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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Citrus Twist Kits | Cinque Terre

Hi everyone!

I have a layout for you today, one of my last ones with the Citrus Twist Kits since I decided to resign my position on the design team.  If you don't mind, I'll show you my layout first and tell you the story after...

So here it is, one of my four layouts made with the April Citrus Twist main scrapbooking kit.

I love every paper with compartments like this one. They always call for many small photos and embellies and stories.

So first thing I did was choosing a story I wanted to tell and I settled on our day at Cinque Terre in Italy. I knew I had enough photos to fill in many little frames.

I looked at the frames and chose my photos to go with them. I mesured the frames and sized my photos and placed them on a4x6 canvas in Photo shop. It looked like this:

I then cut out the photos and placed them over the frames to give me a good idea of how it would look and to see also if I needed more photos.

I then started cutting the inside of the frames with an exact knife. It was really quick and easy. Especially when I decided I'd get rid of the scallops inside some of the frames. lol I was cutting around them when my husband came in my room and I realized what I was doing was a loss of time. I just simplified. ;)

I love the look of the photo behind the paper. I adhered them all with washi tape. (I always have to check which one is sticking enough for that task. I also stick to one I love less or have more of, because it is hidden behind the page).

Once all my photos where adhered, I started adhering small embellishments and adding details with words and letter stickers.

I also decided I'd color some of the frames with gold ink because the photos being so small were totally lost on a total black and white layout.

I like that the gold ink I chose is very yellow and happy and still has the shimmer of the gold in it.

Very simple layout. it took me less than an hour to finish it. But I still like it. I'll add more to the story in other layouts (we did a 10 days road trip through Germany, Italy and Switzerland, so I still have a lot of photos and stories!) Or I might just keep this page in our travel album and move onto a mini album for the whole road trip. Yep, that might be a good idea. :)

So now for the story of my decision of stepping down of the design team...

I don't want to get too much in the details of why, but just let me tell you that this move to Prague, even if I absolutely love Prague and my new friends here took a toll on me and I was stretching myself way too thin for all that was going on. Inside of me, I knew that I was going straight to a fail, but I kept trying to make everything work until my body said "Enough!"

Last time by body talked to me like this it was when we learned the news that we were moving to Prague and to make a story short, I ended with my worse fear in my hands!

Yep, a snake!

So anyway, this time, with the mindfulness techniques I've been practicing since January (thank god for that!), I could keep my nerves under control but it was still very scary and at that moment I was struggling to stay sane, I knew I had to let something go, even if that something is what I love most in life. I cried over my decision but really, I had no choice. I've hit a wall. I have to step back and readjust. Go back to a minimum of things to do is a good thing to start with. I think.

So for now I'm on a break of all my design teams. I'll see in September what happens when I get back from our summer vacation and readjust again to our life in Prague. I'm just hoping that I will still be able to make scrapbooking a priority. Because it really is what I love most.

Thanks for stopping by guys, and for all the comments you leave me here and on Facebook and Instagram. They really lift me up and keep me going when times get hard.

Marie-Pierre xo

Get it Scrapped | Principle of Proximity

Hello everyone!!

Today I have a page to show you that I made for Get It Scrapped.

This page is documenting the day I left Vancouver, at the beginning of June 1998, going back home and leaving my "future husband" behind. It was a tough day for both of us and I'm glad I finally documented it.

To design this page I used a design principle called "proximity". You can read all about it on the Get it Scrapped blog today.

Its to give you a little hint of the proximity principle, it's about how you place your elements on the page, together or appart, to create a feeling. Here I wanted to document the separation so I used two pictures that I separated with a line formed by the little plane. I also used a skyline picture to give the feel of something going away. Finally I placed the little plane very close to the side of the page to give the feeling of it flying away.

I used a paper from Crate Paper, from their Flea Market collection and I really like the big gold area which grounds my picture and also gives it a lot of shine and light.

