September Color Spot

I've been lucky enough to be invited to be featured for the September Color Spot at Let's Capture Our Memories. I had done one last year and it was a fun experience, with nothing to go on but a color swatch... This is what the owner Isabelle had to say about the post:

Hello September!

Wow!

I really had a hard time finding a color scheme for you this month. Nothing was standing out. As I was planning the crop schedule, I started looking at pictures on my phone and found some from my last trip to Scrapbook & Cards Today Crop & Create in Cornwall, Ontario last September. OH! the memories... the wonderful memories from the most amazing weekend event spent with a couple of my scrappy besties!! And as I'm getting ready to head back to Create & Create in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd share the some of the memories, the moments with you. Here's a picture I took of the a small sample of the goodies we get to savor at Crop & Create! Where has this year gone too!! I can't believe it's September already. We are busy getting the kids ready for school and dotting the i's and the crossing the t's on the activities schedule for the coming months!! Here, at LCOM, it's also the start of crop season!! My favorite season!

I asked my super scrappy friend Elisa Delora if she would have a go at this month's Color Spot and I was so happy she said yes!  I love her projects.  She is awesome a clustering and adding so much detail to her layouts.  It makes her photos and story pop up.

Here is what Elisa had to say about this month's Color Spot.

"When I first saw the September Color Spot , the first papers that came to mind were part of the Timbergrove collection by Fancy Pants Design. It almost matched perfectly,less the navy papers. For a house full of boys and boyish layouts, I realized I don't have much navy... I found a 6x6 paper pack in my stash by Fancy Pants Design, Down By The Shore, containing a navy sheet.  As usual, when you stick with the same company, most usually, the papers will match, or at least compliment each other. 

Now as you may know, Timbergrove is a winter/holiday collection, quite full of hot chocolate, mittens, snowflakes and snowmen. It however perfectly matched my cozy, sleepy photo. Daddy and DS#3 had fallen asleep on the couch in a pretty cute pose. Those glasses are part of a costume, you know, the set with the fake nose and fuzzy moustache... The nose broke off, and the kids wear them, looking pretty goofy...or dapper, however you may see it. "  - Elisa Delora

How amazing is that?!   I love the her stitching is carried all over her page and the sprinkle of little hearts here and there, love!  Just like one cherishes the first bite into the chocolate covered strawberry, one can only cherish the father/son bond!!  She nailed the color spot perfectly!!"

Well, as I said, it was a pretty fun spot to do...I enjoyed it a lot. I also enjoy seeing themed papers used for other ordinary layouts, just to think outside the box. I thought it would be fun to try it too...

Thanks for looking!

Reveal day 132 featuring some Simple Stories

This week, I broke out this amazing collection by Simple Stories! I just love it! It's so LOUD! Just like my boys sometimes... *sigh*

But seriously, it's the perfect collection to feature the fun, loud and colorful pictures taken at the skate park this summer. We had a great time biking to the skate park, playing around with the hills and inclines and jumps. DS#3 even found some awesome graffiti of his favorite superheroes. We then went back for some frozen yogurt. It was an amazing afternoon of family time...


The sketch is by Becky Fleck at Pagemaps:

Here's my take on it:

Everything is by Simple Stories, the So Rad collection, except a bit of washi tape...maybe Queen & Co... It was a very simple collection to work with, everything matches, comes together easily... Yay! TFL!

Reveal day!!!!

It's reveal day again at Let's Capture Our Memories! Today's sketch is by Shirley Mijares Mascarina. I made a beach layout as it's still very much summer in my head. Here in my neck of the woods, we have a week before school starts and we're still making the most of it, as much as we can. I just love beach time- all that exploring and treasures... so relaxing!

This was made with Fancy Pants Nautical collection. There are a few corrugated stars from Jillibean Soup. This one was pretty simple and straight forward. Thanks for looking!

And here's my interpretation:

3 posts in one week!!

