Meet our March Guest Designer

We are pleased to introduce our March guest designer, Eila Sandberg, from Sweden.  It has been such a joy to work with Eila as she applied her beautiful style to our March kit.  We're sure you will love what she has created!  We will let Eila tell you a little bit about herself, and then we will give you a look at how she has used our March kit.

Hi!   My name is Eila Sandberg and I live in Stockholm, capital of Sweden by the Baltic Sea with Norway and Finland as neighbours.  It is such an honour to be the March guest designer of  C’est Magnifique kit club, thank you so much Leslie for having me!

My family is a small one; it's me and my very supportive and patient husband Bengt and our 3 cats - Max, Alice and Elsa. I have a grown-up stepdaughter Emelie, whom you will see in some of my layouts. My friends kindly let me scrap their children if I need willing guinea pigs for a layout. My roots are Finnish but I was born and raised in Sweden. I am an Anglofile and love everything beautiful. London is my favourite city in the whole world.

I've been sort of dabbling with scrapping since 2009 but more seriously so since 2010. My bumpy lumpy style of many layers evolved in 2012. Scrapping is a wonderful way for me to gain balance and happiness in my otherwise very stressful office life. I work fulltime as Executive Assistant/PA in a telecoms company. 

I scrap mainly 12 x 12 layouts and you will always see flowers on my pages. I devour English crime novels and love BBC TV series and milk chocolate. Coffee is my daily life saver.

I have the privilege of being a DT member of the chipboard manufacturer Blue Fern Studios and challenge site Color..Stories..Inspiration (CSI) in the US, as well as of Australian challenge site Once Upon A … Sketch (OUAS). I am also a re-visiting Guest Designer at the Australian challenge site Meg’s Garden.

I have been DT of Australian The Color Room, GD of French Les Papers de Pandore, American Berry71Bleu, Swedish Inkido, Polish 13@arts.pl and Studio75.pl, South African Scrap for Help and Malaysian Scrap-it-Lah. I was also featured as International Artist in Scrap n’Art Magazine.

My blog: www.dollopsofscrap.blogspot.com

"You Glow" by Eila Sandberg

 This is one of my favorite photos of my stepdaughter.   It reminds me of the painting by Vermeer - "Girl With Pearl Earring". That same look in her eyes.

ADD-ON:
Flower: Maya Road: Vintage Edge Mum: Antique Mocha
Flower: Manor House: Jubilee: Pink
Flower: Maya Road: Mini Ribbon Roses: White
Embellishment: Maya Road: Burlap Trim: Sunset
Embellishment: Maya Road: White Polka Dot Kraft Note Envelopes
Embellishment: Maya Road: Metal Vintage Trinket Dress Form Hangers
Embellishment: Basic Grey: Serenade: Stickers
Embellishment: Basic Grey: Serenade: Designer Chipboard Stickers
Embellishment: Pink Paislee: Artisan Elements: Squares

From my stash; teal resin rose, white buttons, washi tape, various stamps and inks

"Chez Pierre" by Eila Sandberg

 The arty warm whimsical feel of the photo which is taken in Tallinn, capital of Estonia by the Baltic Sea, inspired me to dress the chipboard window in warm ochra hues, several layers of light dabbing with chalks and sprays of glimmering burnt hues. Just like memories of better days. I was thinking of writers sipping their red wine while scribbling away on the book of their life and of people strolling on the cobbled streets of Tallinn with postcards yet to be written in their pockets.

ADD ON:
Embellishment: Blue Fern Studios: Chipboard: Garden Window
Embellishment: Maya Road: Metal Vintage Trinket Dress Form Hangers
Embellishment: Maya Road: Burlap Trim: Sunset
Embellishment: Basic Grey: Serenade: Stickers
Embellishment: Basic Grey: Serenade: Designer Chipboard Stickers
Embellishment: Maya Road: White Polka Dot Kraft Note Envelopes
Flower: Maya Road: Vintage Linen Burlap Roses: Sunset
Flower: Maya Road: Vintage Lace Daisies: Milk

From my stash: ink, stamps, chalk, mist, yellow paint dabber, white liquid pearls

Thanks for stopping by!  We will be back tomorrow with our March Sketch Challenge.  See you then.

Our March Kit Reveal!

