Check out our newest template!
Now available for purchase at www.leafrance.com

Check out our newest template!
Now available for purchase at www.leafrance.com

I wanted to pay tribute to a special lady.

Her name is Donna Levine and she sent me a whole bunch of layouts!!! Thanks Donna for sending me so many pages and thank you even more for allowing me to post it for every reader to enjoy.

I guess I can say Donna does use my templates!

On Saturday, October 15  I welcomed my designer team in my house for a crop party to try the new collection for 2012. It was so much fun,the pages looked great and all the designers were very excited by the new collection. Now the hardest decision will be to decide what templates to release first !!!

the designer team really focused!!!

It’s funny because on the photo I took the designer team seems to be so serious !!! And it was totally the opposite, well !!!

We are also working on an exciting new project and this will be announced shortly in our next newsletter. Many things are going on right now and this is really going to be an exceptional year next year. I plan to have more products not only 12 by 12 templates but other kinds of products. As usual, those products will follow 2 main criteria that are important to Lea France:  bloom your creativity and high quality products.

Of course, I will add more videos soon, I have been really busy lastly to prepare all those project ideas for 2012. But I will be back on the screen, or at least my hands and my voice will be back…

As always, I love to hear your feed back, so don’t hesitate to contact me anytime at carine@leafrance.com

When you look at the grapes stencil, of course you see grapes but if you look further, you can see a christmas tree, clouds and even an ice cream cone. I took photographs to show you how those shapes are hidden in the Grapes Stencil.

It’s all about your own imagination!!

Do you need to go back to our website? Here it is  http://www.leafrance.com/

About 4 or 5 years ago, I was intrigued by the description of a Scrapbooking class in the Palo Alto Adult Education Catalogue. It described a way to enhance your photography and that really appealed to me. It described using templates to design pages, instead of adding embellishments. To me, the embellishments seemed to compete with the pictures, not enhance them. This is where I first met Carine and she introduced me to this style of scrapbooking.  I also loved the idea that you could re-use the templates over and over again and yet never have the same page twice.

The scrapbooking make me re-think how I organized my scrapbooks. I don’t just do a chronological display of my pictures, but I’ve created several different themed scrapbooks. One was for my photos of wildlife I photographed at the Baylands. Below are examples of Geese and Avocets. I used very different templates to get unique looks.  (see pictures #1 and 2)

My husband and I went to Antartica a couple of years ago and I used some of my pictures to make a scrapbook. I took a lot of pictures of penguins leaping out of the water. When they are swimming, they come out of the water to breathe. I used the template to lead your eye to the focus of the page, the penguin. (see picture#3)

My next example, allowed me to put together a page that showed a lot of types of ice in one picture. My husband and I are the center, but if you look closely, you can see the different types of ice. (see picture #4).

I enjoyed using the line of templates that Carine imported from France. But she listened to people, heard what they wanted, and then she designed her own templates! I especially like the butterfly template. I have lots of ideas and look forward to many more hours of creative scrapbooking.

How does Léa France™ Framing differ from Traditional Framing?

Léa France™ framing differs from American framing in the techniques used to create matting. Traditional framing uses machines to cut 1/8 in. bevels on a white or colored mat. The French wrap their hand-cut bevels and mats with papers from all over the world. The technique also combines different widths of matting, this allows the framer to play with depth, color, texture, and patterns in a creative way.

The other French Framing technique, known as the “French Mat” or “Lavis,” comes from 18th century matting practices. This can only be done by a master framer who studied as an apprentice. The technique is comprised of hand-drawn ink lines of varying thickness, a strip of thin paper and a wash of watercolor.

What are the advantages of Léa France™ Picture Framing?

1. It’s less expensive: First, you need just a few tools that can be covered in an average budget of $150, or even less (you would typically spend $250 for traditional framing tools). Second, the materials used to frame are less expensive as well. As you wrap your mats with papers, you can use all of the mat, compared to the regular mat usually used one time.Let’s take an easy example: You want to frame three photos, each 4″x6″, in three 8″x10″ frames. You will have to buy three mats with three different colors. At an average price of $14 per mat, that would be $42.

   With the French techniques, you will need only one mat at $11, plus three papers for three single mats (around $3 for the paper) so it comes to $20. In addition, you’ll have leftover section of 8″x30″ mat to use for future projects. The papers can also be used for something other than framing projects. Papers have so many applications.

2. It’s more creative. A large selection of papers are available, and they are often acid-free. If they are not, we can just use a special spray to de-acidify them. You have many more creative options with the papers than with a regular mat.

How is Léa France™ Photo Collage different from Traditional Scrapbooking?

The Léa France™ style puts the accent back on your photos™, not on the embellishments. With Léa France™ Photo Collage, you use versatile stencils that can allow you to have many photos on a page. Léa France™ Photo Collage is all about what you can create with your imagination, not your pocketbook. Why spend on embellishments when you have all you need…your great photos!!!

What are the advantages of Léa France™ Photo Collage?

