Scrapbooking sketches -
one photo layouts

Are you looking for scrapbooking sketches for a single photograph?

If you have only one photo of an event, or one really special picture that you wish to feature by itself, then you may find the following layout ideas useful.

In each one there is a photo, title, journaling, borders and embellishments. Although the embellishments are drawn as circles, they do not have to be that shape in your own layouts, as shown by my example at the bottom of the page.

A

B

C

D

Let's look at each of the one photo scrapbooking sketches above in detail, giving some ideas for how you could use them.

Sketch A

Sketch A, would be ideal for a title page for an album. Everything is compactly positioned and overlapping. There is no fussiness here, just a single photo, bordered on one side and then laid over a colored backing paper on which the journaling is written. Overlapping that is the title and also a single embellishment.

The title could be the person's name, and the age could be added as the embellishment, making it ideal for birthday scrapbooking.

Alternatively, this sketch could be used as a title page for your wedding scrapbook pages. The embellishment could be a heart or flower this time, the title could be the happy couples name, and the journaling could give the details of the special day, check out my example page below.

Another use would be to feature the family dog. The embellishment could be a paw print on a tag. Again the title could be the pet's name, and you could tell the viewer about how your faithful friend came to live with you.

Given you some ideas? OK, let's more on to the other scrapbooking sketches shown above.

Sketch B

This next sketch is a little busier as the whole of the backing paper is made use of here. The journaling could tell us what the subject of the photo is thinking about, as the row of embellishments resembles thought bubbles as used in comic books.

Our title in this layout is shown in a vertical column and the letters can be arranged as shown or laid on their sides. As with the first sketch there is plenty of room for journaling here.

The use of two different backing papers allows for some counterchange i.e. dark against light, and light against dark, livening up the layout. The single embellishment in the right bottom corner balances the other 4 and gives us an uneven number which often seems to work better.

Sketch C

This is one of those scrapbooking sketches that doesn't need much journaling to tell the story. Instead, significant words are highlighted on the tapes attached to the side of the photo with eyelets.

The use of a sub-title enables you to use a longer scrapbooking quote or saying.

Again two backing papers are used - lighter behind the dark title, and a darker paper behind the light embellishments and photo mat. You could stick to a monochrome color scheme, or really go to town with bright primaries, depending on your photo.

A larger photo is used here, perhaps a school photo of your child, or a studio portrait.

Sketch D

A full length vertical border has been added to this scrapbook sketch. This can be a paper border or made up of fibres "tied" around the page. A sub-title is positioned above, while the main title fits neatly under the photo, with the journaling block below that. The embellishments are gathered together in the top right corner and complemented by a smaller "bunch" overlapping the photo and border to unite them.

It gives a somewhat more formal or "grown up" impression than sketch C, and I can see it being used in a heritage album. It also lends itself to a Christmas layout in rich reds and greens.

Scrapbooking sketches in use

I used Sketch A to create the title page of a scrapbook for my daughter's wedding, although I couldn't resist adding the two little satin butterflies below the journaling as an extra little romantic touch.

The scalloped border was cut using my Cuttlebug and a Marianne Design Creatables die cut and threaded with pale lavender narrow organza ribbon. I chose to hand write the journaling which reads...

When my baby girl was born I dreamed of the day she would walk down the aisle to marry her sweetheart. However, Becky had other ideas and she eloped with James to Gretna Green. The family gathered together one month later to congratulate the happy couple.

The photo grabs the attention first and then the eye is taken up the diagonal line of curb stones and across to the title and then the journaling.

It is a simple layout, quick to put together, but effective for highlighting that one special photo. It illustrates just one way that scrapbooking sketches can be used to plan your page before starting the cutting and sticking stage.