I mounted my picture on a piece of raindrops patterned paper from my Here Comes The Sun collection to highlight the sadness of the day. By the way, that photo was not taken on the day I left, but it was the last photo we took with our two best friends in Vancouver the day they left. That was a sad day too. Sometimes you can't get caught up with the idea that you don't have the perfect photo to document a story. Just use what you have and explain the story in the journaling.

I added some die cuts to add importance to the photo. I love how all the colors of the products in different collections coordinate.

So as I said, I added a line between the two photos. I used my sewing machine and gold thread. I was easy to do stitch but it would have been easier if I would have stitched BEFORE adhering the photos and all the other elements. It happens to me all the time! Oh well, no now knows, right?! :)

To add to the theme of sadness, I used some acetate clouds from the Little You collection from Crate paper and since they were so subtle, I added a flair button, again from my Here Comes The Sun collection. Adhering acetate is tricky. I have special vellum adhesive, but it wasn't doing a good job so I decided so use some tiny staples.

This die cut from Dear Lizzy acts as my title and is accentuated by the golden "our" that I added. I love the look of the clear acrylic stars mixed with the cardstock die cut stars. I adhered the plane with just a little bit of hot glue. I added some stamping with white ink next to my title to add some more whimsy.

ut of course, the whole layout just comes alive when the viewer reads the journaling. .... it's always the most important part for me. ;)

Have a great day guys!!

Marie-Pierre

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Citrus Twist Kits | Documenting a trip

Hi everyone!

How do you document a trip you really really liked and have 500 great photos from that trip? Do you just forget about it and do nothing? Because that wouldn't be the way to go...

As you know it, not long ago, I came back from a trip to Dubai and I really loved it and didn't want to miss the chance to document it so here's how I went about to document it:

1. I wrote a blogpost. I didn't want to forget anything and I thought that was the best way to go. Journal. And add some pictures maybe too. It took me some time. Maybe a half day, but I'm glad I did it because when I had the chance to scrapbook my trip, weeks later, I had already forgotten so much information and I was happy to just look back at my blog post. I was also happy that my best pictures were already selected.

2. I did a layout about the BEST part of the trip! For me it was my day in the sand dunes. I'll tell you more about this layout very soon on the Citrus Twist Kits blog as part of a tutorial showing you how to build a double page layout with lots of photos and journaling.

3. I did a layout that serves as a summary of the trip. I didn't want to tell everything on that page, nor display all my best pictures, but I wanted to give a feel of the trip and show several activities we made.

It's this layout:

The title is "welcome to Dubai" and I chose lots of pictures of my husband an I, including the forbidden kiss at the top of Burj Khalifa. A photo at the beach, one of our hotel room number in arab and roman numbers. :) The Burj Khalifa and Dubai mall, the view at the marina (where we were staying), our favorite tea place with fresh dates and palm tree reflection in the glass of the table. The whole trip is not there. The sand dunes are not there for example, but the main of the trip is there.

I didn't use a lot of products either. Look.  A white background and just some embellishments here and there. Sometimes, you just have to stop overthinking everything and to over complicate everything. Simple is good. And what you want are your pictures and the story, right?!

Sorry for the inappropriate photo.... my daughter wasn't happy with this. But it was kind of a big part of the trip because we (or I) were a little bit nervous about that whole thing of not being allowed to hold hands in public.

The journaling sums the trip up. Not all details are there, but I knew that more pages were coming. :)

4. I then did a layout about the 2nd most interesting thing during my trip: the top of Burj Khalifa.

As you can see, it doesn't take much to make a scrapbook layout! Only a story to document.

I really wanted to incorporate these 2 tickets on my page so that's the first thing I did: find them a place. I then played my photos as it made sense, playing around to see how I could fit them in the space I had left. I decided I'd isolate the small picture of the tower to give it some more "power".

I mounted in onto a piece of colored paper and I added some details net to it. Adding enamel dots to act as bullet points. I used te stamp to add the subtitle "highlights".

