Immural {CSI Case File No. 96}

So here I am squeaking my layout in at the last minute again. Sigh.

Even though we open a new Case File tomorrow evening at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration, this fantastic Case File is still open for a few days.

Tracee and I took a few weeks of from our Excellent Adventures, but we're back again with another episode. Here's my page. You can see Tracee's amazing version here.

Clues I used... Evidence: mesh, typewriter accent (sort of--I thought the circular numbers reminded me of typewriter keys), typewriter font, frame, transparent stuff, hinge (part), rhinestones, gold metal, paint. Testimony: typewriter font.

I used a ScrapFriends sketch again. They have such terrific sketches and are of immense help when I find myself just staring at my scrap desk wondering where to begin.

Here are some details. I've been trying to experiment with mixed media backgrounds lately. I think I might've gone a little overboard, but it was fun anyway. The title is a pun, even though I don't really think Tracee is "immoral." Just having a little fun in front of one of the cool murals painted on a brick wall in downtown Frederick. I added paint to texture paste and used it with a stencil by The Crafter's Workshop. The stamps are by Kaiser Craft.

Here's a part of a hinge, and it's gold colored, so that served double-duty. The rub-ons are old 7-gypsies rubbings. 

I used some old 7 gypsies papers on my page (the black and the red prints). The yellow striped paper is by My Mind's Eye. I dug out some old Magic Mesh and vellum. Love using old stuff.  I kept staring at my layout and it needed something. Tracee suggested some tiny black triangles, which was just the right thing. I added a couple of red ones and hand drew some too.

I've amassed a little stash of washi tape but always forget to use it. It was the perfect thing for adding the gray from the palette.

We have 13 arts sponsoring CSI this month, so you'll want to play, and their awesome design team has joined us as Guest Detectives. You have GOT to go check out Aida Domisiewicz's layout--so amazing!

The Story of a Girl {CSI Case File No. 95}

So I wasn't pleased with the photograph of my layout from this week's Case File, and I had wanted to retake it, but the week was so busy and now it's raining. Sigh. Anyway, we had a really pretty monochromatic palette in the Case File:

Here's my page. The transparent wing on the butterfly shifted (or maybe it was the shadow from the sun), which is the reason why I wanted to retake the picture. Clues I used...Evidence: paint, distressing, wood, fabric (canvas chipboard letters), metal, tearing; Testimony: Document an old memory, feeling blue (sad memory).

I used this sketch from ScrapFriends:

Here are some details. These butterflies are by Pink Paislee. The dots are on their leaves are sparkly. Papers I used on my page are by Little Yellow Bicycle (gingham and background), Echo Park (darker blue), and My Mind's Eye (brown inside the frames).  I printed my journaling on the gingham paper and it didn't quite show up, so I brushed gesso on it and ran it back through the printer. My journaling reads:

Gram says that if you looked at me cross-eyed when I was a kid, I'd break out into tears. Great big, fat tears. Crocodile tears, she'd call them.

I don't remember the cross-eyed part, but I do remember indulging in gargantuan sob-fests. The kind that clench your heart and don't let go. The kind that make your whole body shake. The kind that get you gasping for air. The kind of crying you just can't stop once you get going.

I cried a lot in school--problems at home made me sad. Kids being mean made me bawl--and that was the worst. Mom always told me that I was just giving them what they wanted when I cried, but I just
couldn't help myself.

I've always been sensitive--even now as an adult. I cry when my feelings are hurt, and I cry when I'm angry. I sob at sad movies. I cry at church. Every time I've been pulled over by a cop, I've cried. It's embarrassing, really. One thing I must say, though, I always feel better after I've had a really good cry.

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the frames. I felt there was too much brown showing, so I tucked some pieces of doilies in there--I was happy with how that turned out.

I've been trying to be braver with getting messy on my backgrounds. I used a distress stamp in the background and then I mixed gesso and white acrylic paint and used a Crafter's Workshop stencil. I outlined a couple of the circles. I also did some spritzing with spray ink.

This Case File is open until Sunday, midnight. I hope you'll go check out the awesome layouts that the rest of the team and our guest designers made. This is your last chance to win some awesome prizes from our October sponsors, Wycinanka and PaperCrafts Scandinavia/Inkado.

Secret Garden {CSI Case File No. 92}

Our most recent Case File at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration is so soft and lovely.

These pastels are a little out of my comfort zone, but I was pleased with how my page turned out. This is my husband's niece and her husband. They were in town last weekend visiting, and I thought it would be fun to make a book for them, so I grabbed this picture off of Facebook.

