We Made It! {CSI Case File No. 25}

We have reached Case File No. 25 at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, and to celebrate this little milestone, we have a little bonus twist to our challenge this week: Choose a CSI Detective's layout that inspires you and scraplift that layout! We can't wait to see what you do with this special twist!

We continue our celebration of The Queen's Birthday Month with this Case File:

Here is the page I made. Clues I used: Evidence: Foliage, architectural elements, border punches, windows, spire/finial shapes, gold accents; Testimony: Write a letter to my former self; hide my story behind a window.

I started with the current sketch up on the My Mind's Eye blog: 

That gave me a start on selecting my papers. A lot of times, I'll start with my My Mind's Eye paper carts because I have so many of their papers, and they're bound to have the right colors. I used some of their older papers from the Wild Asparagus and Bohemia collections, and another paper from the Lime Twist collection, as well as some of their awesome brads.

Here are some close-ups of my page. The chipboard window is by Maya Road. I painted it with Making Memories acrylic paint and then rubbed some green and black ink on it to give it a weathered look. The little green and blue flags under the window are in the CSI Coordinates.

The window opens to show my whole story (8 little pages). I used gold jump rings to attach the pages to my window. That leather flower is ANCIENT, by Making Memories. I added that BasicGrey fabric brad to hold the window in place a little. The brad in the center of the flower is by My Mind's Eye and has a special meaning to my page, if you read my story below.

Here's my journaling: This is the summer I vow to get fit and healthy. Kathy Morris and I are going to walk together. We just started our first walk on Monday. We're walking the C&O Canal and heading out at 6:30 a.m. before it gets sweltering hot. 

Our first day, it was raining, but we went anyway. We walked about two or three miles, stopping only when the rain got harder because the forecast called for thunderstorms. 

On our second day, we talked about going the distance--to the Monocacy Aqueduct, which would make our walk five miles, but then we said maybe we should build up to that. We kept walking and said, Let's make it to the picnic tables. And then we said, Let's make it to that sunny spot. We kept pushing on, and to our amazement, the aqueduct came into view. We had made it. 

It was like a little epiphany that I can do this. Mom said the other day that I just might amaze myself if I try. So former self, I just want to say, I can  make it. I can reach the final destination of this weight loss journey. I have to take it one step at a time and just keep forging ahead.

Here's a peek at the upper cluster. That beaded flower is by K&Co, as are the cut-out leaves and flowers. The leafy branches are a die-cut by Cheery Lynn Designs. I was looking for gold accents for the Case File and found this goldish leaf that I added. I died some cheesecloth with some Tattered Angels mist and tucked a bit in there. The green brad peeking underneath is by My Mind's Eye.

I wanted to use a spire/finial shape for the evidence. I thought this EK Success punch sort of looked like a finial, and then I found this metal element when I was searching for gold accents, and I thought it had a similar shape, so I added it.

The other designers made some gorgeous layouts that you must come see! I hope you'll play along with us. Our sponsor, Little Black Dress Kit Club, is offering three kits as prizes this month!

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

This Picture {CSI Case File No. 24}

We're celebrating all things royal this month of the Queen's Birthday over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, and we've got another beautiful Case File this week:

Here is my page. Clues I used to solve the Case File are...Evidence: jewels, silver accents, crown accent, circles; Testimony: add jewels to my journaling spot and journal 3 interesting things about your picture (which I am just noticing somehow didn't make it onto my Case File! Oops!).

I love this picture and wanted to use it because it went well with the colors, but I couldn't think of an interesting story, so I just decided to write some little tidbits that came to mind about it.

I actually started out with the intention of using this sketch from Creative Scrappers, but I couldn't make it work exactly, so I started rearranging things and came up with the design you see above. You can still sort of see the sketch in there somewhere!

Here are some details. The pink background paper and the gray pattern inside this doily are BasicGrey. I added a 7Gypsies crown rub-on to the title--red chipboard letters are by Heidi Swapp. That little metal corner at the top is by Pixie Press.

These tickets I used for the journaling are in the CSI Coordinates--our free printables that Michele makes for CSI members each week. She's a gem! I added Heidi Swapp bling to the tickets. The gray letters are AC Thickers.

The frames were cut out of a Teresa Collins paper. That pink brad is by Pink Paislee. The pink music paper is from a Webster's Pages paper.

