Role Model {CSI Case File No. 21}

We have our last Case File open for Gifts of the Garden Month at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

Michele created a fabulous set of printables for us again this week. I especially love the elements for the two perspectives journaling (e.g., he said/she said).

I wanted to do the two-perspective thing, but wound up deciding to scrap this photo of my mom and me, which went with the colors well. I desaturated the photo. (I digitally added a black frame around the layout so the edges of my layout wouldn't disappear.)

Clues I used to solve this Case File...Evidence: doilies, flowers, lacy borders, layers, stripes, icing, fabric; Testimony: Journal about a relationship.

I found this quote and decided I would journal on the back. In case you can't read the quote, it says: "And mothers are their daughters' role model, their biological and emotional road map."  Here's what my journaling says:

Mom, you are my role model. I can only wish to be as good and kind and generous and smart as you are. You are all the things I wish I could be...strong and wise and generous and funny. You have the biggest heart. You are charismatic and people instantly love you. 

Is it true that you are my road map? I hope I can reach the destination that is you. Emotionally, we are so different, I think. I am overly sensitive and wear my heart on my sleeve, where you hold all your troubles inside--to protect others, I believe. I'm a total mush-ball, and you are strong. 

Biologically, my road map matches yours for sure. I've inherited so much from you--your chubby gene, your teeth, your feet, your hot flashes. But you've also given me the good part of your biological road map--everyone says I look like you, which makes me happy. And we age pretty well, don't we? (I just wish you had given me your legs.)

I love you, Mom. I hope to keep traveling that road map so that I can be as good a person as you are.

Here are a few details. This flower is a silk flower from the craft store and matches the cranberry pretty well, even though it looks more red in the photo. The green in the palette was a little tricky, but I found a DCWV paper with these leaves that was pretty close. I added some gauze under the flower, which is kind of like fabric, right? I chose fabric-covered brads as part of my evidence. I love these pretty K&Co. fabric brads.

This heart came from a really old Cristine Adolph paper by Creative Imaginations. I thought the gilding was sort of like icing.

This border is a die-cut  by Cheery Lynn Designs. The little flag that says "and then she said" is from the CSI Coordinates. I often have to hide my story because I scrap 8 x 8 and it's hard to fit it all if I do any lengthy journaling.  My pages aren't in albums. I'm in search of some boxes that will accommodate my 8 x 8 apges, so if you know of any, please let me know! I like to be able to pick up individual layouts and see and touch all the little bits, you know?

The pretty green quatrefoil patterned paper is in the CSI Coordinates. The gray paper I used is by Teresa Collins and the other papers are by BasicGrey, from the old Perhaps collection. The doily die-cut is also by Cheery Lynn.

Please come by and see the beautiful work by the CSI Detectives and all of our guest designers. And you'll definitely want to play this week if you haven't yet played in May because this gorgeous kit from C'est Magnifique, our May sponsor, is up for grabs:

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

Happy Trail {CSI Case File No. 20}

Case File No. 20 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, and what a fun one it is!

And Michele's printables are just irresistible!

I had a million ideas floating around in my head. I had originally intended to go with the "retro" angle and scrap some pics of me and my sister from the 1970's, but then I had another brainstorm.

We moved to a new house back in November, which meant 20 added minutes to my daily commute. I was a little worried that I would find it a drag, but I've discovered that I love, love my commute. There's virtually no traffic. I drive along country roads, waving good morning to the cows and alpacas. And I cross through a tree farm as part of my commute, and I love that part of the trail, so I decided I'd scrap that.

I couldn't for the life of me get a great picture, but here it is...

Clues I used: Evidence: dots, mushrooms, bugs, stitching, kraft background, staggered heights, white space (believe it or not, I was going to add more stuff but decided to leave a little breathing room), and felt letters; Testimony: Inspiration Words: slow, trail

I used the current Creative Scrappers sketch:

Here are a few closeups. I just adore the little snails and toadstools that Michele made for us! The quotes are in the CSI Coordinates, to. Those leaves (and actually all of the paper) are by Scenic Route.

Those circles are from a Scenic Route paper--one of their Christmas collections, believe it or not.  And those dots are by Heidi Grace. They're called metal dots, and I think they're so cute. They sit on a little pop dot. I originally didn't have stuff outlined, but I felt my layout need a little something, so I added some brown pen outlining to the metal dots and the circles. Just added a little more definition.

I used one of the toadstools as an i in my title. My friend Tracee helped me me with a few things as I agonized over the placement of everything. I originally had different brown letters for "happy," but they were a little too big, and Tracee suggested these little Lily Bee letters that I had forgotten about. (Thanks Tracee! xoxo)

There are little ladybugs in the Coordinates, too. I printed my bits out on glossy photo paper because I wanted the colors to be saturated. When you  use cardstock, the paper absorbs some the ink and the colors come out a bit lighter.

At the last minute, I decided to add bee trails with baker's twine. Aren't those bees adorable? They're also in the printables. I also added the bits of patterned paper behind the photo squares and the 7 Gypsies stickers at the last minute.

I say it every week, but you MUST go see what the design team and guest designers did with this fun Case File! It just blows me away every week how everyone interprets the same case file in so many different ways! If you haven't yet had time to play, you have this week and next week's challenge to play for a chance at winning an awesome kit from C'est Magnifique.

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

Belief {Sketchabilities Sketch #71}

We have a fabulous new sketch up at Sketchabilities.