I played a little bit with the papers I had in the kit to customize this tag. I really love that the kit comes with a bit of twine. I love adding it to my layouts. :)

I journaled in the space I had left. Story documented!

And theres a 3rd page made to document my trip. How awesome is that?
But I wasn't done yet!! I really wanted to incorporate more pictures that I had already printed in various sizes, and I wanted to document the mall + the day at the beach/souk/some more favorite moments.

5. So I made another simple page:

I used a colored background, just because I was getting to be tired of the pure white. Ha! :) And that turquoise fitted nicely with the feel of my mall photos.

Once again I used an ephemera, the mall guide! I had never seen a mall guide this thick. And a mall as beautifully done as this one!! So I really wanted to incorporate the guide in my book.

Because I wanted it to be easy to take out of the pocket to look at it, I've put it at the top of the page. It's a very thick and heavy book though, I'm not sure if it will hold in my album. Worse case scenario, I'll with the paperclip for a mini gold bulldog clip. But at least, this way, we only have to pull the page up an inch to have access to the brochure.

I used 2 3x4 cards from the Pocket Life kit to add my journaling and I basically just played around with the photos to see how they could fit.

6. I made one last layout with the rest of my photos:

Again, this layout was all about find a spot for all the pictures. How to position my photos so that it makes sense and so that it all fits!

I gathered together the beach photos, the evening at the marina + tea photos, and finally I used the last spot for the Burj al Arab and souk (no photos) we visited. The details are all in the journaling.

For my night photos I was happy to use a darker background paper.

Notice that I added the little bag of tea that I brought for that purpose. I really loved the shine of the gold on it. :) You know you're a scrapbooker when you bring back what others consider trash. lol

Ha, also, I numbered these 2 last pages to show the days and the order we did these things. On my blog, when I told the story of Dubai, I separated the things in 2 ways: first, by day, second, by event/places. I kind of liked it. On my pages, it's not that clear. But I hope that the 1 and 2 will help me make sense of it all when I look back on those pages in some years. I'm still not sure the order I'll put the pages in in my album, and also, maybe I'll add a number 3 on my sand dunes pages.

So that's it for my Dubai trip. It was quite a experience to document all this and it was fun to relive the trip. :) I ended up with 5 pages (one of them being double) and lots of stories and details. Not everything is there, and not every photo I love is there either, but the essence is there. I'm happy. :)

I hope this helps you make sense of it all and I hope you'll revisit this post when you'll be ready to document a bigger trip. I especially hope that you WILL document your next big trip, and that the photos AND stories will find a home in an album!!

Marie-Pierre

Citrus Twist Kits | Family Photo

Hi everyone,

here's a page I made with the Citrus Twist kit February 2017 add-on kit.

I only used one sheet of cardstock, no patterned papers and just some stickers here and there. How simple is that?! But the story? The story is all there, in photos, and words! 7 photos to be exact! Oh I love this!!!

I made some sort of title with different elements. I kind of like it. I used my brush pen to write "obligatory". And then I gathered some small elements around my grid to balance the colors.

I used a palm tree leaf to make a Christmas tree. Would you have known if I hadn't told you?! I had to grab that little star from my stash though. ;) I tried using the blue star as the tree top but it was too bulky and I liked it better in the sky. 

I stamped the year of each photo. I used this blue and gold arrow to highlight that pictures of which I talk in my journaling. I thought I didn't need more explanations than what's in the text already. Only some visual support.

And I rounded the page with a yellow label, to repeat the pink label I used in the title, and I used my cute little stamp set to add some wise words. I really love that these stamps are tiny so they fit everywhere! I also like that the words are in different fonts, styles and sizes so that we can combine them and they always fit together!! :) 

Hoping I could inspire you tell longer stories with many photos on a simple/single page!! I just love it when it happens!!

Talk to you soon!!

Marie 

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