Add-on Week, Part 5 and a bonus sketch

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Add-on Sketch #5

You can download and print this sketch by clicking on the add-on sketches link found under the "printable sketches" tab on the right sidebar.

"Our Little Family" by Allison Davis
Supplies - Patterned paper: Bella Blvd and American Crafts (clouds); Alphabets: BasicGrey (our), American Crafts (little), and Bella Blvd (family); Rubon: unknown; Stickers: Cosmo Cricket and Bella Blvd; Jewels: Kaisercraft

I thought the tree would be a fun way to embellish a page about my family. When I saw a super cute chipboard piece by Bella Blvd. that had a tree with a heart on one branch I decided to combine it with the add-on sketch for my layout.

Variation #1 - Instead of the trunk going behind the circles I added branches and kept mine in sight.

Variation #2 - Because I wanted the branches to show I didn't layer my circles on top of each other and instead have them spaced apart. I tried to keep the same overall circle look to my tree as the sketch.

Variation #3 - I add a red heart to one branch. I loved the thought that it kind of represented our own little branch in our family tree.

Variation #4 - I used green jewels to help fill in the really small spaces.

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Bonus Sketch

Two-page Sketch #14 - based on Add-on Sketch #5
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You can download and print this sketch by clicking on the two-page sketches link found under the "printable sketches" tab on the right sidebar. 

This sketch is also based off of my layout, "Our Little Family". There are a few things I wanted to share with you about this sketch and the different ways you can use it. 

Photos - There are 19 photos on this sketch! That's a lot! The fun thing about layouts that have a grid design is that they are easy. I used wallet size photos so I could still have most of the picture in sight when I cropped them down to the 2 1/2" size.
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Most photo processing places offer wallet sizes but if the place you use doesn't you might check out http://www.photility.com They have a wonderful free software called Photo Sheet that allows you to group several separate images into a single image, like six 2 x 2 photos printed on a 4 x 6. 

You can also use larger photos with the sketch, like 3 x 3 and adjust everything as needed. Obviously you won't be able to fit as many photos but it will still work. You can also add in a larger focal photo somewhere too, like a 5 x 5 (cropped from a 5 x 7) in place of four photos or a 2 1/2 x 5 in place of two. Another way you can add in a bigger picture is to put one in place of the tree and then use smaller embellishments beside it.

Theme - This sketch will work great with a collection of your favorite photos, like I did on my layout. You could do a month in review, birthdays, holidays, etc. And you can remove the tree and add many other larger embellishments in it's place like:

• a big birthday hat

• a wedding cake

• big splashes of water

• a Christmas tree

• tall flowers

• a house

• tall guitars
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Stitching - I absolutely love stitching on my pages but I understand that not everyone is as big of a fan as I am. And I'll admit, the stitching was quite time consuming on this layout since there is so much. If you don't like stitching you can always do "faux" stitching with a pen or just add straight lines with a pen to get a similar look. 

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