Safe Harbor {CSI Case File No. 10}

Before I share the current Case File and my layout, I just wanted to remind any readers of my blog that we're having a design team call at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

You can read all about the details here.

We have a dramatic image inspiring our Case File and colors this week:

I wanted to do something dramatic (for me) with my layout this week, and here's what I came up with:

Clues I used:
Evidence: cloud accents, fabric, metal, create light and shadow, use contrasting textures.
Testimony: story about mother hood, compare/contrast people, shed light, and all three inspiration words.

My background paper is BasicGrey, from one of their original collections. The lighthouse came from a Webster's Page paper from their Yacht Club collection. There was a sailboat in front of the lighthouse that I had to cut out because it had happy words celebrating summer which didnt' go with my story. So I had a big gap where I had cut it off and scratched my head trying to figure out how to hide it. I was so happy to find a paper by Little Yellow Bicycle that had a sailboat I could use to do the trick. The seagull and sand dollar stickers are by October Afternoon. I used Distress Stickles to outline the sand dollars because I thought they have a rough, sandy texture.

I had been admiring how Brit Sviggum, who's on my design team, was using cheesecloth on her layouts and decided to give it a try. It was tricky trying to get just the right green, and it wasn't perfect but I managed to get it pretty close to the green in the palette. I first rubbed green distress ink on it, but it was not the right shade, so I tried putting the cheesecloth in a plastic bag, adding a couple of different spray ink, and smushing it around in the bag, and this is what I came up with. I also added a hand-stitched circle, which is something I rarely do--I generally use my sewing machine. The letters are old Heidi Swapp chipboard and old BasicGrey letters that perfectly match the colors.

I was using a sketch from the Creative Scrappers e-book, Creating With Sketches, which is a FANTASTIC book (I used the sketch on the bottom of page 24), and I knew I wouldn't have enough space on my 8 x 8 page to tell my story, so I added hidden journaling on the back, and let the reader know in the bottom corner to turn the page over. The "tell your story" bit is a piece trimmed off of a Webster's Page letter sticker sheet.

My hidden journaling reads:  Throughout the tumult and turmoil of my childhood, Gram was always our safe harbor. She was the solid rock that gave us refuge and protection from the storms of Mom's turbulent marriage to Jose. When the conditions of our defective family  turned stormy, we'd head to the calm and stability of Gram's safe haven. She was always there to welcome us with open arms. Countless times we'd pile into the car in the black of night to head to the light and calm of Gram's home. Three times we moved to Bolivia, and thankfully three times Gram brought us back. More than a dozen years we endured unhappiness and fighting and alienation and abuse but always we knew we could flee and return to Gram's safe harbor. In the midst of the turmoil and sadness, there was always that light of hope that one day, it would all be over.  

In the end, I was lucky enough to provide safe harbor for Mom when finally she left the source of her misery for good. After she came to see with clear eyes the evil he was, Mom stayed with Farzad and me until she could get on her feet. And I am so proud that she finally left him and worked hard to turn her life to light and happiness. Mom is now a rock of stability in our family. And now, in the gentle storms Gram's aging, Mom is Gram's safe harbor. It's not always easy for Mom to have Gram living with her and Ed, but Mom has always had a loving and generous spirit, and Gram is so lucky to have Mom to protect her. It warms my heart to belong to a family where we will always be there for each other no matter what storms may blow in.

The clouds were trimmed from a We R Memory Keepers paper. I outlined them with a very fine pen and added some Stickles. That compass came from the same Little Yellow Bicycle paper as the boat, and I just added a brad to the center. That pink was very hard to find in my stash, but I found the perfect match (even though the photo doesn't show it's a perfect match) in an old SEI Penelope's Potpourri paper, and as a bonus, it was velvet, to go with the fabric clue of the challenge.

Our Detectives, once again, did a phenomanl job with this Case File, and our members are already adding gorgeous work to the gallery for this challenge, so I hope you'll come check out what we made! And you will definitely want to play for a chance to win a prize from our sponsor, Words or Whatever, or if you're interested in applying for the design team.

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



CCG + CP4U = One Lovely Challenge!

I'm a weekend scrapper, and last weekend was especially busy, so I had to combine my challenges for Color Combos Galore and Creative Prompts for You. Our challenge at CP4U this week was an all-play, with several of us contributing parts to the challenge:

Nicole - use a doily
Me - include a banner
Solange - use lace
Kaori - use rub-ons

I had the pleasure of making the Inspiration Board for CCG this week. Everyone on the team says they hate purple, but we haven't done a purple in the while, so I jumped at the chance of including it in the palette!

