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Creative
Sketches
 Two and a half years ago, Becky
Higgins changed the scrapbooking world with her book, Scrapbooking
Secrets. Now she's doing it again with Creative Sketches for Scrapbooking.
I have to confess that when I first learned that Miss Picky's dream of a
book based on BH sketches was becoming a reality, my first thoughts were
mixed. I've been sketcher for years and long ago converted an old day
planner to a sketch book. I have dividers according to number of pics --
although I take it a step further and divide by horizontal/vertical photos
as well -- and my sketches are incredibly similar to Becky's -- very plain
with lots of room for interpretation. Because I'm a sketcher, I wasn't
sure if this book would appeal to me. Of course I have this horrible
addiction to idea books and by the time the book was available in stores,
I knew I wanted to see it.
If you're not currently a scrapper who works from sketches and are
interested in getting started, this book includes some wonderful sidebars
and full page articles to help you get started and organized. I also
highly recommend this book for beginning scrappers. Although it does
feature some advanced layouts, the sketches keep everything at a basic
level so that even a novice can follow along. The beauty of a sketch is
that it is the barebones of a layout -- placement of pictures, title and
journaling. Where you take it from there is your choice and will help you
to develop your style. Once you've got the basics in place, you can let
your own creativity take over. I love the freedom I get when I use a
sketch. I don't have to spend hours trying to figure out where to put my
pictures... I just have to spend hours deciding on color schemes and
embellishments.
To keep this review from becoming a book of its own, I'll keep my comments
to one layout per sketch. I've got a lot of personal biases -- I like
colorful, clean layouts, favor 8.5x11 and really don't like the current
collage/altered/shabby chic look. I'm going to try not to let those biases
bleed into this review, but if they do please know that it isn't anything
personal to the artists who created the layouts. It's just not my style
and there's nothing wrong with that.
Cover: You should know that I'm a huge fan of Becky Higgin's scrapbook
style. I can still remember the moment I first held Scrapbooking Secrets
in my hands and it rocked my little world. This is the woman we can thank
for introducing fibers, eyelets and so much more to the scrapping world.
There were others before her, but it wasn't until her first book that the
masses began to add 3D elements. Having confessed this love, I hope you'll
understand when I say that the cover layout is quite possibly my least
favorite BH layout ever. Her layouts are always so natural and have such
an easy flow. This layout seems forced. As a whole, it makes my eyes
tired. I think if it was on a plain cardstock background with all the same
embellishments, I'd love it. The SEI paper just is too much for me. On the
other hand, the "Mom and Me" layout on the bottom left of page
12 is a classic BH layout. I just want to slip it in a frame -- clean and
uncluttered and totally Becky. The right layout on that page is a nice
blend of the current trend towards a more vintage look and Becky's clean
style.
pages 15-17: This is a hard sketch to bring together. To me, the subtitle
and title blocks chop into the flow of the layout. That's why I like
"Sweet Cheeks." The use of both circles and vellum tags keeps
these elements from overpowering the pictures. Samantha also made perfect
color choices; I love that the muted turquoise makes the viewer think of
water but is still a very classy element.
pages 18-19: I'm drawn to "Christmas Eve 2001"; the subtle
changes in color keep the focus on the photos and journaling. I like how
the title and journaling have been arranged to prevent trapped white
space, a nice modification from the sketch.
pages 20-21: What a great sketch! It's just begging for patterned paper
and every layout uses it as an embellishment. Yeah for patterned paper! My
favorite is "The face of 12(:15)." Nicole is able to combine
shabby-chic elements (clock face, circle clips) with the sketch to create
an eye-catching layout. Love that pink!
pages 22-23: For me, it's a toss up between "Little Details" and
"To My Daughter, with Love." I'm drawn to the bright colors of
"Little Details" but I love how Jill has altered the sketch to
use different sizes of pictures in her layout for her daughter.
pages 24-25: "Kelly's Hockey Debut" uses the sketch as
inspiration but has added elements that really help join the two pages
together. I love the use of the block words on the two pages and the color
blocking. Nice solid layout.
pages 29-31: I'm not going to be fair here because Becky's layout on these
pages is one of my favorites ever. I love the punch of yellow, the stamped
title that keeps the focus on the pictures and the nice triangle of that
adorable girl's face.
pages 32-33: "The Epplegarden" really pulls everything together.