It's always an exciting day when we reveal our upcoming kits!  Our March Kit, which we have named "Whimsical Melodies", includes paper from a couple of different lines from Magenta.  We have paired this colorful paper with just the right embellishments.

At this time the kit is sold out, but if you would like to be on a wait list (in case Leslie is able to put together a few more kits) please send her an email at:  leslie{at}cestmagnifiquekits.com.

Patterned Paper:

Magenta: Color Me Softly: Dream Flight
Magenta: Color Me Softly: Tea Garden
Magenta: Color Me Softly: Hint of Freshness
Magenta: Color Me Softly: Boscage Aroma
Magenta: Printemps Passion: Dancing Butterfly
Magenta: Gypsy: Sophia
Magenta: Gypsy: Lili Anne
Magenta: Street Savvy: Street Prints

Kit Embellishments:

Basic Grey: Serenade: Mini Envelopes
Prima: Fairy Belle: Alphabet Stickers
Prima: Say It In Crystals: Brown
Blue Fern Studios: Chipboard: Symphony Border
Blue Fern Studios: Chipboard: Fancy Birdcage
Manor House: Winter Song: Snowbell
Manor House: Capri: Aqua
Cheep Trims: Ruffled Lace
Tattered Angels: Glimmer Glaze: Palo Verde

 Don't forget, you still have a couple of days remaining in February to enter our Sketch Challenge.

Keren & Valerie with Sneak Peek #3

***This just in.............we are in the process of giving our blog a brand new look!  We think you will love our fresh new design.  While we are in the process of redesigning our blog, things might be a little messy.  We appreciate your patience.***

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you're looking forward to a great weekend.  Today we are back with a couple more looks at our upcoming March kit.  The paper collection from Magenta is absolutely beautiful!   Here's a peek from Keren and Valerie.

"Footprints" by Keren Tamir

I loved watching my kids run free at the beach this winter while on vacation. Both my husband and I are beach lovers and we were happy to see our kids enjoying the beach as much as we do. They loved chasing the seagulls, running at the edge of the water and doing cartwheels in the sand. Those precious moments always stay in my mind.

As soon as I saw the striped paper, I knew I wanted to curl the pieces at the bottom. Then using some cardboard and gesso I gave it this rustic look.

I used the shutters from the Blue Fern Window to make it look as if the beach was being watched from a window.

Patterned Paper:
Magenta: Color Me Softly: Hint of Freshness

Flower Add-on:
Maya Road: Vintage Lace Daisies: Milk

Embellishment Add-on:
Blue Fern Studios: Chipboard: Garden Window
Pink Paislee: Artisan Elements: Squares
Prima: Fabric Butterfly Embellishments: Vintage

From My Stash:
Martha Stewart Textured Effect
Crafter's Workshop brick template
Cardboard
Cheese cloth
Gesso 

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"Kitty Kisses" by Valerie Serfozo

 I really like the variation of soft colors in the patterned paper in this month's kit. It has allowed me to reach for color combinations that I wouldn't normally use. With just a little bit of a burnt orange swirl in the corner of the paper, I was able to pull in that color in my embellishments. I love how Leslie selects just the right embellishments!

Patterned Paper:

Magenta 

From the Flower Add-on:
Maya Road: Mini Ribbon Roses: White
Maya Road: Vintage Edge Mum: Antique Mocha
Maya Road: Vintage Linen Burlap Roses: Sunset

From the Embellishment Add-on:

Basic Grey: Serenade: Stickers
Basic Grey: Serenade: Designer Chipboard Stickers
Pink Paislee: Artisan Elements: Square
Prima: Fabric Butterfly Embellishments: Vintage
Maya Road: Burlap Trim: Sunset
Maya Road: White Polka Dot Kraft Note Envelopes
Maya Road: Metal Vintage Trinket Dress Form Hangers

Other:
Distress Ink
Gesso

Enjoy your weekend!

Sneak Peek #2 - Our March Kit

If color makes you happy, then so will our March Kit!  Today we turn it over to Erin and Brit to show you how they used the color to create two very different layouts. 

"Hey Stud" by Erin Blegen

I don't know who taught my son how to pose, but it sure wasn't me! This photo was taken last summer of my little Gunner and he used to do this for me ALL the time. I'd just pull out the camera and there he was with a smile...waiting.