This red heart has been in my stash for nearly a decade. It's by Rebecca Sower. I tucked some lace between the pink and gray papers and added stitching around the perimeter of  the page. I didn't have enough of this  lace to go around the whole page, so I just did one edge.

Our design team and guest designers made some gorgeous projects. You'll have to go check it out. And be sure to play. We've got 3 kits up for grabs from our awesome June sponsor, Little Black Dress Kit Club.

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

The Truth {Sketchabilities Sketch #73}

Sketch #73 has been revealed at Sketchabilities, and another fabulous sketch we have:

Here's the page I made. That's my nephew Cristian, and his t-shirt speaks the truth. I struggled to find colors to go with the vibrant blue shirt and finally settled on primary colors. The background red polka dot paper is Girl's Paperie. The yellow ledger paper is by We R Memory Keepers. The smaller red polka dot paper is by Jillibean Soup. All the rest of the patterned papers are by My Mind's Eye, from various collections.

Here are some details. The little balloon, clouds, and swirls are cut from different My Mind's Eye papers from the "Love Me Do" collection. I had that stamped journaling spot leftover from a layout where I had decided not to use it, so that came in handy here. I  used a little asterisk from the title letters to add a little extra deimension and mounted the balloon, swirls, and one of the clouds with pop dots. I traced a circle several times with a fine-line pen in the background. It seemed like a good idea at the time. :)

The title letters are really glittery and fun. I added a little bird cut from one of the Love Me Do papers. I was originally going to stitch my papers but decided instead to distress and outline the papers with black pen. The border punch is by Martha Stewart (it's called Double Loops).

I added the black paper at at the last minute to add a some contrast. It's from a Halloween collection. I thought the yellow Doodlebug sugared brad was the perfect color and tied in with the sparkly letters.

Go check out what the rest of the team made. It's always so fun to see all the different takes on the same sketch. 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!

Queen for a Day {CSI Case File No. 23}

Case File No. 23 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, and we think this week's Case File is the bee's knees! When I came across Susan Mitchell's whimsical little bee in my search for royal images, I just knew I had to use it for one of our June Case Files celebrating the Queen's Birthday month.

Here is the page I made. I decided to go for the "Queen for a Day" angle for my journaling. Evidence I used is flowers, bees, a crown accent, stripes, something translucent, and a border punch.

I used the current sketch at Once Upon a Sketch and tied their prompt about journaling about birthdays into my journaling. Nadia makes such pretty sketches!

Here's a peek at my journaling, which I wrote on one of the spots from this week's CSI Coordinates.

And here are some close-up details. I always love digging through my stash to find the right colors. The flowers came from various K&Co. papers. Those white and green flowers and leaves came from an old paper by Polar Bear Press. The pink quatrefoil paper is Echo Park Victoria Garden and is the perfect shade of pink. The Green polka dot is Simple Stories. I love the shimmery sheen it has--didn't realize until I was out in the sun photographing my page. The little "To love..." quote is from the CSI Coordinates. I added a bee rub-on--found those on one of the 7Gypsies rubbings sheets.

I've had this scroll-y frame chipboard piece FOREVER and when I saw the sketch, I knew it was time to use it. I drove myself crazy covering it with paper and sanding it (as you can tell, I didn't do a perfect job), but the pink My Mind's Eye paper was a perfect match. I added 7Gypsies rub-on crown to the top. I thought the Martha Stewart border punch I used looked sort of like the top of the inspiration image. The yellow polka dot paper is by My Mind's Eye, and the white-ish paper is by Crate Paper.

I was tickled to discover this translucent yellow flower in my stash that I had bought eons ago, I think from Borders. The sparkly letters are Thickers, and the striped paper that you can see in the shot below is by K&Co. The leaves are a die-cut by Cheery Lynn Designs.

This fence is by Cheery Lynn too. I mounted it with foam adhesive.

The reveal at CSI is, as always, just gorgeous. I hope you'll come over and take a peek and play along. Our sponsor, Little Black Dress Designs is giving away THREE prizes this month!

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

The Crazy Brit {CSI Case File No. 22}

Case File No. 22 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration! June is The Queen's Birthday month, and this is our theme to tie our Case Files together.

