48 Lessons {CSI Case File No. 39}

Our final September Case File just opened for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. We've had so much fun collaborating with Once Upon a Sketch this month!

Here is the page I made. I turned 49 last month, and I decided to use a picture of me just before I turned 49 to list 48 lessons I learned from when I was 48. Basically, they came from things that happened from me last year and things that were on my mind at the time I was writing. 

Clues I used... Evidence: rub-ons, leaves, bits and pieces, pastel chalk, wings (butterfly), frames; Testimony: Journal about lessons learned.

My original plan was to color my entire background with pastel chalks (I first applied gesso to my BasicGrey Basics paper and then rubbed on all 5 colors of the palette), but I didn't like the way it looked, so I would up cutting a piece of the pastel-colored paper to use. I liked it up with the background paper and stitched it down.

Here are some details: The green leaves on my page are cut from a K&Co. paper. I think that butterfly is also by K&Co.  The die-cut leaves are by Cheery Lynn Designs and the scalloped circle is by Die-Namics. The puffy flower, which has sparkles on it is by Prima, and the flat layered flowers are by Martha Stewart. Those little green dots on the flower are by Colorbok.

I struggled with my title and had about 5 different versions before I settled on thes one. I cut the inside of an old Fontwerks label to make a frame for the 48. The white border is also from a Die-Namics die. You can see the range of colors of pastels I used. I had meant to show more of that but I miscalculated when I stitched it down and didn't realize until after the point of no return.I was so upset and it took about 3 hours to re-figure how I was going to arrange everything on my page. Grrr...

The yellow paper is really old--by Autumn Leaves. The orange polka dot paper is by K&Co, and the little blue frame is by My Little Shoebox.

The green frame is by SEI. The "Notes" stamp, which I heat-embossed with American Crafts Zing powder is by Elle's Studio. I cut a little piece off of a patterned paper tear strip that said "coordinating pattern on the back" to indicate that my journaling is on the back.

Here are my 48 lessons, in case you're interested...

1. Life is so fragile. (James, Richard)
2. Life isn't fair. (James, Richard, Michele)
3. Miracles can happen. (Ezra James)
4. My problems are so insignificant.
5. I am blessed beyond belief.
6. Selling a house is one of the most stressful things ever.
7. Buying a house is one of the most stressful things ever.
8. Unpacking in a new house takes a long, long time.
9. I never want to have so much clutter ever again.
10. Buying shades for a house that has 35 windows is incredibly expensive.
11. Moving into a new house makes you want new furniture.
12. Trying to furnish a house that's twice as big is incredibly expensive.
13. Maybe I should've declawed my cats after all.
14. Living in a bigger, better house is satisfying.
15. Having a bigger, better scrap room is amazing.
16. I don't mind a longer commute.
17. A longer commute helps me stay in touch with my friends and family via phone.
18. I enjoy listening to books on tape while driving.
19. That student who drives me crazy all year can eventually grow on me.
20. People need to stick together to stand up for what is right.
21. I can stand up for myself and refuse to be a doormat.
22. I am too trusting.
23. True friends don't disrespect you.
24. If someone shows you who they really are, believe them.
25. There are evil people, but there are far more people who are truly kind and good.
26. I can make a website that's successful.
27. Managing a  website is very time consuming.
28. I need to learn to delegate instead of doing everything by myself.
29. Being able to scrap with my friends via Skype is so much more fun than scrapping alone.
30. Saving five dollar bills is a great idea.
31. I can walk a 5K, and I can do it every day.
32. Exercising with a friend is actually fun.
33. I am a stress eater. Big time.
34. I need to learn how to deal with stress better.
35. Missing Weight Watchers meetings is NOT a good idea.
36. I should never have hit the reset button at WW.
37. Carry-out really is NOT my friend.
38. I should've worn my bite guard every night.
39. I can get used to electronic cigarettes.
40. I need to be firm and direct about what I want a hairdresser to do to my hair.
41. Finding the right stylist is next to impossible.
42. The United States is fragile and can be quickly destroyed by someone who intends to fundamentally transform everything our country stands for.
43. We the people need to be vigilant.
44. I am not alone in my beliefs.
45. I need to take more pictures.
46. I need to get out more.
47. I need to slow down.
48. A year passes so very quickly.

The picture below shows the little BasicGrey Offbeat rub-ons I sprinkled on my page. The little metal "Life" is by K&Co.

This week's reveal made me seriously smile really big. The colors are so happy, and the design team and guest designers' pages are so amazing, as always. You must go check out what everyone made. You'll definitely want to play. These colors are awesome! I hope to see your work in our gallery!