I really enjoyed putting this color combo together. It's so much fun to cut apart and piece apart various elements into something that just feels "mean to be". I used some Basic Grey packaging, a few of the closures from the envelopes to accent my punched circles, and plenty of fussy cutting to put this project together.

From the Flower Add-On:
Prima: Charlotte: Tiffany

From the Embellishment Add-On:
Basic Grey: Serenade: Designer Chipboard Stickers
Blue Fern Studios: Chipboard: Garden Window
Maya Road: Burlap Trim: Sunset

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"My Own Little Butterfly Garden" by Brit Sviggum

Tuva is out playing in the garden. And on this exact day, she was looking for butterflies. So I just HAD to add all these cute butterflies to the page  

Papers:
Magenta: Color Me Softly: Tea Garden
Magenta: Printemps Passion: Dancing Butterfly

Embellishments add-ons:
Basic Grey: Serenade: Stickers
Basic Grey: Serenade: Designer Chipboard Stickers

I have also used cheesecloth, spray and acrylic paint.

First Look at our March Kit!

Our favorite part of the month is the 15th, when we reveal the paper line and add-ons for our next kit.  For the month of March, our kit will feature paper from Magenta, a Canadian manufacturer.  We think you will fall in love with beautiful colors!  If you would like to add an extra paper pack to your kit, or order just the paper, you can find it here in our store.

Our Embellishment Add-on, designed to compliment the kit, contains a piece of Blue Fern Studios chipboard, butterflies from Prima, stickers and chipboard pieces/alphabet from Basic Grey, some sweet envelopes from Maya Road, a piece of burlap ribbon, a few dress form clips, and Artisan Elements from Pink Paislee, perfect for leaving as they are, or adding some color.  We have just a few Embellishment Add-ons remaining in the store, so if you want one, get one quickly before they're gone!  Our add-ons ship for no additional charge, with your monthly kit.

The March Flower Add-on has such a colorful collection of flowers for all of you who love to add them to your projects.  This Flower Add-on was SO popular that it has already sold out.

We have such an amazing design team and we'd like to show you how 

Camilla and Larissa have used this kit:

"Fairy" by Camilla Ekman

 Even though the papers in the March kit from C'est Magnifique is so beautifully patterned I have added some more texture to this page. To add some soft colour I added some blue pieces here and there. In my flower cluster you find some of the blooms from the kit.

"Grow With Love"by Larissa Albernaz

Inspired by the gorgeous Blue Fern Chipboard, I created a layout that has a girl in the window as a focal point, everything decorated with beautiful flowers, laces and embellishments.
 

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Bits & Pieces Giveaway Winner!

We were thrilled that so many of you entered our Bits & Pieces giveaway!  

The lucky winner is:

Entry number 99 belongs to Nicole Doiron of Canada.  Congratulations Nicole!  Please e-mail Leslie at: Leslie{at}cestmagnifiquekits.com with your shipping information and she will get your package right out to you.  As an added bonus, you may shop in our Store and have your purchases shipped with the Bits & Pieces for no additional shipping!

Be sure to check back on the 15th for the very first peek at our upcoming March Kit!

The Last Look by Erin and Larissa

We're almost half way through February, so it's time to wrap up our February Kit.  What better way to do that than to let Erin and Larissa show you how they used the kit.  We will begin with a couple of layouts Erin created using photos of her sweet daughter.

"After Party" by Erin Blegen

My daughter's first birthday was quite busy, filled with family, and it caused her to be a bit overwhelmed. Though I took nearly 400 pictures during the day, I don't think I got even a single one of her smiling . However, AFTER the party (and a nap!) she was much happier. I spent some time with her outside, just her and I, and got a bunch of really great shots. She was so adorable in her little birthday outfit- and when I first started to work with this kit, I just knew that it would coordinate perfectly with it! I pulled apart one of the wire hearts and used a couple of the sprays in my cluster. Then I took the remaining piece and bent them into "leaves", also sticking them in with my cluster. It's so much fun to find different ways to use a product!

"Doll" by Erin Blegen

 This is my daughter at ten months of age, last summer at the lake. She truly is a doll! I thought the gorgeous Blue Fern Studios dress form was perfect for this layout. To alter it I first primed it with gesso, then took a mask and used the purple Color Shine mist with it. Then I added various gold and purple microbeads.