Here is the page I made. Clues I used: Evidence: Patterned ribbon, corrugation, border punch, crown accent, fibers; Testimony, Inspiration Word: Some day.

I used the current sketch from Creative Scrappers as inspiration. My page often looks very different from the sketch since I scrap 8 x 8 and it's hard to fit everything on the page.

Here are a few details. This is my very good friend Tracee Provis who I only know from skyping with her. She lives in the U.K. Here you can see some of the papers I used. The blue and the tan papers are by Chatterbox and the red paper is by Jenni Bowlin. The frame is cut from an Echo Park paper. That crown is an old 7 Gypsies rub-on to which I added bling.

This next picture shows a little jar I cut out from this week's edition of CSI Printables, which you can find in the Case File reveal; if you scroll all the way to the bottom, they're attached. I used it to indicate that I have journaling on the back. I used some old fiber to thie around the jar. That sweet British flag heart is in the Printables. The "on back" is cut from a patterned paper tear strip (it said "coordinating pattern on back.")

Here's my journaling: She calls herself The Crazy Brit. She's anything but crazy. She's kind. She's supportive. She's funny. She's smart. She's wise. She's creative. She's a super-talented scrapper. She's my very close friend. And it's my very dear wish to meet her in person. I want to hug her and sit next to her and just hang out and talk for hours and go shopping at the scrapbook store together. Only problem is, we are separated by a very big ocean.

Luckily, we have Skype (The Crazy Brit is her Skype name), which is how Tracee came to be my very good friend. We talk just about every day. I look forward to getting up early in the morning so we can chat before I leave for work. We scrap together on the weekends. We even had a birthday party for her via Skype last November.

It's funny how you can have such a good, close friend that you've never actually met. But Tracee is the kind of person that just makes me feel at home. She brings sunshine to my mornings with her awesome, warm smile. She makes me laugh so hard with her witty remarks. She's a sympathetic listener when I've got woes and always has sage advice. She's always got great suggestions when I'm stumped with a scrapbook page. She kicks my ass when I'm too lazy to scrap or clean my scrap desk. Sometimes we just have our webcams on and we're scrapping together or surfing the web, not saying much, but it's cozy and fun knowing a kindred spirit is right beside me, even though she's really an ocean away.


Some day I'm going to meet Tracee in real life and hug her and sit right next to her. We've got big plans for her to come, and I'm already fixing up the guest room. I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later. Tracee, love you, girl!

Here's a peek at the title. I found the right blue in an ancient Mustard Moon paper, and those chipboard letters are old Heidi Swapp letters, of which I seem to have an infinite supply. The tiny letters spelling out "the" are Lily Bee, and I put them on a polka dot punched out of an old Wild Asparagus paper. I inked the edges and used a fine-tip pen to draw around the circle.

Here's a peek at some other elements from the CSI Coordinates. The circular label in the background is by Jenni Bowlin, and the scalloped label is by K& Company.

I dug out a bunch of scraps for my banners, including a printed vellum bit.

The Case File reveal is just gorgeous, as always, and I'm so, so excited to have Emma Trout, my scrappy idol, as our Special Agent this month! We have an awesome new sponsor for June, Little Black Dress Kit Club, and they're providing 3 prizes for us this month, so you'll definitely want to come and play.

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

Embrace {Sketchabilities Sketch #72}

We have a beautiful and interesting sketch up at Sketchabilities this week:

Here's the page I made. I started an album for my mom for Mother's Day of some favorite family pictures, and this one's for that album. The album is going to have pictures with quotes. The picture's of my mom and Gram on Mom's wedding day.

I flipped the sketch horizontally. I used BasicGrey's Lily Kate, and the blue background paper is from BasicGrey's Oh, Baby! collection.

Here are a few details. The paisley designs in the LilyKate paper are so pretty and I cut them out and added some pearls to the flower centers.

The frame is my Maya Road, and I mixed a couple of different greens to get a color to match the papers. The leafy branch is a Cheery Lynn die cut, as is the yellow doily behind the frame. I used glittery brown brads for the Old Prima flower centers.

 Here's another picture  showing another flower, I think by Recollections, and tucked underneath is an SEI brad that I thought worked perfectly with this BasicGrey collection.

Go check out the awesome work by the rest of the Sketchabilities team. I love all the different interpretations of the sketch. My page is a pretty literal translation.

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