Hello, Life: CSI Case File No. 457 & Rosie's Studio

I haven't written on my blog in over a year. Life is so busy, and I don't know if anyone ever reads blogs anymore, but I wanted to share my journaling for this layout I created for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. (If you do still read blogs, can you just post a quick comment at the bottom that you've read my post?)

This layout documents a journey I’ve been on for over four decades—my weight-loss journey. But this time, I’m doing things differently. As of today, I’m down 50.2 pounds, and I’m feeling hopeful, determined, and proud. 

Here are the Case File and Clues. 

For this CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration challenge, I was inspired by the beautiful color scheme and ran with it! I followed the Testimony clues by using the inspiration words life and hello, a typewriter font, and a theme that touches on adversity—because let’s be honest, this has been one of the hardest battles of my life. 

From the Evidence list, you’ll find: floral pattern, woodgrain, textured cardstock, hexagons, brick pattern, lemons, ampersands, typewriter, cursive font, metal, wood, transparent elements, and circles.

I’ll be adding my journaling on the back. Here's what it says:

This journey isn’t just about losing weight—it’s about learning how to show up for myself with love, honesty, and patience.

For so long, I thought success meant following a perfect plan--and following it perfectly. But No BS has taught me that success is actually about consistency, not perfection. It’s about making decisions from love instead of fear. About listening to my body instead of fighting it.

I’m learning to stop obsessing over the scale and start asking better questions—like, “Did I show up today in a way that makes me proud?” or “Am I making choices my future self will thank me for?”

Some days, the scale doesn’t move—or it goes up—and I want to cry. But even those days are teaching me something: that my worth isn’t tied to a number. That my body responds to care and consistency, even if it’s not always on my timeline.

I’ve learned how to eat to fuel my brain and body, not just to soothe emotions. I’ve practiced stopping at enough, even when food tastes amazing. I’ve experimented with adding more calories when I needed them, and with skipping snacks when I wasn’t hungry—and every time, I’ve built more trust in myself.

One of the biggest areas of growth has been learning how to handle restaurants and social food events. I used to feel anxious, like I had to “get it right” or I’d blow everything. Now, I go in with a plan and a calm mind. I ask myself what I want to feel like after the meal, not just during it. I’ve learned how to enjoy the experience without overeating—and if I do overeat, I don’t beat myself up. I own it, learn from it, and move forward. Eating out is no longer a threat to my goals—it’s just another opportunity to practice trust.

I’ve also discovered how important it is to eat healthy foods—not because I “should,” but because I want to feel good. When I nourish my body with real, whole foods, I feel clearer mentally and lighter physically. I’m more energized. My moods are more stable. I don’t feel foggy, bloated, or sluggish. Choosing those foods isn’t punishment—it’s care. It’s respect.

Another huge shift is how I treat myself when I make a mistake. In the past, one moment of overeating would spiral into a whole day, week, or even months of giving up and going numb with food. But now, I stop the cycle with compassion. I forgive myself. I take the next best step. I don’t make it worse by quitting—I make it better by getting back to myself quickly. That’s been one of the most life-changing parts of this work.

I’m proud of the habits I’ve built: walking after meals, strength training at the Y, eating mindfully, journaling, and checking in with myself emotionally. I’ve had emotional days—hell, emotional weeks—but I’ve kept going. I’ve cried and gotten back up. I’ve shown myself what it means to commit, even when it’s slow.

This is no longer just about losing weight.

This is about becoming the version of me who knows she can handle anything.

This is about becoming the version of me who finally believes:

“I can do this—even when it’s hard, even when it’s slow. I’m not giving up on myself this time.”

After four decades of dieting—losing weight and regaining it over and over again—I finally feel confident that this time, with the help of No BS and my coach Lizzie, I will reach my goal.

And I will lose this weight for the last damn time.

The ampersand in The Scene drew my eye, and I immediately thought of including the large ampersand as a bold focal point, not just for its visual impact, but for the symbolism it holds on my weight-loss journey. The ampersand represents more—more growth, more learning, more milestones to come. It speaks to the idea that I'm not done yet. Yes, I’ve lost 50 pounds, and I’m still going. I’m gaining strength, confidence, and insight with every step. This journey isn’t just about reaching a number—it’s about becoming the next version of me. I created the ampersand with my Silhouette Cameo and used an old navy floral paper by Little Yellow Bicycle for my ampersand and floral pattern clues. My title was created with a Momento metal die (hello) and a Bramble Fox Perspextive, meeting two of the Testimony clues.