And here is what I created by combining these two fun challenges. While searching for papers in the proper colors, I found lots of old stuff, plus a few newer things to use. The papers I used are My Mind's Eye (the polka dot and the stripe), Melissa Frances (the lavendar strip), Webster's Pages (the lanterns), SEI (the leaves), American Crafts (the journaling spot-looking things), and I think that painty-looking lavendar paper in the circle is Kangaroo and Joey (that shows you how old my stash runs!).

My hidden journaling reads: My wisteria has taken over the tree shading our deck, turning our back yard into a veritable jungle. But I adore the cascading lavender blooms draping the branches and the lovely fragrance that greets me when I open the door, and my wisteria always lets me know that spring has finally arrived.

  Here are a few detail shots. As I was searching for the right colors, I came across a Webster's Pages paper that had these teal lanterns, and I thought I could make them into a sort of banner. I added lilac brads to the top and stuck some pearls on them and then added some baker's twine meandering across the grouping to make them more like a banner.

You can see I used two doilies on this page, the larger one forming the circle on my page, and this smaller Martha Stewart doily under the flower. The purple flower is just a silk flower I got at Michael's and attached it with a pretty fabric K&Co brad which was just the right shade of green for the color combo I was working with. I was delighted to discover the SEI Poppy paper that had these teal leaves. At the last minute, I added those Kaiser Craft pearls beneath the word sticker to go with the pearls I had added to the lantern banner.

I knew I wanted to include some butterflies, but of course I didn't have any purple or teal butterflies, so I searched for a butterfly on the internet and then changed the colors of them, and printed them on photo paper. The transparency thingy is an old My Mind's Eye accent that's been in my stash for years. My letters are also really old Wordsworth rub-ons. I outlined them with a fine-line pen to make them stand out more.

Here you can see that lavendar paper I used, and I found some purple lace in my stash! What a lucky find!

The CP4U and CCG design teams did fabulous work with these challenges, so pop over and check them out, and as always I hope you'll play along! There are fun prizes to be won, but more importantly, the challenges themselves are great fun!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and reading about my page.

Inspired {CP4U #59}

Last week, it was my turn to provide the challenge at Creative Prompts for You, and this is what I shared:

I decided to use the basic color scheme and grid design as inspiration for my page, as well as details from each of the images in the prompt. Here's what I came up with:

The stacked teacups in the first square inspired me to use the sweet birdie in a teacup, trimmed from a Webster's Pages paper. The flower is by Recollections, inspired by the pink flowers in pictures 5 and 7, and the brad is K&Co.

The ampersand from the second image inspired my title. I originally had another title in mind, but when I was trying to figure out how to use the ampersand on my page, this title came to mind. The chipboard ampersand is Heidi Swapp, and the letter stickers are by Webster's Pages. That polka dot paper is My Mind's Eye from the Lush collection.

The newspaper sailboat inspired my use of text paper for the background and also these leaves, made by Recollections. All the paper squares are cut from Webster's Pages papers except for the two pink ones.

The swan from picture 4 inspired this part of my page. This swan was cut from a Webster's Pages paper. Their papers have so many beautiful images to cut out for that special magical touch! I should've added some jewels to her crown. I think I'll go back and do that!

I had thought of sewing the squares onto my background, but I didn't want to flatten them out. I had used my Distrezz-It-All to rough up the edges. Instead, I drew an outline with black pen.

Picture 7 inspired my square with the clouds. I embossed them with my Cuttlebug. I outlined the little banner, which was trimmed from a Webster's Pages Paper, as were this frame and turtle-riding fairy.

My little flags were inspired by the picture 8. I'm not sure who made the stick pins.

Here is mini-me--an old school picture. Wish I had pictures of me eating and humming but Mom didn't think to do take a snapshot of that. I desaturated the picture because the colors would've clashed. That cream-colored element is by Pink Paislee.

The CP4U team did some awesome work with this prompt! Love to see everyone's interpretations on the prompts each week. Go check it out here.

Thank you for stopping by and reading about my page!



Fashion Month Kicks Off at CCG!

