Love Song {CSI Case File No. S365-4}

We have a brand-new Scrap365 Case File open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

This Case File can be found in the February/March issue of Scrap365:

Annette, Tracee, and Val, from our design team have pages published with this Case File in this issue. You can see the rest of the design team's and guest designers' pages using this Case File here.

Here's my page. For those who don't know, my [step]dad passed away just after Christmas. I'm making my mom an album and I'm going to include the journaling in an envelope pasted on the backs of the pages.

Clues I used for this page: Evidence: jewels, metal, decorative border, textured paper, stamps, vellum; Testimony: inspiration word: love; write in the form of a love letter

I used the current Scrap365 Sketch for my page:

Here are some details: The chipboard butterfly is by K&Co. Papers I used are by American Crafts (polka dot, blue triangles), Webster's Pages (diagonal stripe), Little Yellow Bicycle (darker blue). The gold dot vellum is by American Crafts. The label is really old, by Fontwerks. The music border and the tabbed frames were cut out with my Silhouette Cameo. I used blue staples.

I cut the title out with my Silhouette Cameo. The font is called Grand Hotel, and the letters are already linked in the font. The little metal butterfly is by Momenta.

I used the lyrics Love Song by The Cure as my journaling:

Whenever I'm alone with you,
You make me feel like I am home again.
Whenever I'm alone with you, 
You make me feel like I am whole again.

Whenever I'm alone with you,
You make me feel like I am young again.
Whenever I'm alone with you,
You make me feel like I am fun again.

However far away, 
I will always love you. 
However long I stay, 
I will always love you. 
Whatever words I say, 
I will always love you; 
I will always love you.

Whenever I'm alone with you,
You make me feel like I am free again.
Whenever I'm alone with you,
You make me feel like I am clean again.

However far away,
I will always love you.
However long I stay,
I will always love you. 
Whatever words I say, 
I will always love you;
I will always love you.

I couldn't find a long border, so I just flipped the musical element. 

I hope you'll come by and give this Case File a go. The creators of our five favorite layouts will be asked to be guest designers in April. Plus, you have a chance to win a copy of this awesome magazine.

The Color of Happy {Sketchbook365 December Sketch}

The last sketch of the year is up at Sketchbook365, and it's the last one for my term on the design team. What fun I had these past six months!

Here's the sketch, based on an awesome page by Birgit Koopsen.

Here's what I came up with. That's my husband's niece and her husband. They live in Chicago and come to D.C. for a conference every winter and visit us while they're in town. I thought I'd start a book for them. I'm snagging pictures off of their facebook page.

Here are some details. The leaves and "happy" were cut on my Silhouette Cameo. Papers I used are by BasicGrey (dots), Kaiser Craft (wood boards), Webster's Pages (diagonal stripe).

I included the next picture, even though it's similar because it shows the word sticker is a shiny metallic. I was going to attach all my leaves with the Tiny Attacher, but I realized too late that it doesn't have a big enough reach, so just the ones at the bottom are stapled. Timmy, please, please, please, make a long-armed Tiny Attacher stapler! I used texture paste and a stencil by The Crafter's Workshop to do the background, along with a little misted and dripped spray ink.

You must go check out the awesome pages by the rest of the team.

And, hey, wanna win this--the New Year New You collection by Webster's Pages?

Then you need to come play! Check out the details here.

Foolish {Sketchbook365 October Sketch}

We have another fantastic sketch up at Sketchbook365. This month's sketch is based on a layout by Lisa Saunders.

This month, BoBunny donated some of their new collections to the design team. Unfortunately, my package didn't arrive on time, but I dug through my stash and found some older BoBunny papers to use.

I made another page for my friend whose mom died last year.

Here are some details. The background was made with paint mixed with texture paste and a Crafter's Workshop stencil. I brushed gesso on it to tone it down and add more texture. That frame was cut with my Silhouette Cameo.

I used my Silhouette for this starburst too. The Bo Bunny papers are from the Kitchen Spice collection--I think they're from about 4 years ago.

