Beach Fun | CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration Case File No. 413

We've got a fun, summery Case File for second June challenge at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. Here's what I created:

And here are the Case File and clues:

As soon as I saw the Case File, I knew I wanted to make a wreath out of palm fronds. I used the basic colors and documented a summer trip and had fun going through my stash to find lots of Evidence clues: solids, wonky dots, summer themed item, wreath, flamingo, drink, leaves, flower, fruit, straw, metal dies, Nuvo drops, tiny brads, and a cursive font.

Here are some details. First I traced a circular bowl on my paper with pencil. I used a scrap papers and a die set that has different styles of palm friends and arranged them in a circle, overlapping them. I tucked in some embellishments to match the color scheme. I had a pack of summer-themed diecuts with pinks and greens. Not sure who the manufacturer is because I had thrown away the packaging. I used old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters on my title, and the "fun" word came from that diecut pack.  I think the chipboard letters are nearly 20 years old and I still have a ton of them. I love using old stash!!!

For the wonky dots clue, I used an old pink paper with big wonky dots as one of the layers behind my photo and then in the end I decided I'd mat the whole layout on it. How fun is that clip die? It's from an Alexandra Renke set and has three different sizes. The notebook punched layer is from a Bramble Fox ide.

The acrylic flowers and flamingo are also from Bramble Fox. I made the sunglasses with a metal die. That drink in the mason jar met two clues--a drink and a straw, and it's a puffy sticker. Since Black was a color in the Case File, I stapled Tim Holtz phrase stickers around my wreath with my Tiny Attacher.

I always include a heart on all of my layouts I give away and found a green enamel heart that matched the colors and added it to the bathing suit diecut. I finished up my layout by scattering Nuvo drops around the wreath and then remembered that tiny brads were a clue and mixed in some glittery green brads I found in my stash. 

A bunch of years ago, I too my brads out of their packaging and organized them by color and that has been such a great help! Here's what I did to organize them. You can read more about what I did in this post.

I hope you'll come check out the rest of the design team's creations and play along too! We're always looking for guest designers, and a $20 gift certificate is up for grabsl.

Sweet Baby | Scrap the Boys

For June, our challenge at Scrap the Boys is called "Sweet Baby Boy," and I used this beautiful photo of my friend's baby to create my layout.

I was having a major case of missing mojo and decided I'd scraplift myself, which is something I often do when I'm stuck staring at a blank page for way too long. Here's the page I lifted, one I made last year for Scrap the Boys. Different colors and papers and a few tweaks made it into a completely different layout.

Here are some details. I used Crate Paper's Little You collection from a bunch of years ago, mainly a 6x6 paper pad and the chipboard pieces, as that's mostly what I had from this collection. I started by cutting strips of various patterns and laid them out. I didn't feel like they had enough definition since the colors are so pale, so I distressed the edges, and when that still didn't do the trick, I matted the strips on dark gray cardstock. 

I decided to use kraft cardstock because almost all my layouts are on white and I just thought these pale colors would look nice against the kraft. Before adhering the strips, I stenciled some hearts on the background using a Bramble Fox stencil. The acrylic hearts you see on my layout are also from Bramble Fox. 

I arranged various chipboard pieces around the layout, adding phrase stickers, more chipboard, and Bramble Fox Perspextives for added interest. I still have a bazillion of these little Studio Calico wood veneer tweets because I kept buying packages whenever I saw them on sale. They're so versatile and so adorable.

I thought "Baby" was such a dull title but I wanted to use that pretty chipboard banner piece, so I added the word Sweet, made from a metal die in my stash.

For a finishing touch, I added Nuvo drops around my layout.

And because I never call my layout done right away, the next day, before photographing my layout, I decided to add some cross-stitches for another detail and another texture because I think lots of different textures make a layout so interesting to look at and touch (I store my layouts in boxes instead of albums and gift them in decorative boxes too).  And that camera is a Studio Calico wood veneer to form a visual triangle with the two wood birds.

