Sunday Sketch | Suzy

This week, our layout sketch is an 8.5x11 layout with two photos and lots of details. Our card sketch features hanging embellishments & our Project Life sketch makes for a great title card. Creative Team member, Suzy Plantamura, is joining us this week & sharing her take on all three sketches! Be sure to follow Suzy here at Studio Calico to see more of her work and keep up with her.

First, let's look at this week's sketches - our 8.5x11 layout sketch comes from Marcy Penner's Check This Out layout:

Our card sketch comes from Julie Campbell's Stardust card:

And our Project Life sketch comes from Ali Edwards Week 11 spread:

Here's what Suzy has to say about working with the sketches:

I have only used sketches a couple of times and I didn't realize how much they speed up the creative process until I used these three this week. The most time consuming part of making something for me is moving everything around until I like it. By using these sketches as a starting point, I was able to save a lot of time by placing things just as they appeared in the sketch. Because I'm new to using sketches, I stuck pretty closely to them as they are.

Layout: For the layout, I replaced the title/journaling block with a third photo. I expanded on the circle design by adding several more circles that I had left from my Tabasco PL add-on kit. I added the title and a sub-title where the two strips were on the sketch. I added some embellishments to the top left hand side of the layout to balance it. I needed a place to add the journaling still, so I just wrote it in-between all the circles. I tried a more "mixed-media" approach using my new Neocolors which was really fun to do!

Supplies: kits: Bluegrass Farm Project Life Kit, Gertrude Project Life Add-On Kit, Tabasco Project Life Add-On Kit; printables: Bluegrass Farm Printable by Hello Forever; paper: Bluegrass Farm 4x6 Paper Pad, 12x12 Thick Letterpress Paper Pack; ink: Color Theory Ink Coral Bay, Color Theory Ink Emerald City; mists: Mister Huey Sky, Mister Huey Piglet; marker: Micron 01; crayons: Neocolor II Salmon, Neocolor II Yellow, Neocolor II Turquoise Blue; stamps: Craft Die and Stamp Set Stars

Card: When using the card sketch, I turned it on it's side so the lines and stars are running horizontal. I used letter stickers to spell "twelve" for the lines leading to the stars. It was a great way to use up many of the Teresa Collins letters that came in the Gertrude PL Add-On Kit! I added a circle behind the lines and turned the sentiment to be horizontal as well. For the body of the card and the number 12, I used some of the Bluegrass Farm print files.

Supplies: kits: Gertrude Project Life Add-On Kit; paper: Bluegrass Farm 4x6 Paper Pad; printables: Bluegrass Farm Printable by Hello Forever, Bluegrass Farm Printable by In A Creative Bubble; marker: Micron 01; other: green twine

Project Life Card: I loved that this sketch was so simple and graphic. I usually add quite a bit to each of my PL cards, so this challenged me to keep it simple. I was really happy with how it turned out as it really shows off the gorgeous wood grain paper! I can't wait to add it to one of my upcoming PL spreads!

Supplies: kits: Bluegrass Farm Project Life Kit, Gertrude Project Life Add-On Kit; paper: Bluegrass Farm 4x6 Paper Pad

Now it's your turn! Make a project using one of this week's sketches as a starting point, then share it in the Studio Calico gallery. Use the hashtag #SCsketch to make it easier for other members to find! Leave us a link to your project by April 14th in the comments here to be entered to win a $5 GC to the Studio Calico Shop.