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

Hideaway {CSI Case File No. 38}

Case File No. 38 is open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration! In case you haven't heard, CSI is teaming up with Once Upon a Sketch for a super-duper, double-the-fun, scrap-a-licious set of challenges in September. Here is our Current Case File, which features one of Nadia's fabulous sketches:

Here is my page. Clues I used: Evidence: branches, birds, flowers, newsprint pattern, border, woodgrain; Testimony: newspaper article, document a pet.

I have to preface this by saying I really don't like my page. I contemplated not including it in the reveal, but I worked so hard on it. My friend Tracee tried to get me to articulate why I don't like it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it other than to say I just don't like the way it looks.

Anyway, here it is:

So, I decided to jump into the gesso craze. I've had a pot of it for a couple of years, sitting pretty much unopened. I wanted to use the newspaper pattern that was part of the Evidence in the Case File, and I remembered an October Afternoon paper, but it had a sort of cream background that I thought would clash with the off-white in the palette. Here's the paper that I started with:

So, I smeared gesso all over it with a used gift card, let it dry, and then rubbed teal, green, and brown ink all
over.

I wrote my story like a newspaper article and tucked it behind the layers on a tag, mainly because I didn't have space. (Yeah, the placement of that bird is one of the many things I hate about my page--if I hadn't stitched everything down, he would've been sitting up higher, on top of the photo, but I couldn't move him because then he'd get stuck on the removable tag and cover up my writing. )

Here's the story: FREDERICK, MARYLAND--Maggie Tehrani retired from her cardboard Costco box and found a new sleeping spot, Farzad Tehrani informed Debbi Tehrani this morning. Maggie was spotted sleeping behind the cookbooks on the bottom shelf of the kitchen console table. When Debbi Tehrani attempted to photograph the sleeping cat, Maggie awoke and tried to make a quick exit. Debbi snapped a blurry photo of the sneaky feline just in time. "It's almost impossible to photograph Maggie," reported Debbi, "She's very camera shy. As soon as she knows you've got a camera, she's on the move."

Maggie has a history of changing sleeping spots. She tends to like closed-in spots. Baskets, shopping baskets, shoeboxes are a few of the containers Maggie has snuggled into. More recently, a Costco box, the space between the kitchen stools and the island, and now behind the cookbooks, are a few of Maggie's favorite spots in her new home in Frederick. "This morning, Maggie couldn't be found," said Pejman, nephew of Farzad Tehrani. Perhaps she's found a new hiding place.

As I was looking for embellishments, I found these Colorbok word stickers that said "lost" and "found" which were the perfect color for my page, and then I luckily found a brad that said "and" in the right colors too. I love when that happens!

The flowers as well as the circle paper are old Wild Asparagus papers. The brown leaves are cut out of an old Scenic Route paper. The letter stickers are by Crate Paper, and I chose them because they have a woodgrain look, that was part of the evidence. I tucked some scraps of dyed cheesecloth that were sitting on my scrap desk to give my page a little more texture. I added those shiny clear dots at the last minute when I was lamenting how much I didn't like my page--I was in a desperate search to add something to make it better. :(

So there you have it. My unsatisfying layout. I'm happy I got to document this story. But I have a feeling this will be one of those pages that will get an "extreme makeover" some day. 

Please go check out what the rest of the design team and our guest designers did with this Case File. Awesome stuff in this week's reveal, as always! And don't forget we have a design team call in progress, so solving this week's Case File will be a part of your application.

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

Best Friends For[n]ever {CSI Case File No. 37}

We have a brand-new Case File open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration! We're partnering up with Once Upon a...Sketch all month, and the OUAS designers are serving as Guest Detectives, and the CSI Detectives are guesting over at OUAS. Double the fun! You'll definitely want to play this month!

Here's my page. I took a break for Monica's book and made a page using a childhood photo of me and a random memory. I thought the colors were perfect for the picture.

Clues I used: Evidence - stripes and dots, labels, circles, buttons; Testimony - breaking journaling across several spots (I originally had it in 3 places but it looked better in two spots--thanks Tracee!); Journaled on note paper (sort of); I couldn't bring myself to handwrite such a long story, but I chose a handwritten font.

My journaling reads: I had a lot of best friends when I was a kid. But never a BFF. We were always moving. I was a shy kid, so it was hard to make friends. And whenever I finally did find a best friend, we'd move. Of all the best friends I had, the one I can remember most vividly was Diane Ryan. I remember going to her house a lot. I remember she had  an enormous Great Dane, and  I could ride him like a horse. I remember Diane had the most beautiful bedroom with a princess bed built right into the wall. Curtains shrouded the bed and we'd hide in there and play I Dream of Jeannie.        

                            

I remember we'd play dress-up with her mom's trunkful of fancy dresses, the kind with layers and layers of ruffled tulle under the skirt, and we'd twirl around and feel just like princesses at a ball. I remember staying up late at night watching scary movies and playing Ouija board in her basement until we'd get goosebumps from imagining there were ghosts in our midst and then  we'd cram that board back in its box. I remember leaving my favorite sandals at her house and I couldn't  go get them because we moved. away again.

