With simply paper and creativity anyone can create art


Wednesday, April 30, 2014

C'est Magnifique MAY kit Reveal!

Well, I was just on a big fantastic family holiday and could not participate in the May kit reveal but... gosh is this kit ever beautiful (Pion papers!). Here is a peek at C'est Magnifique's "Simple Elegance" kit...

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A close-up of the main "Simple Elegance" May kit:

The papers (available as an add-on to receive doubles too):

The flower add-on:

The embellishment add-on:

The mixed media kit:

I had a fantastic 2 weeks in Maui but am really sorry to have missed out on this amazing kit. Make sure you check out all the designs from the rest of the fabulous C'est Magnifique design team though!


Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Fun Times - Dusty Attic

We took my son to Ottawa, Canada, during the Fall, when he was just 3 years old. He couldn't believe how many leaves there were to play in - we don't get that many in the Calgary area and certainly not large maple leaves like that. So much fun for a toddler!

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I used a variety of chalk inks and splattered Dusty paints (pesto, forrest and bisque) on the large ivy corner chipboard.

Here is a close-up. I used Dusty pesto paint and clear crackle vanish on the love this arrow title chipboard.

Again I used Dusty pesto paint and then clear crackle vanish on the chipboard mini words.

Here is a list and images of all the Dusty Attic products used in my project:

Ivy Corners (DA1018)

Love this, love that arrows (DA1074)

Word pack #2 (DA0938)

Dusty in colour pesto (DA0918)

Dusty in colour forrest (DA0919)

Dusty in colour bisque (DA0921)

Clear crackle varnish (DA0900)

Monday, April 14, 2014

Dusty Attic Sketch Challenge and Something Tattered Stamps

On this layout I have combined beautiful papers and embellishments left over from the past 3 months of amazing C'est Magnifique kits, and then I added lots of gorgeous Dusty Attic chipboard, plus decorated even further using beautiful Something Tattered stamps.

click on images for larger views

Here is a picture of my wedding. Pink is truly my favourite colour to scrap with! The beautiful papers and embellishments I had left over from several C'est Magnifique kits worked so perfectly together.

Here is a close-up. I used Dusty Attic paints (dusty pink and navajo white) on the chipboard, stamped the doily and the hanging sign with the Something Tattered "Mars" French stamp and I even used that stamp set to make/fussy cut butterflies. On the hanging sign I inked the scroll and word "love", then topped with DA's clear crackle varnish.

On this close-up you can see I have added bead gel over top of the pink paint on the oval frame. For the flourish, I simply topped with some diamond dust glass glitter. I also made an epoxy charm by stamping a little bird and using my Epiphany crafts tool.

This is the April Dusty Attic sketch. Sketch challenges are such a great way to get your creative mojo flowing. Don't forget to enter the APRIL CHALLENGE for a chance to win some chipboard!

This is the Something Tattered stamp set I used. I used both butterflies, the bird and the word "Mars" word (French for March). This set is so versatile and one of my favourites for sure!

Dusty Attic products used:
Scroll Border #1 - DA0219
Vintage Frame - DA0254
Hanging Sign # 2 - DA0701
Mini Words #1 - DA0386
Dusty Pink paint - DA0907
Navajo White paint - DA0903
Clear Crackle Varnish - DA0900


Monday, April 7, 2014

C'est Magnifique GIVEAWAY

The owner of C'est Magnifique Kits is very generous with her blog readers. Each month, Leslie gathers up the bits and pieces from her current kit, and offers to send them to one of her followers.

It's easy to enter Leslie's giveaway - but you need to enter directly on the C'est Magnifique blog. 

The giveaway will close at midnight on April 12th. The winner, selected by a random draw on the C'est Magnifique blog, will be announced the following day. Good luck to all who enter the draw!

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

C'est Magnifique April Sketch

I'm back today to share my last project made with the beautiful April kit from C'est Magnifique kits. Everything except the title and small roses are in the main kit. What beautiful flowers, chipboard and resin butterflies in this amazing kit! The picture is of my hubby and I when we were dating.

