This month I thought I would bring you inspiration with an international flair. I have chosen to create a simple sketch that you could use for layouts or cards with a triangle of embellishments to draw your eye to the center.

I have asked some talented scrapbookers from outside of the USA to put their own twist on the design.

Nadrah Maidin is from Malysia. She has given the sketch a funky uplift of color and pizzazz. She has kept to the basic design of the sketch but has slightly tilted the placement of her photographs giving added dimension. I love all the little rub-ons and embellishments around the whole layout. This is what Nadrah is good at, creating complex looks with embellishments without making it look crowded.  Nadrah has created real depth to her layout with the use of different textures and fonts.

Helen Salthouse  is a scrapbooker from the UK.  Her layout has a really fun feel to it and there is a lot of detail to focus on. She has chosen to keep to the design of the sketch including the placement of her embellishments. I love the way she enhanced the title word "upside" by actually flipping it upside down - it is very clever how she kept the letter "s" highlighted as you can read this either way!  Helen has used many techniques on this layout including painting, sewing, texture and paper piecing which goes to show you really can do anything you like with a sketch. 

Rosey Dimond is a Brit living in Singapore. She has created a beautifully elegant layout all while again keeping to the main design of the sketch.  I love how she has followed the theme of her photographs through to the layout by slightly shifting the central square on its side. Her embellishments fit perfectly with the windspinner in the photo too and the whole thing has an understated glamour to it.  I enjoyed her use of glitter to give the layout a little sparkle and generally how the whole layout supported the one theme.

Kelly Rumbol is also from the UK.  Her adorable layout has a country feel to it. She has chosen to keep to the sketch as have all the other scrappers, but she has approached the scalloped border in a slightly different way by making it into a frame for the main layout instead of being part of the background.  I love the adorable stitching across the top of her layout with the little bird peeking down at the photographs. She has chosen great embellishments to enhance her photographs too.  I especially like how she has used buttons on her tree and then also reflected this on the center of her layout. 

That brings you to my layout (I too am from the UK).  I have chosen to go simple and bold. Instead of having a background to my layout I used a scalloped paper as my backing. I created a frame with patterned paper around the outside and then added some more dimensional detail with my white pen. I kept the title clear and in capital letters and I chose to have very few embellishments, letting the photographs speak for themselves.  I shifted my layout to the right slightly also for added interest.

So there we have it, October's Sketch Challenge with an international influence. I'd love to see what your take on the sketch is - give it a go and upload to the gallery!