{ scrappy sunday // Falling back in love }

Well, you guys, I am IN LOVE again! Totally falling back in love again with scrapbooking. 

Even though I lack confidence and I need to find my eye for design again. 

Still I am IN LOVE.

Bon, chers amis, c'est officiel, je suis à nouveau amoureuse du scrap! à vrai dire, je ne me souviens même plus pourquoi j'ai arrêté il y a un an!!
Même si je manque encore de confiance en moi et que je dois retrouver un œil pour les couleurs et les le design, je me suis éclatée à faire cette page et une petite sœur que j'ai finie à l'instant et que je vous montrerai plus tard.

Here is the first page I made after a whole year of break and it felt so good to pull out some of these Dear Lizzy Serendipity papers and some of my favorite Crate paper embellishements as well as the last sheet of white cardstock left over from last year!! I did a massive restock of white paper since, as well as a few other papers and stickers that are just so yummy! 

J'ai simplement pioché dans mes papiers et embellissements; un peu de Dear Lizzy Serendipity, un peu de mes stickers préférés de chez Crate Paper, du cardstock blanc, et voilà! je n'ai pas trop réfléchi pour le design de la page, c'était vraiment juste pour reprendre mes marques!

I did not do too much thinking for this page, I just had fun!!

I don't even remember why I stopped doing this?? Total amnesia!!

How did it happen?? Because this last week, making this page, and another one I will show you soon and that is a little bit more elaborate in my taste,  I felt so much joy. Scrapbooking  also helps me to feel  grateful about my life. It is just all good!!

{Thursday sewing: Babydoll Linden Sweatshirt }

Although we are way near the end of March and officially in spring, our weather has been very windy and so cold! 

SO I thought I needed to bring spring to me in the shape of a nice pink, yet very warm and cosy Linden Sweatshirt!

Ma troisième version du Linden Sweatshirt de Grainline Studio dans un tissu d'une douceur indescriptible de chez Pretty Mercerie!!

 Une fois de plus, rien à dire, un vrai plaisir à coudre grâce à la surjeteuse magique du père Noël!!

This is my third take to this pattern. You can see my two other versions here and here. There is nothing more to add about this pattern: I think it is an amazing staple and I love the fit. 

I cut in size 4 and just added 1 inch to the sleeves because I thought that on the previous one, which I am wearing all the time, the sleeves are a bit too short.

I totally adore the fabric : you can't see it here, but the inside is like a "long hair softy"!! 

it is so so soft! I got it from this french online shop called Pretty Mercerie: they have a great range of sweatshirt fabric.

I wore this outfit many times already, it is super comfy!

I wanted to add a little note to  you , my dear readers: I hope you not too confused about my creative projects and what I post here. I used to feel self-conscious and somehow guilty to have different passions. I thought it was a bit weird and believed my blog would not interest anyone if it did not deal with one topic / one craft only. That is partly why I stopped scrapbooking a year ago, when I discovered my passion for sewing!

But after much pondering and a bit of self-examination, I realized that I love being crafty, I just do, whatever the way, the medium. I HAVE to create daily in order to find a balance in my life. It is the way I recharge and reload. I have come to terms with the facts that I have multiple passions and that it is ok. I will not make a career out of any of these passions, but I don't mind, well, not really::) 

So, now that I am back to scrapbooking I thought it would be nice if I try to post twice weekly, if I am able to. Thursdays will be "thursday sewing posts" and at the week-ends I will post my scrappy projects: I am thinking that either a "scrappy sunday or saturday" would fit!!:)

Anyway, thats just a plan!!:)

Thank you for visiting!

{ Scrapbooking: I am back for good! }

 As I am totally in the mood to scrap, and before I can show you my first ever layout since last year (which is almost finished!) , I thought it would be nice to show you the very last 2 pages I made a year ago. 

 See the date: 01 march 2014! that was the last time I scrapbooked. It took me a whole year to feel the need to create again.

This layout was included in an article I wrote for the french scrapbooking magazine: "Esprit Scrapbooking" on how to scrapbook portraits creatively. 

