Photo-heavy catch up

7 weeks since my last post... That was quite a break, wasn't it? Let's see, what happened since I last wrote on this poor neglected blog of mine??

Well, first I had my mom visit  me for Easter. We had a blast, we visited some places but also spent some time just being together, doing nothing special but talking and enjoying being together. It was awesome!!

In April I also prepared an album in memory of our friend Hugues that passed away recently, and we gave it to his wife and son during a lunch we had all together. It was a bittersweet task for me, sad because every picture of him reminded me that he is gone and that his son (DBF's childhood friend) and wife (my collegue) are grieving and in pain, and joyful too because those pix were from happy moments and Hugues was definitely someone that enjoyed life. It was also a great reminder that there's no such thing as taking too many pix, that I should get in the photo too (there was no pic of me with Hugues) and that scrapbooking and preserving memories is not a regular hobby, that it has a deep meaning.

Since I'm at it, I've been scrapping a lot of pages since my last post. Let's see... I'll just post them with a link to my gallery so that you can check the credits and the description of the LOs if you're interested, there are too many pages for me to explain everything again! LOL

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BTW, this is probably my fave LO ever, technically, story-wise, I love it!!

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In other scrappy news, I'm now CTing for three awesome teams: site CT at The Digichick (and I not only love love love the designers and talented CTs there but also the awesome comunity), Amanda Heimann (who moved back to Scrap Orchard on NSD) and Charm Box Studios (Charla and Michelle joined their talents to create fonts, story boards, actions and other tools for photographers and scrappers). It's so exciting, but I have to find a way to organize my time and keep track of my assignements, because I'm honored to scrap for those amazing designers and I want to do it "right". It's still a work in progress!

On that note, I'm off to enjoy our beautiful and sunny Sunday, have fun!

Scrappy Sunday... with only one LO!

Well, as I planned, this week has been pretty busy and hectic, and I hadn't much time to scrap. I still enjoyed one of TDC's challenge, though, a template one, for which I created this fun layout using Gratitude by Flutter Expressions:

 

I can't link you to the kit since Katherine moved to One Story Down that just opened a new shop.

Lots of movement recently @ TDC: Nicole Seitler passed the rolling pin (LOL) to Sinead Turner who is now the new owner of the site. She's a fabulous gal and I'm sure she'll rock. Nicole chose to focus on her designing work and is now one of SSD's new designers, along with Mari Koegelenberg. It's sad to see those girls go but I'm sure once everything settles down it'll be for the best. Change is hard on me, though. That's life, I guess!

On a more joyful note, my mom is coming this week for Easter, and I can't wait to have her here with me for 5 days. She was here for the last time in 2006... Can you believe it?? That being said, I probably won't be able to scrap much until she goes back home, but I'll take lots of pix for later scrapping! Sometimes, you have to create the memories rather than record them, right?

Have a nice week!

Scrap Sunday

Lots of new fun scrap stuff this week, but not many LOs. And lots of IRL stuff, not fun at all (a dear friend of ours, DBF's godfather and husband of one of my collegues, passed away), which also explains why I haven't scrapped as much. Sometimes you just have to sort your priorities, right?

I've still scrapped a couple pages, though! Here they are.

First a LO created with Etc. by Danyale's new release "Renewal". Very springy, very fun, gorgeous colors and textures... plus a cute pic of yours truely when I was 2 or 3 years old.

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And a second page about DBF and I using the collab "A Charmed Life" by Cluster Queen Creations and Amy Stoffel. Very fun kit, full of great papers and fabulous elements, I loved it!

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That's it for this week. As I said, too much is going on and I can't focus on everything at the same time. I will be busy this week at work too, so I'm not sure I'll be able to scrap much. When I spend my day at the computer, I don't really feel like being in front of a monitor again at night. Plus I hope my mom will come for Easter so I have to organize my house too so that we can comfortably have a guest. I will try to catch up on my P365 LOs, though, so that I can at least share those next week. Until then, take care and have fun!

