December Guest Designers

We have two fabulously talented women as guest designers this month. Please welcome Raissa Costa and Martica Gonzalez! Martica is a project designer - meaning she doesn't create layouts - she creates mini albums, home decor and other gorgeous items. Raissa has a style individual to her. I don't really have the words to describe her work as it's an eclectic style (although romantic comes to mind), but it sure is fantastic!

Raissa Costa

Well I'm Raissa. I live in Brazil, more specifically in the capital, Brasilia. I am completely in love with the arts since I can bore me as a person, always have to mess with papers, paints, color pencil, watercolor and many others. The only scrapbooking brought together great passions: art and photography. I believe that scrapbooking is much more than keep my memories, is where I can express myself. Besides being an artist in his spare time, I am a biology student at the University of Brasilia. And I am immensely happy to be here at C'est Magnifique!

Martica Gonzalez

Hi my name is Martica Gonzalez and I live in sunny Southeast Florida. I have been happily married , on Jan 2, 2012 will be 31 years. I have 2 adult sons and one grandson who lives in Germany which I miss greatly.

I am so thrilled to be invited as a guest designer in C’est Magnifique it is such an honor. I want to thank Leslie and the rest of the team for this privilege.

As of right now I am unemployed. But meantime I am creating, creating, creating. I love to alter anything I can get my hands on. I am most happy when I am in my scrapbook room working on a project. I love to do mini albums and tags. But have done alter cigar boxes, shadowboxes and many dress forms. I am always ready to alter something new and different. My style I have been told is shabby chic, even though I also love and do vintage and steampunk styles too.

I hope you enjoy browsing throughout my gallery as much as I enjoy creating it . And thanks again ladies for letting me be part of the team at least for a little while…..







Please head over to our gallery to see even more from these talented women!

Introducing...Winter's Whisper

We are such huge fans of The Scrap Cake papers out of Poland that when we first lay eyes on the new Cozy Christmas line, we knew we HAD to have it!! I think what's so wonderful about these papers (besides the design, the colors, the weight, lol...) is that they are the easiest papers I have ever used to create Christmas cards with!

Anyway, I know I'm rambling when all you really want to see is the kit so here it is (all images are click-able for even larger viewing):








For even more images and the chance to purchase one of these beautiful kits, visit our store! You are going to love this one!

Congratulations to our Challenge Winner!

Our photo challenge ended yesterday and congratulations go out to Aggie for this adorable layout! Isn't it great? - and she used the November kit from C'est Magnifique.

Aggie, thanks for being such an active member of C'est Magnifique! Leslie will be sending you a RAK.

Use Your Stash Challenge

I know it's difficult to believe, but it's the last Sunday of the month, and that means we're ready for another 'Use Your Stash' challenge. This challenge is designed to get you to use some of your older paper and embellishments. You loved these items when you purchased them, and it's never too late to use them. You'll feel much better scrapping with these long forgotten supplies. So what do you have? - some old Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Prima, Pink Paislee, or Crate Paper? Whatever it is, we want to see it! The only restriction for this challenge is that you must use supplies that you've had for a while. You may create a layout or card.

You will have 2 weeks, until midnight EST (New York City time zone) Sunday, December 11 to complete your project. Please upload it to the November "Use Your Stash" folder in the gallery, post an image in this thread, and don't forget to tell us what you used from your stash. The winner, chosen by a random draw, will be announced in both the forum and here on the blog. The winner will receive a RAK from C'est Magnifique!

Our challenges are designed to help you with your scrapbooking and card making, so we ask that you upload only newly created layouts for this challenge. Have fun, and we look forward to seeing what you've got in your stash!

