Hi friends! If you are like me, you've held onto your sketches over the years and pull them out often to get inspired. I have a whole discbound binder full of sketches and I love flipping through it to gather ideas. Sketches are timeless and can be used with any collection, as Amy demonstrates here. It‚Äôs time for a Saturday Sketch! Today I am using the sketch from the Meadow Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit to create a layout documenting some of the details from the MHS Boys Basketball Banquet. I loved the idea of having a large title on one page and a photo with a snip-it of journaling on the other, but I needed just a little more space. To get that space, I made a side pocket under the photo to add more photos and journaling! I got started by selecting papers. I chose the plaid paper from the Meadow Simple Dori- the blue and gold tones worked perfectly with our school colors! I pulled out the M, H, and S from the green alpha cardstock stickers found in the Meadow Classified: Memory Keeping Kit. [gallery columns="2" link="none" size="full" ids="831643,831644"] Green wasn‚Äôt the ideal color for my layout, so I grabbed my Stampin‚Äô Up! Not Quite Navy brush marker to change the alphas to a blue that coordinated with the color pallet of my project. I pulled out the yellow puffy alphas from the MMK and finished off my title. Per the sketch, the right side of the layout was where the photo was placed along with journaling and the bulk of the other design elements. I picked out two stickers from the Meadow Memory Keeping Sticker Kit, and a basketball sticker I had in my stash to correspond with the sketch details. I printed a photo of the dessert table to use as my main photo. Since there were a few more photos I wanted to include, I created a side/hidden pocket to hold a collage of photos and some additional journaling about this much-anticipated event. I took a scrap piece of patterned paper from the Meadow Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit to make a pull tab. I cut it into a banner and used my tiny attacher to staple it onto my additional photos and journaling. To wrap up this layout, I typed up a bit of journaling and cut it into strips to stay true to the sketch I selected. Check out my process video over on my Instagram!   One sketch, two ways! Marsha used the same sketch and made it all her own.   I loved the sketch from the Meadow Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit, so I used it to inspire my Simple Dori layout. One of my favorite papers from the kits this month was the pink and yellow floral paper, so I used it to choose the color palette for my layout. I mirrored the sketch by placing my photo on the left page and the title on the right side of the spread. I followed the sketch and added circular embellishments, including a circle label stamp from the Meadow Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit and chipboard and die cut pieces. The watercolor ampersand die cut was perfect to layer over my photo. I decided not to adhere it with adhesive but instead added some messy machine stitching. I like the texture and interest this provides. I included more stamping with the Meadow Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit stamp and added phrase stickers from the Meadow Classic Sticker Kit to the top of the spread and below the photo. The right side of the layout features beautiful yellow and pink floral paper. I included a tag from the Meadow Classified: Memory Keeping Kit at the bottom of the page and used a die-cut element from the Meadow Modern Memory Keeping Kit to serve as a title. Next, I stamped another circle label with black ink and layered some chipboard circular embellishments behind the title piece. To complete the spread, I added a thin strip of patterned paper to the bottom of the page and did a bit more machine stitching. I enjoyed creating my TN layout based on this month's sketch! We love how Jill adapted her sketches to work for featured embellishments. [gallery columns="2" link="none" size="full" ids="831649,831645"] Sketches provide a great way to jumpstart creative ideas! I love the little envelopes in the Afternoon Tea Collection, and so the sketch I chose allowed me to use them in a design by combining and substituting envelopes and tags. I followed the sketch pretty closely, but to be true to my own style I added detail: layering the tags with washi tape, stamping, die cuts, and puffy stickers. I also adapted the sketch for a 12x12 page and added a strip of the handwriting paper (which I love!). I included machine stitching along the strip, a stamped element, and a postmark above my photo, along with the sticker of pens, plus lots of handwritten journaling! See my video for more details and ideas about how to work with a sketch. Sketches provide a great way to jumpstart creative ideas! [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnJY9ADwkYE[/embed]   Have you ever wished you could pick Christine's brain about her design style when it comes to her sketches for the kits? If you feel this way too, we have good news! Starting with the Afternoon Tea Collection we are switching things up with the sketches found in the Traveler's Notebook Memory Keeping Kits and the Modern Memory Keeping Kits with a more interactive way to see Christine's creative process! Instead of the printed sketches, Christine will now create a video walkthrough with layouts created for each kit.¬†In case you missed it, here is a look at the designs using the Afternoon Tea Modern Memory Keeping Kit. https://youtu.be/ISnA6sTAGlE Now let's look at Christine's designs using the Afternoon Tea Traveler's Notebook Memory Keeping Kit. [embed]https://youtu.be/Jp2a1ZSmoVU[/embed]   Have you worked from a sketch lately? Share with us by tagging @cocoa_daisy on social media or posting to the Cocoa Daisy Fan Page. Make sure to visit our Pinterest page and the Cocoa Daisy YouTube Channel for more inspiration.

Best,

Rachel, Creative Team Blog Coordinator