Get it Scrapped DT | Using a map

Hi everyone!

Today on the Get it Scrapped blog you will find several ways of using a map in your scrapbooks.

Now, when I was assigned this "challenge" I thought of many many ways to use a map and I couldn't settle down on which one to use. I was thinking to use a map to show our travels in Europe. I was thinking of using a map to show our numerous moves. I was thinking of showing you a layout I made as part of my childhood album where I use a map of where I grew up.... but finally something came up into our life. Maybe you already picked that up on my layouts/PL spreads, but if not, or if you weren't sure, here you have it, black on white:

We Are Moving Again!

This time we are going not further South, but rather east.... Overseas again, just like we did when we came to the United States from Switzerland, 5 years ago. We are moving because (or for) my husband's job. It's the kind of sacrifices we have to do to stay together and to continue to grow as a united family. It doesn't please me so much. Going again through the physical move is no fun. The boxes. The puzzle of what to bring and what to leave behind.... but even more than this, the fact that we have to adapt again to a new culture and country scares me a little. Speaking 4 languages is not enough.... now we'll be confronted to Czech. A difficult language to learn, so I heard. And I know from experience that going to a country where you don't know the language feels like you would be in a prison. Can't read, can't listen, ... In Switzerland I often felt like I landed on the moon. Wish me luck this time around. We'll put Arielle and Maya in charge of the language teaching at home.

So anyway, I'll stop talking and show you the page I made using a map:

I found the map using my friend Google. I print screened it and photoshopped it a little and printed it on white cardstock using my wide format printer. I then spent 5 minutes water coloring some of the countries in tones of yellow, oranges and pinks.

I found that little puffy airplane in my stash. It's from Amy Tangerine. I stitched a pink line from North Carolina to Prague and added 2 small chipboard stars.

I added a chipboard piece (Heidi Swapp) and a few stickers that I found in my stash (Amy Tangerine). I finished by adding the "amazing thing will happen" and "be happy" from Dear Lizzy. The words are just right on!  I added a small yellow start to balance the color.

I added the title up there (Heidi Swapp) and stitched again with an aqua thread. I should have done that at the very beginning since I destroyed my page quite a bit but I was capable of salvaging it ok.

I had a lot to say so I free journaled right where there was space, in the middle of the Atlantic, going around the embellishments I had already adhered. I stamped the date and called it done!! It took me about 30 minutes to do all that. A page doesn't have to be anything complicated. It's just a way of recording a memory after all.

Thanks for coming by!!

Marie

Citrus Twist Kits DT | Maya

Hi everyone!

Yesterday I had a page on the Citrus Twist Kits blog. I made a 12x12 layout using my April 2016 Project Life and my Sprinkles kits. I already told you that it's my treat to make a traditional layout after I made 3 project Life spreads. :) And this time even more so since I thought the acetate words were over the moon gorgeous and I couldn't wait to pair them with one of my favorite photo of the moment.

I started my layout with a white cardstock so that my acetate words would pop out of the layout!

I then paired the patterned papers wit the colors of the words and I layered them + stitched and distressed the edges under my photo. I really love the dimension.

So that the colors could stay the focus of the page I played with some white on white for the title.

And I repeated  the same white on whit at the bottom with white stitching. I added a cluster of embellishment at the bottom of my photo.

And sprinkled wood veneer here and there (I formed a diagonal line going form the bottom right to the top left). I love that the wood veneer are a neutral color. They don't compete with the colors of the layout, they only add to them.

Voilà! Short and sweet. :)

Have a great day my friends!!  And if you like my page, go ahead and pin it for me. :)

Thank you!!!

Marie-Pierre 

Hip Kit Club DT | Project Life 2016

Hi everyone!!

Today I'm showing you my last project as part of the Hip Kit Club Design Team. The end of my DT term came at the same moment as my move to Prague so I had no choice to step down from the team. Boo :( I had a blast creating for them for the past 6 months. Their kits are absolutely fabulous and I will for sure miss them. Let me tell you one last time that if you are looking for a kit packed with goodies, you might consider this one! :) So anyway, a HUGE THANK YOU to Kimberly who was so kind and generous to me. xox

And here's my spread:

I really love the light and airy look.

I often have pictures in the middle row, but not this time. This time I used the middle row to journal about the 2 stories represented, for one title and for embellishing.

Sometimes, less is more. I really liked the light on this picture so I kept the embellishing to a minimum. Neutral colored embellishments are a good way to embellish in a subtle way.

I love this photo!! My little one had decided her first wiggly tooth was coming out that night! And Big Sister was so happy and intrigued. I really love the complicity between the two sisters. I always have my iphone with me when it's bath time (I use the music to put them to sleep afterwards) so it was easy to pull it out and snap this not so perfect picture. I was really close to them and had to act quickly. It totally works.

These 2 cards, under the nice photo of my girls in the sun room are explaining that they are writing a paper for the inscription to their new school in Prague.

Here's the story of the wiggly tooth and some embellishing. I really love what's written on this cork sticker.

I used the two bottom photos to write another title. When reading both of them together you get "friends forever". 

I added this bis die cut to write more of the story and to hide the wide wall area that was taking away from these two cute little faces.

The *, the enamel dots and the wood veneer heart are tying this photo with the previous one.

The right page is less white but still has the same feel as the left page. 

I used embellishments to hide several things on the photo that were distracting and plain ugly.

I love the cozy/homy look of the wood veneer. It's very "warm"...

I embellished much less on this spread than on other spreads I've done before with the hip Kit Club's kits but maybe that's what brings my page to breath more. I've let the colors of the pictures shine.

