the same!  

Anyway, I pulled Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, and Apricot Appeal out and then added some Basic Black to tie it all together.  For this card I did take some creative liberties from the layout.  Instead of a separate piece of paper under the bottom of the main image, I went for just a strip and added the "grass" with the black rhinestones.  I also flipped some of the elements of the sketch...I put the embellishments near the bottom and the flag element at the top.  

The Engineering Details - Mom Flower Card

Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Women of Life); Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up! (Prints Pack - Apricot Appeal); Cardstock: Stampin' Up! (Cameo Coral, Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss); Ink: Stampin' Up! (Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black); Punches: Stampin' Up! (corner rounder); Embellishments: Darice (5 mm self-adhesive black rhinestones)

Lastly I took the sketch and created a scrapbook page.  This basically means that I took the sketch elements and applied them to a 12 x 12 layout.  I actually had some recent pictures printed (this is actually pretty big for me since I am way behind on getting pics printed...I don't have any printed of my daughter and she is turning 1 soon!).  My embellishments this time were eggs stamped in solid colors and my "flag" became my title.  I used some new Sassafras Lass alphabet stamps called Mamma Mockingbird...I got these free with a bunch of others from my Scrapbook Rewards credit card...pretty cool!   

I used the SU! Occasions Mini Catalog Egg Hunt wheel to go over the entire base of the page...but kept it monochromatic.  The same thought went for the journaling...printed it in Lovely Lilac color on vellum paper.

The Engineering Details - Egg Decorating Scrapbook Page

Stamps: Stampin' Up! (egg stamp - name on set unkown, Egg Hunt Wheel), Studio G (Series 12 - April), Sassafras Lass (Mamma Mockingbird); Cardstock: Stampin' Up! (Lovely Lilac, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White, Vellum paper); Ink - Stampin' Up! (Lovely Lilac, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore, Pink Passion, Only Orange; Punches: Stampin' Up! (scallop edge); Tools: Provo (Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder)

Well I am not sure if I have just totally rambled here or not...need to go to bed!  Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!