Cést Magnifique September kit reveal (Part 2)

Good morning everyone. I hope this post finds you well. All is great here. Busy as anything! We have about 4 weeks left before the end of this school term, so things are really getting busy at work and at Maria's school. But its all good. Busy is good they say. I think finally I have found my rhythm between work and school and everything else and its all going well. I always tend to make the same mistake...that is strive for perfection. But ..that's simply impossible isn't it? Its impossible to do everything perfect and as we progress in life, there are just too many variables that affect the amount of time we can dedicate to each area. More things are added, like work commitments, motherhood, school life etc and I am learning that its better to do many things "OK" and be good at them, rather than try to stretch your self for everything to be perfect and end up not doing such a great job at them. 

I have learnt to pace my self. Things can wait right? But I will admit its a tough thing for me to do. I am not the type to let things go, but at least I am giving my self MORE time to work things out and not pressure my self. 

Right now, it feels like I am wearing about 6 different hats...Sigh..Its hectic but its fast paced and I am used to that sort of pace. Some days though..Gosh I dream of a week in the sun , in the middle of nowhere , with NO ONE around and nothing electronic,  a good book and a bikini body to die for (ok thats REALLLLLYYYY a far fetched dream LOL! But its my fantasy right? LOL). As long as I know my children are in good care (which they would be if I left them with hubby), and I know they are safe , then I think I can do it! Hmmm..even as I say that I feel uneasy. I think I would miss everything in about 1 day. LOL! 

Anyway, speaking of pacing my self, I very very VERY reluctantly gave up my position at C'est Magnifique kit club last month and the September kit will be the last I designed with. I will stay on as part time sketch designer, but time is of the essence for me these days and that, together with ..  well a busy life style has left me feeling uneasy about scrapping to the point where I do not think  I was scrapping to the best of my ability.  I absolutely LOVED the kits Leslie puts together and it was a very hard decision for me to make. But at this point in my life it was getting too much, and as some of you that have followed me for a while know, I gave everything up about 14 months ago after taking on way too much. This time I recognise the feelings of anxiety and scaled back before I did anything drastic. 

So a HUGE thank you to Leslie and the team at C'est Magnifique for the support and understanding and professionalism over the last 9 months there. I will surely miss you guys!!

SO today I am showing you the last few projects I created with the stunning September kit AND add ons. 

Main Kit

Flower Add On 

Embellishment Add On 

This kit , together with the add ons and some individual items are all available at the store right now!! You just go HERE and you will find everything you see here. 

If you're interested in subscribing to our kits and be assured to receive one each month, visit our Join Page for all the details.  You can subscribe to the monthly add-ons, as well.

"1st Cousins"

"Almost Four"

"Big Brown Eyes"

To check out what the rest of the Design Team created with this stunning kit please visit the gallery HERE . You will be AMAZED at the talent this group of people have. SO much inspiration there. 

SO I have just one more project to share with you. It will be for the September sketch challenge at the C'est Magnifique blog, which will be revealed on September 1st. I will show you that one then. 

'till next time, its goodbye for now :)

C'est Magnifique September kit reveal (Part 1)

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!.

Today is the day that the BEAUTIFUL September kit from C'est Magnifique kit club is released. This month, we got to play with Riddersholm Design - Huntington Garden papers and just gorgeous embellishments and add ons!

Here are some close ups of the kit contents..

And here is a list of the contents

Paper Collection: Riddersholm Design Huntington Garden
Day Dream
Pavillion
Summerfield
Huntington
Tea Room
Songbird
Balloon
Sky Blue
Friends

Kit Embellishments:
Lindy's Stamp Gang: Moonshadow Mist: Smoky Sapphire
KaiserCraft: Rub-Ons: Timeless: Dress Forms
Leaky Shed: Ornate Corner
Prima: Say it In Pearls: Black Flourish
Dusty Attic: Compass Rose
Wrights: Ruffled Lace: Natural
American Crafts: Thickers: Dear Lizzy: Splendid
Green Tara: Gardenias: Peach
Prima: Flutter Bits: Nature's Garden
Manor House Creations: Rosettes: Lilac

To add to this, Leslie also put together 2 stunning add ons..