I'm a marathoner

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Yep, even though I was 12 the last time I ran for more than 5 minutes in a row, I'm a marathoner. I even run three marathons at a time: weight loss, organisation and infertility. When I started those journeys, I expected them to be sprints. I expected to get pregnant like most of my friends, within months of trying. I expected I would get my house, my schedule and above all my bad habits under control in a snap. I expected I'd get rid of the extra weight after a couple weeks of exercising and eating right.

But all the journeys take more than just some weeks of effort, at least the journeys that are worth the trip. I'm hanging there, and even though some days are better than the other, I try to remind myself that what matters is the long run. I know that, despite the bumps along the road, the trip will be worth it. The rewards will be fabulous. And starting those journeys is half the victory, especially for weight loss and organisation. I'm doing much better on those two than if I'd never done anything, right? They are probably lifelong journeys, I will probably never be able to say "I'm done, I'm at my goal, I don't need to pay attention to this.", but it's okay.

Just like marathoners, I should be careful to keep a good rythm all along the run. If you sprint at times and walk at other, it's much harder and you feel much more tired. You lose your breath, you feel bad, you get in pain. Consistency is the key here. What makes the "infertility marathon" different is that you don't control your rythm, the fertility center and your body do. This is what makes it much harder: you can't control some things, while you can control other (like weight loss) I have to focus on those and let go of the rest which is not in my own hands.

Lent My Way weeks #1, #2 and #3

(check this post to find out more about this project)

On the first week we focused on our office, more specifically on DBF's desk. He had a terrible mess and most of it is gone. It feels great.

Look! Empty shelves!!

I'm always amazed how a little neatness and decluttering can have such a great impact on how you feel when you look at that space: it's so fresh, so light now! Bliss!
To make things even better I would have liked to take care of my desk and bookcase too, but unfortunately I didn't find / make time for that, so I will try to tackle this during this month.

I then started a new room: the bathroom. It's very very tiny and I was able to declutter it all during the weekend.

The after pic. It looks like there are still many things, I know, but it was
worse before and  much more disorganized, trust me!

I got rid of old products that I kept for some reason (don't ask me what this reason was!), checked the expiration dates of all our meds and prepared a bag to bring back to the drugstore, I prepared my vanity for the few trips that I make, etc.

Finally, last week I worked in the bedroom, especially our closet. Look at all the clothes I got rid of:

There were at least 15 or 20 pieces that didn't fit me and that I
packed to bring to a charity. Look at all those hangers!

Ain't it great? Those were too small for me since I gained so much weight over the last years. Even if I lose 30 lbs one day and CAN get back in those, will I really WANT to?? I don't think so! It was time for me to pass on those clothes to a charity so that someone that fits in them can enjoy them.

So far, it's been great. I have to fight my natural tendency to perfectionism and remind myself constantly that doing something is great already, and that all this mess didn't appear overnight and can't hence disappear all of a sudden. It's hard sometimes but it's getting easier and I've taken the habit to celebrate those victories, no matter how small they are.

This week, I am working on the kitchen. I especially decluttered my recipe books that I never ever use. I will also work on practicing my routines, I'm tired to have a big huge mess to take care of before the cleaning lady comes on Thursday, when it's so easy to do a little every day. Maintenance is the key to housework happiness, I tell you!

New scrap pages

Once again, the new releases at TDC blew my mind. So much gorgeousness, the hardest part is to pick which products to play with! ;)

First, I created this page about my little brother coming after my mom with water... You'd better hide the camera, mom! I used a new kit and its add-ons by the guest designer ForeverJoy called "Oh Boy!", perfect for this playful LO.

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Then I used the bright and fun birthday kit "And Many More" by Cluster Queen Creations to scrap DBF's 42nd b'day. As I said, he is 42 going on 13! LOL

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Last LO with this thursday's releases, a page about my love for Harry Potter. Thanks to my collegue Pascale I read the books last fall and I fell in love immediately. I used Elise Hansen's "Well Read" for this page, the glasses were too perfect for a Harry Potter LO to pass, right?