It's sketch reveal day at Let's Capture Our Memories- sketch 130! And I love it! It's perfect to use up scraps, however, I broke into Echo Park's Jack collection- it seemed perfect for this cute candid shot of DS#3 playing in the court. The sketch is by Shirley Mijares Mascarina.

Here's my take- 

I used some Memento ink and Mr. Huey's ink on the background. Everything is by Echo Park except the buttons (stash) and the twine (Maya Road). I flipped the journaling tag as I wasn't completely in love with the horse in the corner...

And voilà! Completed layout! TFL!

Part 2 of catching up...

Hi everyone,

My last post was full of layouts I'd neglected to add to this list... Here are a few more- hope you like them...

These are all made for Let's Capture Our Memories DT. Go check them out for some additional inspiration!

This is a cool, versatile sketch by Nicole Nowosad- It screamed simplicity and I've had a photo just waiting for the perfect sketch since last year... 

This is DS#2 goofing off on the slide at the local orchard, after some pumpkin picking. I love this picture and have been waiting for the perfect papers too. These are Studio Calico neutrals, they just complement the photo colors... I've got a Jillibean Soup placemat and a few pieces of Becky Higgins chipboard as well as a rare Prima flower on there..

Another sketch and layout:

This one is by Lisa Rukin Swift, so full and detailed...

It just begged for the collection of selfies we've had going with the boys during vacation... We've had some good times camping, in the amusement park, at the beach...

And I just love this collection by Simple Stories. I am. I am so many things, but above all, I'm a wife and Mom to 3 wonderful boys...

With all the adult colouring books going around, I thought it would be funny/nice to actually try doodling on a layout...I rather like the effect...

 Thanks for taking a peek, your comments are appreciated...

Update!

I cannot believe how long it's actually been since I've posted some layouts here... Talk about neglect... I'll get started right away, but be warned, this may be a layout heavy post...:)

I've got a lot of catching up to do.

I have been scrapping regularly as a member of the Let's Capture Our Memories design team and I've had a few more time consuming projects on the side, but more on that later.

Here's is a layout done for Mother's Day- seems so far away... It's a lovely sketch by Shirley Mascarina. It's great for all those vertical photos we have lying around.

Here's my take on it-

I used almost every last bit of Fancy Pants Design The Good Life collection. It's just so beautiful! I may have a bit leftover for a few cards, that's it!

"Nothing pleases me more than spending time with my boys, and the fact that Grammy and Grampy are joining us more and more, that's the cherry on top of the sundae!"

Next up is reveal 124:

Another great sketch!

And here's my take on it:

I was actually "soup-spotted" on this one! Yet another collection I've decimated- Macho Nacho soup! There's barely anything left for a card...

Another layout done for LCOM is this one with Lynn Lefebvre's sketch:

And this is my interpretation, done with loads of Simple Stories I (heart) Summer! It's all about a camping trip in 2014 in NH, at a campground with a huge pirate ship in the pool! Amazingly fun!

The next one is a fall layout, made with that fabulous Sweater Weather by Simple Stories.

The sketch is by Lynn Lefebvre.

It's about a great day trip to the nearby National Park- I love getting pics of all my boys together!

Well, that's it for now, more to come soon! Thanks for looking!

My little sweetie pie

It's reveal day again at Let's Capture Our Memories! Today marks the last reveal day for the present design team. What fun that was! Soon, with a few changes and tweaks, a new team will bring more inspiration on a screen near you, hopefully next to a fresh cup of coffee... :)

This is a fun sketch by Becky Fleck at Pagemaps. Even though I kept to the sketch pretty faithfully, I really love the versatility of it. The elements and photos are certainly interchangeable to suit your layout's needs.

Here is my version of the sketch, with photos of DS#3- our cute little sweetie pie. Every day he is a little sweetheart. The list is about how he is right now... he's loves to tease, to give hugs and kisses, to smile, to tickle... He's a champion with the ipad and he is a super fan of Batman, Mickey Mouse and Super Mario.  Photo credit Laure Handfield, taken in September 2014.