My almost-93-year-old Gram has the most wonderful collection of photos of herself in sassy poses taken over the decades, and a number of years ago I made her a "cheesecake" album featuring these photos, and she just loved it. I started scrapping these pictures for myself so I could have a gram cheesecake album, and I just decided I should make one for my mom. I used the sketch to make the first page of mom's book and gave it to her for Mother's Day.

Here are some details. I have to thank my friend Tracee for recommending BasicGrey's Granola collection. I never would've thought "beach" with this collection, but she made me see sea scallops in the brown pattern and water splashes on the paper I used for the flags.

Here are some details. I've been wanting to use the view finder thingy by Echo Park ever since I got the paper. I thought the pearly flower brad by K&Co looked like a starfish and I replaced the sapphire rhinestone with a pink pearl to go with my Gram's outfit.

Pardon the shadow on the next picture. I used old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters. I think I must've bought a hundred packs of those things back in the day when those were the only chipboard letters available. I added some cheesecloth that I dyed with some Tattered Angels mist.

One of the fun things about making this album was finding the perfect quotes to go with the photos. I have Tracee to thank again for suggesting I mat the word strips with white.

The Sketchabilities team made some gorgeous layouts this week. You'll have to pop over and see all the beautiful creations! I hope you'll play with us. This was a really fun sketch to work with!

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

Bluebird Box Diary {CSI Case File No. 19}

Case File No. 19 is open for investigation, and oh, what a beautiful Case File we have this week:

Here is how I solved the case. I have been wanting to scrap this story since last spring, and now seemed the perfect opportunity. The clues I used: Evidence: Rosettes, birds, wood, small patterns, border punches, florals; Testimony: Diary format.

Our class participated in a bluebird monitoring project to help increase the population of Eastern bluebirds, which has been declining due to deforestation and predators. My photos aren't all that great because I had my camera practically inside the dark bluebird box. Sadly, someone vandalized the box and destroyed the box with the baby birds inside.

Here are some details. This was my first time ever making the paper rosettes. I bought a Martha Stewart scoring board with a 40% off coupon for the occasion. My blue flower turned out kind of lopsided--didn't realize how lopsided it was until I put it on the computer screen. Chalk it up to inexperience. I used the CSI Coordinates for my rosettes. The gray woodgrain paper is in the Coordinates, too.

I put an arrow so you can see the mama bird sitting on her eggs. She looked so scared when we opened the box, but she stayed right on her baby eggs. I received those lovely blue fabric brads in a RAK from my friend Jenny Evans. 

The polka dot paper is by Lily Bee design. The blue letters are by K&Co. and I outlined them to make them stand out more. The bird perched on the green Thickers is also by K&Co. The pretty brads are by My Mind's Eye.

I say it every week, but the reveal is just gorgeous, so you should hop over and see how the rest of the design team and guest designers solved this Case File, and I do hope you'll play with us this week!

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

Bloom {CSI Case File No. 18}

Our newest Case File is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. A new month always brings new things to CSI. We have a new sponsor: C'est Magnifique Kit Club. We have new Detectives we've added to our design team. And we have a new theme to tie all our Case Files together: May is Gifts of the Garden Month, and here's our first Case File for this month:

Here are the beautiful printables Michele created for us to use this week. I used a few of the elements on my page.

Here is the page I made. A dear friend and teacher at my school is retiring, and I was asked to make a cover page for a scrapbook they're making for her. This teacher's name is Sandy Flower, and I thought this Case File would be perfect for making this page. Clues I used:

Evidence: oversized flower, bling

Testimony: Inspiration words: bloom, growth. I am journaling on something separate--we were given little cards to write our messages to Sandy.I haven't yet written my message, but it's going to be about how she's helped teachers and students bloom and grow through her patience and unconditional love and caring.

I used this Creative Scrappers sketch to inspire my design:

This pretty flower is by Prima. The word sticker is by K& Co, and I adhered it with pop dots and stuck a pin behind it--I thought it would sort of look like one of those little garden signs you stick in the ground. The border punch I used is by EK Success.

This polka dot paper is by My Mind's Eye, from the Bloom and Grow Collection.

Here are a few elements from the CSI Coordinates. Love those little flags Michele includes in there. The patterns she made are so pretty. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch and I just added some jewels for the body and used some pop dots to lift up the wings.

Whenever I'm in need of the perfect color letter stickers, I can always find some by BasicGrey in my stash. The labels are also from the CSI Coordinates.

The design team and guest designers outdid themselves this week, so come on over and take a peek. And you definitely want to play. Look what's up for grabs for March, generously donated by C'est Magnifique:

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

Real {Sketchabilities No. 70}

We have a fantastic new sketch at Sketchabilities for the first half of May:

Here's what I created. This photo was taken last summer when they had just broken ground for our new house. I'd been saving the Studio Calico pattern with the houses for this layout. The green paper is also by Studio Calico. The red polka dot paper is Jillibean Soup, and the gray paper is by Crate Paper.

Here are some details. The little chipboard house is by Maya Road. The little bit of pattern peeking out of the window is from the tear strip on one of the Studio Calico papers.

These are some old Prima flowers--the ones that came in a jar. I still have tons of those. The leaves are cut from an old Scenic Route paper. I need to find a stamp that looks like these leaves because my supply of that paper is slowly dwindling.

And here's a close-up of my journaling. The kraft journaling spots are by Maya Road.

Come see all the beautiful and varied takes on this sketch, and I hope you'll play with us. This was a fun sketch to work with!

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