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