Sketch Day with Kristina Proffitt

I just love a good sketch and being a bit intimidated by a sketch! That’s exactly what I was feeling when I looked at today’s sketch:

First, I don’t create 12″ x 12″ layouts and so I wasn’t sure how the sketch would translate onto an 8.5″ x 11″ layout; second, although I love large photos, I just wasn’t sure about it in this sketch; and then, the big title. Here’s the cool thing about sketches: they are a starting point for your creativity and you don’t have to copy a sketch exactly as is! The purpose of a sketch is to inspire you, to help you get started and to be a starting point. It’s good to feel challenged in your creativity every now and then. Here’s what I created with the sketch as my starting point:

Supplies | November 2020 Kit, Autumn Die Cut Tabs, Jane Tile Alphabet Cardstock Stickers — White, Very Merry Chipboard Stickers, Christmas Basics 6 x 8.5 Inch Paper Stack, Medium Jane Alphabet Stamp — Solid

When I was looking at photographs to use for this sketch, I knew that I wanted to use a large photo of the sweet little flowers that my son Jack gave to me in the backyard recently. It was the sweetest thing. He told me to keep them forever and I reminded him that they wouldn’t last forever, but I would take a photo of them and then I’d always have the photo. He said that was a good idea and so that’s what I did. 

I wanted to capture this sketch in a very simple way – that’s my style and that’s what I like and so instead of doing a lot of layering (like the sketch), I took a diagonal stripe paper from the Christmas Basics Paper Stack and cut it down a bit so that when I placed my 5″ x 7″ photo on it, I would have a bit of the pattern showing on both sides. I loved the look and how it framed the photo. 

I am really digging the Autumn Die Cut Tabs this month and so I knew I wanted to use one of those on the photo. I took my tiny attacher out and attached the tab to my layout, stamped the date and then added a small chipboard sticker from the Very Merry Chipboard Stickers. I just love the bit of whimsy it gives and I loved continuing the soft, pretty colors into my embellishment. This shows you that you don’t have to just document holiday photos with these November kit and extras.

I cut a small piece of the Christmas Basics Paper Stack polka dot patterned paper and put it along the bottom of the layout and then took another Autumn Die Cut Tab, layered one of the Very Merry Chipboard Sticker hearts on it and stapled that as well. I do love layering embellishments and so I did that a bit on the layout. Remember, you can see a technique on a sketch and you can utilize it in other ways. 

I love the Very Merry Chipboard Stickers, so I added the “love” chipboard to the middle of the photo—one of my favorite things to do! Instead of including an entire 3″ x 4″ journaling tag on the layout, like in the sketch, since my space was a bit more limited, I decided to cut a strip off of one, write my journaling on it and adhere it to my layout. A little chipboard star next to it and it was good. 

For the title, I knew I wasn’t going to stamp a super large title like the sketch, but I did pull out my solid Medium Jane Alphabet Stamp and stamped the word “gifts.” Then I used the white Jane Tile Alphabet Cardstock Stickers to spell out “best” on top. These kinds of gifts really are the best and these kinds of sketches that challenge you are really the best, too!

It’s great to get out of your comfort zone when you scrapbook every now and then and sketches are a good way to do just that. Give this sketch a try—it might be exactly what you need to get out of a creative rut or try something new in your documenting! No matter what, you’ll have lots of fun either way! One of the best gifts you can give yourself and your family is to document your life, so I hope you’ll do some of that today, friend.

Show us how you use today’s sketch to create your project, whether you use it as is, or change it to fit your style like Kristina did! Share your project on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio, or in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group!