Chloé’s Ramblings

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Lent... my way

I'm not a religious person, and even though DBF was raised catholic he doesn't believe in this religion (or any, for that matter) anymore. All that to say: we don't follow the catholic events and rituals.

Yet, las week, I was thinking about was Lent means. For most people here, it's a time when they deprive themselves of something they love (chocolate or sweets, 90% of the time!), but without thinking WHY they do it. I think the meaning of this time of the year is deeper than just not eating chocolate for 40 days, though. As I see it, it's a time to let go the material, superficial distractions to turn your thoughts and your spirit, to focus on something more important, more spiritual. To me, this more important spiritual thing isn't God, but it doesn't mean that I can't be inspired by this idea. So I decided to create my own version of Lent.

The material thing I want to let go of is the clutter, that distract me of the happy, fulfilling, enjoyable and easy-flowing life I aspire to have. I did my math and there are 6 weeks until Easter, so I decided to work on one room of our house each week. I started this weekend with our office and we tackled DBF's desk. It was a mess and now it's decluttered, cleaned and so... light! I don't know how to say it, but it feels like fresh air. I also completed a couple administrative/design tasks for his business, like creating his business cards, and that feels great as well. Really motivating to then work on the rest of the office and the rest of the house. Here's my plan for the coming weeks:

  • February 25-March 2: office
  • March 3-9: bathroom (especially our stock of products and our med cabinet)
  • March 10-16: bedroom (especially our closets... a terrible mess!)
  • March 17-23: kitchen (especially our pantry and recipe books)
  • March 24-30: living room (especially our coffee table and entertainement center)
  • March 31-April 5: ex-office (aka the dungeon... I'm sure I won't be able to tackle this whole room in a week but hopefully I'll get a good start and build momentum to keep working at it)
So, there you have it. I definitely not plan to complete each room perfectly, especially since I'll be working mostly during the weekends, but already getting a small area uncluttered, or getting a couple tasks checked off my to-do list for each room, will be a relief!

I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

New scrappy goodness

Can't. Stop. Scrapping!!

First, here are the last two week's P365 LOs: week 7:
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and week 8:
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And now some "regular" pages... Well, a lot of them, actually!
First a page about my mom for a technique challenge @ TDC, using the January collab. LOVE!!
Credits and link to the challenge
Then 2 pages about my solo 1 month long trip to Malaysia way back in 1999. Can you believe I never scrapped this travel?? I used a new kit by Dawn by Designs, love her style!
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This is a page about something silly that my DBF said. I love his sense of humor! I used a new kit by Nicole Seitler (Sugarplum Paperie), love her designs too!
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We made a big remodeling 2 years ago and turned a garage / storage room into our living room. I used a new kit by Kimeric Kreations to scrap it. I didn't know her style but I love it!
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I'm really into scrap-therapy, journaling-heavy LOs recently, and this one is no exception. I used a fabulous kit by Katherine Nelson aka Flutter Expressions. Another new-to-me designer that I've become a fan of at my first try!
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This LO uses a kit by Karen Lewis. She is leaving TDC at the end of this month and all her designs there are 50%. I'm sad to see her go because she's an amazing designer (and a sweet lady) but the big sale is exciting, isn't it?
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And last but not least, another LO with Katherine's products. This one is about my cousin Noémie, she's just a sweet, smart and beautiful young lady.
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Okay, that was it. Pretty busy again, uh? I really loved being in this CT!!!

Monday, February 20, 2012

So much scrap fun!!

I'm enjoying my guest CT @ TDC so much... It's absolutely fabulous to have the opportunity to hang out with those sweet and talented ladies, get to play with fabulous designs and help promoting our lovely (and talented too!) designers. Anyway, you'll understand why I scrapped so much for the last couple days. Here are my most recent LOs:
First my week #6 P365 LO, using Karen Lewis' "Dirty Footprint" kit and Document Pack add-on:
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Then here's the LO I made for the challenge I host @ TDC. I used Mari Koegelenberg's "Just My Type" kit (BTW, she also has a FREE coordinating mini-kit which is absolutely adorable!!).
Credits and link to the challenge
The next one is this LO using Viva Artistry's kit "Lost World". I made it for a challenge @ TDC and I was really happy to get out of my comfort zone with these gorgeous realistic-looking goodies. I'm not so good at that style usually but I really liked how this LO turned out. I guess I should try it more often!!
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This one was made using Etc by Danyale's new kit "This Side of Heaven", and it was perfect to document my friend Lydie's love for anything and everything PINK!!
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This next LO was made for The Digi Dares challenge, and it was really fun to create. I used a TDC collab and a new template by Wishing Well Creations.
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This one is about my friends' baby boy Paul (I scrap him all the time, he's so adorable), using a new template and a bunch of papers and element from the "Brady" collections, all by Wishing Well Creations.
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Last but not least, a scrap-therapy LO about my brother, using Amanda Heimann's template and Sugarplum Paperie's "The Sun Will Come Out" LO:
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There, you have it. Pretty busy, uh? And there are more LOs, but I can't yet show them to you because they are made with this Thursday's new releases! Which, as usual, are absolutely amazing!!!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Recent LOs


Darn it, I was so busy playing with all the TDC goodies (I'm a guest CT this month) that I completely forgot to post my LOs here!! LOL Anyway, here they are! Better late than never, right?
First my P365+1 LO for the previous week.
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I cannot share last week's LO because I created it with a new release for this week!
Here's a portrait of my friend from work's daughter Mathilde.
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My friend Flo's son, he's adorable! I'm not good at blending but this time it worked well, if I do say so myself!


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 A LO for a shadowing challenge @ TDC:
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 A OLW / scrap-therapy LO using Amanda Heimann's new kit "My Chances":
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 A LO about my BFF's son Tristan, using last week's release by Karen Lewis @ TDC, "Dirty Footprints":
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 A LO for the Girl vs scrap challenge @ One Story Down, using the TDC February collab "A Love Story":
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 And last but not least, a LO about my friends Jacques and Lydie's son Paul, peacefully asleep, using a template for a TDC challenge and a new kit (relased last week) by Wendy Page. Adorable!!
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 Pfew, I've been busy! Now you understand why I forgot to post, right? See you next time!