Flower Add On 

 

Flower Add-on
Manor House Creations: Imagine: Cocoa
Prima: Celyon: Attic
Prima: Charme Rose: Nature's Garden
KaiserCraft: Paper Blooms: Misty
Prima: Coventry: Tranquil
Maya Road: Vintage Lace Daisies: Milk

 
Embellishment Add-on
Heidi Swapp: Color Magic: Banner Delights
Prima: Wood Embellishments: Birds
Bo Bunny: Rub-Ons: Weekend Market
Zva: Pearl Flourish
Want2Scrap: Bonnie's Birdcage
American Crafts: Dear Lizzy: Letter Stickers
Lindy's Stamp Gang: Starbursts: Canna Lily Burnt Orange

This kit , together with the add ons and some individual items are all available at the store right now!! You just go HERE and you will find everything you see here. 

If you're interested in subscribing to our kits and be assured to receive one each month, visit our Join Page for all the details.  You can subscribe to the monthly add-ons, as well.

And here is one of my layouts created with this kit this month. 

So this is a photo of my daughter taken at our favourite getaway about 1.5 hours outside Sydney in Bowral. Its usually pretty cool over there, but did not expect it to be this cold when we visited there in mid March this year. That is JUST the beginning of Autumn for us! But being the overly paranoid mum I am, I am SO glad I packed their ski jackets (yep! LOL!) and all their other winter attire. Anyone else as paranoid as me? 

Hope you are have a great week. I will be back in a couple of days with some more creations from the September kit. 

Take care everyone!

Kaisercraft September Sketch #4

Good morning everyone. Hoping you are all well. 

Most of you know that Kaisercraft releases a new sketch challenge every Saturday of every month but if you don't you might want want to bookmark the Kaisercraft blog HERE and play along. You have all month long to enter your layout, and the prize is just fantastic too. 

This morning, August sketch #4 was revealed over HERE. You will also find all the details there as well.

So here is my take on the sketch. 

I have used the newest Sears and Son collection which is all available at The Scrapbook Store HERE. Most of the other Kaisercraft products I have used here area also available at The Scrapbook Store HERE.   The Scrapbook Store carries almost everything Kaisercraft!! 

"Sad Side"

Kaisercraft materials used: Sears & Son Patterned Paper – Sidecar (P898), Charming (P894), Wooden flourishes – small birdcages (FL372), Mini paper blooms (Terracotta (F652), Paper Blooms – Coconut (F627), Mini alpha stickers – Black and White (MA501), Journal tickets (EM983), Pearl strip – latte (PL505), Wooden Flourishes – Oval Window (FL403)

Other: gauze, gesso, paint, corrugated cardboard, ink

Now even though the word "sad"is used a lot in my journalling, PLEASE do not feel sad when you see this layout LOL!. Its hard when you do not know someone and its easy to assume that I am being very very negative here, but having a sad side is something I have had since I was a very young child. I remember being maybe 5-6 years old in Greece, listening to music and understanding the lyrics about break ups, loss etc very very well. I remember from very young getting pretty upset when hearing bad news, or watching a movie. Its still the same...not much has changed. 

I guess for me, its my other extreme side. My lows are very low and my highs are very high.  I can get equally as sad, as I can get happy but that does not make me a sad person. My emotions just have 2 extremes..and I feel both equally and both very strongly. 

I created this layout not to be negative and appear depressed or down, but so my daughters will know me better and hopefully connect with this when they are my age. I am pretty sure already one of my daughters is just like me and it will be nice to one day know that she has me to thank LOL! Sometimes knowing that you took something from one of your parents makes it OK and maybe...special.

So I hope you do get a chance to play along with this sketch. You have till the 31st to enter. Here is the sketch by the way..

I hope you have a FANTASTIC weekend :)

Thank you for letting me share. Take care of you and yours! Love, Nadia. 

August Sketch at The Scrapbook Store

Hello there everyone. 

Today is the day Handmade By Suzanne is no more!! The new website has just gone live and i think it looks amazing. The new name is now The Scrapbook Store, and if you pay it a visit you will see it looks so so cool. Well done Suzanne :) 

 If you have shopped at Handmade By Suzanne before, all you details should have been transferred over as well as your gallery log in info. 

