A Sketch to Share

This month's sketch challenge at C'est Magnifique Kits is unique, at least for me.  I was slightly intimidated by it, because it's not a design I would have come up with on my own.  But that's what Sketch Challenges are for!  Here's the sketch and how I used it.

I used this precious photo of my niece, Makenzie, for the sketch layout.  I still like to call her Makenzie, but she told me she likes "Kenzie" better.  She already has quite a mind of her own.

I used the May kit to create this layout.  It is one of my favorite kits......ever.  I love the colors.  I just checked and there is one left in the C'est Magnifique Store. 

You have until the end of May to complete the Sketch Challenge which you can find HERE. 

Blog Hop Winner Announced!

Good Monday morning everyone!  I had an awesome weekend, and hope yours was a good one, too.  The C'est Magnifique Kits blog hop over the weekend was a huge success.  Thanks to all of you who hopped all over the world.  

Now it's time to announce a winner.  My blog hop post didn't go "live" when it should have.  Isn't there always one in every hop that messes things up?  I thought I had done everything correctly, but the post was saved as a "draft" in Blogger (have you ever done that?) so it didn't go up when it should have.  But the first 15 visitors to the hop left a comment on the post that was at the top of my blog before I got the blog hop posted.  So, of course, all 15 of them were eligible to win the prize, too.

This morning, Random.org selected number 15 as the winner of my prize.  Entry #15 belongs to Lainie Michel. Congratulations Lainie!  Please send me an e-mail with your mailing address so I can get your prize in the mail to you.  If you click to view my profile (in the left sidebar), you will be able to send me an e-mail.

Thanks everyone!  I read each and every comment and you were all so gracious.

~~~Valerie

Welcome to the C'est Magnifique Kits Blog Hop

Hi everyone!  I'm glad you stopped by the C'est Magnifique Kits Blog Hop. I am Valerie Serfozo, and I've been with C'est Magnifique Kits since the very beginning.  I love the unique kits Leslie puts together!  I have the honor of being the design team coordinator, which allows me to work with a team of very talented women (as you will find out as you participate in the blog hop).  

During the blog hop you will find a lot of inspiration and fun prizes along the way.  Each member of the design team will be posting layouts they've created using the May kit, and I'm sure you will love them.  Our May guest designer, Tracey Young, and three manufacturers (Les Papiers de Pandore, Blue Fern Studios,  and Webster's Pages) will also be participating in our Blog Hop.  

I'd like to start by showing you the May Kit, which is filled with beautiful paper from Les Papiers de Pandore and Webster's Pages:

 

Each month, C'est Magnifique offers 2 add-ons that coordinate so well with the kit:

The May Flower Add-on:

The May Embellishment Add-on:

I'd like to show you a couple of layouts I created using the May Kit:

This is my granddaughter who just turned 16.  It hardly seems possible that she is driving!  But I am so glad I have scrapbooks that she loves to look through with memories dating back to her birth.

I love the various looks you can achieve from this kit.  My niece, Makenzie, is so full of energy, but thankfully I was able to capture this angelic moment.

I have put together a prize package that I would like to send to one of you who becomes a follower of my blog (if you are not already a follower), and who leaves a comment on this post.  I'm sure I will find a couple of other things to throw in there before I send the package to one of you.

Here's what you need to do now:

1. Visit each blog listed below. I should be the last one you visit before returning to the C'est Magnifique Blog, but in case you missed any, you can start from the beginning.
2. Leave a comment on each blog (and become a follower, if required).
3. Return to the C'est Magnifique Blog and leave a comment letting us know you completed the hop.

You have until midnight US EST on April 28th to complete our hop. The winners will be posted shortly thereafter.

Here are links to the participants in the Blog Hop:

Brit Sviggum  
Les Papiers de Pandore   
Camilla Ekman  
Webster's Pages   
Erin Blegen  
Keren Tamir  
Larissa Albernaz  
Blue Fern Studios   
Michele Singh  
Stacey Young   
Valerie Serfozo  (you are here)
{back to} C'est Magnifique Kits  (your next and final stop)

Thanks so much for stopping by and good luck to all of you!

~~~Valerie

"Believe" using the May Kit from C'est Magnifique Kits

If you left your Blog Hop comment on this post, I will be sure to include you in the drawing for my giveaway.  I apologize that my post for the blog hop didn't go live when it should have.  