Clues I used: Evidence - gems, pearls, cabochon flowers, dangle something, charms, silhouette, handmade flowers, lace, stacked elements (which I'm realizing I left off the Case File image--Doh!);  Testimony - Tuck your story between layers so some of it shows (I stuck in some tags they could journal on. I used an inspiration word for the title and also one for a word sticker.

I found this lovely sketch from Scrap Friends and used it for my page composition.

Here are some details. The papers I used are by Maja Designs. My beautiful friend Eila Sandberg sent them to me, and I thought they were just perfect for this Case File. The colors almost match the palette perfectly in real life.

That flourishy  frame was cut out with my Silhouette Cameo, as were the leaves and other frames. I have SO many metal charms from when they were popular back in the day. I was glad to be able to use one on this page.

The border punches I used are both by Martha Stewart. I kind of messed up on the stamping, and kept trying to fix it and finally decided I better quit while I was ahead. I am so "messy"-challenged.

I used several rub-ons on this page--the stitching is one. The label in the corner is actually a stamp. Those butterflies were cut from a Maja Designs paper. I was happy to use some of the cabochon flowers I've been accumulating. I always forget to use them.

Here's my handmade flower. I was feeling lazy and was going to put on a flower that was "handmade in China," when Tracee gave me the idea to make one out of lace. Easy peasy. The flourishy rub-ons are old ones by BasicGrey. I still have so many of those.

I used a Crafter's Workshop and some texture paste to add some dimension. I love the subtle distressing on these papers.

We had a humongous reveal this week. You must go see. So many beautiful creations by the design team and guest designers. We have two main sponsors, so lots to see and possibilities to win!

Mom and Me, By the Sea {CSI Case File No. 91}

I've been completely thrown off my schedule by the death of my cat this week. I should've posted this days ago, but better late than never.

Here's the Case File. Quite unusual colors, but I love the way they look together.

I'm making a book for my friend whose mom passed away last year. Clues I used...Evidence... bird, wet medium, stripes, metal accents, something iridescent, speech bubbles; Testimony: Journal in a speech bubble.

I started with a sketch from ScrapFriends. I totally messed up, and had to add those waves. I had those little tiles of patterned paper and thought I needed something else, so I added the colored texture paste with the stencil, and I put it too far down. And I'm such a miser that I didn't want to waste paper, so the waves were  my remedy.

Here are some details: I cut the waves out with my Silhouette Cameo and outlined them. I spritzed them with Heidi Swapp mist, which is iridescent, as are the sequins I added. I added some little Studio Calico birdies that I love so much.

I'm in love with these Crate Paper slide frames. I wish there were more of the smaller ones in the pack. 

You still have the rest of the weekend to play with this Case File. You should go check out what the rest of the team and guest designers made. Awesome stuff, as always!

Lizard King {CSI Case File No. S365-2 and ScrapFriends GD}

I recently discovered ScrapFriends sketch challenge, and have fallen in love with their sketches. Imagine my surprise, when my layout was chosen as a favorite and I was invited as a guest designer for October. Look at this awesome sketch I got to play with:

I've been so very busy with school, and I also needed to make a page for our special Case File over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration--our second collaboration with Scrap365, so I decided I'd combine the ScrapFriends Sketch and the Case File to make my page.

Clues I used...Evidence: spirals, crowns, stencils, tearing, needlework, tile-style letter stickers; Testimony: book title, begin with "Once Upon a Time."

Here are some details. Godzilla is a bearded dragon I got for my classroom when my old one died. Beardies are very docile lizards, but Godzilla turned out to be a ferocious little bugger, so I couldn't take him to school. He lives with in my husband's shop, and he really thinks he's hot stuff. I was looking for a book title that had lizard in the title, and came across the Lizard King. My husband is always saying "Life is Good," so I thought that little wooden Studio Calico bit was perfect here. That brown textured paper is something I've had in my stash forever, and its roughness sort of reminded me of Godzilla's scaly skin.The brown dots were made with texture paste mixed with some Mr. Huey's mist and a stencil by The Crafter's Workshop.

I struggled and struggled with where to put journaling, and it finally came to me that I'd write on the spiral I had cut out with the Silhouette Cameo. It reads: "Once upon a time, there was a dragon who thought he was king of the world. But really he was just a lizard trapped in a cage." 

I love the slide holder frames by Crate Paper. The washi tape is  a shimmery gold, which doesn't show up well in the photo.

The red paper is by Jillibean Soup, the background paper is by BasicGrey, the yellow stripe is My Mind's Eye, and the green is old Chatterbox. 