I played around for hours with where my title was going to go. I just couldn't make it go in the spot where it is on the sketch. I originally had that "such a happy day sticker" where the title is, but after lots of moving my title around, I decided it should go on top of the photo. I originally was planning to call my page Silly Girls, but that wasn't fitting, and then I thought of googly eyes and "Foolish" became my title. The little bird is an old Crate Paper brad, and the orange polka dot brad is by Sassafras Lass. 

You must go check out what the rest of the team made with the new Bo Bunny papers, and you'll want to play for a chance to win some!

Mini-Me, You Complete Me {Sketchbook365 September Sketch}

Check out this fabulous sketch based on a layout by Paula Ridley up at Sketchbook365:

I used a fun picture of my brother-and-law and nephew for my page:

Here are some details: I used my Silhouette Cameo for the background and then filled some of the negative spaces with cardstock I had embossed with the Cuttlebug and a few spaces with some old Scenic Route grid paper and other spaces I left empty. In retrospect, I wish I had used the same white cardstock. I always realize these things once I'm all finished.

The stamps are by Evalicious--I had just gotten these in the mail. Not sure if you can read that black tab--it's an old fabric tab by 7Gypsies--it says "contagious," which I thought was funny for this page.

That gray circle paper is really old too, by SEI--it's one of my all-time favorite patterned papers. I have a couple of sheets and I'll be sad when I run out of it.

I had also just bought these little people wood veneers by Studio Calico. I didn't have anything in mind when I bought them, but I thought they were just perfect here.

This was a fun sketch to play with. You'll have to go check out what the rest of the team made here. There's a really cool kit up for grabs by Quirky Kits. I hope you'll play along!

Smile {Sketchbook365 August Sketch Challenge}

We have a really awesome sketch up at Sketchbook365 this month, based on a layout by Rebekah Day:

I love the sprinkled dots on this sketch and knew I wanted to use sequins. I'm making a scrapbook for my friend whose mom recently passed away. I wanted to use happy colors for this sweet photo. I went pretty literal with the sketch:

Here are some details.I used some older papers by My Mind's Eye for this page. The fabric brads are by Recollections. I used gelatos for the pink swashes in the background and stamp ink with a Prima checkered stencil.

It's hard to think of journaling when you don't really know the people in the photo, so I went with a quote. The inky blue lines were made with a stamp.

I wasn't 100% satisfied with the way my page looked and I thought on it and thought on it, and in the morning, I had this image in my head of how I wished I had made the page, but it was too late because my page was due. If I'd had more time, I would've turned the sketch upside down and used butterflies instead of those circles, but I settled with a compromise and added the white punched butterflies on top of some of the circles.

Come see what the rest of the team made with this awesome sketch.

You + Me Equals Happy {Sketchbook365 July Sketch}

We have another fabulous sketch up at Sketchbook365, based on a layout by Sheena Rowlands.

I made a page for Monica using some sweet photos of her and Ezra. Ezra is such a smiley, happy baby and brings Monica great happiness!

This month, BasicGrey kindly sent the design team collection packs from their latest designs. I chose Knee Highs, so most of what you see on my page is from that collection pack.

Here are a few details. The black element is a frame I cut out with my Silhouette Cameo. That little clip is an old Making Memories bit. I used a template from The Crafter's Workhsop for the background.

The pink arrow sticker came in the collection pack. I used some rub-on letters by Headline to add the word "equals" and stuck on a bit of washi tape for added texture.

You'll have to pop over to see what the rest of the design team made with this awesome sketch and play along for your chance to win some of these fabulous new BasicGrey collections!

Sweet Dream {Sketchbook365}

A new sketch is up at Sketchbook365, and I'm particularly excited about that because it's my first reveal as a member of the Sketchbook365 design team! Here's the sketch, which was based on a layout by Birgit Koopsen:

Here's my page. I flipped the sketch upside down. I used Monica's sweet baby Ezra as the subject of my page. That little baby is ALWAYS smiling!