{ Mixed media and.. back to scrapbooking }

 The past few weeks have been taugh ones. I spent way too many hours at work and I caught a nasty cough/ cold that I am not rid of yet.
But, encouraged by a book I am reading right now, "The fringe Hours" I have tried to make time as much as I can for things that make me happy. I have not achieved my aim of "once a day creativity, though!"

Ces dernières semaines ont été un vrai challenge! J'ai passé beaucoup trop d'heures au travail et je combats un énorme rhume/ bronchite...
Mais, encouragée par mon tout nouveau livre des chevet, "The fringe hours", je m'efforce de laisser de la place pour ma créativité aussi souvent que possible. Je n'y arrive pas tous les soirs cependant!!

I am really enjoying the classes I am taking in mixed media art: both are taught by Christy Tomlinson and I am learning loads !!
I like that, in mixed media, perfection is not the aim. You just enjoy the process and get your hands dirty, which I could not be happier to do!

J'essaye aussi de ne pas me mettre de barrière et de faire simplement ce qui me plait, sans me soucier de savoir si je suis douée ou pas!! je fais juste ce qui me rend heureuse! 
J'ai découvert récemment le Mixed media par le biais de 2 classes enseignées par Christy Tomlinson, une artiste américaine et je me suis amusée à patouiller, sans rechercher la perfection. 

 I painted three girls so far and one of them was gifted to encourage a young woman.

Voici donc le résultat de ces classes pour l'instant, mes " "filles"!

I have also been drawing a little, and I am trying not to be to hard on myself about it. I used to draw all the time when I was a kid and a teenager. I love it but I am not very good at it, being self-taught. I am hoping that practice will make perfect some day!!

Je me suis aussi remise à dessiner, en essayant de ne pas écouter cette petite voix dans ma tête qui me dit sans arrêt que je n'ai aucun don pour le dessin, et que ça allait bien quand j'étais gamine! 

 Last but not least, I have been wanting to go back to scrapbooking more and more.
You might not konw it if you read this blog ( does anyone read this blog these days???) but I started this blog in order to document and share my scrapbooking endeavours.
I used to design for great companies such as American Crafts, Crate Paper, Elle's Studio, ...It was awesome. But whe I got back to working full time I had to prioritize and I had to let go of all these great design teams!

ET enfin, "last but not least"; j'ai eu récemment des envies de scrap!! et oui! après un break d'un an, j'ai à nouveau envie de scrapper et de documenter notre vie. J'ai envie de beaux papiers et d’embellissements! comme avant! c'est donc très timidement et comme une débutante, que j'ai commencé à remplir mon album Capture. J'espère que je retrouverai bientôt mes réflexes créatifs!!

I have no ambition to go back to design teams, but I miss documenting our lives.
So, slowly and very shyly, I got back to my Basic Grey Captures books and started filling the pockets!
It feels really great !I am still hesitant, like a beginner, and it takes me ages to achieve such a small result. But I am confident inspiration will come back and I will embrace scrapbooking just like I used to do it!

Do you manage to embrace and make room for your creativity in the midst of daily life? 
I hope you do!!

{ His own electric blue pants }

The first edition of  Ottobre magazine I ever bought was the 6/2014 issue. I was really in love with the design, photos and patterns in the book. 

My friend Rachel recently wrote a great post on sewing with Ottobre patterns so I won't go into details about the patterns. 

I chose these simple pants pattern for my boy, because I loved the front pockets and cute back ones too. 

Maxence chose the buttons himself from our local fabric shop and I think it adds a little "english gentleman" touch to the garment!

I wanted some funky color for this garment.

 At first I had chosen a great orange but the boy had his word to say and chose this blue online!

 I was lucky enough to have the fabric gifted to me by the very generous owner of Cousette, one of my favorite french online fabric shops.

Maxence is quite tall for his age, but he is really thin for a boy too, so after asking some advice to my Instagram friends I chose to cut using his measurements for width but added length to match his height.

This boy really turns me to butter. He is so cuddly and always ready to tell me how much he loves me. I love that he has such a good heart. 

He wants to be a doctor when he is grown up. Last time, in the car he told me :" you know Maman, when I am a doctor, you won't have to pay and neither will the poor people!"

 

He is also the one who remembers to pray for our sponsor child and calls her "my little Lorena", when she is 3 years older than him.
I am so glad he is so kind hearted.