I also wanted to show you August's sketch challenge with a sketch designed by me. I am sorry I did not have a chance to make a sample layout based on this sketch this month, but you still have until August 31st to enter you layout in the gallery HERE .

Here is the sketch...

 So upload your entry to our August 2012 Sketch Competition folder to be in the running to win a randomly drawn prize store voucher of $40 plus free postage! While there, take a peek at our DT’s examples.

Hope to see you all there. 

Guest Designer for Paper Stories

Hey everyone! How are you all? Doing pretty well here. 

Well, today I wanted to show you a couple of things I created with a bunch of goodies sent to me by Paper Stories, a brand new online store.  Paper Stories also has a blog right HERE where you can find lots more inspiration and giveaways etc .

I was sent a gorgeous assortment of Graphic 45 A Ladies' Diary  papers, together with a mixture of Prima Marketing flowers and alphas, some gorgeous ribbon and pins..JUST a perfect selection really. Its fantastic when you are sent product that feels like it was designed with you in mind LOL! Makes life really easy!

So here is my first layout..

"No one is ever as they seem"

Now, you must forgive this photo.  I really have ZERO idea why one of my eyes looks..bigger than the other LOL! Its a selfie from my iphone so...I am forgiven there LOL!

Well anyway, let me tell you about this layout. Actually no! First let me tell you that even though you cant see  it clearly I have actually changed hair colour and style. Its darker now with a fringe right at the front. What can I say? This is typical me..I change things around every few months or so LOL! Typical Gemini..

So the quote I have used here is one I saw on Facebook ! It says "the prettiest eyes smiles hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears and the kindest hearts have felt the most pain"  . I guess I am talking about my self..minus the prettiest this and that. I am trying to say that we just cannot judge people by their appearance. All that glitters isn't cold, isn't that what they say? In this photo, one would look at me and assume that I am just an ordinarily happy person. Right? And I guess I am. But not always..MOSTLY not always. And in general, people do not walk around complaining about their issues. But almost everyone out there suffers from something deep inside and maybe we just need to be a little sensitive and empathetic. Pain and such, changes people. Loss does too. I can't explain it, but people just change and there is no other reason for that other than what they just experienced. Nothing personal. So please just remember, that no one is ever as they seem. 

So let's look at some closeups. 

I was also sent a Dusty Attic scroll chipboard border, which I cut in half and placed behind the photo. I simply went over it with a few neutral coloured inks and some Liquid Pearls. 

The beautiful designs on the Graphic 45 papers were just SCREAMING fussy cutting and I was just in the right mood for it. So all those flowers underneath were fussy cut with a cutting blade (yeah, it took forever! LOL!) and I also used 3D dots to create layering. 

The Ladies' Diary collection also includes a 12x12 sticker sheet, and lots of different types of intricate stickers which I have used above. 

The gorgeous white flower above, which I cut in two is Prima Marketing - Namazzi Ivory. I have inked all my flowers with a very light brown ink , just to blend them all in. That's really becoming something I like doing on my flowers these days. 

Tag

This tag, created with the same materials as above is for a very special person that I admire very very much. I am pretty sure you all know her as I see her on your blogs all the time. Her name is Lizzy Crust . Albeit a small and tiny thing for someone who is deserving of much more, Lizzy this one is for you because you always visit my blog even if I go weeks before I visit yours, you don't give up on people and you have an understanding nature, you always write me words of wisdom that I think about before I fall asleep, because you always ask how I am without suffocating me, because you care in a very genuine way, and because I know some of your hardships which you never use as an excuse or complain about. This, I find inspiring and I am so happy to have met you. So Lizzy C... You are awesome. And I know you will read this because you read all my nonsense :)

The words and alphas here came from the Prima 12x12 alpha sheet! One of my NEW faves thats for sure. 

The gorgeous little butterflies are also from Prima. 

So I have one more project to show you that I created with the rest of the things I was sent and I will show you that in a couple of days. 

 Everything I used in these 2 projects can be found at the store. 

Have a great weekend everyone :)

xoxo Nadia

August DT work for Imaginarium Designs and Berry71Bleu

Hey there everyone!

I hope you are well. All OK here. No work for me today as my eldest is sick and we are off to the doctors in a little while. 