The font is perfect, the colors a wonderful compliment to the pictures and
although she's not wandered far from the original sketch, she's made this
layout her own.
pages 34-35: Although I really prefer a horizontal picture on the left
side to balance out the heavy right side, "Sk8er gurl" is my
favorite layout with this sketch. I like the thin line of green dividing
the pictures and the monochromatic color scheme is a nice choice.
pages 36-37: I love all the little details that Becka Ott has added to
"Cousins." Although she stays fairly close to the sketch for
placement of her main elements, she adds buttons and chalking and alphabet
charms to make this layout unique.
pages 38-39: Michelle Tardie's "Christmas Eve" adapts the sketch
in a fun way. She substitutes journaling for one pictures, which gives her
more space to add fun embellishments.
pages 40-41: Man, I love Denise Pauley. I'm a big fan of her articles in
CK and it's so fun to see her here, adapting her style to the sketch. The
texture she added by crumpling her title and journaling is the perfect
touch.
pages 42-43: I've got to go with "Simply Irresistible" for this
sketch because I think that this sketch is just begging for strong photos
and no one can beat Becky's photography. The gingham ribbon is bold enough
to be stand alone as the only accent on the page.
pages 44-45: I really like the visual triangle that Tracy Miller has
created with SEI paper in "Meredith at Two." It doesn't distract
from the pictures but keeps the eye traveling to the nice story being told
by the pictures of Tracy's daughter with her baby carriage.
pages 46-47: "Determination" by Angie Cramer is one of my
favorite layouts in this book. I think it's a wonderful example of how to
make a sketch your own. The wave border along the row of photos adds
movement to the layout. If you didn't have the sketch in front of you, it
would be hard to tell that this layout was inspired by the sketch.
Excellent layout.
pages 51-53: "The Great Kern Country Fair" is a great example of
how to use patterned paper to create a mood. The burlap paper adds a
country feel to the layout, accenting the country photos. Don't you love
the photo of the little guy snoozing away?
pages 54-55: This sketch has a lot of white space and I love the way that
"Honor Grandma" uses patterned paper to "fill" the
white space and keep the eye traveling across the layout.
pages 56-57: "We Were There!" is such a fun layout that captures
so many things. Besides the photos and tickets, the amount of journaling
shows that this layout goes beyond recording a moment to recording
feelings. This layout will be treasured when the memories start to fade.
pages 58-59: "Attention to Details" is fun because of the
changes the artist has made from the sketch. Instead of the right vertical
row of small pictures, DeAnne uses just 2 vertical pictures. But in the
spot where only one photo should be on the upper left side, she uses 4
small pictures to highlight the word "details" in the title. I
also like the use of circles to fill the empty space. Very fun layout!
pages 60-61: "Two" is a fun layout worthy of a two year old boy.
The bold red and blue keep the layout interesting, the lighting in the
photos is just right and I love the way she used the photo space to add a
creative title. The brads as bullet points is a great idea, too.
pages 62-63: I've got about 3 scrappers on my list of people I worship,
and Jennifer Bester is definitely on that list. Her photography is amazing
and her style is full of texture and depth. I love "Faces"
because it is so Jennifer. I love the journaling she's added; it adds
balance to the layout by complementing the heavy horizontal photo on the
bottom right.
pages 64-65: "Adoration" shows how you can use these sketches to
showcase a group of photos from the same event and bring them together in
a cohesive manner. Taunya's choice of a neutral color scheme takes away
the problem posed by having a wide variety of colors in the photos.
pages 66-67: Although it's not really my personal style, I love how
"All Roads Lead to Home" takes the sketch and makes it even
better. I didn't even realize this was a computer generated layout until I
read the supply list. I really like the way that Michelle has done her
titles and journaling to keep with the mood of the layout.
pages 71-73: "Acadia Hike" is a nice, peaceful layout. I like
the earthy colors, the small picture substituted for the journaling and
the trio of button accents. Great layout.
pages 74-75: I like how "Determination" takes the sketch and
adds even more photos to it by using 3 pictures in the upper right hand
corner that are matted as one photo. I also love the bit of wave to add
action to the layout. Very fun!
pages 76-77: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a great layout. I
has a nice balanced feel due to the placement of all those circles. I
really love the way this layout comes together. Nice use of color and
tags.
pages 78-79: "Tom" uses multiple photos and lots of journaling
to tell the story. By adding photos and using a nice typewriter font, the
artist keeps the tags from feeling forced while keeping a masculine feel.
Nice layout.
pages 80-81: What I love with this sketch is that two of the layouts use
panoramic photos in the place of two photos. I've heard a lot of talk
about how to use the sketches you need to be able to crop your photos
fairly small but this sketch shows that you can also use one large photo
in the place of two smaller photos... or chop one large photo into 3
pieces, as in "Museum of Art."
pages 82-83: This is a really, really tough sketch. The right side just
doesn't appeal to me. Tiffany Bodily's "Bloom Where You're
Planted" does a good job of using those blocks of pictures to
highlight the details while the focal point picture brings it all
together.
pages 88-89: I really like "Eagle Pride." All of us have photos
of our child in a group activity. This layout shows us how to cut those
pictures down to focus on what's important and create one layout that will
preserve the activity.
