This 5 photo sketch is especially for those of you who don’t like to crop your photos.  The 3.5 inch circle can be replaced with a large embellishment, if you like.  And if you use a plain piece of cardstock as a base for the strips on the right page, you can save on the more expensive patterned paper.

It feels like I cheated with this 4 photo layout, because the strips on the right page were already printed on the page!  Since doing this layout, I look for lines that have a sheet like that, as it makes it very easy to scrap!

This 5 photo layout could be put together fairly quickly.  If you don’t have a 5×7, you could use 2 horizontal 3.5×5 inch, instead.  The photo hanging off the mat on the right page helps break the lines of all that vertical paper, giving your eye a rest.

The layout uses 5 patterns and 1 solid, but only 3 photos. I had never done a 3 photo layout before, but this time  I didn’t have much choice.  I’m very pleased with the result, though!  And while I didn’t have a photo to hang off the mat, the over-sized numbers work just the same way.

This 10 photo sketch has lots of photos, but even more circles.  Is there such a thing as too many circles?  The collage of the photos helps keep that from being so.

The layout, using 4 patterns (even those that look like a solid here have a slight pattern), is one of my all-time favorites.  You know those layouts that you do, and then you can’t stop looking at them?  This is one of those, for me.

This 7 photo sketch is great for when you have some strong photos that you not only don’t want to crop much, but you want them bigger!   If you don’t want to add a sub-title, you could add even more photos there, instead. There is more visual white space than in most of my sketches, so if that bothers you, add more photos or stuff!

The layout uses 7 photos, though one of them is tucked into the title.  There is no journaling, just a quote, because the pictures and title say it all.  I don’t usually leave so much space that doesn’t have photos in it, but the busy word paper made me okay with the idea.  As it turned out, this is one of my favorite layouts I’ve ever done.

With this 7 photo sketch, you could easily replace the focal photo on the left page with a larger photo.

The layout uses 11 photos by grouping three 2×4 photos in each of the spaces designated for a 4×6 photo on the right page. Turning those photos black & white added some visual interest, but was done mainly because the photos weren’t very good quality and b&w is more forgiving.  The 6 patterns and 1 solid are from the BoBunny “It’s My Party” collection, as are the embellishments. To save paper, I cut out from behind the large red square and used the flip-side for the large square on the left.

This 12 photo sketch makes good use of the photo-collage technique.  The title is on a 4 inch circle.

The layout almost doubles the number of photos on the sketch, using 21.  The photos on the bottom of the left page are either 1.5 inch square or 1.5 x 3 inch, created with a photo-editing program.  And yes, I know it is a very busy layout with so many busy patterns… but they are also very busy kittens!  There are 4 patterns and 2 solids, from the BoBunny Mango Luau collection.

This 18 photo sketch is all about telling the story, using as many photos as possible, without being too cluttered or completely covering up your pretty paper.

The layout uses 20 photos, 4 patterns, and 2 solids.  The papers are from Scenic Route, but as they are going out of business, I can’t link you to them.

This 8 photo sketch is another with a “big circle”, but this time the big circle is a photo instead of patterned paper.  To successfully do this, you will have to put a little bit of forethought into what photo you want to enlarge, and if it will be “crop-able” into this shape.

The layout is exactly like the sketch, with 2 patterns and 3 solids.. With the size you see here, you can’t see the fuzziness of my large photo, but I want to point it out to you.  Why point out a “flaw”?  Because I believe that it is okay to use a less-than-perfect photo as your enlargement/focus.  If it is the only photo that you have, and important to the story, use it!

Another 13 photo sketch, and more circles!  The smaller circles 4 inches, while the large half-circle is a 12 inch.  You can use a compass, a template, or even plates and pots to draw your circles, or print them from the computer onto your patterned paper.

The layout uses 12 photos, replacing a photo spot with a pre-printed quote.  The papers are from the BasicGrey Archaic collection. There are 3 patterns and 3 solids used here.

Lots of photos on this sketch… 13 to be exact!  You could use more, or less, depending on how you crop them.

This layout actually uses 23 photos, because one of the original spaces is used by a photo-editing program created photo collage (the fireworks).  The 3 patterned papers and 2 solids are BasicGrey Boxer.  I know it looks like more, but I really did only use 3!  The stripes were such that I was able to cut them into several pieces and make it look like I had more papers than I really did.  The original sketch calls for 4 patterns.

This 9 photo sketch is circle-licious!  Don’t take the exact placement of the circles in the right-page border too literally.  Just punch a bunch and play with it until it looks right.  Don’t overthink it!

I created this 8 photo layout before the sketch, and it is one of my personal all-time favorites. I used papers from K & Company’s Urban Rhapsody collection.  I think there are 9 different patterns here, but that is only because the paper is double sided (I do try to limit myself to no more than 5 patterns, when I buy paper!)

This 9 photo sketch makes good use of a 3 inch circle punch.  After that, there is very little cropping of the other photos.  The collage on the left page is balanced by the large circle and focal photo on the right page.

The layout only uses 6 photos, to allow more room for journaling.  And instead of a large photo on the right, I used Tim Holtz Grungeboard Numbers (which I love!)  I used 3 patterned papers and 3 solids.

This 7 photo sketch requires very little cropping of your 4×6 pictures, and none at all if you use a 5×7 as your focal photo.  The large letter used in the title helps balance the left page.  The background papers are a simple layout.  This would be a fast layout to do!

In this 6 photo layout, the photos have been cropped more than in the sketch, to allow more room for embellishments, and the large initial (number, in this case) starts the title that is finished in the journaling (Five Things I Love About Easter).

This 7 photo sketch, with 4 large and 3 smaller photos, could easily be altered to use just 4 photos and 3 embellishments.  I don’t often design with a large focal photo on the right page, but it works this time partly because of the size progression of the photos on the left side.  (I think… really, I’m not a design expert, so am just guessing, folks!)

In this layout, I only used 6 photos, and added extra title space.  I also left space for journaling at the bottom left of the right page.  The layout uses 5 patterns and 1 solid.

Yes, it’s true!  Our technical difficulties are over, and Sketches by Suzy has finally returned, with our own domain name, a new look, and what else?  New sketches!

To celebrate our return, there are 10 new sketches that have just been posted, and one of them has never been seen before!  Even more are completed and just waiting their turn to inspire you. There will be four more today, and then you can expect to see a new sketch every Thursday!

During the downtime, I have had some time to think about how to make this website better for all of you, and about new features I want to add.

One of those is already in place… you will notice that some of the posts include product links for the example layouts. Those links lead to sites you can see and/or buy the products used.  I do not endorse those sites, they are just where I most easily found the product.

Sketches by Suzy has a page on Facebook.  If you like this site, please consider becoming a fan.  There you will hear about upcoming changes to the website, and soon you will be able to see the new blog posts right in your Live Feed.

Last, but definitely not least, I want to tell you about this picture here.  That’s me on the right, but on the left is my mother.  She is a fan of Sketches by Suzy, but she is my personal biggest fan, too.  It is mainly from her that I get my sense of design (she has an art education degree and is a former art teacher).  She is the one who looks at my scrapbooks first for the photos, then the overall layout, and then the design details.  She is also the one who encouraged me to start scrapbooking, way back in 1998. It is very possible that without that encouragement, my sketches would not exist.  Thanks, Mother, and I love you!