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I used the wonderful kit sketch as inspiration (I just flipped it)...

Don't forget to enter your interpretation of this beautiful sketch for a chance to win a fantastic prize! See details on the C'est Magnifique blog.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

C'est Magnifique APRIL Kit Reveal!

Today is the design reveal for the April "A touch of refinement" kit. C'est Magnifique kits always has terrific kit and this one is no exception. The colours are so vintage and versatile this month! With the Riddersholm "Fall flea market" collection you can scrap boys, girls, couples, babies - anything works with these colours!

click on images for larger views

Up first is a layout of my daughter when she was an infant. Heavy distressing, beautiful flowers plus a little cheesecloth from my stash adds a bit of texture to this shabby chic layout. The pretty resin butterfly is in the main kit (along with any more :)

Here is a picture of me (in the middle) with my cousins on New Year's Eve - over 30 years ago! This kit has such a great mix of flowers to complement the vintage colours of the papers. Some gorgeous chipboard in the embellishment add-on too! I inked the frame with the chalk ink from the main kit and then added crackle gloss over top. I also inked a doily from my stash to add texture to this layout.

Here is a casual shot of my hubby, back when we were dating. I used gesso and inked some corrugated cardboard with the pale blue chalk ink in the kit - again adding texture to my layout. I even placed some cardboard behind the wood pieces in the kit. A few "manly" flowers from the add-ons too.

Lastly for today, a folded 4"x4" kirigami gift box made with 2 of the kit papers and topped with embellishments from several of the add-ons this month. Here is a link to my TUTORIAL on how to make a kirigami box.

Here is a peek at the pretty main kit this month...

I think used all but one kind of the flowers (so far) from this beautiful add-on...

Don't forget to check out all of the C'est Magnifique designer creations today!  I will be back on April 1st with my sketch layout so stay tuned!

Friday, March 28, 2014

It's never too late to add chipboard!

It's never too late to add Dusty Attic chipboard to a project. Have you ever looked back at some of the first layouts you ever created and thought "not a bad START but..."? That's how I feel about a lot of my first projects. These two that I'm sharing today begged me to polish them up. I updated each of them with an extra background paper layer, tons of beautiful Dusty Attic chipboard, plus a few other embellishments too.

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I spattered the chipboard with 3 fabulous Dusty Attic paints.
Dusty Attic products added: 
Leafy frame set (DA0605)
Big bro title (DA0172)
Mini scrolls (DA0685)
Bridal veil blooms (DA0805)
Navajo white paint (DA0903)
Faded denim paint (DA0913)
Mountain meadow paint (DA0916)

Some of the most common things we do as new scrapbookers is put limited layers and few textures or details on our layouts. Often our design concept/composition is good but we fail to add the extras that turn them from flat to fabulous. I was no exception to this when I started this hobby (almost 5 years ago!). A few simple changes can drastically improve the look of your project.


I painted and stamped over all of the chipboard pieces.
Dusty Attic products used:
Corner flourish #3 (DA0623)
Monarch Butterfly (DA0819)
Baroque corners (DA0543)
Navajo white paint (DA0903)

I know you're curious how those projects looked before I updated them so here is a peek.

One good thing about being a "newbie" scrapper was the fact that I had poor adhesive and cheap sticker letters - so it made some things very easy to remove from these layouts.


Saturday, March 22, 2014

20% off SALE at C'est Magnifique!

March Madness - 20% Off Storewide!

What has happened to Leslie? Has she gone crazy?
Perhaps she's gone mad.......March Madness, that is!
Shop in our Store this weekend and take
20% off your entire purchase.

EVERYTHING in the Store is included in this discount,
including Clearance Items.


Please use the following code in the "Coupon Code" area at Checkout:
20off

This sale is valid through Monday, March 24th.

Have fun shopping and enjoy your weekend!


Saturday, March 15, 2014

C'est Magnifique April kit sneak peek

Here is a sneak peek at the amazing C'est Magnifique April 2014 kit.  Some beautiful kit add-ons were revealed this week!  You'll have to wait until March 31st to see the main kit contents, and the design team project reveal, but for now you can drool over these...