As I work on my May design team projects for C'est Magnifique Kits, I am in love with the colors.  They are all so fresh and spring-like.  I'm finally able to show you a sneak peek at the kit.  I've created this layout using a photo of my niece, Lauren, who is very special to me (and I hope she knows that).  I love this candid shot of her.

 Here's a look at the paper and add-ons for the May kit - a combination of Les Papiers de Pandore (from France) and a few sheets from Webster's Pages to round out the kit.  

As always, Leslie has put together a couple of beautiful add-ons that work so 

perfectly with the paper and embellishments in the kit:

The full kit reveal will be on April 26-28 at our Blog Hop!

Save the Date

Hi all.  Just a quick post today to let you know that C'est Magnifique Kits will be hosting a Blog Hop on April 26-28.  Mark it on your calendars!  Hope to see you then.  I sure hope your weekend was a good one. 

~~~Valerie

Giveaway

Happy weekend everyone!  The sun is shining here and that makes me very happy.  

I wanted to let you know that C'est Magnifique Kits has a giveaway posted on their Blog.  Leslie has gathered up her leftovers from the April kit and she is giving them away.  Here's what you have a chance to win:

I used the April Kit to create a sweet layout using a photo my nephew, Keegan.  He is a big boy now and is walking all over the place, but I love to look back at what a sweet baby he was.  Look at those beautiful eyes!

~~~Valerie

A New Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone.  I hope you had a wonderful Easter.  My husband, the 2 dogs, and I were able to get away for 4 days, and it was so relaxing and wonderful!  I took my art journals and paint with me, so I was happy.  I don't often get time to paint when I'm at home, so that's what I always pack when we go away.  

Blue Fern Studios has posted their very first sketch challenge.  Head over to their website for all the details.  You have the entire month of April to complete the challenge.  Here's a look at the sketch:

And here is my layout using the sketch, which features the beautiful "Floral Clock".  I know I've covered up some of the clock, but I wanted to use it in a different way.  This is a photo of my granddaughter, Eryn, taken a year ago.  The title, "Sweet", is also by Blue Fern Studios (in the Valentine Words Set).  Almost everything else I've used is from Prima. 

I first applied a light coat of gesso to the chipboard clock so I would have a white base to work with.  I then covered it with two colors of Prima Chalk Ink (Moss Lawn and Pastel Green).  I topped that with some Stampin' Up All Purpose Ink (Champagne Mist).  Then I darkened the edges just a bit using a dabber and some Tea Dye Distress Ink. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will participate in the challenge at Blue Fern Studios.

~~~Valerie

Remembering Easter

There is great debate over the definition of vintage versus antique.  I prefer to call this photo of my mother and siblings "vintage".  Somehow, it just sounds better (and not quite so old).  I remember Easter as a child, when we would all wear our new spring dresses to church.  The ensemble included white gloves, a hat (possibly referred to as an Easter bonnet), shoes, socks, and a white purse, of course.

None of our Easter goodies, provided by the Easter Bunny, were hidden.  I suppose since there were five of us, the hide-and-seek aspect might have been a little overwhelming.  Our baskets were always lined up on on the table waiting for us when we got up that morning.  I can remember finding jelly beans hiding in that plastic grass for what seemed like weeks.  There was always a hollow chocolate bunny in the basket, along with some Peeps.  We didn't receive a whole package of unopened Peeps, but a strip of them.  If they weren't eaten soon, they quickly became stale, which is probably why I love stale Peeps to this day!  Gotta open that package and let them get good a hard before eating them. 

I recently had hundreds of old photos, VCR tapes, negatives, and slides preserved by sending them away to Scan Cafe.  The images were turned into digital images on a DVD, and the videos were also preserved on DVDs.  I had read about this company on another blog somewhere, and decided it was time to box up everything and send them away. 

Sure, I have a scanner, but I just don't have the time to scan everything.  It's kind of a frightening thing to do, because there were a lot of memories in that box.  But Scan Cafe was very easy to use and I had to trust them.  I did not pay the additional cost to keep them in the US, which would have resulted in quicker turn-around.  I was really in no big hurry.  So off to India they went.  It took 6 months to get them back, but it was well worth it.  I'm so excited to have these digital images!

If you're interested, I would suggest you get on their mailing list.  That's what I did.  I waited until they had a sale, and took advantage of it, which saved me quite a bit.  But their sales are only good for a few days, so while you're waiting for one, go ahead and pull together everything you want scanned so it's ready to go when they have a good offer.  Everything I sent to them came back the exact way I sent it.  I put groups of things in separate envelopes, so they named the folder what I had written down.  It was very organized when I got the DVDs back.

I used one of the photos to create this layout which shows my mother, sisters, and I on Easter morning.  I am the oldest (and tallest) of the children.

I used the C'est Magnifique April kit to create this layout.  The patterned paper for April is the "Alma's Sewing Line" from Pion Designs (a Swedish Company).  I think it's lovely with a vintage feel to it. 

So, do you have any memories of Easter as a child? - even if they're not quite as "vintage" as mine?