I found a chartreuse frame in my stash and changed my photo to black and white to coordinate with the color scheme. The transparent elements—super old pieces from my stash by Making Memories—add a delicate, almost ethereal layer that echoes the idea of transformation happening beneath the surface. I scattered leaf and flower die cuts from Rosie's Studio Pocket Full of Sunshine collection around the page to symbolize growth and blooming into this new version of myself. The phrases I chose were carefully selected to reflect the mindset shifts and emotional wins that are just as important as the number on the scale. And I met two Evidence clues with the transparent and wood elements.

The little cluster in the top right corner helps balance the page and draws your eye diagonally across the layout. I layered a few simple elements there to echo the colors and motifs from the main design, tying everything together while adding a quiet moment of visual interest. I added some brads for the circle clue and a wooden @, also a clue. The Bramble Fox arrow ties in with the Perspextive in my title, and the hexagons add structure and balance, the frame echoes the one around my photo to create unity, and the lemon is a playful nod to turning life’s challenges into something refreshing and bright (and also match several of the Evidence Clues).

The hand holding the flowers (also from Rosie's Studio Pocket Full of Sunshine) felt like the perfect symbol of offering kindness to myself along the way, while the typewriter indicates the journaling on the back and speaks to the story I’m continuing to write—one choice, one day, one chapter at a time.

In the bottom left corner, I created a cheerful cluster with a glass of lemonade and fruit (the pear is from Rosie's Studio Frolic collection, and the chipboard lemon is from Pocket Full of Sunshine), reinforcing the fresh, lighthearted vibe of the page and symbolizing the sweetness I’m discovering in this journey beyond just food. I layered a transparent tag behind the embellishments for extra depth and softness. The woodgrain-patterned paper border, finished with zig-zag stitching, grounds the layout with a bit of texture and warmth. I added a heart-shaped Perspextive here that matches the other Perspextives on the page, completing a visual triangle that helps guide the eye and brings the whole design together with intention. That heart also holds deeper meaning for me—it's a quiet reminder that through this process, I’m learning to love myself in new, more compassionate ways.

I wanted to highlight the hand die cut in a close-up because of its beautiful details—especially the gold-foiled rings, which add a subtle touch of elegance and sparkle. To me, they symbolize the value I’m placing on this journey and the commitment I’ve made to myself, like wearing a promise I intend to keep.

This layout holds so many little pieces of my heart and this journey I'm on—not just the weight I've lost, but the strength, self-love, and joy I've gained along the way. I hope it inspires you to tell your own meaningful stories through scrapbooking. I’d love for you to play along with us at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration! You can find all the Case Files and creative prompts—as well as amazing inspiration from our team of Detectives—right here: https://csichallenge.blogspot.com/2025/06/june-scrapbooking-challenges-case-files_15.html. Come join the fun and share your story with us!

And I'd love for you to use my code RS-DEBBI to get a 10% discount from rosiestudio.com.

Winter Walks {CSI Case File No. 272}

Our February challenges are live CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. We've revealed all three of our February challenges. Here's my layout for the first one:

Here's the Case File that inspired my layout:

I used the following traditional clues from the Case File: Evidence: plaid, tripes, dots, BasicGrey distressed patterns, leaves, winter elements, woodland animal, string, mist, metal, and wood. Testimony: Document something about winter. I used the colors too.

I used this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

Here are some details: I started my layout with that plaid paper, by BasicGrey (from the Arachaic collection and then found some other old BasicGrey papers that coordinated. The red snowflake paper is by Photoplay, from last year. The brown chipboard letters are old Heidi Swapp. I can't believe how many of those letters I still have! I found that cute little mitten stamp in my stash and must've combined a dozen different green stamp inks until I got a color close enough to match my papers. I cut the word "walks" Silhouette Cameo.

That chipboard deer is glittery. He's been in my stash for a bunch of years. I added the heart to him for the wood clue. That chipboard frames are super old. I think they're by BasicGrey, from when they first started making chipboard stuff. I colored it with a Pitt pen. I love it when I can find just the right phrase stickers! These are by Simple Stories.