Thanks so much for looking at my page. I hope you'll come play with us at CSI. This special Case File will be open for the whole month. And you'll definitely want to play with the ScrapFriends sketch--so fun, and there's a prize up for grabs for both challenges!

Mascot to the Rescue {CSI Case File No. 88}

So September is my birthday month, and that gave me the idea for this month's Case Files. I found images that had a little something to do with me. This week's Case File speaks of my profession:

The page I made relates to my job too. Clues I used...Evidence: Floral paper, ledger paper, stars, globe, pen, doodle, chalk. (I had planned to use a clock and frame, but I got carried away and it slipped my mind.) Testimony: Book title as inspiration, bullet points, inspiration word: teach.

It was my birthday weekend and I had a busy two days, so I had to do my page in a jiffy. I used another Scrap Friends sketch to help me get started this week:

I finished my page in record time. Once I figured out my story and picked out my papers, I assembled my page in just over 3 hours! Here's my layout. Not sure why the background paper looks so yellow--it's really beige.

And some details. My title came from a book title I found at Good Reads. The leaves were cut with my Silhouette Cameo. I made the dots in the background by using embossing ink over a Crafter's Workshop mask and then rubbing over it with orange chalk. Those stars are by Studio Calico.

So you're probably wondering about the fluffy floating cat balls. We just got a new curriculum this year. In every subject. My two teammate and I are so stressed out--almost to the point of tears. So I often send funny pictures in my emails to my teammates. I came across this one (and you MUST click on this link for the full effect), and I later made a little poster with this picture for us to hang by our desks that says "We three are mighty and powerful. Together we can get through anything!"

I found this BasicGrey "Shift Key" clip and used it to symbolize that we can shift our moods and attitudes.

The Studio Calico wooden speech bubbles were perfect for this page about school. Papers I used are Bo Bunny (ledger in the background), Making Memories (ledger used for journaling); My Mind's Eye (floral); Crate Paper (orange, striped, yellow).

I made the globe from a Silhouette cut. The 3 brad stands for the three of us teachers. I thought the word stickers I found (brown 7gypsies and beige Cosmo Cricket) were just perfect for this page too.

As I said, I was in a jiffy and forgot to include some things I had originally planned to use, one of which was tiny brads for the bullet journaling. I was going to tuck a clock in my page somewhere too.

I hope you'll go check out what the rest of the team and guest designers made--awesome stuff. This was a really fun Case File that I hope you'll play with! Not to mention a chance to win some fabulous prizes from our sponsor Flying Unicorn!

Who Needs Sightseeing...? {CSI Case File No. 86}

I'm so late sharing my layout for our latest CSI Case File. I've just gone back to school and I've been positively swamped. This Case File's palette is yummy and reminds me of gelato ice cream:

As you probably guessed, my layout documents another episode of Tracee & Debbi's Excellent Adventures. This time, our trip to a scrapbook store.

Clues I used...Evidence: Art mediums, stripes, dog accents (sort of), tie something, journaling; Testimony: I used all three inspiration words.

I recently found out about Scrap Friends and their fantastic sketches. I fell in love with the current sketch and just had to give it a go.

Here's my page. You can see Tracee's beautiful page here. My page photographed strange. The colors look kind of dull. They're very close to the palette and more vibrant. 

Here are some details. For the art mediums clue, I used texture paste and gelatos, with a stencil by The Crafter's Workshop. First, I used the stencil to apply the texture paste. Once the paste dried, I placed the stencil on top and used a paint brush to brush over some of the circles with some watered-down gelatos. I can't rembmer all of the papers I used, but I think they're by Studio Calico and My Mind's Eye.

The frame is cut with my Silhouette Cameo. I used some pink vellum as one of the layers and part of the evidence. I thought that 1 + 1 brad was the perfect addition to my page. Tracee and I asked the lady in the scrapbook store to take a picture of us, and she suggested we pose with our receipts. As you can see, I was the winner (or the loser, depending upon your perspective, LOL).

I wanted to use a dog, but anything doggy I had was the wrong color. I came across this Dear Lizzy fox sticker and thought, a fox is a canine, right? The little jars are cut from Dear Lizzy paper.

I had just bought these little wooden people icons a couple of weeks ago, and they were the perfect addition to my page. When Tracee and I were planning her trip here, we made a list of things she wanted to do and see while she was visiting. Washington DC is home to some of the best museums in the world--and they're free. But topping Tracee's list was scrapbooking shopping. Can't say that I blame her!

I tend to like brighter colors, but I had fun scrapping with this lovely palette, and you should definitely go check out what the rest of the team and guest designers created. Be sure to play with us for a crack at winning awesome 2Crafty chipboard.