Have you ever thought about using sketches for handmade cards?  I hope you have, as this is the easiest way to come up with card ideas, interested? then keep reading as I will be sharing with you all I know about sketches from how to select the best sketches, to how to change the sketches when you are making your cards!  So let’s get started! 😎

Using Sketches for Handmade Cards

As I mentioned in the intro, sketches are the easiest way to come up with card ideas. Sketches are like recipes that you can follow, and like so, they can help you get unstuck when you’re not feeling that inspired in making cards. 

I have been there so many times.. I go to my room ready to craft and then as soon as I sit on my room, it is like a huge blank piece of paper.. no ideas, no inspiration, no clue what to do.. have you ever felt that way? So frustrating.. right? especially as my crafting time is so limited!! with two little kiddos, I definitely cannot waste my precious crafting time sitting clueless in my room.. 

Well it is at that point that I always remember to bring sketches and believe me inspiration comes right away and I can come up with idea after idea when I am following sketches. 

Seriously if you ever feel clueless as to what to make when you are in your crafting room, give it a try. You will thank me later!!! 😁

So now you might be having these questions – what is an sketch? where do I find them? How do I know I have the right sketch? is there a right sketch?  no worries my friend I have you covered!!!

What is a Sketch?

The dictionary defines the word sketch as “a rough or unfinished drawing or painting, often made to assist in making a more finished picture” and in my words this is I would define it as a rough visual recipe that you can follow when you are creating cards.

As the definition says, it is a rough idea, or drawing or recipe, which takes me to the next concept…

How to select sketches?

When you are using sketches for your card making projects, you want to start using simpler sketches.. back to the rough idea… this is exactly that.. the simpler / rougher it is the easiest it is to play with it and the easiest it is to be more creative..

Why is that? well my friend, when these are simple with not many layers or elements, you mind opens even more.. meaning you can think of how to incorporate your craft stash better. Your mind is not bias to an specific shape, and you then start thinking on how to alter the sketches to use what you have on hand.

This will reduce frustration and instead you will feel accomplished, as you are using what you have, rather than purchasing yet another embellishment to be able to make the card. 

A List to help you when looking for sketches to play

The perfect sketch has: 

• Few layers  
• Basic shapes 
• No measurements
• No embellishments 

Now you might be wondering why I call this the perfect sketch. One might even think it is better to have a recipe with the exact measurements and even the embellishments? Well not necessarily because I think that not having these specific instructions in the sketch will actually help you. Meaning you can change them! You can then challenge yourself to get as many looks with only one sketch.

Trust me this becomes a fun way to create cards! Just think what can you change on the sketch.

To help you find sketches, I am sharing with you my board in Pinterest, where I have saved a lot of sketches that you can use as inspiration. You can check it out here 😉

Changes on sketches

To help you with ideas, I am sharing with you a few of the things I change when using a sketch. This list is only to spark your creativity, believe me there are lots and lots of things you can change. In fact I challenge you look for way to modify one sketch and come up with as many card ideas as you can.

Try changing the following things on sketches

• Color combination 
• Product selection or suites
• Use patterned paper in the background 
• Stamp the background
• Emboss the background 
• Change sizes on the elements 
• Change shapes on the layers 
• Add mats on the elements
• Add embellishments 

Sketches on action 

Below I am showing you handmade cards I made using sketches as inspiration. I am sharing the sketch and the card so you can see how you can play with easy sketches for handmade cards.

If you are interested in learning how to make these cards, make sure you watch the video tutorial below and also you can get the supply list at the end of this post as well. 

Sketch and Handmade Card # 1

               

As you can see on the sketch, this is very simple, however when I made my card, I made some changes.  For instance, I added a designer series paper a.k.a. patterned paper and I matted it with Whisper White Cardstock, for the elements you can see I added as well designer series paper rather than just card stock and of course I embellished this cards with that Real Red bow.  

Though the sketch is super simple, the card looks really cute, if I said so myself..😁 

Sketch and Handmade Card # 2

               

For this card, I will admit that the sketch is not as simple as it does have more layers than what I would normally recommend, and even then I added more layers to my card. 

Similar as the last card, I added designer series paper for the background and I matted it as well with Whisper White. I played a bit with the backgrounds of the elements on this sketch. For instance, I stamped the background on one (tone on tone) and used designer series paper in a couple of them and then used plain carsdtock on the circle. I also matted the square shape with an scalloped square. 

So as you can see, you can be very creative as to how to change elements on the sketch to make a unique card, and this is how you can make so many cards using one sketch and yet all would look different! Give it a try! 😉

Sketch and Handmade Card # 3

              

This Final sketch, you can see that it is super super simple. For this card I added patterned paper and matted it with Basic Black. I punched a circle out of card stock and then stamped tone on tone the little hearts on this element. And I also added the Real Red bow to this card. Again you can see how you can be changing the sketch to get a beautiful card. 

Can you think of any ways you can modify the sketches? share your ideas in the comments..

Also remember you can check my board in Pinterest to get more sketches for handmade cards to play with them next time you are making cards. 

By the way, if you are interested in seeing how I colored the Dog and Cat, make sure you watch the video tutorial below. 

Other ideas with sketches

If you liked this post and want to see more ideas using sketches, then check out the following past posts 🙂

  

The Video Tutorial

Finally, I want to share with you the video tutorial where you can see exactly how I made these cards, you will see the products I used, the measurements, how I colored the dog and cat with alcohol markers and much more!

The Supply List

You can see below the full list of Items I used to make these cards, if you click on the images below it will take you to my online store where you can purchase any of these items. I truly appreciate your continuous support  🥰