Gifted {CSI Case File No. 52}

Case File No. 52 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration! I can't believe a whole year has gone by since I launched CSI! What a fantastic ride it's been! We'll be celebrating our "first birthday" next month, so stay tuned to hear about our festivities.

Anyway, here's the Case File:

I love, love, loved the Coordinates this week. Michele really outdid herself. I wanted to use them all on my page but, well, on an 8 x 8 page, there's only so much that'll fit!

Here's my page. Clues I used...Evidence: Wood, twine, paint, kraft paper, newsprint paper, tags, numbers, eyelets. Document a gift (sort of). 

That's my nephew Shane and his antisocial kitty, Chewy. I've scrapped this photo before. I'm going to give one of my pages to my nephew.

I used this digital template from Designer Digitals as inspiration for my page design.

Here are some closeups. I got a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas. I managed to chew up some paper in the process of making these snowflakes, but I'm getting the hang of it. Most of the elements in the photo below are from this week's Coordinates. The white text paper is by 7 Gypsies. I still have a few scraps of that paper. I thought it sort of looked like newsprint.

I also got this circle template for Christmas too. I mixed texture paste and white acrylic paint to use with it. The wooden stars are by Studio Calico. The brads I used in the snowflake centers are slightly sparkly--sort of a muted sparkle, if that makes sense--they're by American Crafts.

Word art from the Coordinates. I once had a keychain that said "I'm not weird. I'm gifted." When I was gathering ideas to send to Michele for the Coordinates, I had to put that in there.

The numbered border is one of my favorite elements from the Coordinates. The tag came from the Coordinates too. Michele drew a washer on there, and I added a silver eyelet.

I love the Viewmaster reel Michele put in the Coordinates. There's one of my mangled snowflakes.

The reveal this week is phenomenal--maybe one of the best yet! These colors are so cool, and the elements in the Evidence are really cool too. I hope you'll come and play with us!

Thank you for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

Wednesday Give Back - Mel Stampz

I was just talking to my friend Michele Singh on the phone and we got into a conversation about blogs, and she said something about how she feels it's nice to give back to those who visit our blogs--she's always sharing beautiful sketches on hers, as well as her magical scrapbook pages.

So that got me thinking...how can I give back to my visitors? I'm not a sketch artist, and I'm certainly not that inventive when it comes to techniques, so I have nothing to share in that department. But I have amassed lots of resources and bookmarks, so I thought, well, that's something I can share. So I'm going to do my best to give back in the form of sharing a cool link or tip that I've come across once a week.

I'm not sure how I stumbled across Mel Stampz's blog, but I'm so happy I did, and I must share a little bit of what you can find on her awesome blog.You might already know her blog, as she has nearly 5,000 followers.

This generous and talented lady shares, among other things, beautiful printable papers. Here's her most recent set, designed with Christmas in mind, but they look mighty versatile to me!

Here are a few closeups of a couple of my favorite patterns from this set:

Mel also shares a bunch of tutorials with step-by-step directions. Check this out:

She also amasses scads of resources from other sources. Check out this post with 239 things you can do with your Cuttlebug or Big Shot.

I've only given a very small taste of what's on Mel's blog. You could literally get lost on her blog for hours and hours and hours and still not see everything she has to offer. What a generous soul.

The generosity of people in the scrap/craft world blows me away. I've encountered this kind of generosity at CSI numerous times. People willing to freely share their talent and time and inspiration. It warms my heart to be a part of the scrapbooking community. 

Beautiful Christmas Tree {CSI Case File No. 51}

What a lovely, festive Case File we have this week at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

Clues I used to solve this Case File... Evidence: snowflakes, glitter, rhinestones, embossing (embossed paper), filigree (border punch), something shiny, pen work (outline of white letters). Testimony: 6-word memoir.

