Since I released my first book on scrapbooking a year and a half ago, I’ve been planning a whole series of books about scrapbooking. I’ve got about ten different book topics planned that cover scrapbooking everything from vacations to family history.

The one that’s closest to completion is one about how to use sketches. The first draft is done. Now I’m going back through it to try to make sure it clearly says what needs to be said. Once that’s done, I’ll need beta readers. If anyone is interested in being a beta reader, please drop me a line at heather@noexcusescrapbooking.com. I’d love to have the input.

The sketch book is going to be called The Scrapbooker’s Guide to Mastering Sketches, and the idea of being a Sketch Master is introduced there.

A Sketch Master is someone who’s able to read and understand sketches (or blueprints, pagemaps, or templates) and turn them into lovely pages of their own. They can adapt and change a sketch to fit their own needs. Additionally, they can take outside inspiration, and turn those things they find into sketches as well. They are even able to create their own sketches from scratch. Finally, they really start to grasp the underlying structure of most well-designed pages, which gives them a real sense of freedom, and they start creating pages without a sketch safety net.

Sound interesting at all? Hopefully it’ll be ready to go next month. Wish me luck!

Design doesn’t have to be hard. Why is it, that as scrapbookers we try to make our hobby more complicated than it needs to be?

One of the simplest designs to use, that works over and over again, is the grid design.

It works because it gives your page very strong structure, with lots of implied and even visible line. It works because you don’t trap white space, and have consistent margins throughout your layout. In some cases, it even helps you include the rule of thirds on your page. (The rule of thirds, in case anyone is interested, is the theory that if you picture a tic tac toe frame superimposed over your photograph or page design, the focal point should be at one of the places where the lines intersect. This helps make your photo or page more interesting and dynamic.)

How about, rather than telling you all about how wonderful grids are, we just look at some examples, shall we?

This was created for the first online class I took–Cathy Zielske’s Design Your Life class over at Big Picture Classes. (Life changing class by the way. If design confuses you or overwhelms you, you need to take CZ’s class. It’s excellent!) Simple nine square grid. Very strong structure, no trapped white space, and even margins. The flower and quote become a focal point because they are closest to one of the intersecting grid lines.

You don’t necessarily need to have a photo or piece of patterned paper in each square to be a grid. This page lets the center square be the focal point, and the lack of actual squares doesn’t make the structure any weaker.

You also don’t have to have a nine square grid. You could have a four square grid, or even a 49 square grid. What makes a grid so flexible is that the basic structure is so strong. The rule of thirds is more likely to be used when you aren’t using a nine square grid. Above, you’ll notice the eyes for both kids is about where the imagined tic tac toe grid lines intersect, and the title of the page below is also partially on one of those imagined line intersections.

Your grid doesn’t even have to cover the entire page.

A partial grid can be a great way to get a lot of photos on a page, and still have a strong design.

A grid also doesn’t have to be straight. Give it a little twist, and you’ve added a whole new batch of fun to your layout.

Don’t you just love how versatile a grid based design is on your scrapbook pages? It really does give your layouts a strong foundation, while giving you room for creativity.

How often do you use grids? Have any you’d like to share?