I'm super excited to announce...

...that I have been asked to join the CSI Design Team!!  CSI's tagline is to tell your story...and through the weekly case files I have been challenged to do a better job of recording my stories.  I truly feel the stories are just as important, if not more so, than the photos and art that accompany them so I am so grateful for the journaling prompts and suggestions each week.

Of course, CSI is also about the art (aka the meat and potatoes of the page lol), and I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to work with such a talented group of artists - many of whom have inspired me to think outside the box and to try so many techniques I would have shied away from a year ago.  (Was there really life before gelatos??)  To say I am honored would be the understatement of the century.

Looking forward to the next 6 months of case files and camaraderie!

Case File #94 - The Couch.

Happy Sunday! Finished up the latest CSI case file this morning and it's a fun one.  Part of the challenge was to journal from the point of view of your pet, so I chose to do a layout of our pup Beau and the (off limits) couch that he loves so much. Here is the case file:

And here's my layout.

I  got an old typewriter from work recently and am really loving being able to type directly onto my cardstsock and not always having to handwrite my journaling.  Especially for longer entries like this one.

Thanks for stopping by!!

CSI Case File #89 - B is for Bright...

Man, I struggled with these pastels!!  Started with some gelatos and mists over gesso, then decided I didn't like the drippy look so gesso'd over that a bit, then decided the colors were too bold, so gesso'd over that too!  Holy moly.  How's that for an opening paragraph?  LOL

Anyway, this week's CSI Case File (which, as does every 2nd week of the month, featured a fabulous sketch by Em Stafrace) featured some muted pastels that I found incredibly challenging (ahem, see above...) but that is what I love about CSI.  The challenge to step outside your comfort zone, experiment with color combinations, but still get your journaling in so you preserve your family stories.  And despite the struggle of putting this one together, I am happy with the end result.  Afterall, how could I be anything less than happy with a smile that bright beaming up at me from the page?

Here's the case file and sketch:

And here's my layout and some close-ups:

Thanks for looking and TGIF!!!!  :-)

Case file #84...swing with me

Happy Wednesday!! Another great case file at CSI this week! (Just like every other week…Debbi never fails to deliver a fabulous color scheme and challenge!) This week had a nautical theme, which is right up my alley since I am pretty obsessed with all things nautical at the moment! Along with the awesome Scene, we have a wonderful sketch from Emma Stafrace to work from, and I stayed true to the shape, changing some elements here and there.

Here is the case file and sketch:

And here is what I came up with. I wanted to give the feel of the beach, where this photo was taken, so I used a lot of different textures on this one.

For the frames, I covered one with Liquitex molding paste to give it a textured seafoam/wavy feel, and I covered the other with Tim Holtz distressed denim ink to get the weathered navy look.

I created the background by spritzing the paper with a chartreuse mist, then layering gauze and jute over top of it. I also used the jute as a mask over a white tag and used some chartreuse mist on that. I added various trim – rope, twine, which I wove through the fussy cut anchor stamps, and this really cool floss with little green squares that I have had in my stash for years. Finished it off with various wood and chipboard embellies and a couple of stamps, and voila! Case closed. :)

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and taking a peek! If interested, a list of materials used is below. Have a great day!

Materials:

Paper:
Patterned Paper Unknown – leftover sheet from an old paper pad

Kraaft
Embellies:
White Thickers letters
American Craft white frames
K&Co. nautical chipboard embellie from many years ago
Little Yellow Bus "happy" stick pin (without the pin piece)
Michael's anchor stamp
American Craft white tag
Citrus Twist handmade embellie "Blissful"
Citrus Twist exclusive polymer stamp "Soak up the sun"
Studio Calico wood embellies
Heidi Swapp mist in chartreuse
Liquitex molding paste
Tim Holtz Distressed Denim ink
Colorbox white ink
Colorbox navy ink
Jute
Gauze
Various thread and twine

CSI Case File #83 - The Legendary Dunroamin' Gang

It is that time again!  This week's CSI case file is perfect for those summer vacation photos that you need to get scrapped and I was psyched to find that the color scheme worked well with this photo of these little goonies, captured in a rare moment of (something akin to) stillness.  Hehehe. :-)

And here is the case file I was working with:

And some close-ups.

Thanks for stopping by and having a look! xoxo

Hello Sunshine!

