PINAY FRANCOPHILE

.. is just about done.  Unbelievable but true!  Because of the number of layouts, though, I will have to bind it in three books.. It would be too cumbersome to have all in just one book.  Hmmmm.. this scrapbooking bit is making me a memoryphile.. (Is there even such a word?)

But it is such an uplifting experience goingt through the layouts.  There are portions that still need journaling but that should be easy.  The postcards aren’t even in the book yet.  Soon.. Layouts here?  Let me try and take pictures..

I think it was at the Parist Tourist Office at the Carrousel du Louvre that I picked up this free magazine PARIS MOMES. I picked it up because it said “Paris”, it was free, and it had a nice layout that screamed “Kids”.  Inside were a lot of illustrations, photos and ads that I thought would make a pretty embellishment for my memory book.  I took two copies as was customary and I started cutting out the pictures today.  Having two copies served me well because it allowed me to do both sides of each page without sacrificing any graphics.

I’m all excited to create my background paper now although I haven’t quite made up my mind yet about which part of the scrapbook it would go well with.  It’s all about Paris, that’s all I can think about.

One of the reasons my suitcase was much heavier than when I arrived in Paris was because I ended up lugging a lot of goodies for my scrapbook.  While I visited a branch of Le Art Du Papier in rue Daunou by the side of the Hotel Westminster and I discovered that BHV by Hotel Deville has quite an arts and crafts section on the first level, I didn’t find a scrapbook worth buying and lugging on the trip home.  (Scrapbooks, in general, are heavy — so it makes you think when you find something different and you start considering purchasing it.)

Le Art Du Papier has quite a lot of unique papers and photo albums, but no scrapbook I can hope to get and refill later with the regular page refills we find here in the US.  So I will go to my regular Target store to get it when the scrapbook is beginning to take shape.

Some general tips to remember on getting materials for a memory book or scrapbook as most people call it:

1.  Get free local newspapers, and unless you are after a specific article in that magazine, take two copies.  (I made sure to get my two copies of  A NOUS PARIS II - the free Paris Metro paper).  They are usually good to use as background papers for scrapbook pages even if you can’t understand what’s written in them.  The point is to give the page the local flavor.

2.  I also got at least 2 each of handouts at museums, rides, maps — again for use as background pages or as add ons to pages with the photographs.

3.  Get those announcements on postcards/flyers, etc. that you can likewise add to give additional information on a place you visited.  One of the handouts I got from the Paris Tourism office on the Musee D’Orsay was actually NOT available at the Museum, although it spoke of the exhibit currently running and gave general information on the museum.

4.  Even those napkins with the imprint of the restaurant can be good embellishments for your memory book.  Did you know that Starbucks napkins in Europe are white although they are also recycled?  And the different brochures of Starbucks in French should serve as a good background page for the pictures I took there.  I took a small pamphlet from Bert’s which we visited for breakfast during our last morning at the Hotel Westminster, and I scribbled what I ate and when I visited on one side.

5.  Save your ticket stubs, your room card key (which most hotels now do not require you to return), a paper or tissue coaster from the restaurants you visit, business cards, building maps, and even shopping bags.  (Printemps had a nice shopping bag which was a good size for a 12×12 layout, but the bag I saved mysteriously disappeared when the cleaning lady went in.  She probably liked it and thought it was something I didn’t mind losing or was going to throw away anyway.. the fact that Alan works for the hotel made me stop and think about raising an issue about such a small item but it was such a disappointment to lose the bag.)

6.  Get more than one copy of the city map, which in Paris is available from every Metro Stop FREE.  Hotels, likewise give away free maps courtesy of the local Printemps store which, of course, features their location prominently on the cover.

7.  Bring home the travel guides available at the hotel.  They are meant to be used by the occupant and are given to the hotels for free by the tourism association or the publisher who earns off the magazine through the advertisements you find in its pages. These usually contain nice glossy photos you can use, as well as close up maps per area and helpful information on the landmarks and museums you will probably have visited during your trip.

9.  As a final tip, you need not bring home the full magazine or catalogues you fancy.  I tore the pages I needed and discarded the remainder.  They can get heavy when you put them together with my postcards and other things.

I’m going to start working on my scrapbook in the next couple of weeks and I’ll be photographing the layouts since they will be a mix of paper and digital elements.  Watch out for that!

Click on thumbnails and bigger picture will open in another window.