I fussy cut quite a few of the small purple flowers from one of the papers and added them in with my flower clusters to add some bulk. I also snipped off the small flowers from the vine in the main kit and scattered them throughout my clusters. Finally, I tore apart one of the wire hearts and created two floral sprigs from it, placing them in with the flowers as well. 

Larissa is the most recent member of our design team, and we love her elegant style:

 "Un moment parfait" by Larissa Albernaz

This layout portrays one beautiful moment of my life, when I was just relaxing with my daughter. I stamped over my background and created my design by using a grid as a base.

A Home Decor Frame by Larissa Albernaz

 I couldn´t resist creating a home decor item with the gorgeous Blue Fern Chipboard, as I wanted some volume and dimension for this project, I created a shadowbox and have decorated everything with this months kits papers, flowers and embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by.  You still have one more day to enter our Bits & Pieces Giveaway.  We'll be back in a couple of days to announce the winner.  

Keren and Trudi are in the Spotlgiht Today

We've had a lot of shoppers in the Store this weekend because more new Prima has arrived!  We have two more new collections, in addition to the two we added last week.  The first is Divine, which is just like its name.  We also have many of the embellishments made to coordinate with these beautiful soft colors.

The other new collection we have is the beautiful Sunrise Sunset.

We also have some of those cute little wood icons, stencils in both 6x6 and 12x12, and these beautiful vintage metal pieces, just to name a few.

 

Be sure to check the Prima Section of our store to see all the new Prima (and more is scheduled to arrive soon!)

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Our design team is great group of women from all over the world.  Today we bring you Keren Tamir from Canada, and our guest designer, Trudi Harrison, from Australia.  We begin with Keren's layouts using our February Kit:

"That Look" by Keren Tamir

My daughter can make such funny faces and she makes me laugh all the time. I love her sense of humor and how she can find happiness in all the little things. I took this picture of her and when I asked her to look at the camera she just made this funny face.

 

"Hold My Hand" by Keren Tamir

These pictures were taken this past summer by the lake as I was helping my daughter catch minnows with a net.

This was the first layout I designed after my winter holidays. I had so many ideas in my head but I guess I was a little rusty after such a long break. It took me so many hours to design it and no matter what I did I wasn't happy with the final outcome. I got so frustrated with it that I took the whole layout apart and re-built it. I originally had it on a dark blue background and I couldn't figure out what wasn't working for me. I finally lifted the whole layout out and transferred it to the light beige background and then I relaxed.

I really think its important for designers to share their good and bad experiences. Showing how it can be so frustrating sometimes to find the right "look" for your project, the one that makes you happy. However when you finally do, it is so rewarding.

Now I really wanted to share what I did with the Blue Fern frame. As you can see, I cut it in half to frame my two photos at the edge of the paper. I roughly painted it in light blue acrylic and then stamped it with white script. Finally I lightly painted it with brown Shimmerz paint in different areas.

"Beauty Shines Within" by Trudi Harrison

This is a photo of my eldest girl and is dedicated to her 'beautiful' heart. She is sensitive to the needs and feelings of others and will go out of her way to make someone happy if they are feeling sad.

The Blue Fern Chipboard Frame is a truly stunning piece, totally worthy of adorning a page in it's full entirety. Gasp - I cut it up! Can't believe I did that, but I wanted to show you different look and to maximize the use over a few projects. I placed one half of the frame on the background paper first and then lightly misted with the Fern Chalkboard. This created a lovely subtle, shadow effect. **Tip** Chipboard elements are a great for creating masked elements.
The chipboard piece was then removed and another coat of Fern Chalkboard was applied. To add some texture, plastic shards (similar to diamond dust but not as sparkly) were then adhered randomly over the top. Adhere with a clear drying glue. Once the glue has set, spray over with the Amethyst Color Shine. Allow this to dry and then dab some Gesso roughly over the areas where the plastic shards are to create a shabby, rustic effect. 

"To Know You is to Love You" by Trudi Harrison

 For this layout, Blue Fern ,Pink Paislee and Prima packaging were incorporated into the design. Prima Flowers from the Marri collection and Manor House Gold Glitter Roses were re colored with color shine and glimmer mist to create a different look. A touch of gesso was applied to the petal tips to soften the look. 

Thanks ladies for sharing with us today.  Your designs are awesome!

It's Brit's turn...........