The leafy bits are a Tim Hotz die, and the metal snowflakes are super Making Memories. The snowmen are stickers from Simple Stories Winter Wonderland collection. Those giant chipboard snowflakes are from the same pack as that glittery deer. I splattered some white ink by Dylusions on my page to mimic snow.

I didn't set out to use all this old stuff, but I'm glad I did. I always get a thrill when I use my older stash! In case you didn't know, we have a new challenge at CSI each month featuring a special Case File designed to get you using older stash.

I hope you'll come play in our challenges this month. We've got prizes from six generous sponsors:

Amazing Myself {CSI Case File No. 257}

We've got a new challenge at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. Here's the Case File to inspire your layout:

And here's the page I created. I recently got the Simple & Sweet collection by Pinkfresh Studio. It was sitting on my scrap table, and when I got ready to start planning a layout for this Case File, it dawned on me that the colors perfectly matched the Case File. I added the blue that was also in that collection as an extra color. I also used a few of the Evidence clues: floral pattern, wood, leaves, lemon, black and white pattern. I also used the Testimony clue about documenting something about summer.

Here are some details. My journaling reads: As part of my best year ever and transforming my mindset, one of my summer goals is to do some exercise every day except Sunday. It's only a week in, but so far, I've met that goal. Some days I have to talk myself into it, but so far I haven't yet talked myself out of it. And amazingly, it hasn't been so bad! Most everything on this page is from the PinkFresh collection. The pink letters are some old letter stickers from my stash.

This chipboard piece, which is a little hard to read because of the lighting, says "Make it easy by making it fun," and the message helps tell the story. I'm doing one of three activities on any given day. I bought this thing called a chair gym, which is the least fun but is helping me to work my muscles. I bought some Body Groove videos that are really fun because it's basically dancing, and the lady who made the videos is really fun to watch and listen to. And the third thing is I'm walking really early in the morning before it gets hot, like before 6:00 a.m. I really do hate exercise, but I'm in a Facebook group that's helping to motivate me to stay on track with this goal. It helps me not feel alone.

The rise and shine bit, from a cut-apart sheet, was perfect to tell my story because I'm doing my exercising first thing in the morning, and the little Studio Calico wood veneer tweet helped with this message. Early bird, get it? 

Oh, My Stars - First Paper Issues DT Layout!

I'm so excited to be sharing my very first layout as a member of the Paper Issues design team! My first assignment was to create a monochromatic layout, which took me a little out of my comfort zone because if you know my scrappy style, I'm all about color, and lots of it, but I love a challenge, and I had a blast creating my layout for this one!

I went with orange to match the stars in my photograph. Using one of Paper Issues awesome free background cut files is a perfect option for the monochromatic challenge, and I chose the Star of the Show cut file as my starting point.

I backed all of those wonderful scattered stars with scraps from my stash, including several from Studio Calico's Thataway 6x6 paper pad. 6x6 pads are perfect for backing intricate die cuts because the patterns are smaller-scale. I also used some orange parts from the Patchwork Show paper from Amy Tangerine's Hustle & Heart collection. And that beautiful scripty "Stars" in my title, is another Paper Issues free cut file called I Love You More Than All of the Stars.

Here are the files I used. You can see I used a part of each of them.

  

I layered up my photo with some orange patterns as well as some black and white papers for contrast. The puffy stars are by Pinkfresh Studio.

Here's a look at my story, which is partially hidden when it's tucked behind the photo cluster.

I hope you'll give this fun challenge a try! Be sure to join us on the Paper Issues Friends and Fans Facebook Page and share your creation there for a chance to win a Paper Issues gift certificate. 

If you order some of the awesome scrappy goods for sale at Paper Issues, I'd love for you to use the code Debbi, and you'll receive 20% off of your entire order. How amazing is that!

Jars to Inspire {CSI Case File No. 252}

Our mid-month challenge is live at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. Here's the page I created for this challenge:

And here's the Case File for the challenge: I used most of the traditional clues from the Case File (which, since I'm the one who creates the clues, is how I drew inspiration from The Scene). From the Evidence list, I used stripes, dots, diamond pattern, text pattern, triangles, circles, doily, light bulb, frame, banner, numbers clip, metal, puffy stickers, animals, hearts. For the Testimony, I sort of put my journaling in a frame.

