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Ok so we’re gonna be nosey, we’re ALL dying to get in Catherine’s talented mind and find out her creative secrets! Catherine (chud23), NEVER ceases to AMAZE us with her incredibly beautiful and unique pages that inspire so many of us. Her family is featured in nearly every single layout and her work is admired by SO many across the community. Catherine’s zest for life can be see throughout her GALLERY, it’s definitely a MUST see!

Catherine is VERY MUCH valued as a loyal friend and team member; she is encouraging, kind, genuine, FULL of inspiration, uniqueness and known to the team as “Frenchie”. SOOO cute huh? What could be better than an interview with a CRD STAR?

Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
A: I am French, and live currently in Finland! I have moved quite often during my life and I think I have lived in 10 different countries on three continents! I have a wonderful husband and 3 fabulous children aged 12 to 19.

Q: When you’re not scrapbooking, do you have a day job/other hobbies?
A: In France, I was a teacher in a primary school, now I am teaching French in an international school in Helsinki. I also love flower arranging, photography and walking in the beautiful Pyrénées Mountains.

Q: Are you a true paper or digital girl, when and how did you start?
A: My first hobby was photography. In 2006, I was looking for a new way of presenting my photos and found on internet, 2 Peas. I just loved the site and got inspired to start scrapping my photos! But then at the time, I was lacking space and time, so I started to look at some digital scrapbooking pages, bought Photoshop , started to scrap one or 2 pages in January of this year but really started to produce LO’s in March and April! I have only scrapped 2 or 3 paper Layouts, once I tried digi, I never went back to paper scrapping. So I would say that I am 100% digital! Just love the freedom and creativity that go with digital scrapbooking!

Q: What inspires you to create? Do you love the great outdoors, flicking through galleries or do you just thrive on daily life to get your creative juices flowing?
A: All of the above! Nature is one source of inspiration (especially for colors) but I also get inspiration from my children and the pile of photos I have of them. Since I have quite grown up children, I am scanning all the photos I took of them when they were younger. I also love to look at magazines and galleries, but I think galleries are really where you find the most inspirational pages! I am also lucky to be scrapping in my CT teams with the most amazing and talented scrappers!

Q: Where do you see yourself in the future, do you scrap just for fun or do you have a goal?
A:I started to scrap because I thought it was fun and really enjoyed knowing that I was leaving some memories for the future, but I think it has now become to me more a form of art than anything else.

Q: Are you on any Creative Teams? If so, who’s the lucky designer/s?
A: I am lucky because I am on the best creative teams, anyone could dream being on: (by alphabetical order) AH!Designs ,Christina Renee, Emily Merritt, Gina Marie Huff from Weeds and Wildflowers Designs, Holliewood studios, Paint the Moon, and Two Sisters Designs!

Q: What teams would you love to be on and do you ever do guest gigs?
A: I am already on many wonderful teams and don’t think I could add more. I am very excited because in December I will get to be a Guest at Scrap Artist! I just love the site, the fabulous designers and the creative goddesses there, are so talented and such an amazing sweet group of ladies! I am also currently a guest for Nancy Comelab and have been a guest for the wonderful Lie Fhung at Ztampf, Kim de Smet at FPD, and Kelley Mickus at All things Visual!

Q: Do you shop outside of your CT’s? If so, what is your average monthly spend?
A: I don’t shop very often because I already have so many wonderful products from my CTs, so I don’t have any average monthly spend but I may buy a product that I see in a layout and that I like or when a store or a designer that I like has a sale

Q: What is your favorite color combination, are you a simplistic chick or do you thrive on colorful and busy pages?
A: I don’t really have a favourite color combination although I am attracted to the brown/ beige themes, the hot pink/red combination or one that has some kind of turquoise in it. I am definitively not a simplistic chick. I am more inclined to scrap busy pages with lots of elements. I love to mix and match and I take a lot of time to choose the perfect elements and their placement! I like to scrap what I would call “artsy” pages; I guess scrapping for me is more a form an art than just preserving memories as I have all my photo albums for that.

Q: What graphics software and camera do you currently use?
A: I use photoshop CS2 and would love to have a Canon Rebel. Right now I only have a Panasonic.

Q: How do you start a page? Is it with the picture, paper, template etc?
A: It depends! Sometimes I start from a photo and try to look for the perfect papers to go with it and start from there! Sometimes, I am scrapping with a specific kit in mind and then will try to find the perfect photos to go with that kit or papers!

Q: How long does it take you to create a page and how many completed pages do you have?
A: I think I spend too much time on my pages, but that’s because I like to use lots of elements and also because I am a perfectionist! I always admire the simpler pages but have a hard time to achieve that style, I always need to add more! Most of my pages have more than 50 layers and the last one, even had 110 layers! I spend at least 3-4 hours on each page and sometimes more. I spend a lot of time working on my photos and (now that I now how to do my shadows) on my shadows. I also like when I start a new page to try something new like a new type of effect on my pic, some blending, brush work, text on a path so I also take time to do some research for a good tutorial.

Q: How many completed pages do you have?
A: This was an interesting question as I had never looked before at how many pages I have scrapped since I started. Since April, I have scrapped 145 LOs to which I have to add my 6 SUAS LOs . I now scrap between 16-20 pages a month.

Q: Some people like to scrap late at night, some limit it to weekends and others have no limits. When do you like to scrap?
A: I scrap in the mornings when I am not teaching and then again at night. I try to avoid scrapping during weekends since it is the time spent with my family.

Q: Can you share a scrapbooking secret or tip with us?
A: I like to play with my photos (crop them, have some kind of effect on them) and most of the time I use B&W photos because you can them any kind of papers or any color theme! I also always play with the blend mode of my papers (to blend some together or recolor them), my elements or my photos when I am scrapping! My favourites ones are ‘soft light’ (for elements) ‘hue’ or ‘color’ to blend papers and ‘hard light’ for my photos!

Q: Who is your scrapbook idol?
A: It was after discovering Nevache’s gallery (especially the pages she created for the Ultimate contest) at 2 Peas that I decided to start digital scrapbooking. Since then, she has been my favourite scrapper. She always comes up with new ways of using elements or composing a page and is for me an endless source of inspiration.

Can you show us your three favorite layouts and tell us why you chose them:

I have lots of layouts that I love so it is very hard to choose just three!!!! So I will try to choose three that best represent my style.

My last one would be a favourite, because it is one that is really precious to me since I scrapped some photos of my grandparents as a young couple and my first two pagers. It is also one where I have used lots of elements and one with a vintage feel to it which I also like :

“Happy Moments”

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My second choice would be my first SUAS LO as I like to blend photos and use brush work:

“A journey down the road of the cradle of mankind”

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And my third one would have to be My first doudou, because it’s quite representative of my style:

“My First Doudou“

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A HUGE thank you to Catherine for sharing her CREATIVE ENERGY with us! We think her CRD nickname “Frenchie” suits her style PERFECTLY!! VERY unique, VERY different and VERY inspiring! Make sure you keep CHECKING BACK to see who’s in the HOT SEAT for the next BTS interview!!