A new month brings a new theme at Color Combos Galore, and this month is going to be a fun one! It's Fashion Month at CCG, and here's a little song for your listening pleasure to go with this week's challenge:



Here's what we got to play with this week:

(A little side note on the color names: Janet and I were talking on the phone trying to come up with names for the colors, and we decided to go with fabrics. The first three came fairly easy. When we got to the fourth color, we were debating about what color it was. I thought it looked olive; Janet said it was gray. Janet was thinking of "Funky Flannel," but I said they still wouldn't know what color it was. We went back and forth, and I said it's sort of like "mystery meat," and that's when we both started cracking up and decided that would be the name of the fourth color. Ha-ha--a little double entendre.)

I was in a time crunch this week, so I combined this challenge with the challenge at Creative Prompts for You, where our prompt was Gustav Klimt's painting, "The Kiss." This painting inspired the topic and title of my layout.

A friend of ours took some beautiful photos of us during our wedding ceremony, but sadly, he didn't capture our "you may now kiss the bride" moment. Luckily, I have this snapshot that my sister took of us at the reception. It's really dark, but I wanted to document this moment in time from thirty years ago. I plan to journal on the back of the page.

Here are some closeups. I dug out lots of old papers and combined them with newer stuff. I added so many layers that you can only see a hint of the BasicGrey Capella paper and the Webster's Pages paper. The gray paper in the background is really old Mustard Moon paper, and the piece that ooks like a tile is Marah Johnson, by Creative Imaginations, also ancient. The little postage stamp looking bits are cut from an old K&Co. Life's Journey vellum sheet that I've had FOREVER. The Noteworthy card is from Echo Park's For the Record collection.

Like I said, I interpreted that fourth color as olive, so I dug out some peridot embossing powder and used this cool KaiserCraft stamp on vellum. I was worried the heat gun would melt the vellum, but it stood up nicely. The sparkly letters are Thickers, and the little birdcage, butterflies, and clock were cut out of some Webster's Pages papers.

Of course I had to add some flowers on a wedding page. The fabric rose is Bo Bunny, cut from some flower ribbon, and I added a jeweled brad. I got a ton of these from Jo'Ann's years ago, and they're so pretty--the brand is Creating Keepsakes. The other two flowers are Prima.

The pretty gray ruffled trim is Pink Paislee. I originally used the border punch beneath it on some patterned paper, but it looked too heavy with the delicate ruffles, so I decided to dig out some more vellum (I probably have 200 sheets of that stuff from way back when it was all the rage) and punched it. I ran my embossing ink over the edge and sprinkled it with the same peridot embossing powder.

I've got some doilies tucked in there, and it's hard to see, but I added some sheer swiss dot fabric between the bottom and the next layer--inspired by the fabric in the Inspiration Photo. The leafy stems are stamps by Melissa Frances.

Head on over to CCG and CP4U and see the awesome work everyone did, and you'll surely want to play along. There are, as always, prizes to be won. Check out both sites for details.

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

Hey There, Cupcake! {A Delicious, Dreamy Palette at CCG}

Challenge 181 just went live at Color Combos Galore, and we're rounding out our month-long theme of sweets with an especially delicious palette!

Check out those fancy-schmancy names I came up with for the colors! :) What's a furbelow, you ask?

1. a ruffle or flounce, as on a woman's skirt or petticoat.

2. any bit of showy trimming or finery.

Here's the page I made with this beautiful palette. I dug out some really old Li'l Davis polka dot paper and combined it with a bunch of different Webster's Pages papers and a fun textured paper. The filigree cupcake liners immediately made me think of doilies.

Here are some detail photos. The butterfly, journaling spot and paper lanterns are cut from various Webster's Pages papers. The Eau de Toilette piece came from a Design Originals book of ephemera cut-outs that I bought years and years aog. And remember when Making Memories made those washers with the words and the K&Company came out with sticker versions of those? Yeah, I bought them, and there they've sat in my stash for eons. But lately, I've been trying to use some of my older stash and this sticker was the perfect color, so I went for it. I think mounting it on a punched circle, adding a jeweled brad, and tucking it into other layers updated its look a bit! Oh, and that gate sticker? It's by Mrs. Grossmans. Gasp! I almost got rid of that a couple of years ago when I was purging stuff from my stash. So happy I kept it!

The yellow and green flowers are cut from Webster's Bloomers and American Crafts ribbon trim. I nestled some jeweled brads in the centers to hold them in place. The wispy blue flower is from Michael's Recollection brand. I tucked in a little burgundy flower, as inspired by that some of the flowers on the cupcakes and also to balance the bit of burgundy on the umbrella.