Here are some details.The ledger paper is by BasicGrey, as is the black-and-white stripe. The red polka dot paper is Jillibean Soup, and the gray chevron is by Echo Park. The Remember bit is cut out of an old K&Co. paper.

The hexagons are cut from a My Mind's Eye paper. I used my favorite stamp by Catslife Press. It's a stamp they made at my request! The label is by Jenni Bowlin.

I was happy to use some buttons. I have SO darn many. I was thinking about adding some brads sprinkled amidst the buttons, but I wasn't sure if I was going to regret it, so I punched some small circles to see about placement and how it would look with some small brads, and I ended up liking the way the tiny punched circles looked, so I stuck them on. That blue label is an old Fontwerks label.

If anyone recognizes this story, it's because this is an extreme makeover of an old layout I made several years ago. Wanna see? :D I revised the story to add a little more detail, too.

Eek! How embarrassing! I think at the time I thought it was a pretty cool page. How we evolve!

It's funny. I wasn't sure how I was going to like working with the colors. I just loved the inspiration and had to use it, but once I got to playing with it, and then when I saw all the amazing things the CSI Detectives and our guest designers did with this Case File, I fell in love! I hope you'll go check out the reveal and play with us!

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

Summertime Color {CSI Case File No. 31}

We have a new Case File open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, and since it's a new month, we have a new sponsor, Peace, Love, and Scrapbooking, and a new theme: Down by the Sea.

I combined our Case File with Nadia's sketch and journaling prompt over at Once Upon a Sketch to make my page.

And here's my page. Clues I used: Evidence: liquid medium, repetition, circles, solid background; Testimony: Itinerary and inspiration word, color.

I used lots of old stash on my page, along with some yellow mist and yellow and green ink on a stamp in the background and instead of stitching, I drew outlines with pen. In case you're wondering, the blue toes with the rhinestone sandals are mine. :)

Here are some details. That clear flower is from Ki Memories. It came on a sheet. The fuzzy pink brad is by Sassafras Lass. Those circles are cut out of K&Co. paper.

This photo shows some of the papers I used. The pink is K&Co.; the green polka dot paper is Luxe Designs; the yellow polka dot paper is by Echo Park, and that awesome circle paper is in the CSI Coordinates.The yellow transparency is by Hambly. I printed it on photo paper to give it vibrancy. At the last minute, I added those brads to the title.

The fabric clouds are old Love, Elsie. They're so cute. That lime is from a K&Co. paper. The little phrase and word stickers are from the Coordinates.

The white border is from a Cheery Lynn die. I used turquoise staples to attach it. That teal circle patterned paper is by Hambly.

Here's my journaling. Not sure why the photograph made it blue instead of teal. Anyway, some of you know Monica's story from the pages I've been posting over the last month. Monica is my best friend's daughter. Her 23-year-old husband died last month after a 6-year battle with bone cancer. We had these pedicures a couple of days after James's death.  The "Color Key" tells a little behind the meaning of the colors.

I hope you'll go check out our reveal. Lots of colorful eye candy! And please play along with us. We love to see how people solve the Case File!

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

1st Photo {CSI Case File No. 30}

Wow! I can't believe we're already on our thirtieth Case File at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. It's our last Case File for National Ice Cream Month, and I just love the image that inspired our Case File:

I made another page for Monica's book. For those who don't know, Monica is my best friend's daughter, and she recently lost her 23-year-old husband to bone cancer (he was diagnosed at 17). I'm grabbing pictures off of their Facebook pages and making her an album to remember all the sweet, happy memories they shared in their short but beautiful 6-year-marriage.

I used Nadia's current sketch at Once Upon a Time as inspiration for my page design.

I know people say this all the time, but my page really does look better in real life. I used old Wild Asparagus papers, which I believe is the first collection My Mind's Eye ever made. I added some Echo Park bits because they're sponsoring us this month.

Clues I used: Evidence: Distressing, metal, the four patterns (stripes, dots, gingham, floral), and brads; Testimony: Distressed frame

Here are a few details: Here you can see some of the Echo Park bits tucked in. The blue frame is in this week's CSI Coordinates, which you can find at the bottom of the Case File thread.

I add these little banners and camera at the top at the last minute. The cameras are from Echo Park.

I've had these polka dot flowers in my stash forever. The journaling came from the caption to the photo on Monica's facebook page. James and Monica started out as friends in high school. The penguin reference in her journaling refers to the fact that they always called each other their penguins because penguins apparently mate for life. 

Go check out what the rest of the team made. This is your last Case File to solve for a chance to win an Echo Park collection kit of your choice, so if you haven't had time to play yet in July, this is the week!

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