Getting Sketchy

Recently I played with MS Publisher and decided to try my hand at a computer generated sketch.  It's been a while since I created a sketch, which I usually do by hand, first in pencil, then I trace with a sharpie when I like it.  Working on Publisher was pretty good and saved a lot of erasing.   I used basic shapes and filled them with textures to mimic paper designs.  I searched clipart for flourishes and that was a bit more challenging, but when I found what I liked, I changed the color to black and white for the sketch.  Following is the resulting sketch, Sketch #3.

Sketch #3

I tend to be rather detailed in my layouts, and found it was just as easy to get detailed in the sketch.  Overall, I liked how the sketch turned out and was anxious to try it in real life.  For the first attempt, I followed the sketch exactly and used papers from a an old Kaiserkraft kit with coordinating papers.  The flowers are Prima and the leaves are more of the dryer sheet leaves I made in a previous post.    The pearl flourishes from Recollections and the title was created using Thickers letters.  The "boy at teh bottom is a copper embellishment I've had for years.  I used all pastels for a photo of my grandmother holding my oldest son, her first great-grandchild.  I titled it "New Generation".

New Generation (Sketch #3)

Then I decided to rotate the sketch 90 degrees and flip it to mirror image.  Further I modified the layout, using the sketch as a basic idea, but moved the flowers and title to where they looked good to me, and I only used one photo in the vertical position.  I used some old Daisy D papers I inherited from a friend who didn't like the distressed look.  I think they added to the over 'old west' theme of this layout.  Like they say, "one woman's trash, is another's treasure"!!  The flowers are Prima white flowers that I enhanced with coordinating catseye inks and Glimmer Mist.  The cream flourishes were cut from cream paper using a BossCut die on a Cuttlebug machine, Glimmer Misted and I traced the edge with a brown Le Pen marker.  I used 2 brown crystal flourishes, but cut the them apart to spread them around the page.
There are 3 kinds of trim: lace (top), brown scalloped velvet (center), and a deep red ribbon (bow).  The title is from some old Colorbok sticker letters used in another project.  I also stitched around the central oval using brown embroidery floss in a simple running stitch to give it that certain 'je ne sais quoi'!  I love how this turned out!

Li'l Cowgirl (Sketch #3)

I just wanted to share how a sketch can be used, as seen, or customized to fit your vision.  Let your creativity guide you and you will be pleased with whatever you do!  Until next post, go crop yourself!