Hi!
It's a new week and a new sketch at Scrapbook Challenges! This time, the sketch includes one large photo and two small ones.
For my layout, I replaced the large photo by a grouping of four smaller ones. I had a gap in the middle because my photos were not all the same size, so I used that space to add a sub-title. I also switched the top left small picture with a journaling tag. For my title block, I stapled some twine, fussy cut some monkeys from a Basic Grey paper (Hey Boy!) and pop-dotted them along the twine and on the cork sub-title. A bit of stamping and inking, and that was it! It was a fun page to put together... and it brings back fun memories too! :)
Go check out the rest of the DT reveal at Scrapbook Challenges! I hope you join us and play along for a chance to win the April prize!
Have a scrappy week!
Martine
Posted in
Basic Grey,
layouts,
Peru,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Hi! A new sketch is posted at Scrapbook Challenges and it's a fun one! Four pictures, a diagonal and lots of paper strips... or washi tape in my case!
When I saw all those strips, I thought of colorful washi tapes which would be perfect to scrap the obsession I "suffered" from during our trip to Peru... Peruvian hats! I just LOVED them!!! How could I not? So colorful, fun and whimsical! I could have bought all of them, but I restrained myself to... 10! In my defense, I "only" kept six of them and gave the others as presents to friends/family. My very logical and rational boyfriend didn't share my enthusiasm though! He was nice enough to wear one long enough for me to snap a picture! LOL!
This is probably the most colorful layout I've ever done! And one of the rare ones without any patterned paper. With all the colorful tape, I felt like the page didn't need any more embellishments (other than the little hat badge that I bought there). I went with a plain black title and journaled directly on the tapes.
Please stop by the blog here and see what the other DT members did. Link up your own creation too so we can have a peek!
Have a great week!
Martine
Posted in
layouts,
Peru,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Hi there!
Today is a Trend Challenge over at Scrapbook Challenges... and it's all about cork! I love using cork on a layout! It adds great texture and interest to a page yet none of the bulkiness, as is sometimes the case with some embellies.
So here's the page I ended up doing. It's actually based on
Scrapbook Challenges Sketch 430.
I used cork centers (Pink Paislee) for the layered doilies as well as alphas for part of the title (Little Yellow Bicycle). The title means "Peruvians take their work to heart". They really do... They all work so hard! We saw so much poverty there, yet we barely met any beggars. Peruvians would find some way to work and make money. And hard work too, in conditions that not many here would accept. I was really impressed by the people!
Stop by the blog here to see all the other creations by the talented team! Please join us so we may enjoy your work and you may win a prize! See you there!
Martine
Posted in
layouts,
Peru,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Hi! It's time for a new sketch at Scrapbook Challenges! It's a fun sketch with a square in the middle with pictures, patterned paper, title and embellies inside.
I kept the basic concept but changed things up a bit to fit the pictures I wanted to use. As you can see, I had fun with this one! ;)
I saw this quote ("You say crazy cat lady like it's a bad thing!") on a t-shirt or a mug somewhere on the internet and knew that I had to make a layout with it at some point! It's just so totally me! lol! I "embrace" my crazy cat lady status! I proved my point last Halloween when I dressed up as one for school! The kids (and other teachers!) laughed their heads off when they saw me! It was a lot of fun! I paired that up with a picture of the real me with my five cats (only for a few months; down to four now that Lexi's gone). I used Simple Stories paper for this layout. I also used up a lot of really old stuff (Around the Block cat brads, Making Memories puffy alphas, metal sticker embellies, paw-patterned alphas and some really old Provocraft black sticker alphas (2004!). I colored the chipboard hearts with gelatos then just dotted them with a black marker. It was a fun layout to make!
Go check out what the rest of the crew did on the blog and join us for some fun and the chance to win a prize! Thanks for stopping by!
Martine
Posted in
cats,
layouts,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Hi! The March Mood Board is up at Scrapbook Challenges and it's yummy! Fresh and springy greens and yellows, plus some orange and "corky" brown too! And lots of pretty pictures to inspire you also!
