Get It Scrapped | A Guinea Pig named Bubbles

Hello everyone!!

Ha, it feels so good to be back at blogging! :)

Today I'd like to show you a layout I made for Get it Scrapped. It's a layout that I love and it came so easily together. It's the first page I made after a 5 months break! I was a little afraid to get back at it as I was thinking I might not know how anymore.... but Debbie Hodge had a great way for me to get back at it, painless! You want to know the trick?

Use a BRAND STYLE GUIDE

Debbie says: "A brand style guide is a collection of colors, fonts, images, textures and patterns that help businesses to create a cohesive look in the design of their websites, social media graphics and marketing materials that are consistent. These style guides can be a great roadmap when it comes to designing a cohesive scrapbook page. "

Here's a link to the Get it Scrapped Pinterest board where many brand style guide are curated.

https://www.pinterest.com/getitscrapped/inspo-brand-style-guides/

Here's the brand style I chose:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/281052832979165321/

I chose it for it's soft palette and also for the choice of colors. I knew I wanted to make my layout about Arielle getting her little guinea pig. I wanted to be soft and dreamy. The pictures I had had a lot of stark orange in it and I felt the very pale pink would break it. I also loved the marble texture. It's not far from my watercolor I use all the time. Finally I loved the title work. The font and the mix of the 2 fonts. I thought the general look of this image was a good match to my style.

First thing I did was to gather my supplies. I took out one plain cardstock in Pink Pirouette (Stampin'UP!) that I knew would work as a base for my layout. And then I took out my big box of die cuts and gather everything that was in that color palette. I didn't find much of that sage green, so I went for a very soft greenish aqua instead. I also held on to any little bits of gold I was crossing path with.

Once my desk was covered with all these supplies, I felt pretty pumped! lol I forgot to mention that when I go through my die cuts box like this, I usually skip the very pretty ones. I like to hoard them just a little longer, but not this time! Since it was my first page in a very long while, I gave myself the permission to use ANYTHING that would fit and find a place on the page! What a freeing feeling! You should try that too!!

I printed 6 small pictures of Arielle meeting her guinea pig. I printed them 2 on one 4x6 photo and also leaving a white border around each photo. I knew that I would need small photos if I wanted to fit so many on the page. I ended up using 4 of them.

Here's the finally result:

Look at the color combo. I stuck to the guide almost 100%. I have the pale pink, the darker pink, the minty aqua, grey and a touch of gold. I substituted the beige with a toned down yellow, just because that's what I had, and actually, I think it does add a little touch of life and happy.

I often hear people ask how they should match the colors of their layout to the photos. If you look here, you'll see that nothing is matching. I just went with the predetermined color combo without worrying about matching my pictures. My pictures have orange in them, purple, pink, peach, and even an orange red... Nothing says it would work with the combo I chose. But if you stick to your combo, it will all make sense at the end.

I gathered my photos closely together, forming a grid where one picture is on top of the others and another photo is made bigger than the 3 others because I used a frame around it.

I printed my title directly on my background (I have a wide format printer) in grey, rather than in the usual black. I also used the non textured side of the cardstock so that the ink dens get into the creases and do weird things. I also did a print test on a white cardstock before I used my chosen background. I had only one more piece of that color!!! (little panic moment here) And I did have to make some adjustments. My title was may too big for the canvas.

That little rabbit is one of the die cut I would probably have hoarded, hadn't I told myself I can and have to use anything I like most!  Also, I have to tell you that when i was looking for a place for the little rabbit, I first tried to put it down the page, next to the framed photo. But if you think about it, it makes so much more sens up at the top of the page, whit it's ballons in hand. I added a cloud and some stars to create a little scene. Try to think about that when you add an embellishment.

I also played with dimension. I added plenty of foam adhesive. And I played with foil as well. Also, when you add embellishment, try to link them together by overlaying them. You see how the star and the bunny are hiding the heart a little? And the head of the bunny goes over the cloud? And then the gold star is all alone, a little further? That creates tension between the elements and it makes them all belong together.

The smallest details like a tiny bit of stitching make a huge difference on a page.

I really like that small cluster of really pretty embellishments. The bicycle is a very pretty piece that draws the attention of the viewer very quickly. Then, the cluster of tags behind behind it, overlaying some transparencies and twine... it's a cluster of textures and different materials. It's very pleasing to the eye. Dont be afraid to add layers and letting just a little part of a very pretty piece (the bird!) peek out. Also, use little prompted spots to add details. Like here, on the new born baby tag with the stork, I added the date and even time we got the baby guinea pig. :) I checked on the picture information on my computer to find out the real time.

Finally, when embellishing a layout, use repetition! Here on the upper corner of the page, which was left totally empty, I grabbed elements that I had already used on the page. I used transparency, a flag label, gold foil, stitching and foam adhesive for dimension. All of these were already used somewhere on the page. By repeating them, you just tie everything together.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you want to get out of a rut or if you just want to try this method to start a layout with a brand style guide, go ahead. Pick one from the Get It Scrapped Pinterest board and just get started. From my own experience, it works great!!

Talk to you again soon,
Marie
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Pretty Please at Pretty Little Studio | Potpourri

Hello everyone!!

I'm really happy that you joined me today for a short presentation of my new fall collection called Potpourri!

It's available through Pretty Little Studio and you can pre order it now right HERE and it will ship around October 15th on a first come first served basis.

