Just catching up!

It's been forever!! I haven't stopped scrapping, I just took a pause from blogging as I was mostly doing Christmas cards, mini albums and finishing up some projects. Those will be the subject of another blog post. Right now, I'll be showing you some summer layouts. After a long winter, there's nothing like a summery layout to lift the spirits. I brought a winter coat to the cleaners today, so that's a great sign!

I took a look at Creative Scrapper's new April sketch- sketch 305- and just made this page then and there. I put lots of techniques on this page: watercolours, stitching, cut files, stamping, typing... These are super old pictures from 2011 as the title clearly states, but I hadn't done a Canada Day layout EVER. I kind of like how it turned out.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take:

We had gone into the city that day with 2 toddlers and the baby. The 2 older kids loved the games, bouncy castles, food merchants, musicians, etc. They were quite disappointed to leave as they were gaining quite a bit of momentum in the bouncy obstacle course. 

Thanks for looking, I'll be back soon.

Catching up!

It's been awhile... I've neglected you blog...I feel like the hiatus is over... I needed a break I guess... Regardless, here we are...

I've been away from the blog, but have still been scrapping. I've made some pocket pages, some cards, some layouts, etc... more to come soon.

In the meantime, here are a few layouts I've made.

I had a great time making this one, about DS#3's love for Batman. Any excuse was good to be Batman for awhile. Batman is pretty awesome in our house. Lego Batman gets a lot of points too. This layout was made after getting some inspiration on the Paper Issues Blog, layout by owner Cassie Box. I love how it came out. It's a mix of Studio Calico papers, some Jillibean Soup Staples and some cool stamps.

"Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman." Love that!

Here's another:

It was made for the Let's Capture Our Memories September 2015 color spot, and realized I had never shared it here. I must have a picture with DH sleeping with each of the kids at some point or another. I love the fact that DS#3 was sleeping with some costume eyeglasses. 

Here's one made with So Rad by Simple Stories... A lot of stitching on this one. You should see the back...  a real mess! But I really like how all the stitching brings out the photo. The kids were hamming it up on the soccer field after a game. 

These next ones were made to bust out some stash. It was part of the Mercy Tiara 27 day challenge. Look it up on Youtube and Facebook. It's great fun! It started in February, with a stash busting challenge. The winner (random draw) gets some fun stuff and the chance to pick the next challenge...

Here is another, just as I decide to finish off this Crate Paper Toy Box Collection from 2011... There are just a few die cuts left over...

This was a Creative Scrappers sketch, a great source for inspiration. He's a climber for sure! This spider web play park is reserved for 7+ and little buddy was 4 1/2 on this... close supervision required. 

Here's another:

This is made with the Scrapbook & Cards Today  Crop & Create Delivered kit. There are such happy things in that box... I love a day at the beach!

And last one for now...

Ahhh, the Silhouette Cameo... I'm taming the beast. I made one fatal error in the settings on my first cut, ruined the mat and it all went downhill fast. I got a new mat, and everything's been great since. I really love these papers from Fancy Pants Design. The layout was inspired by Mercy Tiara's 27 day Challenge- a masculine/boy page for this month. I have to admit that this present challenge is not much of a stretch for me, Mom to 3 boys...

Well, that's it  for now... I'll have to finish my mini album pictures, and we'll see you soon...

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!!!!

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:

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!

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!

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!

Sketch 101 Reveal at Let's Capture Our Memories!

It's another amazing reveal at Let's Capture Our Memories! Sketch 101 is  multi photo sketch, and it's amazing to see how different everyone's interpretation is! The DT made really cool, detailed, fun layouts! I think this sketch is one of my favorites. Go take a peek at Let's Capture Our Memories!


This is the fun sketch by Emma Straface at Page Drafts:

Here's my layout-

I used tons of Fancy Pants Design's Happy Go Lucky collection. The alphas are also by Fancy Pants, the frames and canvas embellishments are by Basic Grey, the corrugated shapes and button are by Jillibean Soup. The wood veneer and cork shapes are by Studio Calico and the badge is by October Afternoon. I'm starting to dabble with stamps and masks, and this one is by Tim Holtz... Love these chevron shapes to punch up a background...