1. Low supply investment—rather than spending money on embellishments that you will use only once on a page, you can invest in re-usable stencils that have an immeasurable number of page layouts.
2. One-of-a-kind creative designs—using your imagination; you can make full use of your pages by building unique designs that accent the BEST parts of your photos. Léa France™ Photo Collage stencils are designed to be used separately and combined to create wonderful page layouts.
3. Excellent for beginner scrapbookers—not ready to invest in expensive tools and supplies? All you need is a Léa France™ Photo Collage stencil, a dry erase marker and a pair of scissors.

Why did you pick the name Léa France™ Photo Collage instead of French Scrapbooking?

I decided to use the term “Léa France™ Photo Collage” as I think the focus should be on the photos. Collage is the action of gluing, pasting… it’s what you do when you do Léa France™ Photo Collage™. And finally, collage is also a French term.

We are so pleased to officially introduce our design team, the Carine’s angels. We created a short video (click on the link below) to share with you the excitement of this announcement. More episodes will be posted with new missions to come.
http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/eb684db5a58448cf8899f3256a4ae6a2/px-assets/8af5c9b305b443218ad71e6d104b18a9
 

Below you can find a short description of each Carine’s Angels scrapbooking style. I’m so glad I hired those 4 ladies, their mission is to give you inspiration by creating beautiful layouts for you to enjoy…

Marion

I began scrapbooking 13 years ago because I wanted to create a scrapbook for my mom’s 90th birthday that would tell the story of her life in pictures.  I saw how photos could capture moments in time, tell stories and remind us of beautiful places.  This effort was the beginning of a new passion.

I love photography, color, and design and how these elements all work together. To me, a scrapbook page is not just putting photo’s on a page, but rather creating a piece of artwork.

Last year I was introduced to the French Photo Collage style and was immediately drawn to the ability to design and create beautiful pages that were clean, well laid out, and could utilize 4 to 6 photos instead of 2 or three. I love landscapes and all of the colors that are represented in nature, so many of my designs reflect this.  Photography and the French Photo Collage style have given me a wonderful way to express my passion.

Gayle

I have been scrapbooking for about 15 years. And with five children and 12 grandchildren, it is a never ending task, but so rewarding. One of my most challenging projects was making a heritage album with family photos dating back to the late 1800’s.

A year ago, an advertisement featuring French Scrapbooking caught my eye, and I attended a class. It was love at first finished page. I love that I can compose a page with 5 to 8 photos, tie it all together with color coordinating paper and have a stunning page that keeps calling me back to look at it over and over again. I love putting a template together with photos of my grandkids doing what kids do – playing, water skiing, climbing trees, dancing in fall leaves – it all tells a story. I also love putting colors together with flowers, nature hikes, and vacation adventures.

I love the template designs and strive to make the pages a little more interesting with feet outside the templates, airplane wings stretched across two shapes, hands poking into the next shape, tails wagging outside the square. It’s fun to think outside the box, just because I can. French Photo Collage has tapped into my creative side like nothing else has and I find it fascinating; it’s challenging and fun to see the finished page. I’m hooked on French Photo Collage.

I also make quilted greeting cards using hand-crafted paper from Japan, play guitar and sing, work almost full time, and am married to an incredible man who encourages me in whatever endeavor I undertake.

Denise

September 2007 my husband surprised me with a trip to Dollywood, Tennessee for our 20th anniversary. When we got home, I developed the photos and knew I had to put them in a scrapbook for all to see. Not knowing how to start a scrapbook, I had my friend Lorie help me get the first couple of pages started. I took the book home, pulled out a card table, set it in the front room and made a mess in the corner for weeks.

The local junior college sent out their spring flyer for Saturday classes and inside was a blurb on “French Scrapbooking: a great way to save money and create clean interesting layouts”. The instructor ended up being this bubbly French lady Carine. She had a new and exciting way to scrapbook. That class changed the way I look at scrapbooking and how I take photographs.

Carine taught me to look at what’s around your subject, when taking pictures. If I’m photographing my son’s motorcycle race, would the different patterns in the dirt from the tire marks or close-ups of the tire spokes be interesting in the corners of the quilt template?

What about a close-up of the brides bouquet from my girlfriends daughters wedding and use them for edging in the blooming flower template? Thank goodness for digital cameras!

My love for Carine’s templates has spilled over to my girlfriends. Once a month, five of us get together to create beautiful pages. They don’t have tons of embellishments, just clean interesting layouts that let you enjoy the subjects.

Dominique

I attended my First French Collage party at Carine’s house in French as I’m French speaking as well. I had no idea at this time that Carine will offer me to join the design team. After few classes with Carine, I was completely hooked to French Photo Collage. 

If I have to describe my style, I would say I really focus on photos, I barely use embellishments. I would rather punch into photos or cut shapes in sand, leafs or sky if I need to embellish the page.  Sometimes, I use chalks but I really try to keep my scrapbooking simple. French Photo Collage had been the perfect hobby for me so far because I can combine my 2 passions, taking photos and create a beautiful layout to share with my family.

Before I reveal the name of the winner, I’d like to thank all participants of the survey. It was a great feed back.

This is Marie Tirad that won this time.

Here is a brief summary of  the survey.

On the website, here are a few things you appreciate the most

1. layout examples
2. new items to be out
3. special deals

You’d like to have videos on line.

Last, you asked for smaller templates 8 by 8 inches.

We heard you and we’ll work on all this soon.