LET'S GO TO THE BEACH EACH

This layout started with a story. It was a song we heard way too much on the radio. Starships, by Nicki Minaj. The thing about these songs is that, as you listen to them for the fifth time in 2 hours, you start to kind of like them. And you sing them all the time (at least I do). So here we were, in Quebec after 8 hours in a car and here it was, stuck in my head: Let’s go to the beach, each. Let’s go get away… And you might not know it, but when on a road trip, “let’s go” is something you say a lot. Obviously, I would complete the sentence every time. 3 days later, no one dared pronounce these words anymore.

This memory, I know I will remember it way longer than any castle or falls we visited. It’s not a song we hear a lot on the radio now, and I don’t listen to it very often, yet I smile everytime it’s on, thinking back of our awesome trip to Quebec. And this is what I decided to scrap.

I decided to have some fun with the texture of the layout, so I started by painting a big pink ombre effect with watercolors. By the end, not much was still showing, but it’s ok, I know it’s there. Next came the papers. Almost each one is from Atlantic, the latest Studio Calico collection (it’s awesome). I wanted a nice but subtle “beachy” frame for my photo, so I took a piece of vellum and some gold thread. Added my title (this one was easy to find!), very little embellishment (yes, because it’s all about the title, you got it right!), and finally added a border by sewing with a yellow thread. I noticed sewing on pages is super popular, but most people only use white thread. I think colors are fun. Use them! Layout done, story told.

Come on, let’s go! 

UNION STATION

My Canada/USA album is getting quite big already, filled with photos and stories and papers and embellishment. So i try here and there to add some simpler layouts, with lots of breathing space for the eyes to rest. This is one of them. 

I really really wanted to scrap this photo of Union Station becausea. i love it and b. this place is where my trip to DC started, and ended so it means quite a lot to me. But the original 4x6 i had printed did not work for me. I think it was because this place was huge, with crazy high ceilings and beautiful high archways. So i went big, and i reprinted it. The rest of the layout came together super quickly. A cute background with a little repetitive pattern, easy on the eyes, yet not boring. And because the photo is pretty dark i added splashes of colors: pink, blue and yellow. Almost no embellishment, just a few words here and there. Perfect for a pretty break while going through the album.  

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 20

Week 20, aka the week Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful mess released their new camera app, as you can obviously tell by all the edited photos of that spread. Beside that fact, it was a really normal yet extra stressful week for me.  But also a happy one, because i got lots of mail on that day, and mail always makes me extra happy, especially when filled with scrapbooking supplies! 

I don't know about the rest of the world, but in France May is symbolized by a little white bell flower called muguet (i think it is lily of the valley in english) which i adore, so i grabbed a picture of some and included it in one of my May spread! Do you have them too in your corner of the world? I remember as a kid going out with my parents every 1st of May to gather some in the woods, and then make little bouquets for our home. Happy, happy memories. Oh, and the smell is terrific too <3 

Supplies wise, i almost only used my Studio Calico PL kit from May and June. I also just got those cute bows from the Atlantic collection and i had to use of them. Cutest ever. The spread is extra simple, made in less than an hour. I really don't want to spend more time than that on PL because that is so not the point of it. And layouts already takes my days to complete, so i'd have to stop sleeping if i were to spent any more time crafting! And i love sleeping way too much.

THIS IS ME

Did i ever confessed my love for online classes? I take way too much of them, all year long. For instance, right now, i am taking three of them, and loving each one! There is Kara's class The M (about mastering the manual mode of your DSLR), Studio Calico's Happy Little Moments with Maggie Holmes, and Projects that WOW by the lovely Jennifer. The layout i am showing you today was made with some prompts from that last class. More than a scrapper, Jennifer really is a crafter, and her projects are an awesome source of inspiration (also, she's a lover of all thing glittery and gold like myself, so of course i love her). Me, i'm more of a scrapper i think, so here's my latest layout made during Week 1 of the class. My goal here was to embrace the white space and play with the dimension of my layout without much paper. Here's the process:

I started by stamping my white background with a camera stamp. I wanted a pretty light look so what i did was first spraying on a sheet of paper where most of the ink would go and then stamping on my background, to get a lighter color. At that poing i already know where my papers would go so i didn't stamped at random (in case you were wondering).Then i cut my papers (the larger one is from Atlantic, the newest Studio Calico line, the yellow one is Maggie Holmes and the turquoise is an old Crate Paper) and adhered them with the photo. Added the silver washi (which is a pain to do once your paper is well stucked on the layout, but i always forgot!) And ... moving on to the embellishments!

I realized i wanted even more "flat" dimension and most was perfect for that. I tend to do the misting last (let's be honest, it's because i forget to do it sooner), so usually i'll cover the papers, photos... with anything i can find and then mist away on the spots left uncovered. To get the tiny splashes i use a paint brush and if i want anything bigger i'll just use the applicator from the bottle. I had my title in mind but couldn't find the perfect spot for it so i decided i'd work on my little clusters first. The gold arrows are from Freckled Fawn, the little irregular circle stickers (Studio Calico) i mounted on pop dots for some more dimension, some tabs, a gold sequin, and a star veneer colored with ink. Super simple.Finally, i glued my title, added some journaling, and then spent way too much time sewing around the layout (yes, handsewing...) Should i add that i love this layout? Background stamps are awesome, remind me to use them more!