The name Potpourri was my husband's idea. As I was telling him how eclectic my collection was, I was saying things like "there are fall motives, but there are also spring motives" and "the patterns and colors make the collection usable all year round", a little bit like my Here Comes The Sun collection, you know? So Potpourri, which means a mixture or medley of things, was pretty fitting. :)

The collection consists of patterned papers, cards, clear acetates, vellum sheets, cardstock and vellum die cuts, sticker sheets and flair badges.

The colors are happy and vibrant. I hand painted each image (even the labels!) with watercolor and a brush! :)

Here's a closer look on some of my favorites of the collection:

Paper! This is the 8x8 paper pack. You can also get it in 4x4 and 6x6 or in 6x8 if you are into mini albums! :) 

My favorite paper of all is the one with the big leaves, but I also love the mushrooms and raindrops. And oh well, I love all of them, otherwise they wouldn't be there! The paperback has a mixture of white background with colorful motives, black and white papers and full colored papers. Some patterns are subtle and some are really bold and great to make a big statement! 

And then there are the vellums. I love vellum to layer!! I doesn't only give another layer to the layout, but it also brings another feel and a softness to the stories and photos. And the Pretty Little Studio vellum is a really nice one! 

The collection also has some of these patterns in gold on paper, velum and clear:

If you are a Project Lifer (I am!) :) you'll like to see all the cutes cards I created!!! There are 3x4 and 4x6. And you can get a pack of all the papers in 4x6 as well if you'd like. 

My bestseller in my previous collection are the die cuts!! And this collection as plenty of options as well. :)

I absolutely ADORE these vellum leaves!!!

And I also like these labels and polaroid type cards. You can use them to journal, stamp, or add photos! You could also cut the inside and layer them over photo and make little shaker cards with them. Endless possibilities.

And this is what I can never have enough of!!! 

And again, for my love of labels, I have some gold banners!!

Most of these die cuts are also available as stickers:

 I really wanted to offer enough black and white in this collection so I made a pack of clear all black stickers.

 I absolutely love these numbers as well (and letters are to be added to the shop soon to).

 Plus, I added some mini stickers to the line that were thought specifically to be used in planners.

The collection also has some vellum washi tape.

Finally, I have some nice packs of flairs. Here are just two of the 5 sets. 

Here is the collection in a nutshell but you can see the whole collection and order it on the Pretty Little Studio website.

I can't wait to see your unboxing videos and your all of the projects you guys are going to use my products for! Please do share and tag me on Instagram and Facebook when you use my products!! I really enjoy and appreciate it each time! :)

Marie-Pierre






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Family Portrait | Mini-album Part II

Hello everyone!!
It's been a while!

I am back from the end of school year + 5 weeks of vacation and one week in remission of the jet lag (which has still not totally passed!)

Now, I've been walking in Prague yesterday and today, after a long time not having been in the city, and so many thoughts were flying through my head and heart. One of my Prague BFF is gone! insert a sad face here. It seemed like the city was not the same.... and all the places I laid eye on were reminding me of this past year we've spent touring the city and adventuring every little nooks and creases. So weird. Thank god for all my other friends who are still here. And expat community is full of love and support, and that's awesome. I need that!! We all do.

Remember the mini-album I made for my friend before she left? Well, I've finished it and gave it to her and received lots of compliments and heard a lot of "I want one too!" and I'm ready now to show the rest of the album with you. :)

This is what it looked like when I gave it to her. I closed it with a yellow and white striped ribbon and I insert a go away card.

I attached a small pottery figurine of the well known Prague Golem to the spine of the album with a black leather lace.

I thought it would look lovely, dangling from the side of the album, when put upward on a shelf. Plus, my friend will know the is her Prague album!

This is the card I made:

I used a stamp set from Mama Elephant. I thought it was very symbolic to have the little girl (me) releasing the balloon (my friend) and letting her go to new adventures. The yellow balloon is for Joy and positivity. :)

Now to the inside of the album.

You can catch the first part of the album by clicking here.
Most of the products (including the album) were sent to me by Family Portrait.

On this photo, 2 friends that left in June and who I will greatly miss.

For this page I took a screenshot of an Instagram post. The photo is bad! It was a video post. But the memory is priceless! I love that the photo shows the number of views and some funny comments. :)

Attached with an arrow shaped paperclip, I added our ticket stub to the communism museum. I added a black and white die cut from my Here Comes The Sun collection, available at Pretty Little Studio.

And on this side I printed a photo directly on white textured card stock. It makes it look like a small painting. I really like the effect.

I don't know what I was thinking not to put the names of everyone! ... that's bad!

Another single photo page with one small embellishment added.

I've added a picture of her daughter signing a solo at the school concert. I find these candid shots really cool! So natural and reflective of the real life. I like that we see other kids that are in her kids class, and the music teacher too.

A smaller page for decoration purpose.

And here you can catch a glimpse of our two cars parked next to another while we were having fun in the city. Another very candid shot, yet so representative of our reality.

One of the problems I encountered while doing this mini album is that when you use both sides of the cards, one of the page will fall upside down. When one side is a pattern, it doesn't matter much, but when it's an image, like here, sometimes you really have a problem!  The umbrella was laying upside down!!

My solution was to fill it with sparkling sequins.... I really love that part of the process of scrapbooking. Finding solutions and tricks to make things work. :)

I've added a transparency here and stapled a golden heart in the middle of the branch. When you do this, just make sure the embellishment doesn't fall in the face of someone or at some weird places...

These small golden heart and hand painted label are also from my Here Comes The Sun paper collection.

There you go, plenty of important details that will go forgotten in some years! Don't forget to add them to your albums!!

And I ended the album with a note to my friend and a cute die cut. <3 nbsp="" p="">
I really love how this album turned out and I secretly wish I would have made one to myself too. ;)

Marie