Here are some details. I used a combination of old and newer stuff on this page. My story is typed on that tag, which is tucked inside a really old transparent pocket by Creative Imaginations (Narratives). Probably a dozen years old. That yellow frame is a newer thing in my stash, as is the silver puffy sticker, which is by Freckled Fawn. That transparent light bulb is by Maya Road.

Below you can read my story. So I go to Weight Watchers on Saturday morning, and I started this jar thing a while back, and the tag tells the story behind the jars. The stamps on my page are all by Denim Tampons, one of our generous sponsors this month. They have the coolest stamps. There are some stamps in yellow and light gray, which are hard to see in my photos. I just love that scissor stamp.

The numbers are from a pack of rub-ons by Tim Holtz. Not sure who made the jar, but it came in a pack from Hobby Lobby. That flair badge is by A Flair for Buttons.

One of my favorite craft finds of all times at Michael's is that little black bunting. I wish they had it in other colors. The clear sticker that I put on my photograph is by Simple Stories.

And here's a shot of the title. My favorite thicker alpha by Amy Tangerine, some tiny letters from Lily Bee. The brackets are from a die by Simply Graphic, a French company, and that bird is a puffy sticker from that company that sells things for a dollar at Michael's (the name is escaping me at the moment). I added the bird because the lid of my pounds lost jar has a bird on it.

Love Me {CSI Case File No. 159}

We've got a brand-new Case File open for investigation at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration:

Here's my page. Clues I used...Evidence: doodling/scribbles, feathers, flowers, leaves, grid pattern, rub-ons, stamps, jewels, mixed media, scallops, decorative border, love accents, spread your title across your photo; Testimony: Inspiration words.

Here are some details: I used a Prima stencil with texture paste mixed with purple acrylic paint to make the background. I tried my hand at the pencil scribbles I see so many people doing. I also splattered various colors of mist and outlined the drops for my doodling clue. That frame behind my photo is cut from a Teresa Collins paper. I didn't mean for that bird to land there, but I was trying it out in various places for the feature clue, and it decided to stick itself to my photo and wouldn't let go, so there she stayed. I found various old papers in my stash in purple. The polka dot is by Making Memories and the mesh print is by SEI. The blue polka dot paper is by Chatterbox, and the blue and white paper is by SEI, I think. All old scraps from my stash.

The title was cut out on my Silhouette Cameo. I added the word Me with rub-on letters to the little jewelry tag. I'm so flower challenged, but I had some purple flowers in my stash, and flowers were on the clue list, so I went fo rit. The black rub-ons are super-duper old. They're by BasicGrey.

The purple border is a rub-on by Autumn Leaves that has sat in my stash forever. The "documented" stamp is by Studio Calico--it's one of those roller stamps, and I chose that to indicate that I documented my story on the back. My journaling reads:

The Scene on the Case File I used to make this page had the message "Love Who You Are." Tracee convinced me it was a good message to document. Loving who I am is something I've struggled with my whole life.

I've always been a perfectionist and held very high expectations for myself. But of course, perfection is an impossible condition in our human form. I'm flawed. Highly flawed. And it can be hard to love yourself when you've got all these flaws making you feel unlovable. 

Growing up with a a stepfather who abused me only added to these feelings of being unlovable. 

As an adult, my weight struggles especially have plagued me to the point where I've been so angry with myself and felt like a complete failure. 

Whenever I had lost a bunch of weight, I'd start to feel like I could love myself. But then I'd gain it all back, plus more. It's been a constant battle of one step forward two steps back for the past three decades. When I'm heavy, I hate the way I look. I avoid the camera. I hide from social situations. I feel self-conscious.

It makes me sad to think that this shell that is the body I live in has made me feel this way. I'm more than this outer covering. I'm a soul that God made and loves--and that makes me beautiful. 

I'm slowly learning to accept and believe this truth. Just last week I had a breakthrough with my weight-loss journey when I realized that I am spending more time feeding myself positive talk than the negative talk of "I have no self control." I know it's a small step toward learning to love myself. I know it'll be journey. But I believe I can get there with God's help. If my awesome God--the Creator of the Universe--loves me, then, who am I not to love myself?

I hope you'll play along with us and solve this beautiful Case File. Lots of reasons to solve this Case File...

1. It's super-fun!
2. It's one of the Case Files to solve for our design team call.
3. You could win a fabulous prize from one of our 4 sponsors SistersArt Creation, SODAlicious, Vilda Stamps, and Flying Unicorn.