Last Christmas, we had just moved into our new house and every room was filled with boxes. We didn't have the energy to put up a tree. My husband's niece from Iran was visiting us, so I'm sure it was a little disappointing that all we had in terms of a tree was the "toilet brush tree" (scroll down two blog posts to see that pathetic tree). We spent Christmas Day at my sister's house, so Arezou finally got to see a beautiful Christmas tree--which is what my six-word memoir is about.

My page design is inspired by the current sketch over at Sketchabilities.

Here are a few details. My little flowery cluster. The white flower is by Prima. That pink one is an old layered flower by K&Co. I added a Jolee's snowflake on top. The leafy branch is by Cheery Lynn Designs.

I'm not sure who made this pretty embossed paper but I thought the designs looked a little like snowflakes. The sparkly letters are by Making Memories. The chipboard Christmas piece is by Maya Road. I painted it with acrylic paint.

Some more of the Jolee's snowflakes, along with some Word Art from this week's CSI Coordinates.

The trees are made from My Mind's Eye (the blue and fuchsia ones) and Me and My Big Idea (the pink polka dot) and topped by sparkly Jolee's snowflakes.

The glittery frame is by Making Memories. I tucked a little tag behind the photograph so that Arezou can add her thoughts. I plan to give her this layout when I see her again.

Come see the gorgeous work by the design team and guest designers. Noel Mignon is sponsoring us this month, so you'll definitely want to play along.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

NYC Xmas {Page Drafts Christmas Cheer}

I was tickled when Em Stafrace invited me to join a talented group of scrappers for her special series of holiday sketches at Page Drafts. If you've never used Em's sketches, you must give them a try! I've played with lots and lots of her sketches and they are so much fun.

Here is the awesome sketch I used:

And here is the page I made. I was pretty literal with the sketch. The photos were from a trip I took to New York City to see the Rockettes at Christmas with my mom and sister and some friends. I took a bunch of pictures and was happy to use this sketch to show some of the highlights of the trip.

The papers I used are by My Mind's Eye--Wonderful Winter, from a few years ago. Here are some closeups. This picture shows how sparkly the paper is. The sparkly chipboard snowflakes are really old--by Li'l Davis.

The cute snowmen and trees are from the same collection of paper. 

Here's a closeup of the banner flags--I hope they never go out of style--they always add a fun touch.

You must go check out the gorgeous work the rest of the folks did and all of Em's awesome sketches--she made seven especially for this holiday release! Lots of eye candy over there.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

1st and Last {CSI Case File No. 50}

We have a lovely monochromatic palette in our Case File this week at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

I was trying to wait for appropriate weather to retake the photo of my layout, but that never happened, so that's why I'm sharing this so late. I REALLY need to figure out a way to take good pictures indoors. Anyone who has any tips on this--please let me know!

So here's my page. This is my sweet little cat Maggie who died last month. She loved Christmas trees. She never bothered the ornaments--just liked to lay underneath the tree nestled among the presents. Last Christmas, we had just moved and we weren't up to putting up a tree. Farzad found this cheesy little tree and bought it as a joke. Well, Maggie of course found it. It was her first and last Christmas at our new house. :(

Clues I used to solve the case: Evidence: ribbon, wood, fabric, something that melts, transparent element. stitching, stripes (sort of), metal, shiny/shimmery things. Testimony: I documented a holiday tradition.

Here are a few details. Just about everything on this page is really old. Those letter stickers are by Foofala--the package was labeled 2004. I chose the corrugated ampersand because it was sort of striped. I added the little punched heart and pearl at the last minute. My journaling reads: It was Maggie's first and last Christmas in our new house. Maggie-Doo always loved to get under the tree and nestle amongst the presents. That Christmas, there was no tree since we had just moved, but Farzad bought this ugly, cheesy little silver tree, which I dubbed the "Toilet Brush Tree." Maggie found it right away and snuggled up beside it anyway. Sweet Maggie. I will forever remember you under the Christmas tree. {December 2011}

I made my layout before I received the CSI Coordinates, but when I saw these two quotes, I thought they were perfect for my page. The Doodlebug brads are glittery. That transparent element on my page is by Glitz, and the designs are a shiny silver. That snowflake paper is ANCIENT, and so is the embossed textured paper. I added silver embossing powder to the edges.