This layout is all about our camping trip in Maine and New Hampshire last summer. The time spent at L.L. Bean in Freeport during a shopping outing was an adventure in itself. What an amazing place! We took pictures outside and inside. The pond and aquarium were great, especially the spot where you can stick your head in a bubble shaped groove and almost be with the fish. We had a hard time getting the kiddos out of that one. We got some really cute moose molasses cookies, clothes, sleeping bags. We then had a very nice lunch at the pizzeria next door, when DS#3 proceeded to "read" the map in a oh-so-serious way... "where do they keep the ice cream here?..."

Another beautiful sketch reveal!!

Happy sunny Saturday everyone! It's another sketch reveal at Let's Capture Our Memories and it's a really nice one! I just love Laura Whitaker's sketches- they always inspire me right away!

Isn't it beautiful? There's so much you can do with this one!! I knew right away which papers and which photo I wanted to use. It's been a crazy week here, and so I'm happy it all came together quickly!

I flipped it to suit my picture:

   And voilà!

It's a picture of DS#2 taken just before the first day of kindergarten, the journaling mentions his finer qualities- he's curious, helpful, happy, smiling, and lovable! I used just about the last of my Fancy Pants The Good Life collection. I've had an amazing run with this collection- it's just beautiful! I had no more solid pieces for a background, so out came the Jillibean Soup Staples III sheet! Hope you like it!

Sketch #92 is up at Let's Capture Our Memories

It completely slipped my mind that I hadn't made this post yet!!! Oh well, better late than never, and this way, the yummy feeling of reveal day continues... Lol!

This is a fabulous sketch by Becky Fleck over at Pagemaps and it's a super nice one with lots of details and fun elements! I really enjoyed creating this layout about our little family at the beach- another "selfie of 5" for some long distance birthday wishes for my Grandfather, about 3 hours away.

And here is my version of it-

I used Fancy Pants Design Nautical papers and stickers, some wood veneers by Studio Calico and Queen & Co,  a Recollection enveloppe, a Maya Road paper clip, a cork badge by Studio Calico and a flair badge by Lime Citron. I love machine stitching with accent colours other than black, white or brown. It shakes it up a bit and offers variety. On this pic, the yellow stitching doesn't show up as much, but there it is...

Hope you enjoy this layout as much as I enjoyed making it- 

Published in the Let's Get Sketchy's Get Inspired Issue 3!!!

I'm really happy to tell you 3 of my layouts have been chosen to be featured in the Let's Get Sketchy Get Inspired Magazine Issue 3!!!  So excited!!

My first layouts are part of the Manufacturer's section, this time around, they featured Echo Park Papers. I love Echo Park! They have understood the needs of Mom's with boys, and have great, colourful, fun, bright papers. I love them! Here I used the Winter Park and Wintertime collections. This was part of a DT reveal at Let's Capture Our Memories, our LSS. My first layout is on page 72:

My second layout is on page 73- a layout created for the Paper Camellia February sketch challenge featuring DS#3 a few days after his first haircut at 3 1/2 months old. His hair was in his eyes, he had a mullet. Something had to be done! Our barber's youngest client ever...

My third layout is my favorite- DS#3 just grinning! I had a good time with this great collection from Fancy Pants Design. The Good Life is such a colourful collection. I love it all. I made use of the packaging with the horizontal stripe on top. I love to stitch on layouts. This was submitted in the Black Background section. Although hubby feels it's darker than my usual (it is), I feel it makes the picture pop and gives stunning results.

A few details:

My favorite element is the hidden journaling pocket, made with vellum. I stamped on it to give it appeal. I laid on some chevron border stamps before sewing the red border. The red stamp makes it stand out. I saw this on the American Crafts blog and thought it looked cool.