Paper Kit by Lisa Carter Digitalscrapbookplace.com, Grungy Fall Background Photo Mat by Valeri Brumfield, Inked Edges Overlay by Nancie Rowe Janitz

My Friends Kit by Holly McCaig featured in the EPSON Creatived Center

Background paper and ribbon by Nancie Rowe Janitz, and lace by Lisa Carter 

Background paper by Rhonna Farrer of Two Peas, embellishments by H. McCaig’s “My Friends” kit from the EPSON Creative Center, Black frame grunge overlay by Pattie Knox from the Art for Asher Charity Kit

Here are the initial pages.. these were layouted to accommodate both digital and paper scrapbooking.  This means that after these pages are printed out, I intend to add paper embellishments and actual souvenirs such as tickets, postcards, and other mementos of this trip taken in February 2005.  I’m trying to do as much as I can in anticipation of a return trip to Paris in November, God-willing.  These layouts are also uploaded to my member album in RAKScraps, the digital scrapbooking community I am a part of online.

Paper from Kelly Pertiet’s Freebie contribution to the July 2005 RAKFile, Black frame overlay by Pattie Knox from the Art for Asher Kit; Fonts used: BernhardMod BT, Charlesworth, Avalon Quest, Amazone BT

Paper from Kelly Pertiet’s Freebie contribution to the July 2005 RAKFile, Black frame overlay by Pattie Knox from the Art for Asher Kit ; Fonts used: Charlesworth, BernhardMod BT

Paper from Kelly Pertiet’s Freebie contribution to the July 2005 RAKFile; Fonts used: BernhardMod BT, Cezanne , Charlesworth

I had scanned several portions of a good sized map (something like 2 ft x 2.5 ft in size) of Paris which shows not only the streets but also the main attractions of the city.  It proved very useful while we were there so I made sure to take home two for my scrapbook.  I finally found a way to work in the artwork but I have to figure out which portion of the map I would include.

I’m still in Day 1 on the Louvre and I have managed to make major progress in the past couple of days.  It’s going to be a year since I set foot in Paris on the 23rd.. wow..  Makes me want to get going with the scrapbook but it’s moving very slowly.

Scrapbooking, I’ve come to realize, is a very tedious and work intensive project, specially when you’re working off your own creativity in doing the layouts and embellishments.  To date, my purchases have been limited to twine and ribbons, metal tags and buttons.  I have shied away from buying artwork or letters and have even stuck to buying just cardstock for the paper, because I’ve been creating and printing my own backgrounds.

So I sat there staring at the layout and trying to figure out where I would put the tartan background, the ribbon to frame the photos and which part and how much of the map I would put into this 2-page layout.  The good news is I actually scanned that part of the trip that took me from the hotel to the Louvre so it’s perfect!  I plan to finally “stitch” everything together this weekend and get moving on this portion of the project.  If I’m lucky, I might yet succeed in finishing the whole Louvre portion and move on!!!

Meanwhile, I came across this find at the dollar store in Flushing.. paper twine!  How lucky can I get?!  I actually need this more for Angel and Mom’s scrapbook than the Paris project.. but here it is — picked up three spools — blue, white and green.. how apt!

I had to wait until Angel was asleep before I could start work on my Paris scrapbook again.  I had put them away in two bags in the coat closet over the holidays and it was the first time I had taken them out to work on the layouts again.

I have had bits and pieces to add to the scrapbook in my bag from work I had done the past couple of weeks, and in particular, I had turned the pictures I had taken of snapshots on the way to Paris from Charles de Gaule Airport into small black and white print outs like below.

For some reason, I couldn’t find my fine craft cutter and the blade of my personal trimmer was not on the trimmer.  I just grabbed my craft scissors with the zigzag edge and trimmed the white sides.  (I will try and take a picture of the layout in progress.)  I also compressed what would’ve been 4 layouts into 3, and I’m thinking of reworking the Louvre exterior shots into a different layout altogether.

I had typed up some text to be put into a journaling box but I haven’t gotten to that part just yet.  At least I’ve started to work on the scrapbook again…

I’m currently working on the spread which will show the pictures of my trek to the Louvre (which took all of 2-3 hours.. I can’t remember which right now –) and I never realized it would take so much thought to put two pages together, although assembling it wasn’t quite as difficult once I got the idea in my head.  I’ve already worked on part of the actual Louvre tour, and I’m almost done with that portion.  Next will be my shots of the Paris Metro and then the next day’s tour Alan and I did together. 

It’s taking form now but as I said, it’s a work of love indeed considering the effort and thought going into it.