I also realized earlier this week that I failed announce the winner of our October 'Use Your Stash" challenge............Sandi Pressley! Here's her amazing layout using some of her stash:

Thanks for entering our challenge, Sandi. We're glad you're a part of C'est Magnifique!

~~~Valerie Serfozo

Cyber Monday Sale and Facebook Too!

We have two very exciting things to mention today!

First, we are finally on Facebook! To celebrate the fact, we are offering a randomly drawn prize to one of the first 100 people to "LIKE" us!

Click Here to access our Facebook page!

Just click 'LIKE' and you are automatically entered to win!

And even better news:

Click Here to visit our store!

Yay!! We are celebrating both "Small Business Day" and "Cyber Monday"!

Callie Jane by Valerie Serfozo

Here's Valerie's description:

I love pink, and squealed when I saw this 7x12-inch piece of paper (yes this kit has both 12x12 paper and 7x12 paper). I knew it would be perfect to use with this photo of my sweet niece, Callie Jane. I distressed the edges of the patterned paper with some tattered rose Distress Ink to created a defined edge. I wanted to add some hand stitching around the edges so I poked holes, and used floss and a back-stitch to create a border. My plan was to keep the layout pink and white as much as possible, so I punched two strips of white paper using a Martha Stewart punch to get an eyelet look.

Then, using the beautiful flowers from Prima and Basic Grey, I created a few clusters at opposite corners of the photo. The large pink Basic Grey flower is made from fabric and can be found in this month's add on. The large white Prima flower is from the November add-ons and is currently available in the store. The small roses that I tucked in are also from Prima and available as an add-on this month. Other add-ons include the beautiful pink cameo from Webster's Pages, and the strip along the bottom of the photo that is part of the Prima North Country chipboard pieces. There are a lot of really cute designs in that set of chipboard. This is just one of the many looks you can achieve from this month's kit!

Have A Great Thanksgiving!!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving today! May your day be filled with good food, great friends and lots of family!!

Merry by Kay Rogers

Kay writes:

When I found these old Christmas Card photos, the memories came flooding back. Where does the time go?

I used the main kit, as I always do. I inked the edges with the Prima Ink, which I LOVE! It works so well, and I love how it separates the layers! I also inked the wood piece, which was a 5-second makeover. I love a quick fix, as time is always what I fight against.

Memories came flooding back for me too! Some of you may know that I owned a kit club many years ago and Kay was on my original design team then. When I saw these photos of her girls it brought it all back to me too! Thank you, Kay!!

Add-ons used:

Melissa Frances Flash Cards "Deck the Halls" collection - 'Snow'
Kaisercraft Wood Holly Swirls

This Week's Challenge Winner

Congratulations to Heather (scrappin_in_ak), the winner of our Journaling Prompt Challenge. Heather created this beautiful layout about her son. In her journaling, hidden in the pocket, she tells of how thankful she is for this first step in a journey.

Heather, thanks for participating in the challenge, and thanks for being a part of C'est Magnifique. Leslie will be sending you a RAK!



~~~Valerie Serfozo

Music Challenge

I hope you've enjoyed seeing all the December kit sneak peeks that Leslie has been posting this week. Keep checking back, because she will be posting more this week.

But since it's Sunday, C'est Magnifique has a new challenge for you. This week we challenge you to use a song title or lyrics as inspiration for a card or layout. It can be any song you choose. Use the title or lyrics in your journaling, as a title for your layout, or a sentiment for your card (or any other way you can think of). The song could also be the subject of your layout!

You will have 2 weeks until midnight EST (New York City time zone) Sunday, December 5th to complete your layout. Please upload it to the November "Music Challenge" folder in the gallery and post an image in our forum here. The winner, chosen by a random draw, will be announced on the blog and in the forum. The winner will receive a RAK from C'est Magnifique!