If you haven't played with the Scrap the Boys challenges, they're always very fun and open ended, and the design team always has wonderful inspiration in lots of different styles! I hope you'll come play along!

Happy Campers: CSI: Color Stories Inspiration Case File No. 412

We have a fun Case File for our first June challenge at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. Here's what I created:

Here are the Case File and clues that inspired my page:

Besides using the basic colors, I documented my friend's camping trip for the Testimony. I had fun looking through my stash to find Evidence clues and managed to use: plaid, solid, ledger, and woodgrain patterns, wood, camping-themed items, grid composition, signpost, arrows, owl, bear, canoe, cross-stitches, trees, different size alphas, zipper, and sunburst.

Here are some details. I started off my page making a sunburst in the background using a stencil from Bramble Fox. I distressed paper squares and then layered them on a brown for added dimension and definition. The little sign was trimmed out of a patterned paper. I don't know the brand because it was one of those papers from JoAnn's that are from different well-known collections, but they don't identify them. The wooden stars are from Studio Calico, and the 3Dcamping stickers are Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby.

Grid layouts are a perfect design for multiphoto layouts. Plaid pattern was one of the clues, and I was happy to find a plaid paper in the colors for this challenge.

I've had this wood veneer tree in my stash forever, and it was a perfect little detail to add to this square. The clips on my layout were made with metal dies.

Woodgrain pattern was another clue, as was grid pattern, and the phrase stickers I added have a grid pattern in the background.

The "explore" badge came from the same paper as the sign in the upper right square, and the bear is from the 3D sticker set. I added a sticker that had some hearts matching the phrase stickers because I always add hearts to the pages I give away.

Another detail that met two clues--an arrow and wood.

And I found a canoe, which was a clue, in the 3D Paper Studio sticker pack, and it was the right color!

Instead of three squares in the middle row, I added one long rectangular one for my title. I found a title in the camping-themed paper that I had fussy-cut the sign and patch out of, and added that to the title. The little cross-stitches were added because that's a clue. I found a matching owl sticker in my stash and sat him atop a wood-grained title, mounted on a pop dot. Finally, I added a zipper, which was a clue, made from a Bramble Fox metal die set.

I'm typing this and thinking I could've added a compass to this page, but I guess I missed that on the clues list. It's so fun digging through my stash, old and new, in search of details for my CSI pages. I hope you'll come play along because it's such a fun challenge. And be sure to go check out the beautiful inspiration from the team!

Laugh | CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration + Scrap the Boys Collaboration

CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration teamed up with Scrap the Boys this month for our first April challenge, which is dedicated to April Fool's Day. Here's what I created:

Here are the Case File and Clues:

I used lots of clues--the color scheme, the topic clue, and loads of Evidence clues--so fun digging through my stash. I included stripes, solids, dots, chevron, glasses, mustache, washi tape, stars, banner, labels, doodles, clouds, speech bubble, googly eyes, cursive font, something fuzzy, circular embellishments, sunburst, and paint in the background.

This page was so fun to make. I used mostly old stash on here, which always makes me happy! I started out by making a sunburst in the background using a Fox Cut stencil from Bramble Fox. I added splatters with different colors of watercolor and then outlined them with a fine-tip pen. I stitched down strips of paper from my paper scraps drawers and then started embellishing. The brads are fuzzy, from the something fuzzy clue. Flair was a clue, and the flair badges I used are from A Flair for Buttons. So were speech bubbles, and I cut this one out of an old Echo Park paper. The beautiful translucent acrylic hearts are from Bramble Fox. I always add hearts to the pages I give away.

I always love the opportunity to use googly eyes, and they fit right inside the acrylic eyeglasses I found in my stash, which was a clue. The mustache was another clue and made a fun addition to my title. Washi tape as another clue and I added some wonky torn pieces here and there on my layout.

