Why do I love sketches? So many reasons! First of all, they make my scrapping super simple and fast. The layout I posted on Monday, took less than an hour to complete, including time to pick out supplies. Becky Fleck’s Scrapbook Page Maps sketch gave me just enough direction to free up my mind to focus on color, pattern and content for that layout. I also love that her web site features 8x8'' and round sketches, along with sketches for traditionally sized pages:

Sketches aren’t just for making quick and easy pages. They’re perfect for beginners who need lots of guidance. And they’re great for intermediate and advanced scrappers who want a challenge or fresh ideas. Anna Bowkis’ Pencil Lines blog is “all about using sketches to expand your artistic horizons, get you outside your box, and lift you out of scrappers block.” The regular artists—as well as the guest sketchers—are incredible talents and greats sources of layout inspiration. Here’s this week’s gorgeous challenge sketch by Kerry Lynn Yeary:

And sketches aren’t just for traditional scrappers. In fact, digi scrappers have the added advantage of using Photoshop sketches—called templates—where you can drag your elements directly into the template for easy placement. Plus, the program automatically crops papers to fit the template. Jen Caputo created some fabulous digital templates for the Paper + Pixels CD, and her blog is full of free sketches for your scrapping pleasure. Digi sketches, of course, can provide a starting point for paper pages as well.

Finally, for those of you itching to share your sketches, check out Shaker Box, where members can upload their own sketches to a gallery. The site is great for anyone interested in a wide variety of styles and ideas.

If you’re looking for loads of great sketches in one handy, portable format, don’t forget to enter the Page Maps book giveaway by noon this Friday. Visit Monday’s blog post to enter.