~~~Valerie

Bloglovin (I like it)

It seems as though just when I get used to something, it goes away.  I have used Google Reader for quite a while as my way of keeping up with the blogs I like to follow.  But, it will be going away this summer, so I thought I would go ahead and start looking for something new.  I found Bloglovin and have already switched over. 

I am still getting used to it (change is never easy), but so far I don't have anything bad to say about it.  I like the fact that I get a daily e-mail with all the updates.  So if you've already switched to Bloglovin, you can follow me by using the link below.  If you are using Google Reader, I suggest you take a look at Bloglovin.  It was very easy to move all the information over - just the press of a button!  I like anything that's easy.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

And since I never like a blog post without a photo, here's a recent layout I created with the March C'est Magnifique Kit.  I don't know how I forgot to post it earlier??  This is my nephew Todd and his sweet little one, Callie, on her first birthday.  I love that girl (and her dad, too)!

~~~Valerie

A Sneak Peek

Oh gosh, it has been a rainy, dreary, gray day here in Central Ohio.  Sometimes I wish I could just stay in bed all day and read a good book.  Do you ever dream of doing that?

Today I would like to show you a little bit of the April Kit from C'est Magnifique that I've been playing with.  The colors are so soft and muted, and therefore do not compete with your photos.  The paper in the April Kit will be from the Alma's Sewing Room collection from Pion Designs:

 

There are also two add-ons available to go with this kit.  They are both so perfect!

Take a look at the beautiful Flower Add-on, which has already sold out:

There is also an embellishment add-on with a lot of embellishments chosen just for the kit.  There are still a few of them left in the Store, as well as a couple of the flowers and embellishments that will be sold individually. 

Here's the first layout that I created with kit, using a photo of my darling niece, Callie.  My husband took the photo at a recent family birthday party.  Thank goodness I have him to take photos of the little ones, because I'd rather hold them!  

Patterned Paper:
Pion Designs: Alma's Sewing Room

From the Flower Add-on:
Maya Road Vintage Sequin Flowers: Cream & Smoke
Petaloo: Darjeeling: Dahlias: Teastained Blues
Prima: Lifetime Flower Stem: Brown
Prima: Sugar Plum Roses: Eggplant

From the Embellishment Add-on:
KaiserCraft: Miss Match Polaroid Frames
K&Company: Grand Adhesion Dimensional Stickers: Flora & Fauna
Prima: Sunrise/Sunset: Alphabet Stickers

Thanks for taking a peek!  

~~~Valerie

Giveaway & A Sketch Challenge

I wanted to let you know about a couple of things going on at the C'est Magnifique Kits Blog.  First, the Bits & Pieces Giveaway is going on through March 12th.  All you have to do is enter your name and you are automatically entered to win this:

The March Sketch Challenge has also been posted on the C'est Magnifique Blog.  I hope you get a chance to play along.  You have the entire month to create a layout using the sketch:

Hope you all have a great weekend!  We are welcoming our first Cavalier Rescue USA foster dog into our home today.  Kiefer has been very welcoming!  I will try to get photos of him this weekend and post them sometime next week.

~~~Valerie

The March Kit from C'est Magnifique

Here's a look at the March Kit from C'est Magnifique, called "Whimsical Melodies".  The paper is from a Canadian manufacturer called Magenta.  What a great variety of colors!

This one, Macy, is for you.  What a sweet photo, and I love your little pony-tails!

I got a chance to use some chipboard from Blue Fern Studios that was in the kit. 

I just love distressing the chipboard.  Here I used the Glimmer Glaze that was in the kit, along with some Distress Stain.  

The flowers from the kit and flower add-on were such a great combination of colors and styles.

~~~Valerie