Clouds were a clue and I found a paper with yellow clouds in my stash and fussy cut them. Labels are a clue and I cut an old Martha Stewart label in half so I could use it in two spots.

Here's a shot from the bottom left, which shows some more circular elements, which was a clue. I don't know why so many of my flair badges are getting rust spots. Disappointing!

I hope you'll come check out the inspiration from both the CSI and Scrap the Boys design teams and play with us!

Thankful | CSI Case File No. 399

I made this layout for our second November challenge at CSI: Color Stories Inspiration.

Here are the Case File and clues. I was really inspired by the black buffalo plaid, the brick wall and all the pumpkins and leaves in The Scene. I also used the diagonal for the composition of my page.

Image credit: Darling Down South

I used the basic color scheme and used the inspiration word grateful (only I used a synonym, LOL), and I managed to cram every clue on my 8 x 8 page!

Here are some details. I had this beautiful acrylic title from Bramble Fox that sort of matched that first color in the Case File palette. I layered up the photo with some mesh and textured paper and some papers that matched the palette. I found those two fabric tabs from Scrapworks that have been sitting in my stash for eons. 

Labels were a clue, and I found an orange one to cut in half and tuck behind my photos. Since gold was a clue, I added a gold paper clip. That cute acrylic owl is also from Bramble Fox.

One of the clues was bricks and I used a stencil by Bramble Fox, along with some stamp ink and a blending brush and then outlined the bricks to create my background. Plaid was also a clue. Some gold dots from Pinkfresh Studio also met the gold clue. You can't tell in the picture but that arrow is gold-foiled. Pins were another clue, and I found these wood-topped stick pins by Little Yellow Bicycle in my stash. I added an acrylic heart from Bramble Fox because I always add at least one heart to my pages I give away.  The pumpkins were another clue. They're fussy-cut from a Mintay Golden Days paper.

That wagon wheel was also fussy cut from a paper in the Mintay collection and serves as a circular element from the clues. How awesome that I had those plaid flowers with little gold beads in the center? Flowers were a clue too.

For the something transparent clue, I punched out leaves from two colors of vellum to give them a lovely sheer look. I used a stylus to draw veins in them and give them more dimension. I stuck a third pin in the wood barrel bucket that I fussy cut from a Mintay paper.

That was a LOT of clues, but I think they really worked well with this photo. I hope you'll come play with us for a chance to win a gift certificate or a guest designer spot!

Epic Road Trip Read | Scrap the Boys Challenge

Our challenge for June at Scrap the Boys is to use circles. Here's what I came up with:

Here are some details.

I used a free cut file called Bubble Blast from Paper Issues and backed it with various patterned papers from Simple Stories' Bro & Co collection.

I fussy cut stars to add more detail, layer and interest. A thumbs-up sticker and a brad added some more dimension. Of course that stupid brad had to turn sideways for the photo and I didn't ever get a chance to take another pic.

I wanted to use those Heidi Swapp Sun Chaser Thickers for the title, but they weren't quite showing up as much as I wanted to so I layered them on top of a torn strip of teal paper and then outlined them, and that made them really stand out. The word "Epic" and some old BasicGrey small letter stickers finished out the title. A torn strip of striped paper that had all the colors of the collection really grounded my layout and made it so that my circles weren't just floating on the page.

Some more text, combining a cursive diecut, a fussy-cut word, and a word sticker, added a visual triangle to keep the eye moving around the page.

I added a brad to the steering wheel diecut to form an additional visual triangle. The white word sticker served as another visual triangle. Visual triangles were one of the first design tips I learned from reading Creating Keepsakes way back when I started scrapbooking, and it has served me well over the years to achieve balance and movement on my page.

At the end, that checkered circle kept drawing my eye away from everything else, and I decided to use that paper to mount my layout, and that did the trick, I think.

Be sure to go check out how all the rest of the team interpreted this challenge. So many creative designs!