This lovely silhouette was cut out of a Webster's Pages Hollywood Vogue paper. I put her on pop dots and added some pearls to the flowers on her hat. Isn't that yellow paper cool? I've had it for ages. Not sure where I picked it up, but it's by The Paper Company. The embossed word stickers are also pretty old and are by K&Company. I love adding word stickers--they add that little something to the story, and my layouts always feel naked without them.

The resin photo corner is by Melisa Frances. So pretty and detailed!

The umbrella is also from a Webster's Pages paper. I added black Ranger's Enamel Accents over the black dots that were printed on the umbrella to add some texture to this cut-out.

The design team did some amazing work with this palette--go over and take a peek. And I hope you'll play along. This is the last week to post a project in our Gallery to qualify for a cool prize provided by our sponsor, Unity Stamp Company. Plus, you might just wind up as our Gallery Fave or become a Featured Member for a future challenge!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and looking at my layout!



An Elegant Valentine Palette at CCG!

Challenge 179 went live at Color Combos Galore last night, and this week's palette was chosen in honor of upcoming Valentine's Day. I love that we included gray in the mix:

This palette, plus the Designer's Challenge, was perfect for scrapping one of my wedding photos. I've just recently started re-scrapping them. When I first started scrapping, I was so excited with all the stickers and deco scissors, that I went to town on my wedding pictures, and unfortunately I ruined a lot of them with those dreadful scissors. I cringe when I look at that first scrapbook I made. It wasn't until lately that I've gotten the courage to start scrapping them again.

Here's the page I made. We got married way back in 1981--yes, that means we'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary this July! Boy does that make me feel old (though I was a child bride--really--I was seventeen)! The picture was taken in front of the courthouse steps.

I had pulled a whole bunch of papers out when I started planning my page, and to my surprise and delight, this clapperboard from one of the Webster's Pages Hollywood Vogue papers had the number 24 on it--we got married on July 24!

This transparent detail was cut from a Teresa Collins transparency that has a whole bunch of these pretty framed words on them. I wanted to lift it off the page so that the print would cast a pretty shadow on the white background. I added some jewels so that I could put the pop dots behind them.

I thought the Hambly birdcage rub-on was a perfect accent because it has two little lovebirds inside. I got that pretty laser-cut frame from a local scrapbook store. The "memories" label is also Teresa Collins, and the ticket is from The Graphics Fairy (my new best friend)--it comes in a whole sheet with different sayings, and what I love is that I can make it any size I want--which is important when you scrap 8 x 8. And isn't that border punch pretty? It's by EK Success.

I used some old 7 Gypsies paper (the circles with flowers) and added some gray pearls for shine and dimension. The red sayings came from Teresa Collins--it's a sheet of paper that has a gazillion word strips on it, all in red, black, and white. I got the butterfly through Google Images. I love the new Google feature that lets you select what color images you want. I knew I wanted red butterflies, so it was easy to find a couple of pretty ones and make them just the right size for my small page. I just printed them, cut them out, and popped on my page with pop dots under the wings and added some sparkly jewels. Yeah, after I drew in those antennae, I wished I had drawn them longer.

Here's a different red butterfly I found through Google Images.  Love all the pretty jeweled swirls they're making nowadays--perfect for a butterfly trail. And I added some lace at the top. Love the embossed Swiss dot cardstock.

This journaling spot is also from the Graphics Fairy. After I put it on, I realized the white was a way different shade than the other white cardstock pieces I had used, and it stuck out like a sore thumb, so I smudged some gray chalk around the edges.

The roses on the Inspiration Board cupcakes inspired me to use these tiny roses I got at Michael's (by Recollections). I love the edging BasicGrey has been adding on their glazed brads lately. So pretty! The gray velvet letters are American Crafts Thickers.

The frames I added to the left and right edge of my page are from a Teresa Collins paper. I added a bit of a Webster's Pages paper behind this one. The "Know This" stamp is also by Teresa Collins. I heat embossed it to make it a nice bold black.

The CCG team, Featured Member, and guest designer did a beautiful job with this palette. You should go take a peek at their work. And you should definitely play along--you might be selected as an upcoming Featured Member or even win the February prize from this month's sponsor, Unity Stamp Company. I hope to see your work in our Gallery soon!

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading about my page!