Wow, the response has been great to our Bits & Pieces giveaway!  If you haven't entered yet, it's not too late.  You have until the 12th to add your link.  The post is right under this one.

So many people (including me), really don't have a way to describe their scrapbooking style.  But our design team member, Brit, certainly has a style that is all her own.  We love the playfulness of her layouts! 

"She's Always Tagging Along" by Brit Sviggum

This picture was taken on my son`s first day at school in second grade. I was trying to take some nice "school pictures" of him, but my daughter wouldn`t let him go. So she had to be in the picture too.

"Love You" by Brit Sviggum

This picture was taken on my daughter`s 2 years birthday party. I have made a page with this photo before, but I like it so much that I had to make another one.  She`s my little princes.

All supplies are from our February Kit and add-ons.  The kit is sold out, but we still have some of the beautiful paper line from Maja Designs available in the store.

Bits & Pieces Giveaway

Our February Kit "Royal Tea Party" has sold out, but Leslie is giving away the Bits & Pieces from her kit.  The giveaway will include some full and partial sheets of the gorgeous Maja Designs paper collection, some embellishments from the kit, as well as items from the flower and embellishment add-ons.

Take a look at  Camilla's layouts using this beautiful kit.  We love her elegant style.

"Nellie" by Camilla Ekman

The February kit has so many gorgeous flowers - like a flower garden. In my cluster you find many of them, framing the photo of my niece and her horse. And yes - my niece has wings. You have to have fairy wings when you ride a fake horse. LOL

"Leende For Tomten" by Camilla Ekman

This lovely smile isn't really for me. He is smiling because Santa Claus is there. I have used the large yellow flower so set off against the green and beige colours in the lovely Maja Design papers.

It's easy to enter our Bits & Pieces Giveaway.  Here's all you need to do:

1.  You must be a follower of our blog.  If you do not already follow us, just click on the 

"Join this site" button on the left sidebar and you'll be all set.  The winner of this challenge must be a follower of our blog.

2.  Use the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post.

3.  We are giving you a chance to enter our giveaway twice!  Share this post on your blog (in a blog post, not your sidebar) and you can enter your name again using the Inlinkz tool below (just be sure to add the link to your blog post).  The contest will close at midnight, February 12.  The winner, selected by a random draw, will be announced February 14.  

New Prima and January Sketch Challenge Winners!

We are excited to have two of the new Prima collections in our store.  The first new collection that is available for purchase is "Lifetime".  Here's a look at the this lovely patterned paper and just a few of the coordinating embellishments.

 

The second line that Prima has released is the elegant Engraver.  We also have the flowers and embellishments that go with this line.  Here are just a few:

Our January Sketch Challenge Winners!

Thanks to all of you who used our sketch to create a layout in January.  We had 50 entries, and now it's time to select the winner of our prize package!

 

Entry #32 belongs to Fern Riley from the USA.  Congratulations Fern!  You have won an awesome prize package from C'est Magnifique Kits.  Please e-mail Leslie[at]cestmagnifiquekits.com and provide her with your full name and mailing address so she can get your prize package in the mail to you.  You will also have an opportunity to shop in our store and have your purchases sent with your prize package for no additional shipping.  Here's the sweet layout Fern created about her grandson.

"Blake" by Fern Riley

The second prize this month will go to one an entry created with one of our Kits.  The January winner, chosen by a random draw is Charity Becker.  Congratulations Charity!  You have won a $10 gift certificate to the C'est Magnifique Store.  Leslie will contact you with your gift certificate code.  Here's a look at the elegant layout Charity created using our January 2013 (Sold Out) kit:

"Day Dreaming"by Charity Becker

The entries this month were quite amazing, which makes our job of selecting a few to feature, even more difficult.  We are featuring the following 7 layouts, in no particular order, which represent a variety of styles and interpretations of the sketch.

"Spring Beauty" by Dot Pawlowski (who admits on her blog that she is a challenge blog addict)

"Special Memories" by Valia

"Lovely Little Things" by Elena

"Our Beautiful Little Angel" by Joefil Cate

"Dream" by Svetlana Austin

"A Ladies Diary" by Megan

"Shine" by Cathi O'Neill

Thanks again everyone!  You continue to amaze us each and every month.

Our February sketch has been posted and we sure hope to see to see YOUR layout!