Monday, August 31, 2009

My process, sans sketch

Today was my first day back to school for workshops. We did a great activity that I am going to turn into a page that I'll share with you tomorrow. Right now I'll share my scrapbooking process.

I sometimes sketch--I rarely use someone else's, mainly because I find it hard to search through sketches for one that will work with my photos and stories. It's easier for me to make my own. Some of my favorite pages, though, are created when I just start cutting without a sketch.

Here's an example. I had some photos of my son, occupying his time while waiting. I thought I'd scrap my admiration for his ability to fill his time without video games (he has none). I trimmed the photos down to wallet size and matted them on white.


I liked them lined up with a tilt, a little like Lisa Dickinson does so well.

Next I found same papers I like. I took my inspiration from the photos--his sweatshirt has some teal and orange in them, so I went through my patterned paper stash until I found some I liked: Bazzill Swiss Dot in teal and some Basic Grey Marakesh (sp?).


By the way, that is a lap desk my layout is on--I have a scrap space, but I scrap on a lap desk to be near the family.

I trimmed the patterned paper to make a little "home" for the pictures. At this point I envisioned a little stitched border, so I pulled out the sewing machine and stitched around each rectangle of patterned paper.

Now I needed to start thinking of embellishments. In particular, I thought I needed a strip of ribbon to clearly separate the patterned paper; black was my choice, since black often grounds layouts. I went down to my scrap space and also pulled anything that looked like it shared color (teal or orange) or feeling (a little whimsy):


I didn't end up using everything I pulled; in fact, I got out my stickers and rubons to play around too. I saw the title belonging best on the ribbon, and to make it easier to see, I thought I should put it on a tag of some sort. I laid stuff down on the page until I found a combo I liked.


I didn't see an easy place for the journaling; I thought I might type it on white, cut it in strips, and place it under the title, but I thought that would be too distracting from the rest of the layout. Instead, I just wrote it, using the dots as journaling lines.

There it is--how I create without a sketch.

5 comments:

CreativeChretin said...

looks beautiful! Love Bazzill dotted swiss. You are very talented.

AmyInKy said...

I really enjoyed seeing your creative process. Your finished LO is stunning! :)

alexandra s.m. said...

Beautiful page!

desi said...

I love to see the process in which you've created this...though I tend to be a sketch kind of gal. I've seen your work in CK's gallery (many have been in my favorites!) and at the Scarlet Lime gallery. Glad to see your blog too. Your LOs inspire me--esp. the linear ones. :)

Diana said...

This is interesting. I'm always curious about how other scrappers create. I also like a little "tilt" to my photos.