This is how my layout turned out. I went with the main colors but added some dark brown.
The title means "Martine with the Monkeys". The pictures were taken in the jungle of Peru, where we were staying at a lodge for two days. One of the highlights of the visit there for me was the trip to "Monkey Island", just across the river from our lodge. It was a big island where monkeys roamed free, but knew to approach when tourists appeared because they brought mini bananas with them. I've always been fascinated with monkeys (wanted one when I was little to guard my bedroom door against my relentlessly teasing brother! LOL!) and read all about Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall when I was growing up. So this was quite the experience for me! I was somewhat conflicted though, as I strongly believe in not feeding wildlife and accustomizing wild animals to humans. They told us that this colony of monkeys (three different species) was started when they rescued an original group of ten or so animals from poachers. They eventually brought them to this island where they've been living freely and breeding. Is the story true? I don't know... but to have the chance to feed monkeys and have them climb up on my shoulders when they felt like it, I was willing to believe it! ;)
I used Basic Grey papers again: "Hey Boy" for main pieces and the cute monkeys, then some preciously hoarded "Mellow" scraps for the punched out circles, along with a few other extra miscellaneous scraps. I had fun with the monkeys: I fussy-cut them and pop-dotted them for dimension. Eventually there will be a second page with journaling and more photos.
Go check out the rest of the reveal on the blog and get inspired to create and link up with us before the end of the month!
Have fun!
Martine
Posted in
Basic Grey,
layouts,
mood board,
Peru,
Scrapbook Challenges
Hi!
There's a new sketch up at Scrapbook Challenges! This week, it features an 8x10 photo! I don't often scrap with big pictures, so this was fun for me. It was also the perfect sketch to remember my sweet girl Lexi, whom I had to put to sleep last week. She was almost 17 and had been battling chronic renal failure for a year now. So although it wasn't unexpected, it's always gut wrenching to have to make the decision that the time to let one of our babies go has come. I take comfort in knowing that she had a full and long life. She was one tough cookie, all of 5 pounds but making the big boys of the house take notice of her and respect her space. She was the queen of the place! lol!
Here's the sketch and my layout.
I used one one my all-time favorite Basic Grey collections, Periphery. I hadn't done a layout with big clusters of layered flowers in a while, but it just seemed fitting for my little princess!
Go visit Scrapbook Challenges to see how the rest of the DT interpreted sketch 431! And please join us! You have until the end of March to play for a chance to win! See you there!
Have a great week!
Martine
Posted in
Basic Grey,
cats,
layouts,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Hello! The latest challenge at Scrapbook Challenges is a pattern challenge... and the pattern is: DOODLED!
Well, here's what I came up with. Didn't turn out at all like what I thought it would... Still, I just had to scrap this subject... my orange kitties!
The title means "If one is good, but two is better, what's four?". This refers to an old milk commercial that said that drinking one glass of milk was good, but drinking two was better! I had made a layout here of this a while back about my two orange cats... But now I have four! (all rescued from the streets) I just love orange tabbies! They're such sweet natured cats!
I didn't have any doodled patterned paper (unbelievable given my enormous stash of paper! ;) so I decided to make my own. I just played with fun-looking fonts and wrote words that describe my kitties, along with each of their names. I printed that on vellum and attached it to the paper with heart brads.
Click over to Scrapbook Challenges to see the other team members' doodled pages! Then doodle away and share your page with us! We'd love to see!
Martine
Posted in
cats,
layouts,
Scrapbook Challenges
Hi!
Scrapbook Challenges has just released sketch #426.
It's a one-photo sketch showcasing a large picture and a great opportunity to mix and match patterned papers, which I love to do! I don't often scrap with large photos, so this was fun to do. I simply tilted the sketch to the side and added an extra little picture at the bottom.
The title of my layout means "How can you resist this?", "this" being that cute little orange kitten face with pleading eyes! These are my two latest rescues, which I adopted completely unexpectedly. To make a long story short, my niece showed me that little picture one day. Her friend was looking for someone to take in an outside kitten that she didn't think would make it through the winter. I just couldn't resist those sad little eyes! Turns out there were two babies... The very next day, I was picking both of them up and bringing them home!