So I quickly wanted to share with you my combined Imaginarium Designs and Berry71Bleu August Design Team work. This will actually be my last work for Berry71Bleu as I have been a sponsored designer there for a few months now and I absolutely have loved Marivic's tags and goodies from her other store Zeus and Zoe. So thank you so much Marivic :) Please visit the Berry71Bleu and Zeus and Zoe blogs by following the links I just provided as they run some amazing challenges and you can find Marivics etsy shops HERE and HERE

So here is the layout that went live at the Imaginarium Designs blog this morning. The link is HERE

" Love,Love, Love " 

Here is the gorgeous tag from Berry71Bleu. So delicate and well put together by Marivic. The picture of the ballerina on it fitted this photo of my daughter as she seems to be standing in a similar way. 

I used the entire board of the Love card by Imaginarium Designs

Edward Relief Window

Oval Frame

Vine Flourish 

 Love card (4 per card)

Materials List

*Imaginarium Designs - Edward Relief window, Oval Frame, Love words (4 per card), Vine Flourish

*Berry71Bleu tag

* GCD - Donna Salazer papers

*Kaisercraft paper blooms

*Prima Marketing flowers

*Teresa Collins metal frame

* Prima Marketing journalling tags

Tips for using Chipboard

* I used the same technique on all the chipboard to keep it all matching. I first went over it with Gesso and then once it dried I went over it with a white ink and dabbed brown ink in random places. 

Dont forget to leave a comment at Imaginarium Designs to go into the draw to win a Prize Pack of new release chipboard!

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great day, Nadia

A few changes and a DT call..

Over at Handmade By Suzanne things are changing a little..

First of all, as of next Tuesday it will not be known as Handmade By Suzanne any longer. A brand new name has been given to this amazing store and that is ...

At the same time there will also be a new website launch HERE (not live yet!). 

The other enormous news is Suzanne is having a Design Team Call! You can read the details on the blog HERE

The Scrapbook Store is looking for 2 new Designers to join our existing Design Team.  What are we looking for?

• Both novice and experienced papercrafters – we are welcoming anyone to submit if they meet our basic requirements.  Don’t be shy and don’t hide yourself away, now is the perfect opportunity.  Are you due to finish with an existing team in a few months time and looking for a new opportunity?  Let us know!
• Applicants need to submit 3 examples of recent work which expresses their typical style.
• You will also need to give a brief summary of any previous DT experience you may have had and if you have been published before. (Again this will not be a deciding factor so don’t be disuaded if you haven’t been on a team before or published)
• You should provide a little bit of information about yourself ie where you live, what you do, your style/interests.
• Applicants MUST have a blog which they actively update with their work – please provide a link to your blog.
• Applicants MUST be wiling to have a Facebook account – we use Facebook as a means of communicating privately within the team and promoting The Scrapbook Store.
• Applicants MUST have reasonable photographic and photo editing skills in order to provide images of their work.
• Submissions close Friday 31st August 2012 – so get your skates on

SO keep an eye out for this changeover next week and I urge you to apply for this position. Suzanne is a wonderful boss and a pleasure to " work" for. She is very understanding! 

Take care everyone.

xoxo Nadia

Magazine Publications..

Happy Monday everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend. We sure did. :Lots of birthday parties in August for us..so busy, busy, busy. 

I have a few things to show you , that I created MANY months ago for some Australian magazines. I think I am allowed to share them here now so I thought I would!

Both of these appeared in the same magazine I think, and I have used the same photo of my eldest, Maria. 

This one was for a sketch feature...

Lots of beautiful Webster's Pages here together with some Kaiser and Prima flowers. LOVED the older Webster's stuff..I have also used an Imaginarium Designs chipboard clock. Kind of like this look..on white cardboard base! Got to try that more. 

And this layout was to showcase a specific style - romantic. Gosh i really LOVED that My Mind's Eye collection. The hexagons were one of my favourite trends from the last few months. I mixed up some Prima and Kaiser flowers here again as well as some MME stamps and some gauze and gesso. I dabbed a mixture of gesso and paint on my flowers to blend them all in. 

So I hope you are all doing well . Must sit down and finish some DT assignments tonight and so I have to make this quick!