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Finally, I created a hybrid project with the guest designer's Jenn Labre new kit "A Perfect Day", a little I love you card.

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And now, 3 more LOs / projects that I created recently, but that didn't use new releases. First a P366 LO (I'm 2 weeks late on this, but trying to catch up!), that uses the february TDC collab "A Love Story":

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Then an invite for the baptism of my friends' son, using a wedding kit by Mari Koegelenberg "Always and Forever":

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And finally a LO about my BFF's saying she makes up constantly. Love this trait of her! I used Sugarplum Paperie's kit "He Said, She Said", perfect for this topic!

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That's it, these are this week's LOs.

I will post an update on the first 3 weeks of the "Lent My Way" project tomorrow or Tuesday with progress pix. I love this project so far, I feel like I really accomplished much!

Scrappy Sunday... on a Monday again!

Yeah, I'm not completely back in the habit of posting on this blog regularly, am I? ;)

Here are my most recent pages. First a LO of my BFF's son and his masterpieces. The fun frames are by Sherwood Studios (as well as the kit I used)

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Then, again with last week's new releases, here's a poster I created for a collegue, using Amanda Heimann's fabulous new release "Little Girl Blue". Love this kit!

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Then there are two layouts I created for TDC's challenges. First one for a recipe challenge, using the gorgeous kit Affirmation by Elise Hansen:

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And this one was made for a journaling challenge by Holly (she's the sweetest chick ever!), using a new release by Elise Hansen too, "Lucky Me":

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That's it for this week, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my recent scrapping projects!

Scrappy Sunday

First, a great news: my guest gig for TDC's CT became permanent! I'm so honored and happy to become a member of this fantastic group of ladies. They are so talented and inspiring and sweet! I had a big smile on my face and (literally) did the happy dance when I got the e-mail asking if I wanted to stay. Had to stop my hands shaking just long enough to answer YES!!! LOL

Anyway, I've had the pleasure to keep scrapping with the fabulous goodies from our designers and that's why you will still see many pages every week! Since I'm back to work I didn't scrap as much as I did the weeks before, but I was still pretty busy. Here are my most recent pages. First one using the March collab, "Someone Like You", that I created for the challenge I'm hosting this month.

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 Then here is this colorful LO with Dawn by Designs' new kit, very springy, featuring 2 or 3 years old me and my family and friends:

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Then there are three LOs for an online friend. I blurred their face for privacy reasons, but still wanted to show you the fun LOs I created!

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This is a LO of my then 2 years old brother reading a plane magazin while on his potty. I love those pix, they are so fun and cute... boy-typical, too! LOL I used a kit by TDC's march guest designer, Jenn Labre.

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And last but not least, two of my favorite designers, Amanda Heimann (for whom I CT) and Nicole from Sugarplum Paperie, united their talents to create a fabulous collab called "My Strength". It's gorgeous, as we could expect from those ladies, and I had a blast creating this LO:

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Voilà, that's it for the week. Words can't really express how happy I am to create for TDC. I get the chance to scrap those memories with gorgeous products and hang out with the coolest digi-family of all digi-land... I'm in heaven!! See you next time with more scrappiness!

Changing things up

Since I created my own version of Lent (see post below), I will change things around on my resolutions plan.


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As you can see, I was supposed to work on respecting myself this month, but I will exchange this with July. That way my Lent resolution will be coherent with the rest of  the month's resolutions. I will also focus on my routines (I really need to get back at this!) and on tackling a little something extra for 15 minutes each day. As FlyLady always say: "You can do anything for 15 minutes." Here's my plan for this month:

Credits: Home Sweet Home by Kimeric Creations @ TDC, alpha and  alpha brushes by Krystal Hartley and Karla Dudley, font is Traveling Typewriter

On that note, I'm off to start working in the bathroom and on creating my list! Take care!!

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!