Card Sketch Blogs

Thanks for visiting Craft Critique! If you've come here from a search engine or from a direct link, you might be missing out on more content! Please visit CraftCritique.com. And for more amazing content such as projects, artist interviews and more, sign up for our Monthly Newsletter.

Reported by Kim Fox

Crafting is about being creative. But sometimes, the creativity just isn't there. So rather than sit still staring at your incomplete project, you can visit various craft forums to get some ideas and jump start your creativity. Likewise, you can check out some of the many sketches blogs that are available on the web.

Sketches are designs that you can replicate as you make your project(s). You can follow the sketch exactly or your can use it loosely. It's your choice. Sometimes, I even print out the sketch just to make sure I am following it the way it was drawn up. Also the wonderful thing about sketches is that you can play along and create a card or you can mosey around and get inspired by the design team (DT) work along with the work of the participants. And the participants are often from all over the world thus diversifying the creativity pool.

I am going to focus on two card sketch sites because that's what I like to do - make cards:

• 2 Sketches 4 You
• Card Positioning Systems (CPS)

2 Sketches 4 You (2S4Y) is a relatively new sketch blog; they just opened shop this past June. It is hosted to Laura Davis and Kazan Clark. They trade off on posting the sketches - Laura will post a sketch one week and Kazan will post a sketch the next week. The response to their blog has been awesome. On any given week, there are well over 100 comments posted to the 2S4Y blog. There is usually a weekly sponsor who will provide a prize to the 'Card of the Week'. Additionally, the sketch designers and their DT will select 'the Fab 5' - five cardmakers whose cards were outstanding that week.

• The 'Card of the Week' and the 'Fab 5' are selected on Sundays
• New sketches are posted on Mondays

Mark your calendars because 2S4Y will begin their search for their Winter Design Team in October!

Here's what I like about the 2S4Y sketch blog:

• The design team is phenomenal! Their work is colorful and exciting and sets the bar for what the other crafters submit.
• They typically force me to think outside of the box and do something different.
• I love to visit the participants blogs; there is an abundance of creative inspiration.

Here's what they could do differently:

• They could set up an alternative system for viewing the entries; it is a bit tedious to click on each blog link, then go back to the 2S4Y blog site; and there are lots of blog links to click through. I think I'd rather see the images in a slide show format. Though I do like that that links are all grouped together. Also, when I view my personal blog stats, I can visibly see how much traffic comes to my blog via 2S4Y.
• There could be a gallery/archives for previous sketches.

The card below made the Fab 5 on 2 Sketches 4 You a few weeks ago.

Card Positioning Systems (CPS) has been around for a while - at least in blog years. The first sketch went up on February 14, 2007. A year and a half later, they have a strong following along with consistent sponsorship. They have grown to include various tips for cardmakers like using rubons, sewing on cards, using stamps and more. They, too, have a design team that is splendid. They create such beautiful cards with depth, color and utilize products in ways that I could not have conceived on my own.

Here is some of the CPS weekly schedule:

• New sketches are posted on Sundays.
• There are usually tutorials and tips on Mondays.
• The reader update and spotlight is posted on Saturdays.

Here's what I like about the CPS sketch blog:

• I like the way the weave in the tips and tutorials throughout the week.
• They post new DT work more than once a week; thus keeping the blog fresh.
• There is a gallery of the CPS sketches.

Here's what they could do differently:

• When they update the blog - almost daily, I'm uncertain if I should post my blog link entry on the original sketch posting day or the current day's post (minor point, though worth mentioning; I usually post on the current day's post/the most recent post as opposed to the day the sketch was posted).
  

Oh, and according to Tami Mayberry, CPS' sketch designer, Cardmaker Magazine will publish an entirely new edition of sketches in November. It will include over 100 card designs.

Other sketch blogs that card makers can visit for inspiration:
sketch this
triple the sketch
splitcoast stampers
two peas (stamping board)

The beauty of all of these blogs and others, is that you can dig into their archives for an endless dose of creativity (and maybe carpal tunnel too). You can also get involved by creating cards for others to see and ogle over ... oh, and it's all FREE! Love that.

Which card sketch blogs do you visit?