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 19

I am SUPER behind on my Project Life. BUT, i have recently started using Lightroom and believe me, my (project) life has been changed, for the better! 

Anyway, i somehow managed to do a spread this weekend, unsing my May SC PL kit and some papers from 6*6 pads (Basic Grey and Studio Calico). Lots of little tabs and letter stickers for a super simple and extra quick to put together spread. I love when that happens!

Story wise, nothing much happened that week, i only worked 2 days thanks to some awesome public holidays. I also got to go to the premiere of the new Star Trek movie, which was pretty awesome! The rest is some random stills from the week: my little cat lying on my stomach, my crazy white legs in serious need of some sunshine, and the gorgeous view near my work (yes that it the Eiffel Tower in the distance).

PERFECT AUTUMN MORNINGS

I think i have been wanting to scrap these photos since the minute i took them (with my iphone). Lots of big, awesome, impressive things happened to me during my trip to Canada, but the everyday, the tiny habits i developed there are some of my favorite memories. I felt so good there the thought of going back crosses my mind pretty much every single day. Mornings there were the best. Maybe because there was a Starbucks inside my school (does that sound totally normal to you? that was magic to me, this is definitely not allowed in France), or because the light was gorgeous, the view beautiful and the air amazing (yes there is such a thing as amazing non polluted air).  Anyway, i really wanted to scrap this memory so i picked two instagram of these morning rituals and built my layout. 

 I mainly picked Crate Paper supplies from Story Teller and The Pier collections, and that alphabet paper from a SC kit just because i really wanted to use that blue M to spell my title. This little detail is pretty much what helped built the layout. I picked a few diferent alphas to spell the title, added a couple wood veneers. Then decided i wanted more on the diagonal. Obviously, adding some gold was mandatory. And that Dear Lizzy flair had the perfect color and sentiment. Added a little bit of journaling, and that was it. Memory recorded ;)

RADLAB - BEFORE & AFTER

Just for fun, i thought i'd share a before and after of the New York photo i used on yesterday's layout. What do you think? ;)And if some of you are curious about my process, i did all this in 5 minutes using Photoshop and the RadLab filter plugin from Totally Rad. I used a mix of Pool Party and Cool as a cucumber to get the color, then played with the saturation and light to get the right tone. I don't know how i did it before RadLab, but it changed my life <3

N.Y.C

I hate most of the pictures i took in New York. I spent 5 days there and the weather was horrible. Not because it rained or because it was cold. Horrible as in grey or white sky only, the worst when you want to take photos. Which obviously did not stop me from taking hundreds of them, but is seriously annoying when it is time to scrap them. So I have been using lots of tricks: black & white (here, here and here), enhanced colors (here and here), and here’s the latest: the multicolored filter. Thank you Photoshop. I realize this might not be to everyone’s taste as it is not very realistic, but the photo, and most of all the story, remain the same. Also, it’s super fun!

So here’s my new NYC layout, with a no longer boring photo. I’m even considering printing a very large version of it to frame. It’s crazy how a simple filter can change everything. So I guess where I am trying to say is: don’t be afraid. It’s not like you’ll lose the original version. And you could end up loving the new one!

For the layout itself, it started with this new patterned paper I got with a xoxo repeting pattern (I think it’s from the fourteen collection by Crate Paper). All of my NY layouts have a mention of this xoxo somewhere, so I knew I had to use it for a new NY layout. Because I did this layout right after this one with the big photo (based on a Glitter Girl adventure), I decided I’d do the same and reprinted it at home. I also got this big alpha patterned paper on a SC kit which I was super afraid to use as is, so I cut out my title on it. And because I felt like way more colors were needed, I framed my xoxo paper with a hot blue patterned paper from my stash (I think it’s from the Collectable collection) . Then I picked out bit and pieces: elle’s studio tabs, Studio Calico veneer circles, a doily, some washi, and gold star sequins! (love those!) And that’s it!

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 18

May is my very favorite month, for a lots of different little reasons (i talked more about this on this blog post). So I decided i'd do a spread just to welcome it, using one of my very favorite picture of the month. I printed it at home then cut it to fit the pocket. Added a piece of 12x12 paper and that was it. Super simple, and pretty as hell in the album. Then onto the first spread for May (and as i am writing this on June 2nd, that means i am a month behind. Definitely need to work on that soon!)

 I am in love with the May PL kit from Studio Calico. The colors are my very favorite at the moment: grey, yellow, pink and blue. Used them all on this spread. Along with some 6x6 papers from Maggie Holmes (loving every single piece of this collection <3). The stamps are also from my SC PL kit, loving the # phrases (mostly because i'm a twitter addict so i use them all the time already). Nothing special happened on that week, except that it was NSD so i used the bottom of the spread to talk about that (and picked the one picture i had of both scrapbooking and star wars, so that was awesome to tell both stories). And that's it for this week :)