Happy Birthday Boys!

Today I want to wish a Happy Birthday to 3 special Cavaliers - yes they all 3 celebrate birthdays on Nov. 18th.  First is Chester, a beautiful tri-color who is celebrating his 7th birthday today.  Chester was our foster for 6 wonderful months and we loved every minute spent with him.  He is now living in his forever home in Kentucky with a wonderful family who loves him very much.  They sent me a video of Chester today, and it brought tears to my eyes.  He looks so cute and very happy.  We miss him every day, but are so thrilled that he brings so much joy to his new family.

How could you not fall in love with this beautiful face?

Also celebrating their 5th birthday today is our sweet Cavalier, Kiefer (on the left)

 and his brother, Henley (on the right). 

Kiefer is having a good day so far, and loves that he gets to be at home with his mama today.  That makes me happy, too!  I'm sure we will spoil him just a little today. 

Here's Kiefer when he was just a puppy.  It's hard to believe we've had him for almost 5 years. 

I hope happy puppy photos make you smile today.

~~~Valerie

Autumn Colors!

I love the rich tones of Autumn and the November kit from C'est Magnifique is filled with these colors!  Here's a look at the kit appropriately called Falling Leaves.  I love everything about this kit. There are kits available for purchase in the Store. 

 Close-ups of the kit:

For this layout, I used the November kit along with a Homecoming photo of my granddaughter Eryn and her boyfriend.  The combination of blue and orange is really beautiful.

Other than the November Kit, Embellishment Add-on and Flower Add-on, 

I used these items from my stash:

Doily

Distress Ink (Tea Dye and Faded Jeans)

Prima Stitches Stamp

Security Envelope (I have quite a collection of these!)

My Little Shoebox mini alphabet

Martha Stewart border punch

Sure hope you're having a great week.  I seem to be cold all the time.  I think my body just hasn't adjusted to the colder temperatures.

~~~Valerie

Memories

My (darling) niece Callie is so photogenic, just like her sister.  I absolutely love a series of photos that were taken at the beach.  This is another layout I created using the October kit from C'est Magnifique.  For the background, I began with a sheet of paper from the 7 Dots Studio's 9th Wave Collection.  Both the kit and paper are available for purchase in the C'est Magnifique Kits store.

 

There's a beautiful stencil in the kit that I used with mist to add some 

texture to the background.  The Embellishment add-on includes the Blue Fern 

Studios Marrakesh Panel.  It's a great piece of chipboard that can be cut 

and used on multiple layouts.

I'm looking forward to the November kit reveal on the 30th!   See you then.  ~~~Valerie

Autumn Colors

I absolutely love autumn colors.  They aren't necessarily the colors I use year-round, but once the leaves start to change and the weather gets cooler, I want to scrap with those warm colors we associate with autumn. 

The upcoming November kit from C'est Magnifique is filled with those colors and I love it!  Although I can't post any of my layouts yet, I can give you look at the paper in the kit.  It's the beautiful "Walking in the Forest" collection from Maja Design (Sweden).  This photo doesn't even begin to show the beautiful detail of the paper, but you can see colors:

I can also tell you that there are 2 add-ons available now that go with the kit.  You can see everything including the paper and add-ons in the November Kit section of the store.  Hope you'll take a peek! 

~~Valerie

C'est Magnifique Giveaway

Just a quick post today to let you know that C'est Magnfique Kits has posted the October Bits & Pieces Giveaway.  That's when you get a chance to win the bits and pieces left over from Leslie's kit and add-ons.  All you have to do is be a follower of the blog, and enter your name to win.  It doesn't get much easier that that.  So head over to THIS blog post and enter to win!  Here's a look at what they're giving away:

Good Luck!  The deadline for entries is midnight October 13th.

~~~Valerie

A Little Sweetie and Some Blue Fern

Hi all.  I wanted to share with you a layout I made recently using some Blue Fern Studios chipboard and paper from 7 Dots Studio, whose design team was teamed up with Blue Fern in September.  I love 7 Dots paper so it was a great joy to get to work with it in September.  I used the Messy Head collection for this layout

For this layout I used a photo of my nephew Keegan.  Isn't he just the sweetest!  He just turned 2 and when they have birthdays, it always makes me want to look back at their infant photos.

I used the Blue Fern Organic Vine in my flower cluster.  

I cut it apart into small sections and colored it using Gelatos.

The Blue Fern Bordeaux Frame is used with the photo.  It has several layers (this chipboard stands up to much abuse), and I just kept going until I achieved the effect I wanted.  Here I used gesso, Distress Stain, Distress Ink, and two shades of Inka Gold (Old Silver and Platinum).

 

For the little butterfly from the Gabrielle Butterfly Set, I primed it with Gesso, then colored it with Pitt Artist Big Brush Pens in a couple of shades.  I wiped some of it off while it was still wet to get a distressed look.
 

I love using Blue Fern Chipboard and finding new and creative ways to alter it.  Of course you also have the option of using it raw which looks really nice, too.

I also wanted to let you know that Blue Fern Studios has posted the October Sketch Challenge on their blog.  Here's a look at the sketch:

You can find all the details HERE on their blog.  You have the entire month of October to participate.

Have a great week, everyone!  ~~~Valerie

A Sketch Challenge for October

C'est Magnifique Kits has posted their sketch challenge on the blog.  A link to all the information can be found in the left sidebar of their blog.  Here's the sketch we're working with in October.  It's one of my favorites:

I created this layout using the sketch, the October Kit, and a photo my niece, Callie.  You can't help but be happy when you see her smile!  

 I used the She Art stencil that is in the kit, along with some texture paste.  I colored it a light pink using the spray that is in the kit.  Just put some texture paste on a craft sheet, add a little mist, and stir it up well, until you don't see any white.  If you want it darker, add a little more mist.  If you got it too dark, just add a little more texture paste.

I hope you will find time to participate in the sketch challenge.  There is an awesome prize available to the winner, chosen by a random draw.  

~~~Valerie

Simply Lovely

Happy Monday!  We had a wonderful weekend and I hope you did, too.  Today, C'est Magnifique Kits is revealing their October Kit, and I can't wait to show it to you.  It's called "Summer's Last Dance" and I absolutely love the colors!  The paper is from the 9th Wave Collection from 7 Dots Studio and Tilda.  There are kits available in the store, along with the add-ons. 

Take a look at a couple of close-ups:

How about that? -- you get a full size jar of texture paste!

So, here is one of the layouts that I created using the kit, with a photo of my niece, Abby.  I used the Marrakesh panel from the embellishment add-on and painted it black so it would stand out.  I used Golden paint so I would get good coverage.  

I added some of the Tilda paper behind the open spaces of the chipboard panel.

Supplies from my stash to add some interest to the background and to cover the chipboard:

Dylusions Black Marble Mist

Tattered Angels Chalkboard Mist - Splash

Lindy's Starburst - Tibetan Poppy Teal

Golden Fluid Acrylic Paint - Carbon Black

I'm looking forward to showing you more from this kit in the coming week.  Check back tomorrow when I'll be posting the October sketch challenge and my layout using the sketch.

~~~Valerie

Sketch Challenges

Happy Tuesday.  I have a couple of sketch challenges that I wanted to let you know about.  I'm not sure about you, but I love sketches.  Even if you don't plan to participate in the challenge (but we sure hope you do!), it's awesome to have some sketches to reference when the mojo just doesn't seem to be working.........and we ALL have those days.  

The first one is the September Sketch at Blue Fern Studios.  Here is a link to the sketch challenge on their blog, and here's the sketch we're using in September.  I think it's one of my favorites.  I just love this design!

And here is my example.  We are having a swap with 7 Dots Studio this month and I'm so excited to be using their paper (from The Queen's Heart Collection).

Sometimes I like my title to stand out on my layout, but there are times when I want it to blend in with the background.  For this one, I wanted it to fade into the background, but still be visible.  Here I covered the Blue Fern Studios chipboard title with gesso, and added some pink and orange ink to it.  Then I adhered the title to the page and began some misting.  I love how it ended up being very close to the background colors.  

When I want to add a little texture to the painted chipboard, I put some paint on my craft sheet, then apply it to the chipboard using a baby wipe.  If you don't smooth it out, it dries like this and gives a little more texture.

On this piece of chipboard, I used a brush and a little bit of mist to get a different look. 

Blue Fern Studios chipboard pieces used:

Ornate Medallions

Damask Flourish

Spiritually Speaking

I also want to tell you about the C'est Magnifique Kits September sketch, using another awesome sketch by Michele Singh.  I didn't get around to using this sketch yet, but HERE is the link to it on their blog.  

Both sketch challenges will run the entire month of September.  Be sure to take a peek at both of them because there are some awesome examples on both blogs!

~~~Valerie

A Peek at the C'est Magnifique October Kit

I'm really enjoying working on my design team projects for C'est Magnifique Kits.  The upcoming October kit will have two beautiful collections.  One is from 7 Dots Studios (Poland) and the other is Tilda (Sweden).  Take a peek!

Kit Paper:

Tilda: Summer Blues Collection: 8 Sheets double-sided paper
7 Dots Studio: 9th Wave: Sea Foam
7 Dots Studio: 9th Wave: Deep Water
7 Dots Studio: 9th Wave: Wavy Ocean
7 Dots Studio: 9th Wave: Golden Sand
7 Dots Studio: 9th Wave: Stormy Sea
7 Dots Studio: 9th Wave: Coral Reef

Of course there are also two add-ons available.  Take a look at what Leslie has put together:

Embellishment Add-on:

Maya Road: Satin Scallop Edge Trim: Teal
Prima: Clear Stamp: Seamstress
Washi Tape
Blue Fern Studios: Chipboard: Marrakesh Panel
My Mind's Eye: Chalk Studio: Decorative Alphabet
My Mind's Eye: Chalk Studio: Chipboard Elements
Shimmerz Paints: Vibez: Razzle Dazzle Berry

 Flower Add-on:

Petaloo: Canterbury Naturals: Blue/Amethyst
Petaloo: Mixed Blossoms: Antique Gold
Manor House Gelato: Cherry
Manor House: Everlasting
Manor House Vine: White
Manor House: Lotus: Fuchsia

There will be lots of designer layouts on the C'est Magnifique blog over the next couple of weeks. I hope you'll stop by.

~~~Valerie

A Blessing

I think we probably all have those in our lives that we feel are a blessing.  My niece Callie is one of the blessings in my life.  She had a rough start in life, born with a terrible illness.  But through the love of her family, a wonderful medical team, and lots of prayer, she is now a happy, healthy toddler.  So that's why I consider her to be a blessing.  I love using close-ups of her sweet, little face for my layouts.

This is one of my layouts using the September Kit from C'est Magnifique.  The ScrapBerry's paper is so yummy and dreamy and I found it perfect for pulling out some ink, stamps, paint and mist.  

Enjoy your Saturday!   I've found some time to paint so I'm in a happy place today.  :)

~~~Valerie

A Giveaway!

Just a really quick post today to let you know that the monthly Bits & Pieces Giveaway has been posted on the C'est Magnifique Kits Blog!  It's a great change to win the Bits & Pieces from Leslie's September Kit. 

And what I like BEST about this giveaway is that all you have to do is become a follower of the Blog, and enter your name.  That's it.  Not a lot of hoops to jump through.  I hope you'll stop by and enter your name.  Who knows, you could be the one to win this great collection of awesome items from the September kit and add-ons.  

~~~Valerie