This was made with the My Mind's Eye Collectable collection. I was hoarding this paper for the perfect photos and sketch...The alphas are MME and Simple Stories. The Studio Calico wood veneers were painted with watercolors to match the papers. The enamel dots are Basic Grey, the clip is my from my stash. I finally tried out a Silhouette for the circles sketch file and added some stitching.

Thanks for looking, I hope you like it.

L'aventure commence- The adventure begins

Today's reveal is sketch 119, designed by Let's Capture Our Memories owner Isabelle Perreault Doucette.

Isn't simple and effective? It really showcases the photo, no matter what you put around it...

This is my take on this fun sketch:

I can't believe how fast this one came together. I quickly layered everything under my photo, then went to search for the perfect background... Well... the pink was just screaming to brighten up a summer layout!

Ahhhhhh.... adventure... summer vacation....

This is my favorite photo from our summer vacation last year... We took a break at the tourist information center just before crossing the Confederation Bridge to get to our campsite. We had a blast with the cousins at the Canada Day fireworks, lounging at the beach, exploring the island, eating great food, revisiting the antique toy store, even fitting in a water balloon fight...great memories for years to come...

The papers are a mix of a bit of everything in my stash- most are from a summer kit purchased from Crop & Create Delivered. I have some papers from Glitz Design, My Mind's Eye, Pebbles, and the background is from Studio Calico's neutral pack. The alphas are Thickers and Basic Grey stickers. The enamel dots are Basic Grey and the corrugated heart is by Jillibean Soup. The clip is by Maya Road and that's a Prima flower... I used hearts instead of stars, and brought it all together with a DMC floss hand stitched heart. I don't have a heart that big and drew it by hand. That cute car is by My Mind's Eye, found at the bottom of my stash...

Keep this one on deck for a later use or come play with us at Let's Capture Our Memories...link up to win a gift certificate!

Thanks for looking!

Let's Capture Our Memories sketch 117- anything but winter...

It's still winter in our neck of the woods, although spring officially arrived a week ago... the snowbanks are still at least 4 feet high and I can barely see the top of the hedge in the backyard. Maybe this is why I've been doing warm weather layouts lately, just waiting for the sun to shine on my face and maybe peel off a few layers...

This is a fall layout made with the wonderful Simple Stories Sweater Weather. Its' warm, cute, fuzzy-knit goodness fits with any fall layout...

We had a great day at the orchard last year with my parents. It was one of the last days the orchard was open, and it was a bit of a challenge to find full trees, and DS#3 was a bit moody at first, but it all turned out rather nice at the end. We had oodles and oodles of apples. DS#1&2 helped me peel some of them afterwards.

This is the sketch, by LCOM's very own Shirley Mijares Mascarina-

And this is my take on the sketch:

Everything is Simple Stories except the stamps (Scrapbook & Cards Today, My Favorite Things and Lime Citron), and the wood veneers by Studio Calico. Thanks for looking!! 

Lucky us!

 It's another reveal Saturday! It's like the calm before the storm... another blizzard warning here in eastern Canada for tomorrow... on the upside, all our regular activities were not on for tomorrow anyway...

Here's a summer layout made for Let's Capture Our Memories reveal number 115. I can't wait until the warmer weather arrives, but it never does until we get a St-Patrick's day snowstorm. It never fails... no matter how warm it's been, we always get a huge snowstorm around St-Patrick's day. Hopefully, this will be it, and there won't be a delayed reminder of winter...

Our challenge was to make our layout green. There's not much Irish around here, but I'll certainly play along! Here's the sketch by Laura Whitaker:

It has a wide range of options for photos, or just cards, or anything your heart desires, really... This is a layout about a day at Magic Mountain, the local water park. We had a great day in the sun, splashing in the wave pool, and riding the waterslides. Nothing like a few family selfies to mark the occasion.