CSI Case File #82 is up and ready to be solved!  This is my last contribution as a Special Investigator.  I had a blast solving these case files and am so grateful for the opportunity.  The color scheme for this case file was vibrant and fun and just screamed summer.  Again, my Citrus Twist kit goodies came in handy and besides a couple of detail embellishments, I used the June kit for just about everything.  Here is my finished layout:

And here is the case file, and some closeups of how I solved it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Your visits and comments are much appreciated!  Have a great weekend!

CSI Case File #81 Special Investigator Reveal

Hey everyone!  Case File #81 has just been unveiled over at CSI!  This is my third reveal for my July Special Investigator gig over there.  My last contribution will be revealed next Friday the 26th.  I will be sad for this little assignment to end, but at the same time, I am looking forward to participating in the challenges again and enjoying the anticipation of a new case file every Friday!  Anyway, here is this week's challenge:

I chose the "6 word memoir" for my testimony prompt and journaled "far from where I once was" on the right side of the photo.  I really enjoyed creating this visual representation of my particular journey of how I got to where I am today.  Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!  Now head over and see how the other investigators interpreted this week's file.  Have a great weekend!

These 2...CSI Case File #80

Happy Friday!  The team over at CSI has just revealed another fabulous case file!  This week is also the reveal of my second Special Investigator layout for the month.  Still feeling so honored to be featured with such amazing artists and having way too much fun with these challenges!  Stop over and see what the other Special Investigators and the Design Team have created by clicking here!  This week the challenge incorporates an absolutely gorgeous color palette to work with...perfect for scrapping my summer mini-vacation pics from our trip up North!  Here is how I cracked the case:

And here is the awesome scene I had to work with:

A few close-ups:

Thanks for stopping by - I truly appreciate your visits! xoxo

3 Kisses

Seriously.  Does a color scheme get any more gorgeous than this?  This week's CSI case file is just so pleasing to the eye that no matter what you create from it, it's pretty much guaranteed to be gorgeous.  These are some of my favorite colors right now - from fashion to decor - so I couldn't wait to get going on this layout.  Thanks for stopping by!

For the chevron, I used my Heidi Swapp chevron mask and brushed on molding paste, misted with mint green  Color Shine.  It was a bit deeper than the seafoam green I was going for, so I went over it with some quick dry white fluid chalk ink.

I wanted to add some sort of pattern to the chevron to mix it up a bit so I took a random background polka dot stamp I had and impressed some dots into the molding paste.

Well, lookie there.  The doilies made another appearance (contrary to my declaration of never using them again.  Hey - they make a great paint palette.  hee hee.  (And you will note I actually used them as a real embellishment in the upper left corner of the layout...I'll eat my words...they're not as bad as I thought.  Still don't see my self using them all that frequently though.  This was a momentary lapse in reason. ;-)  Anywhoooooo!  For my title took some Thickers and painted them pink to match the flowers.

I layered stamp and masking in the background using the random polka dot background stamp, with varying pressure and amounts of ink, and then overlapped the polka dots with some Kraft colored chevron masking.

The camera and smile were the ends of a journaling card that I cut.  Saved the middle journaling piece for later use.  Then I added some gold liquid pearls for detail.

This is my favorite part of the layout.  Love the way the colors all blend together in this quadrant.  I added some extra glitter to the white flowers, and twisted a silver piece of twine to pull it together.

Ran a peach piece of something or another with pearls running through it.  I think it looks really pretty...or you could look at it and see a garter.  Let's not go there.  It's pretty.  Shush.

Materials used:

Mint green background paper (not sure of brand - got in my Citrus Twist kit)
Studio Calico Sundrifter collection 6" paper pad
Heidi Swapp chevron mask
Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Mint Green
White Thickers
Color Smart gloss acrylic paint in pink blast
Studio Calico journaling card
Wilton 4" doily
K& Company Brenda Walton wood art
Martha Stewart course crystal glitter
Recollections flowers
Recollections fabric with pearls
Recollections adhesive faux pearls
Ranger Liquid Pearls in gold
Random silver twine
Black ink ball point pen

Have a great week everyone!

CSI Case File #74 - My Favorite Three...

Had a lot of fun with this week's case file over at CSI!  Great colors, great inspiration and best of all I got to scrap a very recent favorite photo of mine.  Here's the challenge:

And here's my take on it.  Introducing...my favorite three!  (Well, 2 actually...since the third one is me.  lol)  The journaling reads: They know me. They get me. They hear me...and they'd be the first people I'd call to help me bury a body. ;-)  Hehehe