Our challenges are designed to help you with your scrapbooking, so we ask that you upload only newly created layouts for this challenge. We can't wait to find out which tunes inspire you!

~~~Valerie Serfozo

Snow by Beverly Sams

Beverly has this to say about her layout:

This is one of my favorite photos from my son's childhood and I keep a copy of it above my desk. When I saw the beautiful C'est Magnifique December kit papers from The Scrapcake, I knew immediately that they would be perfect to further showcase one of my precious memories! I chose the oval format to slightly offset the circles I wanted to include. The rosettes were made from a Tim Holtz die and red card stock to echo the beautiful medallion at the top of the page. In the center of those are pieces of the gold and crystal rhinestone trim included in the main kit.

The Prima chipboard snowflakes were given a bit of sparkle with Crystal Stickles and the chipboard branches were generously treated to a coat of Martha Stewart's aquamarine crystal fine glitter.

The snowman melted and the child grew up, but in this way I have frozen a wonderful moment in time!

Add ons used:

Melissa Frances Flash Cards "Deck the Halls" collection- 'Snow'
Prima North Country Chipboard Stickers

Introducing Kristie Taylor!!

I am so excited to announce a fabulous addition to our design team! Kristie is her name and here is a photo, a short bio and an example of her work with the stunning December kit. She brings a new style to the team and I am looking forward to working with her!

Kristie Taylor

"Hi I am Kristie, and I presently live in Wisconsin, but I am a southern girl from North carolina through and through. I am mom to four amazing kids, ages 27,14,11 and 11.Who are often the subject of my scrapbooking pages. I love scrapbooking and working with the paper arts, I have served on several design teams, and have taught classes as well. I love adding texture and dimension to my projects, and love "found" objects too. When not playing with paper, or planning my next page, I also love to do mixed media art and some art journaling. I find that creating something.. anything soothes my soul and renews my spirit. I am honored and excited to be asked to join the Cest magnifique team and I hope that I can do these amazing kits justice!"

Here also is a little sneak of the December kit created by Kristie! Can you say GORGEOUS?!!



Here is Kristie's description of her layout:

I started with some white cardstock, and rubbed on some distress ink and glimmer mists. I cut the first layer and used fringe scissors to add some texture. Then I started building layers. The heavy paper from "The Scrapcake" just LOVES distressing because it is so thick. Each layer of paper was distressed and inked using distress inks as well as the awesome little brick red ink pad that comes in the kit. I used a lot of the add-ons including the beautiful flowers by Prima. The kit is just gorgeous and the photos just don't do it justice, everything is color coordinated and matches PERFECTLY! The pages just flow together, the only problem I had was that I didn't want to cut the gorgeous papers :)

Add-ons used:

Prima's North Country Chipboard
Prima's Innoscence 546014
Prima's Romantique Roses - SOLD OUT

Welcome to C'est Magnifique Kits, Kristie!

Store Sale!!!

Yay! In observance of Black Friday - we are having our first sale! Enjoy!!

December 2011 Papers and Add-Ons

December's kit is quickly becoming my favorite! The colors in this line of paper from The Scrap Cake out of Poland are superb!!! I love that these papers make Christmas Card making so easy too! Take a look:



Here are the add-ons for the month too:




Both the embellie and flower add-on packages are already sold out, but some of the items are available individually IN THE STORE. For first dibs on the add-ons, you may want to sign up for our email newsletter at the top left of the blog - it's where you learn first of the kit and add-on images.

And don't forget - as a monthly member you receive an additional discount on all add-ons for the month.

Challenge Update

I'd like to start by congratulating Sherrie Suttles (our resident marathon runner) for being the winner of our "Fall Challenge". Thanks also to those who participated in the challenge. We saw some beautiful fall layouts!

It's Sunday and time for another C'est Magnifique challenge. This week's challenge is all about photos. We'd like for you to use an odd shaped -or- odd sized photo for your layout. If you always scrap 4x6 photos, try using a larger photo. If you always scrap rectangular photos, why not try a square, or a circle. You could also create a photo strip or collage. The idea is to challenge you to use a photo size or shape that you don't typically use. There are no other restrictions.

You will have 2 weeks until midnight EST (New York City time zone) Sunday, November 27th to complete your layout. Please upload it to the November "Photo Challenge" folder in the gallery and post an image in this thread. The winner, chosen by a random draw, will be announced in the forum and on the blog. The winner will receive a RAK from C'est Magnifique!

Our challenges are designed to help you with your scrapbooking, so we ask that you upload only newly created layouts for this challenge. We can't wait to see what creative photo ideas you come up with!