The one new thing on my page--the little wooden Studio Calico speech bubble was perfect for this page. I added a Jolee's snowflake sticker to the top of my tree. The brown polka dot paper is by My Mind's Eye.

As I was looking for something fabric, I came across this mesh that sort of looks like it has snow on it. I thought mesh is sort of like fabric. The checkered paper is by Fancy Pants.

I've had these laser-cut snowflakes in my stash for about a decade. I never liked them because they had the burn marks from the lase, but I thought the touches of brown looked okay with this palette, so I was happy to finally use them. 

We have amazing layouts, as always, by the design team and guest designers, so come by and take a peek, and I hope you'll play with us! This month, Noel Mignon is our sponsor, and one of their awesome, jam-packed kits is up for grabs!

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!

Blue Fern Studios

Have you heard about Blue Fern Studios? I'm so excited about this new company's products--intricate chipboard available soon in the USA. Just look at this gorgeous stuff, and they're having a giveaway:

Pop over here for your chance to win this beautiful chipboard.

I can't wait for this beautiful product to show up in stores! Wishing Blue Fern Studios much success!

Loot Piles {CSI Case File No. 49}

Case File No. 49 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. The beginning of the month is always exciting as we have new sponsors, new guest designers, and a new theme.

Clues I used to solve the case: Evidence: Numbers, stickers, punches, rhinestones, baker's twine, circle notch, snowflakes, winter/xmas stuff, hound's tooth; Testimony: doucment a holiday tradition, story inside something (sort of).

I often use a sketch to get me rolling, and I recently realized that digital templates are sort of like sketches. One of my favorite digital sites is Designer Digitals. I've bought a bunch of digital elements that I sometimes print out and use on my pages. When I was looking through their templates to use as a sketch, I came across this one, and thought it was just perfect for the feel of the page I wanted to make, and the little compartments reminded me of The Scene in the Case File:

I decided to document  a tradition of how we gather our presents into "loot piles" on Christmas Day. I thought the sketch had the feel of a loot pile. That's my mom in the picture. She has such a funny expression that I love. I used PicMonkey to do a special effect on the picture where the presents were in bright focus and the rest got more desaturated.

Here are some details. I tried to get that artsy stuff in the background, but, well, you know me...I'm just not very artsy, LOL, so here's my attempt. I stamped some dots in the aqua and then stamped some script over top and embossed with lime green embossing powder. Unfortunately, on the left side, I hadn't let the aqua dots dry enough, so they turned green. Oh, well. I hate throwing away paper, so I just went with it!

I used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch, along with some jumbo-sized rhinestones. I mounted them with pop dots. Those cool number circle elements are in the Coordinates this week. (You can find those at the bottom of the Case File reveal).

I don't own any washi tape (yet), so I just used some bits of chevron paper instead. This chevron paper is by Simple Stories. The lovely intricate border is a die by Cheery Lynn Designs.

Aren't those journaling cards cute? Michele made them for the Coordinates this week. I adore those retro Santas. I like how he looks like he's almost sticking out of a chimney. I used a combination of older and newer papers this week. I love leafing through my stash in search of just the right colors. The polka dots and chevron are by Simple Stories. The green and black hound's tooth are by October Afternoon. The yellow stripe is My Mind's Eye. I accidentally sewed over the pocket and had to take out the stitches on the yellow.  I stuffed the journaling inside all those layers to seem sort of like piles of presents in Santa's bag.

Here's another picture where you can see I piled on some word stickers to make it look like piles of presents.

Here's my journaling. Did I mention I love those retro Santas? I printed my Coordinates on photo paper this week to keep their vibrancy.

You must come play with us! We have Noel Mignon as our main sponsor. Their design team is guesting, as well as Mariaje Munoz and our awesome team of Special Investigators. Come see what the team and guest designers made here.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading about my page!