Take care everyone. 

xoxo Nadia

Guest Designing at Scrap Friends

Hi everyone..Wednesday afternoons always get a little funny for me because its starting to get close to Thursdays ..and Thursdays/Fridays are the days I work and have done so for a few years now. Don't get me wrong..I love teaching, but I always get the sick feeling in my tummy when Wednesday night comes along.. 

Every Wednesday I spend the day in our office ..we have our own business which requires a LOT of time spent on paper work etc. SO I have always done this for the last 10-12 years and continued so during my pregnancies and when my children were babies. Now I just hate it! LOL! I wish someone else could do it ..LOL Its just an extra thing I have to do and I really do not have the time to sit here and count numbers. But anyway, just taking a little break now and thought I would show you this layout I created for Scrap Friends. Scrap Friends has an online store HERE and quite a busy blog HERE where you can find challenges to play along at, as well as many other cool things!

I was asked to Guest Design for them in September and I was sent a gorgeous sketch to work with for their monthly sketch challenge HERE

SO here is the sketch (very cool by the way! LOVE their sketches!) 

and here is my take on it..

Paper - GCD Studios (Donna Salazer Designs) Botanique 

Chipboard- Imaginarium Designs LOVE title

Flowers - Prima Marketing Laraine Pearl White, Charme Rose Nature Garden 

Embellishments - Mellissa Frances hinge/keys, Teresa Collins Fabrications Canva Trickets, Prima Marketing Shabby Chic Metal Treasures (gate and frame), Kaisercraft Polaroid Frames (Miss Match collection) 

Rub Ons - Kaisercraft Girls and Miss Match

Other: gesso, brown paint, cardboard, gauze, brown ink

I have gone a little messy here again...really loving it at the moment. 

I must say though, that last night I pulled out all my old albums with the very first layouts I ever created. Although they were very ...ummm..average to say the least, they were SO SO SO full of everyday stuff, LOTS AND LOTS of journalling, lots of pictures etc etc. Of course, just like every other scrapper out there my style has evolved. But my style took a less personal turn probably about a year ago. I mean, my daughters are almost 4 and 6 now and when they are older its harder to scrap many "firsts". I understand that. But most of my journalling is hidden these days, or written at the back and with all the pages I make I wonder if they will be bothered to pull the tags out when and read what i wrote. Sure I love creating and "throwing" product on paper but ,....seeing them look at their baby photos last night and my eldest trying to read the huge journalling gave me such a warm feeling but at the same time I felt sad that all their pages of the last few months will just be "pretty"pages in their albums. They were giggling and laughing at them selves and were ENTRENCHED in the albums...not caring about the latest product or pretty design. 

They just wanted to read the story..and lately there isnt much of a story on my pages. 

*Sigh*...I have to reassess things I think..

So anyway, have a great day everyone and if you get a chance drop in at Scrap Friends and play along!

Bye for now

xoxo Nadia

NEW Prima and a Giveaway at C'est Magnifique

  It's that time of the month when we give you a chance to win the Bits & Pieces from Leslie'sAugust Kit, "A Vintage Summer".  But before we get to that,

we are thrilled announce that we have NEW Prima in the store!

Here's just a sampling of the paper collections, flowers, and embellishments:

In addition to all the recently released Prima, be sure to check out the Special Offers 

section where you will find some discounted items, or shop for your favorite 

manufacturers by using the "brands" section of the store.

BITS & PIECES GIVE-AWAY

Leslie, the owner of C'est Magnifique, has gathered the leftovers from her August kit, and is ready to give it away to one of you, our blog readers.  The August Kit, 

"A Vintage Summer" features paper from Maja Designs, a Swedish manufacturer.  

Here is a look at what Leslie is giving away which includes items from the kit, the flower add-on, and the embellishment add-on.   Please note that since this is Leslie's

 "Bits & Pieces", you will receive partial packages of embellishments 

and some of the paper will be less than full sheets.

We are giving you a chance to win everything pictured above.

This give-away is open to everyone - we will ship anywhere in the world.

What do you need to do to enter the give-away?

1.  You must be a follower of the C'est Magnifique 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.  

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

The contest will close at midnight, August 12.  

The winner, selected by a random draw, will be announced August 13.  

Good luck to all of you!

Please provide your first and last name to participate in this contest.  You are not required to enter an URL, but if you have a blog, we hope you'll enter it. See HERE to enter your info @ the C'est Magnifique site!!