~~~Valerie Serfozo

Creative Scrappers!

This month we are giving away a cool prize over at Creative Scrappers! It's pretty easy - all you have to do is create a layout based on one of the sketches numbered 180-184, link it on their site and you are then automatically entered to win!

How cool is that?!! Be sure to check them out!

And here are a few more layouts designed by our DT using our November kit:

Valerie Serfozo

Beverly Sams

Kay Rogers

Leslie Kammerdiener

This kit has been so much fun to work with, but girls...just wait until next month! Wooooheee!

Journaling Prompt Challenge

Wow, it's time for our first challenge of November. Do you always journal on your layouts? Do you save it for last and only add it if you have enough room? If you're like a lot of scrappers, journaling doesn't come easy. We're hoping this challenge will help jump-start your journaling. We'd like you to create a layout and use this phrase in your journaling "I am thankful for.....". That's it. No other restrictions.

You will have 2 weeks until midnight EST (New York City time zone) Sunday, November 20th to complete your layout. Please upload it to the November "Journaling Prompt" folder in the gallery and post an image in our forum here. The winner, chosen by the design team, will be announced here on the blog and in the forum. The winner will receive a RAK from C'est Magnifique!

Our challenges are designed to help you with your scrapbooking, so we ask that you upload only newly created layouts for this challenge.

~~~Valerie Serfozo

November Guest Designers

I am so pleased to announce our guest designers for November! This month we are also going to feature some of their work along with their bio and photos! Please welcome both Sarah Hill and Kay Fatula!!

Kay Fatula




My name is Karla but I'm better known as Kay--a nickname I've had since my college days. I'm a senior level Quality Analyst for a global fortune 100 company--this would be my day job. At night I'm an avid crafter. Art has been my passion since I was old enough to pick up a crayon. Scrapbooking is my only escape to my love for art & creativity. I've been an on & off again scrapper since high school but I got heavily involved with it back in 2007 & I haven't looked back since. I love the thought of documenting chapters & memories of my life that I'll be one day, passing onto future generations. On a personal note, I'm married to a great guy that supports my love of art & of course scrapbooking. I do not have any children as of yet. Just one little fur-baby by the name of Toby who's my little ray of sunshine.

Sarah Hill

I started crafting in high school by making collages on my notebooks from cut out magazines. I thought I was the coolest!! That type of "paper crafting" evolved into a small scrapbook of my high school boyfriend and I~done on sketch paper. Clearly I didn't know what I was doing. I got my older sister into scrapbooking then shortly afterwards didn't look at the hobby for several years. I got back on the train when my sister found a nearby Scrapbook convention!!! It's all history from there. Every since then I was hooked. I wanted to try every new thing in the book. I'm never scared to try something new or learn from a fellow scrapper.

I'm now married to my hubby Nick with 2 furry "kids" Rocko & Bella. My family is my life: husband, pooches, sisters, mom, dad, just everyone. I just love taking trips and making mini albums!!! A Large Diet Coke (NO ICE PLEASE!!) from McDonalds is my Achilles Heel :)

Amazing, huh? To see more layouts from either of these designers, we invite you to OUR GALLERY. There you will also see some gorgeous layouts from our talented design team!

Introducing...Enchanted Autumn

November brings us some beautiful papers from a company named Sultane out of France. These papers are so much more gorgeous in real life and they are just begging to be fussy cut! Take a look at the images below (all images are click-able for an even larger view):











Please VISIT OUR STORE and get yours today before they are all gone!! Quantities are limited! We all had so much fun with this one and hope you do too!