pages 90-91: "Mayan Ruins" is a great layout. I love the font
choice and the use of brads in a visual triangle.
pages 92-93: If you don't have enough pictures to use a sketch, but have a
lot of journaling, "Justi, Sixth Grade" is a great example of
how to do this. I love the lists down the side and how she echoed the
stripes in her daughter's sweater on the photo mats.
pages 94-95: Nicola Howard's "Peter Howard -- Nature" is so
inspiring. I love the use of photos as background "paper" and
although I can't read the journaling, I know it must tell a great story.
pages 96-97: Another hard sketch because in its sketch form, it's very
unbalanced on the top half. "The Mississippi River" does a great
job of reducing the sketch from 12x12 to 8.5x11 size. Her use of strong
pictures helps the top and bottom to have equal weight.
pages 98-99: The torn edges in "Aroma Park" not only give the
layout an outdoorsy feel but also add continuity to the two pages. Nice
color choices as well.
pages 101-103: Although I'm not usually drawn to "busy" layouts,
I love "First Day of School." The border sticker is perfect for
this page and although there are a lot of elements, none of them take away
from the traditional photos of the first day of school.
pages 104-105: I've got this thing for pics all matted in black so
"Just Imagine" really jumps out at me. I like the cutting of the
panoramic photo into 4 smaller photos and the use of orange and teal as
accent colors.
pages 106-107: I really, really like "Venice, Italy." First,
Heather Locke created a layout without her computer, something that's
tough for me to do. Then she made sure the tags enhanced the page with fun
little stickers.
pages 108-109: Patty Lennon's "The Last Days of Summer Vacation"
is such a cheerful layout. Fun photos, fun accents and a great color
scheme. Great layout.
pages 110-111: "Dining Room" has got me really loving the
texture of the torn paper, the chalk and the corrugated paper. Great
photos of the details, nice font choice.
pages 112-113: "Perfect" is just perfect for this sketch. Great
mix of black and white and color photos, added depth with the tags and
warm colors. Great layout.
pages 114-115: This sketch seems very full to me but "Equus"
shows how you can use the elements to create a crisp, clean layout. The
horse charms are a nice touch and I love the close-ups.
pages 119-121: I really like the way "Daddy's Boy" takes the
sketch and twists it. The circles and brads a fun accent and the colors
give the layout a masculine feel without overpowering the photos.
pages 122-123: "Two of a Kind" uses a lot of little details --
brads, jute, tags -- and great color choices to create a layout that has
texture and depth while still being simple and uncluttered.
pages 124-125: I'm going to have to go with "Snow White" here
because that picture is amazing. It should be on the cover of an issue of
CK, not buried here. The white kind of scares me; I'm just not a white
background person, but Tara uses it to really pop her focal picture and
help tell the story of her daughter's favorite treats.
pages 126-127: "Our Town" draws attention with bright colors
choices jumping off a dark background. Photos are cropped to focus on the
details and tell a story.
pages 128-129: Am I the only one who was totally stumped when this sketch
was on the website? Now it's so clear that the layout used color-blocking
but on the website I just wasn't getting it. Thankfully Renee Villalobos-Campa
understood. Her "Inside Our Home" layout has lots of texture
which gives the layout a homey feel.
pages 130-131: "Play" is a great use of everyday photos. By
really cropping down the photos, we are able to see a wider range of
activities. The subtle colors keep the brightly colored toys from being
distracting.
pages 132-133: All of the layouts for this sketch are amazing. I love how
Karen Russell goes beyond the sketch, the color choices of Heidi Gnadke,
and the crisp lines of "Mom's House." I can't pick a favorite!
pages 134-137: "Wild" by Aimee Snyder has wonderful pictures
that are just begging for this sketch. I also like the fiber mat for the
focal photo.
page 138-139: "Water Wars" uses a ton of photos and still
manages to get in a ton of journaling. I like that her color choices are
subtle and that she has used the small boxes to give each individual a
moment in the spotlight.
pages 140-141: "Slumber Party Birthday" is a bright layout that
gives me ideas for using small pictures to record partygoers, visitors to
a new baby, Christmas tree ornaments and all sorts of other pictures that
can take the place of a list.
pages 142-143: The gorgeous photography of "Look into My Garden"
along with the use of the crisp white mats makes this layout a winner to
me.
As always, I hope you've enjoyed this review and maybe learned from it. If
you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here at
ScrapVillage on the Paperback Review board or PM me through the message
board. I'd love to hear what you think!
-- Teacher Kim
copyright 2003 ScrapVillage.com
If you have
comments on this review, or you would like Miss Picky to review your
scrapbook related book, please email her at MissPicky@scrapvillage.com.
Please note that Miss Picky's opinions are her own and do not necessarily
reflect those of the owners and management of ScrapVillage.com
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