500 Scrapbooking Sketches
Brand New 2008 e-Book

Secrets to Creating Scrapbook Pages Easily and Effortlessly

I adore scrapbooking sketches, and I believe many do too because they are such time-savers.

Sketches save me the headaches of having to "plan" out my page placement. I had the experience of being stuck for long minutes while I agonized over the placement of my elements. There's times where I wished there's a "quick fix" to let me know what to do with my page even before I start! Life can get busy and scrapping times can be limited, so during such moments, all I want to do is to put together a page quickly before I need to make an exit! That's why sketches are so useful to any scrapbooker.

Whether you're a creative powerhouse who's in a rut, or a beginner who doesn't know where to start, a collection of sketches can help jumpstart your creativity instantly.

I dabble in double-page scrapbooking sketches as you can see under my "Free Weekly Sketches" page. But Jennifer Gormly specializes in single-page sketches, as seen in her newest 500 Scrapbooking Sketches e-Book.

Note: Jennifer's book is an e-Book (electronic book) which you can download to your computer as soon as you order. No postal /shipping fee.

It's a sketch book for both traditional and digital scrapbookers who's looking for single-page inspiration and ideas.

When I first came upon this e-Book, I was excited as it claims to have one of the largest collections of sketches ever. Upfront I already knew her e-Book contains purely single-page sketches, so it's different from my double-page sketches.

Her e-Book was just what I needed at a time when I've decided to start a new scrapbook album, based on themes that's mostly going to be one-page layouts. So yes, I'm looking for lots of inspiration for single-page layouts (you can see my new two layouts created using Jennifer's sketches at the bottom of this page)!

What's even more interesting is that Jennifer's and my sketches are similar in format - simple black and white sketches that's easy to follow. Except that she's more detailed with her sketches. She'll show you the placements of both basic elements and "extra elements" such as border strips, row of circle embellisments, hanging tags, etc.

Right below, you'll see one of her sketches and a layout she created based on her own sketch.

What's In It?

1. What is A Sketch? - Introduction to sketches.

2. Selecting Your Sketch - Tips on selecting a sketch to start your page with.

3. How to Use a Sketch - A step-by-step guide to identifying the basic "makeup" of a sketch and use it to create a scrapbook page easily.

4. Personalizing Your Pages - Tips on how to throw in your special touch by "modifying" the sketches to suit your style and taste.

5. Double-Page Layouts - Tips on how to combine the single-page sketches for a double-page spread.

6. Sketches for 1 Photo

7. Sketches for 2 Photos

8. Sketches for 3 Photos

9. Sketches for 4 Photos

10. Sketches for 5 Photos

11. Sketches for 6 Photos

12. Sketches for 6+ Photos

Here's what I like about 500 Scrapbooking Sketches. It's a no-frill, straight-forward reference guide that's packed with sketches. All in one place. All at the convenience click of a button for printing out if desired. And I did print out mine. I like having the scrapbook sketch right in front of me while I scrap. :-)

I also like it that it's neatly organized and categorized by the number of photos for easy reference. By categorizing the sketches by the number of photos, I can quickly flip to the relevant category for the sketches that fit my requirements. Let's say if I want to create a 3-photos single-page layout, I simply turn to page 34,and viola! A bunch of 3-photos sketches will appear. A time-saver.

But I feel that the section on combining the single-page sketches to create double-page sketches might be a little tricky for beginners. If you don't mind spending some time to do the mix-and-match, you might come up with some really creative double-page sketches. Other than that, it's an excellent resource for single-page inspiration.

With such a big collection of sketches (500!), it easily turns into a powerful "launching pad" to more sketch ideas. What do I mean?

As you become more "pro" with using these sketches, you'll naturally start to "modify" and "alter" the sketches to give them different looks to suit your own needs.

Let's say there's some things you don't like about a particular sketch. Why not take away those "elements" you don't like or need, and replace them with elements you prefer? You might also find yourself occasionally looking at one sketch and be inspired to come up with a completely new sketch of your own!

One thing to note though. Some of Jennifer's sketches are without "Titles" and some don't include journaling area. So don't be surprised when you come upon those. Not all pages need a title and not all pages need journaling. ;-) If you still feel like something is "missing", simply add in your own title/journaling, like I did for one of the sketches below.

With this e-Book, it'll be easy for you to walk out of a scrapping session with a few stunning-looking scrapbook layouts!

The "Road-Test"

Our project was to create two theme pages for that session. She didn't use any scrapbooking sketches while I had chosen two sketches from my new e-Book to use.

As I already knew which sketches I would be using, I just chose the relevant papers and embellishments to match my photos beforehand accordingly.

Results? I created two scrapbook pages as shown below within the targeted time, while she struggled to finish up on one layout. And I'm pleased with the results. Would I be using more of Jennifer's sketches? Yes!

Created based on Sketch 003 from 500 Scrapbooking Sketches e-Book

Note: The sketch didn't come with a "Title", so I added in my own title. I also added a flower embellishment at the top left corner of the photo.

Supplies used: Patterned paper- Basic Grey Urban Couture "Jacquard"; Cardstocks - The Paper Company; Letter stickers - Thickers by American Crafts; Flowers - Prima Marketing; Pens - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, White UniBall Signo; Others: Buttons.

Created based on Sketch 005 from 500 Scrapbooking Sketches e-Book

Note: The sketch offers single block of journaling, but I decided to break it into two blocks of journaling on the notebook papers. I also sprinkled different embellishments on the layout.

Supplies used: Patterned paper - Basic Grey Urban Couture "Gabardine"; Cardstocks - The Paper Company; Flowers - Prima Marketing; Letter Stickers - Thickers by American Crafts; Pens - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner; Others: Measuring Tape patterned paper, buttons, notebook papers.

Update: Here's another layout that I did using Jennifer's sketch. I like how this sketch could fit 7-photos and I immediately thought of using it for a recent event that I attended.

Created based on Sketch 485 from 500 Scrapbooking Sketches e-Book

Note: The sketch doesn't come with a journaling block so I added one in. Other than that, I followed it closely.

Supplies used: Cardstocks - The Paper Company; Chipboard embellishment - Brenda Pinnick by Paper Confections; Clear stamp - Autumn Leaves; Flowers - Prima Marketing; Pens - Uni-Pin Fine Line and Zig Memory System; Others: Ric-rack and buttons.

If you want to save time and scrapbook more nice-looking pages, I would recommend you get this very useful e-Book now.

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