Come play with us at Scrapbook Challenges and show us what you create with this sketch!
Have a scrappy week!
Martine
Posted in
Basic Grey,
cats,
layouts,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Hi there! There's a new challenge up at Scrapbook Challenges... and it's a mood board! Here it is:
Don't you just love that color palette! For my layout, I went digging once again in my old Basic Grey and pulled out the Phoebe collection. I wanted to distress my bright papers, so I sanded the edges, misted the paper with water then crumpled it up. I also doodled along all the edges. I used a very wide rickrack ribbon to evoke waves and to support part of the title ("floating"). I kept embellies at a minimum since the papers were very busy on their own.
The title is in Spanish and means "The Floating Islands of the Uros". The Uros have been living on floating islands made of reeds for centuries (the oldest island is 160 years old!). They first developed this way of living to evade the conquering Incas. They must continually add reeds (totora) on top as the bottom slowly decomposes. Each small island has a few houses (also made of reeds) and families living on them depending on their size. There's an elementary school on a larger island. Teens go on shore to Puno to pursue their studies but come back each day after school. It was quite an experience to visit the Uros!
Be sure to visit Scrapbook Challenges to see the other DT's layout and don't forget to link up your own creation! Thanks for visiting!
Martine
Posted in
Basic Grey,
layouts,
mood board,
Peru,
Scrapbook Challenges
Hi! Well, here it is, the first reveal of Scrapbook Challenges new design team! Here's the sketch we had to work with:
And here's my layout, which will be the title page for my Peru album. As you can see, I switched up the position of the papers a bit, and added a third photo to the sketch.
I dove back into my old Basic Grey collections; this one is Sugar Rush. I also used another product which was gathering a bit of dust in my scrap room: my Tattered Angels huge compass stamp! I liked the stamp but felt it was a bit too "strong" on the page, so I used White Picket Distress Stain to tone it down.
It felt great to scrap again and it was so much fun to delve into all our Peru pictures! There are more than I can (or want to!) count! Can't wait to get started on my next layout!
Don't forget to stop by Scrapbook Challenges to see the whole team's work! It's beautiful! And why don't you let yourself be inspired by the sketch and join us?
Thanks for stopping by!
Martine
Posted in
layouts,
Peru,
Scrapbook Challenges,
sketches
Wow! So I've been gone a really long time! My scrap room had never been quiet this long before... But I'm itching to go back now... and what better way than with Scrapbook Challenges! Yep, I made the '15 Winter/Spring Sketch Crew! There will be a special reveal this Wednesday, so make sure to stop by to see the new sketch and all the pretty layouts.
I can't show you my new layout yet, but I will give you a peek of the main photo that's on it!
Yes, that's the Machu Pichu in the background! We went to Peru last summer. What a trip!! We came back with tons (I'm not kidding!) of beautiful pictures and wonderful memories. We loved the country and the people. The country itself is beautiful and so varied. From the tropical forest to the high mountains, from Lake Titicaca to the huge sand hills of the coast and the mysterious Nazca lines. It's heart wrenching to see the difficult life conditions that too many of its people have to endure. Despite all the poverty, we found Peruvians to be friendly and very hard-working. This is the kind of trip which opens your eyes to what life is like in many parts of the world and makes you realize how very lucky we are.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip.
Lima:
La Plaza de Armas
Waiting to meet real ones! lol!
Beautiful cathedral
One of Lima's parks. In the winter time (our summer), it's always cloudy and misty in Lima...
Tropical forest:
The mountains and Cuzco:
Lake Titicaca and the floating islands of the Uros:
The Nazca Lines seen from the air:
Just to show how huge these things are!!
These are just a few of the many amazing things that we saw and did in Peru! This trip will keep me scrapping for a long time!
Don't forget to stop by Scrapbook Challenges on Wednesday to see the first reveal of the new team! See you then!
Martine
Posted in
Peru,
photos