I raided my stash for this one, not really sticking to one company for supplies.  There are some My Mind's Eye Bright Side papers, Jillibean Soup placemats and paper, diecut and button, Basic Grey diecuts. The big green piece is American Craft Amy Tangerine Ready Set Go. The gear is Tim Holtz, and the alphas are really old Pink Paislee I had laying around. The mist is by Mr. Huey's and the wood veneer is Studio Calico.  Can't wait for summer!!!

Anytime is playtime!

It's another reveal day at Let's Capture Our Memories- It's sketch reveal #113 and it screamed for a fun, rambunctious, lively layout- my favorite kind!! It's an amazing sketch by Becky Fleck at Pagemaps. It's so fun and lively and needed some loud papers to go along...

I've been hoarding these papers for the right moment, especially the right photos. Aren't they loud and fun?

This is DS#3 while on a shopping trip at Costco. No place like a big warehouse to start hamming it up and being funny. He climbed in the flower pots we were buying, played hide and seek with the cover. He had the whole waiting line and cashiers laughing for quite awhile...He's cute and he knows it. 

The papers are Boy Crazy by My Mind's Eye. Aren't they cute? The cute placemat is by Jillibean Soup and the clip is by Maya Road. The mini alphas are by Simple Stories. The clothespin is by Pebbles and the ribbon is from my stash. I had a great time putting this together, fun memories...

Hope you like it- TFL!

Yet another storm post!

Another snowy day today and I really feel for all those who still have to get to work despite the horrible conditions. Be safe everyone!

This went up live on the Let's Capture Our Memories blog yesterday, and what a great reveal!! It's full of inspiration and full of love themed layouts, all in honour of Valentine's Day! I hope you get some time to hide in your scrappy space today and create some fun cards and layouts. We'll be making a few recipes for the week, shovelling snow, folding laundry, playing games and watching movies. There might be a chocolate fondue in there somewhere...  I love a snow day when I don't have to work!


Here's the fun sketch by Emma Straface:

And here is my take on it... I don't always do pink layouts (joke- I never do pink layouts, except on Valentine's day), but when I do, I go all out!  I just had a flashback about that beer commercial with "the most interesting man in the world"... so funny how people have modified it to suit anyone and anything...

This is the XOXO collection, stamp and thicker by American Crafts, and a stamp and flair badge by Lime Citron. I won this kit at a Crop & Create event by Scrapbook & Cards Today. What a fun time that was. I found it so funny that this Mom of boys would win something so pink! But as Kelly Goree would say, a Mama of 3 boys herself, nothing wrong with scrapping boys in pink. Besides, I believe it's her favorite color, and she's the one scrapping, so there ya go! 

Let's Capture Our Memories layout 109

There's a snowstorm out there and lots of people are going to be snowed in. We have lots of activity cancellations today, and hopefully, some time will be found for scrapping...

Here is some inspiration to help along- Sketch 109 from Lets Capture Our Memories. The sketch is by LCOM DT member Shirley Mascarina. Although when I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do, it seems to have morphed a bit along the way and got all layered! The original idea is still present though...

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

The paint splatters became embellishments and the chevron became banners, but the overall shape is the same... I love those little frames and wood veneers. Thanks Aurélie for the wire snowflake- it's so cute!

It's all Fancy Pants Timbergrove collection and some Jillibean Soup Alpha Beans. The glitter snowflake is by Pink Paislee and the wood veneers are from Studio Calico.

TFL-  Have a great snow day!

Défi Lime Citron de Janvier

My friend Aurélie sent me a message with only a few words and a link to  Lime Citron January Challenge.

What a fun challenge. It really took me out of my element as I felt it was a great opportunity to expand my horizons and try new things. As the challenge cites, we needed to use the title "Idées de grandeur", use lots of snowflakes and some Lime Citron products.

Here is my entry:

It's all about how the snowdrift got so high near the house one day that DS#2 got very excited, made it higher and was thrilled to be able to touch the roof. What an accomplishment! Christmas vacation 2013.