Love this fairly lare cork bird sitting on a branch die cut and surrounded by enamel dots. The stitching up there adds lots of texture and interest. I love how this card turned out.

That cute green heart was just perfect on that card!! I really love how the yellow of the enamel dots make the yellow from the card pop out.

Big numbers are great to use for dates, ages, of here for temperature.

And I finished my spread with a simple pink puffy sticked and a couple of pink enamel dots.

Voilà! :)
I hope you liked what I did with the Hip Kit Club kits and I hope I could inspire you a bit, or a lot!! :D I sure hope that you will still follow me even though I won't be using the kits anymore. You can certainly easily translate my embellishment ideas with anything you have in your stash that's for sure!!

So if you like what you see here, go ahead and become a member. :)

I hope to see you around!!

Marie

Get It Scrapped DT | DIY Project Life cards

Hi everyone!!

Today I'm sharing with you a page that I made for Get it Scrapped. I was asked to create a scrapbooking product myself and to use it on a layout. I chose to create some journaling cards à la Project Life. I was inspired by this cute "cloud" card I found on a sheet of paper from Crate Paper. I thought I needed more cards, in different colors and I thought of drawing a sail boat to go along with the song I wanted to add to my page. You can read on the Get it Scrapped blog if you want some step by step kind of instructions to create your own cards like I did. So anyway, here's the page I made using my "home made" cards:

Having the story idea in my head, I went through my "box of memories", you know the ones that I'm still holding on to, even after reading "The life-changing magic of tidying up from Mari Kondo", and I found these 2 letters that my mom wrote to me while I was at camp in the summer of 1988!! Priceless!! I read them and they brought back so many memories!!! Wow! So I added them to my page and made them easy to take out of the page protector to read again (and again, and again...).

I didn't stick anything to them, i wanted them intact!! I simply hold them in place with a paperclip. I like to be able to read the addresses too. And to see my mom's hand writing which I think is just fantastic (she disagrees with that).

With small gold foam letters I spelled the name of the camp. I placed my cards and photo (it is just a random photo of me at the age I was going to the camp - a Photo Booth photo from 1988!!) and embellishments and then I went to town by writing my heart out. :)

Here you have a better look at the card I created. I used a roller stamp with many numbers on it to stamp the date. I'd really really love to have a roller date stamp of that time but I just can't find one. :(

I decorated the bottom left corner with some ephemera pieces from the Crate paper collection Little You. I've cut out the bottom of the tag which was saying weight and length. :) I really love the mix of transparencies and cardstock die cuts.

Voilà!

Hope you enjoyed my post today!! :)

Marie

Citrus Twist Kits DT | Project Like 2016

Hi everyone!

Today I'm one the Citrus Twist Kits blog with a Project Life spread and a Sketch and some prizes to win if you play along so if you want to try, it's here. Otherwise, just stick with me and I'll show you my spread and some detail shots, as always. :)

I'm absolutely loving the Pinkfresh Studio acetate word. Love the transparency, love the color.

This is a clear and gold sticker from Heidi Swapp.

A cute flair from Citrus Twist Kits. I really love all the greens in this months kit. Perfect to document the month of the Irish and all that comes with it. I'll have more leprechaun and green t-shirts on my spreads to come.

Here's the acetate word I was talking about. I really love that depending on what you place it on, it changes color/hue. Also, look at the Citrus Twist Kits exclusive Project Life cards!!! I'm telling you, I'm absolutely in love with this month's kit!

Sometimes, I add a little something directly to a photo to highlight a detail we would maybe not see otherwise. Here I added a wood veneer and puffy heart to bring the viewer's eye to the name of the restaurant. When I took this picture, I was trying to photograph the light bulbs hanging over the terrace. :)

I decided that I would some white cardstock this month to give me more place to journal. I placed the patterned paper under my photo to add color and to tie everything together. A label from the labor sheet is perfect to add a title on a larger white space like this one. I stitched and added a puffy sticker to give it some more visual weight.

Here is another label, this time to add a little bit of journaling. I accented the photo with two red puffy stickers.

To balance the right page (I always work one page at the time) I used again an acetate word. I mainly used pinks on this side of the spread but there's an orange balloon at the top repeating the orange from the left page.

I wanted to add the invitation card to the party in the spread but I didn't want to give it a whole pocket so I slipped it behind a photo and attached it with a paperclip. I then added the string, label with the names of the girls, the love die cut and the wooden heart. It makes it tough to take out the card but it's not an element I will take out before at least 10 years I would say. I'll deal with putting everything back together when I get there. ;)

Here,s a better view of the cluster.

I have 2 stories on this page so I used 2 journaling cards to write journaling. This one goes with the 2 bottom photos but it's still related to the photo next to it (with the grey puffy sticker) and the other journaling card by it's colors.

Notice how the puffy sticker follow the lines of the door/window. When adding embellishments, you want to look for lines and play with these.

Here you can see how the 2 cards and the photo separating them are all going together.

For the title of this card i used sticker alphas and a brush pen. I really like to switch fonts and color and thickness when making a title.

And here's my second acetate word. Isn,t it beautiful? So soft and yet so happy. I added the wood veneer to break a little bit of the softness.

Finally on this last photo I added some journaling on stripes. I typed it with my typewriter. It's what my daughter wrote on her paper.

There you go. Don't forget that if you want to use a sketch to reproduce this spread, you will find it on the Citrus Twist Kits blog. And if you play along and use it before next Friday you could even win prizes. :) Good luck and definitely come and let me know if you do play with me. :)

Talk to you soon!!

Marie