Spotlighting Monique

Its that time again!  Jewelle here to tell you about another fabulous guest CTM that has joined us for the month of June.  I have to tell you up front, I secretly stalked Monique's gallery over at ScrapMatters.  She does an amazing job at keeping her layouts simple, and I love that look.  So lets all say hi to...

Monique

{aka monsu}

My name is Monique, monsu in the galleries. I’m 46 years old (Ouch!!), and I just celebrated my 22^nd wedding anniversary to Theo. I’m Dutch, and we live in the Netherlands after having spent some years abroad for my husband’s job. I’m a speech therapist by profession, but I currently work as a preschool teacher and library volunteer, which I both love. Next to scrapping, I love reading, traveling and cooking.

Here is a little survey that Monique graciously answered the questions to.

1. How long have you been scrapping?  Have you ever paper scrapped?  When did you make the switch to digi and why? I started paper scrapping while living in Toronto in 2004. I switched to digital early 2007, when I started taking classes at Jessica Sprague. I have been completely addicted ever since! The endless possibilities, the no-mess aspect and the fact that you NEVER run out of supplies has made all the difference!
2. What do you feel is your strongest scrapping skill?  Your weakest? I am an aspiring minimalist scrapper, and I feel I’m at my best when I create simple white space layouts! The whole layering of elements is something I’m really bad at, and I admire people who can do that and still end up with a beautiful page!
3. What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Try to learn your program! I LOVE video based classes and I would recommend them to anyone. So worth the investment!
4. Describe your scrapping "system"... What program do you use?  Where do you start first - photos, papers, elements, journaling?  Do you always have something in mind when you start, or do you let your creativity guide you?  How long does it take you to complete a layout? I use PSE7, and I’m usually very happy with it. The only thing I really miss is not being able to create my own text paths! I usually start with a kit I really like, or photos to tell a story. I just LOVE papers, and always use clipping masks as my favorite technique! Elements and journaling are always last, but most of my pages do have some (or a lot of) journaling on it. It takes me one to two hours to finish a page, although I sometimes have to come back to a page if it’s not coming together the way I want it to!
5. On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? I’m guessing 10 to 20 hours a week, depending on work or other things I need to do during the week!
6. Describe your perfect scrapping environment - coffee? soda?  music?  snacks? Although I work on a laptop, it’s always on my desk in the office. No music or TV, I need my peace and quiet to concentrate! I don’t tend to eat anything at the computer, but I might have coffee, tea or a bottle of water on hand!
7. What's your favorite thing to do BESIDES scrapping? I would say: travel, and I think it shows in my layouts!
8. What is one thing you would love to do, just so you could scrap it? I really want to take a ride in a hot air balloon some day. I would love to know what it feels like, and they are so colorful and photogenic!
9. Who inspires you in the scrapping community?  Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? I love browsing the gallery at ScrapMatters for inspiration, and Christine (Alamama), Denise (Neeceebee) and Courtney (CNscraps) are among my favorites! I have scraplifted them all! I also love looking at minimalist scrappers in the Oscraps and MScraps galleries.
10. If you could have Amber create a kit just for you, what colors, theme, etc would it be and why? Amber just did a travel kit that I love, and that I’ve been using a lot already! In addition I love neutral kits that I can use for everyday photos, with lots of gorgeous patterned papers!

I'm really excited to show you these layouts from Monique.  Look at how she uses white space to her advantage! 

First Layout

This is one of my very first pages, following some directions by Ali Edwards about the importance of documenting everyday things! I think it is also the first time I used photomasks to place photos in my page!

Favorite Layouts

I love this page because I feel I've accomplished some successful layering (so hard for me!) while still keeping plenty of white space!

I love this page because of the color combination, the journaling, and also because it features my DH! 

Layout Using Stolen Moments Products 

This is a layout I made while I was on the SM store CT. It's a very clean and simple page, and it shows a self portrait my DH took of the both of us! 

Most Recent Layout
Here's my latest page, showing some pics I took only last weekend, while celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary at the beach! 

Ahh!  Aren't those amazing?  If you would like to catch more of Monique's work be sure and head over to her GALLERY!  Come back next week when you get to meet one of the regular CTMs!