I used some Mister Huey's Water Cooler green mist for the background, then stencilled in some Gesso snowflakes, then embroidered the snowflake contours with floss. I added in some heat embossed snowflakes too. The papers are from Pink Paislee's Merry And Bright. The wood veneer is painted with a new Stella and Wink silver brush. The alphas are Jillibean Soup and Fancy Pants. The badge is of course Lime Citron. The stamps are from Kesi Art and the limited edition fall stamp from Scrapbook & Cards Today. 

I took awhile to make this layout, coming back to it now and then, with the embroidery and all- but I rather like the effect and final result. I believe I will be a bit more adventurous in the future- it was fun!

A bit of summer in the snow

It's full of that gorgeous fluffy snow outside and although it looks beautiful and inviting, it's pretty cold out there today. We might have to wait a bit before venturing outside. In the meantime, I'll bring back a warm, cute memory from summer.

It's reveal 107 at Let's Capture Our Memories and it's a wonderful, fun sketch by Laura Whitaker. When I saw it, I knew immediately what collection had all these cute elements to match my photo. This sketch is a great way to use and showcase all these little embellishments and chipboard elements. I used the I Heart Summer from Simple Stories.

I've had this photo of DS#3 lying around since I took it, in the summer of 2013. I knew it had to be a big photo- big enough to really showcase the ice cream on his bike helmet. The fact that he has no idea it's there or where his ice cream went was priceless. We had been on a bike ride with our visiting friends and their kids and had stopped halfway for a soft serve treat. We got a treat and a pretty good laugh!

Here are a few close-ups:

I didn't use all circular elements like the sketch, but I kept the same proportions- to me, this still works. As you can see, this was amazing simple to create, but sometimes, it can be easy. It doesn't have to be a really complicated masterpiece each time. It can be about telling the story... ;)

I hope you all have a fun, crafty week making stuff, if not, at least making memories!

The forgotten layout

This layout was made while I was at a crop hosted by Let's Capture Our Memories owner Isabelle Perreault-Doucette. It was one hour challenge time, and I had just arrived at the crop. It was late and she had started to pack up the store. I finished shopping and saying hello and got to work on this layout- a sketch by Pagemapsn Becky Fleck.

Funny enough, these papers by Fancy Pants were just bought that minute. And I had these perfect little pictures, not important enough for a full layout, but all together, they told a story about one of our first camping trips as a family with the cousins. Fun times!

All papers are by Fancy Pants Designs Happy Go Lucky collection. There are a few wood veneers and a metal clip by Studio Calico, the placemats are by Jillibean Soup and Evalicious. Can you spot the My Little Bit of Whimsy button? Love those little mushrooms!

Thanks for looking!

New layout- Bonjour 2014! Hello 2014!

Well 2015 is upon us, and I have to say, this is my very first New Year themed layout. I never thought about making one before... I suppose I never really took pictures, especially when we're in PJs watching the countdown on TV... But last year, we welcomed 2014 with a bang! DH was working and couldn't really go out, so we had people in- 4 families, 7 kids, a large turkey supper, a parade complete with trumpets and silly hats, a countdown (around 9h30)...then a sleepover. We had a good time!

The photos aren't the greatest, but it's a firm memory of what happened- lots of action (blurry shots), a nice meal, good friends, fun.

The sketch is by Let's Capture Our Memories owner Isabelle Perreault-Doucette. The multiple photo grid made it easy to incorporate my quick snapshots to give a feel for the mood of the evening. I added some mini pictures to include more shots of our DS#3 who felt overwhelmed by the activity....

Here's the versatile sketch:

And here's my layout, using Pink Paislee's Merry and Bright. 

There was a tiny bit of stash busting here- I've had that red sheet of Bo Bunny snowflake paper since forever, same for the felt mistletoe and flourishes. The rest was done from the tiny amount of Pink Paislee papers I do have- a 6x6 paper pad. 

The numericals and the heart are from Jillibean Soup, the wood veneeres are Studio Calico and most embellishments are Pink Paislee. There's a tiny star by Basic Grey, and the twine is by Maya Road. The date stamper is by American Craft.

Thanks for looking- your comments are appreciated as always!