Scrap.Cats.Love.

Hi there!

Today is the reveal of sketch #4 at Simple Sketches! Here's what the sketch looks like and my version of it.

It's the cover page for my album from our trip to the Netherlands this summer. The bottom picture is from one of the canals in Amsterdam. You can actually see the houseboat we stayed in on the actual picture!

Lots of inking and distressing on this one. Sprayed a doily with two green mists, added some distress ink all over and my staple:  Versacolor Pinecone ink(a dark brown that matches everything!) on the edges. I used a stencil with pan pastels and pigment ink for the circular "smudges" behind the photos. I used a bunch of miscellaneous scraps for this page. I have a container on my desk into which I put all my leftover paper strips when I scrap. I can always find some that match when I need them! I got this storage idea from this pin.

I didn't get a chance to share last week's sketch, so here it is! A fun multi-pic sketch!

Why don't you go over and check out the team's beautiful creations and join in the fun?

Happy scrapping!

Martine

Posted in layouts, Netherlands, Simple Sketches, sketches

Hi!

Today is my first reveal at Simple Sketches! Here's the multi-pic sketch, which I loved!!

My page is my first one about our trip to the Netherlands this summer... and of course it's about cats! These are some of the pretty kitties we met along the way. I used some Basic Grey "Wander" papers for this one (except the large square in the background which is Basic Grey "Curio").

Go check out what the rest of Team B did right here! And better yet, why don't you link up your own creation? We'd love to see and give you some love!

Have a great weekend!

Martine

Posted in cats, layouts, Netherlands, Simple Sketches, sketches

Hi there!

Just a quick post to let you know that Simple Sketches has posted its first sketch reveal! Here's the sketch!

You can see the beautiful work that Design Team A did with the 2-photo sketch here. My reveal will come next week! Hope to see you there!

Have a scrappy weekend!

Martine

Posted in Simple Sketches

Hi there! I'm back from a three week trip to the Netherlands! What a great time! We went all around the country. We saw windmills, castles, beaches, farmland dotted with cows and sheep, grandiose churches, beautiful canal streets, old homes and so much more! (including lots of kitty encounters!) We slept in a houseboat in Amsterdam, ate at beautiful terrace restaurants, saw some Dutch Masters paintings, slept in an actual small castle one night, did boat tours on picturesque canals... so much fun! I now have a fresh batch of photos to play with!

We spent 4 nights in this houseboat in Amsterdam and really enjoyed relaxing on the roof terrace!

The beautiful streets/canals of Amsterdam at night.

You can't go to the Netherlands without taking pictures of windmills!

Some fancy estates and gardens we visited!

This is the castle we actually slept in!

Beautiful streets and old houses!

They have great terrace restaurants over there! Some by the canals! (notice the begging cat in the background!)

This is how I got my kitty "fix" while I was away!

I even found a craft/scrap store by accident in one of the towns! I had to shop a bit!

Speaking of scrapping, I got some great news while I was on vacation. I was picked to be part of the DT at the new sketch challenge blog Simple Sketches! Go meet the rest of the team here! You can also like the Facebook page here! The first sketch challenge will be revealed on August 31st. Go check it out! You'll love the new sketches! They're very versatile!

There's a week and a half left before the start of the new school year. That means I better take advantage of it and scrap, scrap, scrap!!

Have a scrappy week!

Martine

Posted in cats, Netherlands, photos, Simple Sketches

Hi there! I've been a bad blogger! But I haven't done much scrapping either... The end of the school year was super busy, with the usual testing, grading, report cards, packing up the classroom for the summer... But on top of all the usual hecticness, my father-in-law passed away in June. He'd had heart problems for the past 8 years, but in the last year or so, he was getting weaker and weaker. His passing still came suddenly and was a shock. I made two layouts about him for his wake. The first one is a picture of him taken in 2008 at the wedding of his step-son.

The second one is about him as a dad, with Mike and his two sisters. The photos date from the 60's at their lake house, the 70's during a family trip to Des Moines, and the largest one from 2010, in our backyard.

 Both pages use Basic Grey papers, the first one from the Ambrosia collection and the second one from Marjolaine. Both are based on sketches, but I'm embarassed I can't find which ones anymore... I usually write all this information behind my layouts, but I forgot for those two. I'll try to find the sketches and give the links when I do. If you recognize one of your sketches, please let me know!

On a happier note, I did this layout about my latest rescue kitty, Bajoue (found him as a stray this winter). The title means "Don't Trust his Angelic Appearance!" As we found out,he's one high maintenance cat! He always wants to play and he knows how to ask for it! He certainly gets our attention! It's a good thing he's also cute and lovey-dovey, so we love him anyway! ;-) lol! I made this page for a DT call at a new sketch challenge site, Simple Sketches. If you're interested, you have until tomorrow to apply! Whether I'm picked up or not, I'm happy I found a new sketch site... I love sketches!

