4-18-12 Sketch

New scrapbook sketches are posted on Let's Scrap every Wednesday.  Two-page layouts every week, except for the 3rd Wednesday of the month.  That sketch is always a card for the cardmakers in our group.  This is today's sketch:

While I do love to make cards, I have gobs and gobs of them.  So...I'm thinking...and thinking...
LAYOUT!

I have wanted to use a big format photo as my main page element for some time.  It is so easy to do digitally, but traditionally, takes a little bit of work and pre-planning.  In this case, I simply turned the cloud paper design from the sketch into my own background paper using a photo.  Techniques I used:

1. I opened MS Publisher (no fancy software required) and created a legal size document.  Inserted a picture of Gracie and formatted the picture size so that the width was 12".  I kept the original aspect ratio because I didn't care what the height ended up being because it was going to be my background paper. 
2. I printed it on legal-size matte photo paper and trimmed off the extra 2" so I ended up with a 12" x 7.875" print (my new background paper).
3. I adhered it to a 4.5" x 12" brown piece of cardstock.
4. I then cut a 3.5" x 11" piece of patterned paper (Basic Grey Whiskers).
5. The sketch called for heart ribbon.  So, I then added a 1.5" x 11" of the same brown cardstock mounted on top of the patterned paper (gives it a seamless illusion) and hand cut heart pawprints from a patterned piece of paper (Best Creation Inc. Puppy Love).
6. The round photo is cut from a 4" x6" photo using my CM circle cutter (the best tool ever!).  I mounted it on cream colored cardstock (such a perfect match to Gracie's coloring).  The photo is mounted on foam dots.
7. I wrapped twine (American Crafts) around the photo twice and tied a bow (the foam dots help keep that twine from sliding around).
8. The big G is a foam cut out.
9. The sketch called for clouds.  I turned those into white hearts - punched from white glitter cardstock and adhered directly to my background photo/paper with foam dots.  (This glittered cardstock is new from Best Creation Inc.  No more wearing glitter as it does not flake off one bit...it's awesome!)
10. The sentiment is a sticker and so is the little pawprint lower right hand corner (Best Creation Puppy Love).
11. The sketch called for ruffled ribbon. I simply used plain ribbon and looped it for dimension and made my own ruffles. The pawprint ribbon (The Ribbon Boutique) is stapled under every "loop" with my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

Sorry...couldn't resist!

  12.  After I had finished all of the above, I wasn't quite happy with it.  I went back and cut more  hearts out of the Best Creation paper, cut them in half and mounted them under the 1.5" brown strip of cardstock.  I love that it added a bit more separation, interest, and color to the page.

There you have it.  A card sketch easily adapted to a 12" x 12" layout...showcasing my baby!  If you have questions, or I didn't quite explain the detail...just ask.