Two Page Sketch for May

I have been remiss...I see that I am a bit behind sharing for the month of May. I began an Arbonne consulting business and have been so busy getting that off the ground - my computer time was very focused on creating class aids and such. I apologize for neglecting to post here, my two-page sketch that I created for BoBunny's sketch challenge issued May 21st. However, I am sure the BoBunny fans were able to obtain the sketch for the BoBunny blog...and I bet many of you are already done with your layout!

If you are doing the weekend BoBunny blog hop - all comments in the thread below are due in by midnight on Monday, May 31.

Back to the May sketch - thought I better share my own layout with you. When creating the sketches I try to alternate monthly between one and two pagers. I admit, I can sometimes struggle with a two page layout. I had an idea of which photos I wanted to use, but executing it is harder for me than many of you. Personally, I like to create my layout, and THEN create a sketch for you to utilize. I was so busy in the month of May that I believe this two pager was in progress on my work table for 2 weeks! It's not even that fancy or difficult...but I worked on it for 15 min. here and there. I truly love one page layouts - to each her own! (LOL)

I wanted to add some fluff to this layout, because the chicks were, afterall - so VERY soft! I used yellow flocking on my title letters - I simply used my ATG runner over painted Chunky Chipboard letters. I liked the distressed look of incomplete coverage, and did not worry about adhesive not covering the entire letter. Also, I used the Chunky Chipboard swirls to help direct the flow of the layout, including the reading of the title. I used the little dots from the Chunky Chipboard alpha letters as a base for my mini Jenni Bowlin alpha stickers. Since I usually dot my "i"s with gemstones and pearls, there are always plenty of extra.

Some of you may recall that we had the opportunity to hatch some chicken and turkey eggs in an incubator this past spring. It was a new experience for the kids, and one they, and their friends are likely to remember. I had some Cosmo Cricket baby chicken die-cuts, but the colors did not work with this layout, so I free-hand cut a kidney bean shape from yellow Dot cardstock, and used a scallop oval punch to create a wing, and used a button for its head. It might be a little strange looking, but it works!

Rub-ons overlap the photos at both the lower left and upper right corners of the two page spread - this helps unify the two pages. When there are a lot of photos, I tend to minimize journaling to keep the layout from being crowded. It is important, when other children are included in the photo, to identify them for years down the raod. I used a archival safe pen to simply write the names of the children vertically along the side of photos.

Although I am late sharing this for the BoBunny sketch challenge, I hope those who enjoy sketches will find this two pager to your liking, and give you an idea for using die-cut shape papers which are found in so many collections nowadays.

As always, happy creating!

Rita S.