Here are some details. I used my Silhouette to cut out this lily pad. The papers I used for most of this are American Crafts Dear Lizzy. The background is by My Mind's Eye. That lovely lacy border is a die by Cheery Lynn Designs. And don't you hate it when you see a flaw after your page has gone public--I wish I had moved that lilypad a few centimeters to the right--looks like the border is missing. Sigh.

 Those rub-on flowers are supposed to be white, but they're showing up more of a cream. I added some sparkly brads--the small one is by Doodlebug and the big cabochon sparkly flower is by Pebbles. The smaller cabochon is by Webster's Pages.

Sweet sparkly letters are Thickers. I added some pearls to replace the arrows in the sketch. Here you can see I added some vellum with delicate dots. That pink paper between the floral paper and vellum is really old  Autumn Leaves paper.

I adore Brian Andreas, and I thought this quote was perfect for this page. Monica and James had tried to have a baby many times before James died, and Ezra was their little miracle. She was conceived two months before he died, and it was such a blessing that he found out about the baby and was able to name her (they didn't know at the time that Ezra was going to be a girl).

You must go check out the awesome work by the rest of the team. Really gorgeous reveal!

Transform {CSI Case File No. 64}

We have a new Case File open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration!

I used the current sketch over at Sketchbook365 as inspiration for my page design:

Clues I used...Evidence: bird, rub-ons, jewels, circles, fabric, leaves, silhouette, stencils, pen work; Testimony: verbs, inspiration word - transform.

I made this page for my weight-loss album. It's currently what's on my mind right now.

Here are some details.I used my Silhouette to cut the bird and "The Story." The speech bubble is cut from an Amy Tangerine Paper. Those letter stickers are by Lily Bee Designs, and the arrows are old rub-ons--not sure who they're by. Those yellow circles are from a Hambly overlay. Papers I used are by Jillibean Soup (polka dots) , Bella Blvd.(the chevron and cross hatch), K&Co. (the polka dots under my photo), Ki Memories (the leaves), and BasicGrey (black and white stripe).

My journaling on the back reads: Plan. Act. Repeat. It's something I'm working hard on right now. Oh, I'm really good at planning. But the problem is, I've got a bad habit of letting the plan part staying inside my head. So now, I'm trying to move the plan out of my head and into reality. That's where the act part comes in. I've been buying and preparing big batches of vegetables on the weekend so that I have things ready during the week. Right now, I'm on a mashed cauliflower and roasted Brussels sprouts kick. It's been helping me avoid asking Farzad to pick up carry-out during the week. I'm also working on the planning part when going out to eat. That's a big one for me because once I get into a restaurant and see all the temptations on the menu, I just about lose my mind. So now, I'm trying to look up nutritional information online before we go out. I'm trying my best to avoid restaurants as much as I can because they're a danger zone for me. I'm planning. I'm acting. I just need to keep repeating.

Someone was asking about the loopy border at the bottom. It's a Martha Stewart border punch.

I had experimented with some elements trying to get that triangle at the top of the sketch, and things just weren't working. I was about to give up on the sketch when it dawned on me to substitute that one big triangle with a bunch of little ones, so I used a stencil by The Crafter's Workshop and yellow spray ink. Problem solved! I was looking for something to add up at the top and I looked back at the Evidence list and saw fabric and remembered these old fabric tabs by Scrapworks. This was my very first time using washi tape. I stuck a couple of pieces on at the very last minute.

The black scalloped border was cut from an old Heidi Swapp paper. The fabric brads are by BasicGrey. I've been rescuing vellum from my ancient hoard a lot lately. I have so much vellum. It used to be all the rage and I bought tons of it, and then it sort of fell out of popularity, and I forgot all about it. Glad to be using it again!

I added the "one good turn..." phrase because I thought it sort of went with the message of my journaling...sort of a double meaning. I love when that happens!

Come see what the rest of the team made with this fabulous Case File. And I hope you'll play with us. 

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