Journaling reads: My favorite moments are everyday moments, the ones with no expectations, when we see the joy and zest you have for life, with a lopsided grin on your face. We are seeing you discover, explore, grow. We love you to pieces, xoxox Mom


It's on page 108. Photo credit: Laure Handfield. Sketch by Kristine Davidson at Creative Scrappers.



http://www.joomag.com/magazine/lets-get-inspired-may-issue-3/0458203001398802899

Let's Capture Our Memories sketch #65!

It's reveal day at Let's Capture Our Memories! Sketch 65 is up on the blog today and it's a great one by Becky Fleck at Pagemaps. It's so versatile- I just love the small rectangular elements- loads of potential for decorating, adding embellies or even making a pocket style layout. I think I'll be recycling this sketch again!

This layout was almost made completely with the fall kit at Scrapbook & Cards Today! What an awesome kit. So well put together, so beautiful! Believe it or not, I'd never had a doily on a layout. 

This is a fun memory of apple picking at the local orchard in September of 2012. I managed to catch a glimpse of a moment between DS#3 and his dear Mémére as they were climbing the ladder, getting the best ones. 

Here's the fun sketch by Becky Fleck. 

Here's my layout, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating with this amazing kit. 

Beach Boy- but I almost called it "Wishful thinking"...sketch #63- at Let's Capture Our Memories!

It's Reveal Day at Let's Capture Our Memories!!!

Winter still has a strong hold on us here, and we're all longing for the lazy days of summer, with warm sand between our toes, camping trips, sunshine and carefree days... The next best thing if a tropical holiday is not in the plans, is to reminisce and remember the previous summers...

This is sketch #63- by Kimberly Figures- with some cool lozenges or an argyle pattern if you wish... it's a perfect sketch to use up some of those 6x6 paper pads lying around.

This is Wave Searcher by Fancy Pants Design. I just love the colors, and I only had the 6x6 pad, so no extra embellies. I added some stitching, some vellum, a few punch flowers, a bit of bling, a button and a flair button, some stamping (Close to my heart), some fussy cutting and voilà! Thanks for visiting, your comments are appreciated!

And here's my interpretation:

Special thanks to Laure Handfield for the wonderful photography- These are great memories to cherish. 

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a scrappy week...

The journaling translates to: "When beautiful summer days make us forget that we're not on vacation, that's worth gold... And when the beach is 20 minutes away... priceless! We spent the evening relaxing, playing, making sand castles..."

Let's Capture Our Memories- January spot!

I was very pleased to be asked by my scrappy friend Isabelle to create the layout for the January color spot at LCOM. The prospect of an imposed color challenge was a bit daunting for me, but I had a lot of fun and have since done another color challenge layout, with another "on deck"! This is such a fun way  to mix it up and explore one's creativity! Thanks Isabelle for the feature and challenge!

This is what I created for her... It's not very wintery, but it's what got me inspired. 

All supplies were found in the adorable Crop & Create: Delivered fall 2013! Thanks Scrapbook & Cards Today for creating such a cool kit!!

Photo credit: Laure Handfield

Thanks for looking!

A few recent layouts

I see the snow coming with a bit of nostalgia for the lazy days of summer! Here's a recent layout I made of DS#3 playing at the beach in July of 2012, just as a busy work week was about to start. We had a great time at the beach with our little beach bums.

This was done with a whole lotta Fancy Pants Design papers and a Pagemaps sketch. I did this one at one of the great crops put on by my LSS Let's Capture Our Memories. There's some Jillibean Soup corrugated stuff, Studio Calico wood veneers and cork and a pic of my little cutie!



This next one is a share on a Creative Scrappers sketch #253. I just love this Simple Stories Harvest Lane collection! It's just so colorful and fun!

Grimpeur d'arbres is Tree Climber in French- My scrapbook pages are mostly in my native French as my boys would otherwise grow up wondering who did their scrapbooks... hee hee! I'll remember to translate...

I also used some Evalicious flair, Studio Calico wood veneers, and some cute My Little Bit of Whimsy pin and button! Love the look of the copper thread on the AC thickers...