Starting with a From Sketch to Finish Sketch with Suzanna Lee

Hello! It’s Suzanna here with you today! Are you a sketch fan? Or perhaps you have been intrigued by sketches and aren’t quite sure what to do with them? Either way, you might be interested in this—the latest From Sketch to Finish Volume 4 class, and all of the ES online classes are on SALE this week!

There are 50 sketches included as a part of this class. Yup, you heard me correctly, FIFTY! That’s an unbelievable deal. It was a hard decision with all of those inspiring sketches, but I chose sketch twenty-five to create this fun layout about the family cat in her Christmas coat:

Supplies | January 2019 Kit, January Labels, So Loved Shipping Tags, All My Heart 6 x 6 Paper Stack, Jane Alphabet Stickers – Red, Heart and Star Acetate Die Cuts, Black and White Polka Dot Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Noted Stamp, Happy Heart Stamp, Noteworthy 12 x 12 Paper Collection

Way back when, when I was a scrappy newbie, sketches were my go-to when it came to designing a layout. I didn’t understand enough about design principles or feel comfortable enough with the products that I could design on my own. I would gather the exact number of pictures, papers and embellishments and I wouldn’t stray far from the sketch. It’s a great place to begin. As your comfort grows, you can continue to use sketches but rather than being a road map, they are a jumping off point. The sketch is inspiration but not set in stone.

Some my design choices are “true” to the sketch and some of them I adapted to fit the fabulous Elle’s Studio January releases into a pleasing configuration that tells the story of her misery.

Instead of scallop borders along the outer length of the block, I used the rounded-edge journaling block stamp from the Noted Stamp to create the illusion of scallops. Pretty creative, eh? It’s a great stamp for journaling, but I’ve given it another purpose! Getting more bang for my buck!

Another change I made is around the whole tile, journaling block and 4″ x 3″ block that both are housed upon. Because of the direction that Belle, the cat, is looking, I switched the placement of the 4″ x 3″ journaling tag in order to keep your eye moving to the right as you read the title and journaling just as your eye moves to the right, in the same direction Belle is looking. The title is smaller in order to not over power the picture and I omitted the banner as there wasn’t room for it. I did, however, add my own touch by adding the green January Label and the punched pink heart scalloped border, cut from a 3″ x 4″ tag found in the January kit, to a tad more color to the bottom of the page.

What are your thoughts on stamping on a layout? Up your alley or out of your comfort zone? I used to be absolutely terrified of just the idea, never mind the execution. It still scares me a tad but I have become a whole lot braver and don’t let the thought paralyze me. The Happy Heart Stamp from the January release is awesome! The strip of thin diagonal lines make a wonderful border!

The long vertical borders on either side of the block are just as the sketch called for, as are the embellishment clusters on either side. The Heart and Star Acetate Die Cuts are my absolute FAVORITE and make great embellishments as the sketch calls for!

This page came together in no time, thanks to sketch 25 from the From Sketch to Finish Volume 4 online class. And as you can see, sketches have flexibility and are adaptable to suit your needs (or your cat—she loathed that Santa suit something awful!) Be sure to check out the sale and all of the January releases! Oh! And when you purchase that sketch class and are inspired to create with beautiful projects, don’t forget to share then with us on the Elle’s Studio Facebook Group! We love seeing what you create!

Thanks for stopping in today!

You can find the sketch that Suzanna used to create this layout, and so many more in our From Sketch to Finish Volume 4 class, available and on sale today! If you’ve been inspired to create from one of our sketch classes, we’d love to see your project! Post to Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio, and you could be featured here on our blog and win a gift certificate to the shop!

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