THE PAPERS

THE FLOWER ADD-ON

THE EMBELLISHMENT ADD-ON

THE MIXED MEDIA ADD-ON

Monday, March 10, 2014

Something Tattered and Dusty Attic Sketch

I'm here to share with you a special project I made using some gorgeous Something Tattered Stamps and Dusty Attic chipboard - a match made in heaven! I started off by using a script stamp from the French Script "PARIS" stamp set on my white background. After adding a few layers of burlap and papers it was time to embellish. All of these papers were old stuff in my stash and the only one I know for sure is that the beautiful green die cut is from Basic Grey. The picture is of my husband with his mom and step-father (taken the day after my wedding in the Bahamas :)

click on images for larger views

In the top corner I used some butterfly stamps from the French "MARS" (March) stamp set on white cardstock and fussy cut them out, then mounted with small foam adhesive. The Dusty Attic chipboard around the picture are corners from the "LEAFY" frame set. I splattered them with Dusty Attic "NAVAJO" white and "PESTO" green acrylic paint.

The "HAPPY MEMORIES" chipboard title was painted white gesso and stamped using the brand new "SWIRLS" stamp set.

Here is the Dusty Attic sketch challenge for March, I rotated it as per below.
Don't forget to enter the monthly DUSTY ATTIC sketch challenge for a chance to WIN SOME CHIPBOARD!

French Script "PARIS" stamp set on my white background

 French "MARS" (March) stamp set on white cardstock and fussy cut butterflies out

"SWIRLS" stamp set on chipboard title




Wednesday, March 5, 2014

C'est Magnifique March GIVEAWAY!

The owner of C'est Magnifique Kits is very generous with her blog readers. Each month, Leslie gathers up the bits and pieces from her current kit, and offers to send them to one of her followers.

It's easy to enter Leslie's giveaway - but you need to enter directly on the C'est Magnifique blog. 


The giveaway will close at midnight on March 12th. The winner, selected by a random draw on the C'est Magnifique blog, will be announced the following day. Good luck to all who enter the draw!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

C'est Magnifique Sketch Challenge

Back today to share my layout created with the C'est Magnifique March Sketch, using one of my favourite Blue Fern papers from the March kit. I added some punched out white butterflies, but otherwise everything is from the main kit and add-ons. Really gorgeous embellishments this month! I used the awesome pink Art Anthology spray in the main kit to alter the chipboard.

click on images for larger views

This is the inspirational sketch for March.

Don't forget to enter your interpretation of this beautiful sketch for a chance to win a fantastic prize! See details on the C'est Magnifique blog. Here is a peek at the main prize (there is also a chance to win a store gift certificate too!).


Friday, February 28, 2014

C'est Magnifique MARCH Kit Reveal!

It's reveal day and I have more to share today of my creations made with the C'est Magnifique "Between Winter and Spring" March kit. I just can't get enough of this amazing kit!

Up first is a blend of the Blue Fern and UHK paper in the kit - a match made in heaven! The large white flowers are handmade using leftover fabric wedding petals and some lace my grandma gave me (see my Lace Rose TUTORIAL). I also used a bit of cheesecloth from my stash to add softness and texture to this layout. Don't you just love the blue flowers and chipboard in this kit?

click on images for larger views

Next is a tall gift box I made using an easy template I found online. I added a little cream seam binding (from the C'est Magnifique store). The Blue Fern paper is so gorgeous!

This is the template I used and my "unit" measurement was 1.75 inches.

Lastly for today, an altered headband using the beautiful lace and flowers in the main kit (my daughter begged me to make this when she spotted the lace). I want another one of those lace collars!

Can you believe I still have another project to share with you tomorrow using the monthly sketch? Also, after all of the projects I posted this week... I still have plenty of leftovers from my kit to make at least 2 more projects! This kit is so full. Hmm... now to find more time to create, LOL. Oh and here is a peek at the main kit this month...

Look at all the pretty treasures to play with!

And I always get the flower add-on too!

See you back here tomorrow for the sketch reveal!