And finally, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of June, I also had to say good-bye to Bear, my 16-year-old kitty. He hadn't been feeling well in the last couple of weeks, not following me around like he usually did, sleeping a lot... When I took him to the vet, they found he had cancer all over his lungs. His breathing became difficult. Within two days, I had to put him to sleep. I lost a big chunk of love that day... Bear was my faithful companion, he only had eyes for his mom! He followed me everywhere and was always there to greet me when I got home. I took these photos of him on our last morning together.

And here are a couple layouts of my Mr. Bear.

Hope you're having a great summer! We're leaving for the Netherlands in two days, so I'm ready to come back with a huge batch of new pictures to scrap!

Happy scrapping!

Martine

Posted in Basic Grey, cats, DT call, family, layouts, photos, Simple Sketches, sketches

Hi there! 

It's seems like it's been a while since I've updated my blog... I've been really busy with school this past month, with end-of-cycle government tests among other things... Two more weeks of testing (and yes, that's for 2nd graders!), then another two weeks to wrap up everything and we're done with the school year! I did manage to squeeze in a bit of scrapping on the weekends though.

The first one was actually done at the weekend crop I went to in April with a friend. We always bring a lot of Diet Pepsi as part of our stash, as that is what keeps us "energized" throughout the weekend! This page was done for a full-page bingo challenge where there were 24 criteria to follow...  a real challenge! It's based on a sketch by Brenda Ragsdale.

I made this second layout when I came back from the crop. The picture was taken at the end of the crop, not long before we left. The title means "48 Hours and 15 Bottles Later...". We like to goof off and have fun with our love for Pepsi! Both pages are done with the "Kioshi" collection at Basic Grey. The page is based on this NSD sketch at 2 Broke Girls Challenges.

This page was scraplifted from Marie-Josée at the blog "Un peu fleur bleue". It's the story of my very first kitty, when I was six years old. He was such a love bug! I was a "cat lady" even back then!

This next page is scraplifted from Barbara at Scrapbook Nerd. I used Basic Grey's "Lucille" collection. It's a Disney page, when we had tea at the Grand Floridian Resort. Ever since our trip to the UK in 2009, I always try to find a place where we can have tea when we travel. I just think it's fun and feel like a little girl again, having a tea party! (and Mike is nice enough to indulge me! lol!)

Finally, this is a layout about me as a teacher. It's based on NSD sketch #3 at 2 Broke Girls Challenges. I mixed a bunch of old papers from different manufacturers for this one! (Daisy D's, My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey and Memento) Love it when I can pull this off! Feels great to use the old stash!

Oh, and then there's this page, that I actually made last fall but completely forgot to post. The title means "Léonide's Fashion" and it's about my beautiful grandma. She had a great sense of style! It's based on sketch #136 by Valerie Salmon at Got Sketch?

Ok, I think I'm up to date now... Hopefully I'll  be able to squeeze in a bit of scrapping despite the hectic last four weeks of school! 

Have a scrappy weekend!

Martine

Posted in 2 Broke Girls, Basic Grey, cats, Disney, family, layouts, sketches

Hi! I've got two layouts to share with you today! I made them at the weekend crop I went to a couple of weeks ago. The first one is a Disney layout. We went to Disney World last Christmas to celebrate Mike's 50th birthday. Even though it was just the two of us and I didn't have the excuse of having a little one traveling with us, I wanted to meet the Disney gang anyway! So we booked several character dinners. We had a lot of fun talking and taking pictures with Mickey and his friends. Even Mike got into it! (and even though he's young at heart, he's still a pretty serious, no-nonsense kind of guy!) I dipped into my old Basic Grey stash for this one and used some flashy "June Bug" papers. I also created a grid of faux-stitching for the squares of papers and pictures (piercing holes with a Scor-Bug and drawing with a pen).

The next layout is based on this sketch by Kristine Davidson at Creative Scrappers. 

The title says "Cat Man... Despite Himself". It's about my poor dad, who has never particularly liked cats, but has been almost "forced" to become a cat man because of all the cats I've brought into his life, one way or the other! (Although I take no responsibility for the one in the picture (their neighbor's new, cute little kitten) other than "forcing" him to hold her for a while!) I  used another old Basic Grey collection for this one, "Boxer". A lot more white space than I'm used to in this one, and some more faux-stitching too!

That's it for tonight! Hope you're having a scrappy weekend!

Martine

Posted in Basic Grey, Creative Scrappers, Disney, family, layouts, sketches