Blueprint No. 001

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Ann-Marie Morris

The best thing about creative inspiration is that I never know when it’s about to bowl me over. I hear a great line from a song and instantly envision a layout where the type takes center stage. I marvel at the colors in a vibrant sunset and run home to pull out papers from that palette. I accidentally stumble upon a website with a killer design and I immediately pin it to my Design board for future scrapping reference. Each time I am struck by a creative spark, it opens my eyes to newer + greater possibilities than the last!

Today marks the start of a new feature here on the blog called Blueprint. Each week I will show you how to interpret non-scrapbook related designs into a layout or card. My hope is that with a little practice, you will be able to channel those quick bursts of inspiration – wherever they come from! – into all kinds of craft projects with ease. Let’s get started!

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This week’s inspiration came from the layout of Lab Partners’ website. Aside from being an amazingly well-designed site, it’s heavy use of squares + rectangles formatted into a tight grid makes it an excellent sketch for any layout or card.

For my translation of the Blueprint, I loosely followed the grid and made a few minor changes to better serve my personal style. For example, instead of placing four squares under my photos, I chose to go with one rectangular journaling spot, a ticket, and a chipboard circle. Additionally, I decided to spread the title across the entire grid instead of just the lefthand corner. You’ll also notice that I shrunk the scale of the elements down considerably to allow for more white space. The key is to use the Blueprint merely as a jumping off point; I want you to feel free to experiment as much as possible!

Link up your projects in the comment section, on our Facebook page, or via Instagram using the hashtag #bgblueprint! I can’t wait to see how you make it your own!

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Basic Scrapbook Sketch : 3.25.13

Posted on March 25, 2013 by admin

BasicGrey Scrapbook Sketch | Susan Stringfellow

This week’s sketch comes from BasicGrey sketch artist Susan Stringfellow. Don’t you love that row of smaller photos that also includes room for your favorite BG paper or embellishment?

BG card designer Kelly Rasmussen tackled this week’s sketch but used it as inspiration to create a greeting card instead of a layout. Sketches are so versatile! Kelly notes, “This sketch is obviously more suited towards a scrapbook layout, but with a few tweaks it can easily be transformed into a card sketch. When I sit down to work off of a sketch like this I look at the basic idea without taking into consideration the photos or title area. Then I just use the shapes and elements that are left to build my card. This entire card was built around that adorable “hey sunshine” flag (with the toothpick removed) that I knew I wanted to use. So I just pulled coordinating products from the Hello and Hey You lines and it all came together. I love all the layers and fun patterns!”

Celebrate 5 | Joscie Cutchens

BG designer Joscie Cutchens also used this week’s sketch. Joscie says, “I loved this week’s sketch, especially the four rectangles in a row. I chose to use 4 pictures instead of leaving one rectangle with an accent, even though I really loved the accent in the sketch, I just could not part with any of the four pictures. I trimmed the viewmaster frame in half for the circular part of the sketch so I can use the other half on another project. Instead of using a second circular element on the top of the page, I used half of the stitched garland. I repeated the patterns in different sections to create visual interest. I used the striped pattern on one half of the garland and on the star at top. I used the orange pattern on the stitched garland at the top, on a strip above the pictures and on the chipboard piece that says celebrate. The green pattern repeats on the cardstock piece in front of the viewmaster frame and on the chipboard piece on the top corner. I also added basic candy buttons in the same three locations.”

Now it’s your turn! We’d love to see what you create from this week’s sketch. Leave a comment below with a link to your project and we’ll select one comment at random to receive a $10 credit to shop at basicgrey.com. Comment must be posted by March 31, 2013 at 11:59p MST.

If you upload your layout to your blog or online gallery, we hope you’ll also upload it to our BasicGrey flickr pool and note what products you’ve used so that other BG fans can find inspiration from your work easily.

Basic Card Sketch : 3.18.13

Posted on March 18, 2013 by admin

This week’s sketch from BG sketch artist Susan Stringfellow is perfect for the next time you find yourself needing a card.

BG card designer Shari Carroll was the first to put this week’s sketch to use. Shari notes, “I loved the sketch this month! It gave me a chance to add some layers (my addiction) and use some SPRING colors from Hey Girl! I changed up the design slightly to incorporate the Hanger Banner and instead of running ribbon or twine around the card, I used the little flag Garland. Love the colors… and I hope you do to!”

Banner Card | Jana Eubank

Scrapbook designer JE also used this week’s sketch as the starting point for her card. Jana says, “I love this card sketch by Susan! I thought the Ring Around the Rosies floral paper would be the perfect companion to the doily shape along the top of the sketch and chose colors from the flowers in the paper to create the dovetailed strips. Next, I used my electronic die cutting machine to cut a doily shape, I accented the center of it using a circular sticker from the Knee Highs Element Stickers. I wrapped green grosgrain ribbon around the top and accented the bow with a Knee Highs chipboard button. Finally, I tucked in a wooden flag printed with a sentiment. I can’t wait to send this card out to a special friend!”

Basic Scrapbook Sketch : 3.11.12

Posted on March 11, 2013 by admin

BasicGrey Scrapbook Sketch | Susan Stringfellow

A fan of two page layouts? Love to create one page layouts? Don’t worry! This week’s layout is a workhorse for everyone!

Monster Truck | Shannon Tidwell

BG scrapbook designer Shannon Tidwell used this week’s sketch and our new Knee High & Bow Ties collection to create this amazing layout. Shannon says, “This sketch fit my style perfectly, but of course I had to change it up just a little bit. I decided to just use one side of the sketch since I like to do one pagers. Then I gave it a little spin, literally. I put my pictures on the bottom half and put the flags above them. My flags are mostly scraps I trimmed a bit and added some machine stitching so they’d have a little more texture. I layered in a die cut for and chipboard element for my title. You’ll also see a couple Wooden Tags mixed in. This was a really fun and doable sketch! Knee Highs and Bow Ties are such fun collections to use. I love that they can be used separately or easily mixed.”

BasicGrey Blog

Category Archives: Sketches

Blueprint No. 001

Basic Scrapbook Sketch : 3.25.13

Basic Card Sketch : 3.18.13

Basic Scrapbook Sketch : 3.11.12