Believe - CSI Case File #145

Hi everyone! I did another challenge this week over at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. For  this challenge I named the layout Believe for the quote "Believe in the Power and Beauty of Your Dreams!" This layout is different for me. It is grungy yet not. The layout tells a story that reflects the story behind it. The mixed media background represents the long nights and hard times I went through while going to college and getting my degree. The chipboard bingo card collage in the bottom right corner represents the time while I was going to college and then the butterflies fluttering up to the flowers and the end of one journey (getting my degree) and the beginning of another (what the degree can do for the future). I made a pocket out of the chipboard bingo card. The journaling tag says:
You never know what someone has gone through to get what they have. I went to college in my forties after my divorce. Now talk about scary but once I got started it was rather fun and I enjoyed it for the most part. Don't get me wrong, it was hard also not just because of the classes but I worked both a full-time and part-time job. Then the hardest part was in my 3rd and 4th years because I lost both my mom and dad just six months apart. I also lost all of my mothers siblings and my next door neighbor. It was a very tough time and it would have been easy to quit. But my mom was so proud of me for going to school and I know she would have been very upset if I had quit. That is what kept me going. I know she would be very proud that I stuck with it. And she is probably smiling down from heaven right now.

The challenge states you have to use light aqua, ivory, black, deep red and chartreuse. You have to use two items from the evidence list so I used a mixed media background, flowers, stamps, transparent elements, stencil, pocket and a quote. I stamped a quote and I stamped rings in coffee bean ink to represent long nights and trying to stay awake. Both the clock face and the "Believe" quote a transparent elements. I used a Heidi Swapp stencil for the background and the journaling is in a pocket. The flowers and quote are obvious of course. Most of the elements represent something like I used two different keys; the one in the collage to represent the key to have success in most things is the found in the quote on the transparency which is where I got my title and then the second key which is under the picture of my diploma represents the key to a brighter future.

 From the testimony list I used journaling in a pocket since it is rather long but it documents the struggle I went through and yet still managed to achieve my dream. It all represents a struggle and how if you work hard and believe in yourself and your dreams you can accomplish anything you want. So here is to everyone's dreams...Don't ever, ever give up!!!

CSI: Watch List

OMG...I can't believe it! My first challenge on CSI and I was featured on the watch list...How awesome is that! And I had so much fun doing the challenge and all the wonderful people in group give so much support and inspiration. A lot of very talented people. If you have not checked it out you need to. It is a lot of fun!

CSI Challenge 144: Create

I'm on a roll!!! Well for me I'm on a roll. I don't have a lot of time to scrap and I usually scrap fairly slow so for me to get another layout done so quickly is pretty darn good. So I did another crime scene aka: challenge over at CSI. The colors that you had to use was Black, White, Warm Gray, Bright Yellow and Turquoise so when I seen the pictures of me and my friend at a painting class the colors just jumped right out at me! The painting classes are so much fun because the teacher's philosophy is that anyone can paint. Her art is very whimsical.  Anyway, as I stated in a previous post you also must use at least 2 clues from the evidence list so I used 6: paint/watercolor, polka dots, stripes, tickets, flowers, metal and clips. I used a watercolor paper and painted the bright yellow and turquoise stripes on half the paper and splattered the colors over all the paper. I used black and warm gray cardstock to mat the pictures so that the pictures would stand out against the colors on the papers. Used all 5 colors...check.

I used some Prima flowers, some rosebud flowers, and a single Petaloo flower. I tucked a piece of doily behind one of the pictures and used a couple of metal paper clips on the pictures. I stamped "Today We" above a Heidi Swapp arrow that I spritzed with Tattered Angels Dragonfly mist and the arrow points down to a chipboard piece that says 'create' and has polka dots.  I have three metal word pieces from Making Memories that were in my stash that say create, inspire, and imagine. The friends sticker is from Colorbok Limited Edition Stickerdoodles from my stash. I tucked a couple of paper tickets and a wooden ticket around and have a chalkboard diecut that says Never Stop Dreaming. And for the Testimony clue I used a journaling spot which is from Maggie Holmes.

Here are some close-ups and thanks for stopping by! :-)

Being Adopted

Do any of you out there in the scrapping world have a lot of supplies and yet don't get a lot of projects done? Then you go out shopping again to add to your stash!! It becomes a vicious cycle. Well there are many of us out there in scrapping/crafting land that seem to be getting more and more supplies...scrapping/crafting goodies...creating bigger and bigger piles, closets and boxes that are bulging or overflowing, and are just simply being overrun with our passion or should I say obsession!  Well I want to encourage you to join some of the Facebook groups like "Will Craft For Supplies" or "50 Projects" or blogs like "CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration" or one of the other great groups and blogs out there to get inspiration, ideas, and encouragement to use up your supplies and have more projects completed. I did and I am getting more done, being held accountable, stretching my creativity and making friends along the way.

I am starting to use up my stash...slowly but surely...and getting more done. Using up those supplies that I already have. Here is a two page layout I did about my daughter picking out a dog at the pound to adopt. I used up papers from a kit I have had quite some time ago. I also used followed a sample layout that was on kit because it made things a lot easier and it worked with the pictures I had.

In addition to using elements from the kit I added some washi tape, some DIY enamel dots, some bling to the flowers, a tag, a wood veneer arrow, and splattered some Heidi Swapp ink...all from my existing stash.  I feels great to use up what you have in your stash.

They are older papers and embellishments but I added more current elements with the old to bring it more current. Not necessarily my normal style but hey, I getting more projects done while using up my stash so I can't complain. Have a great weekend and happy scrapping!

CSI Case File 143

Hey Scrappers! Well I hope everybody is looking forward to this weekend. It is starting to cool down just a bit here in South Florida and we are enjoying it very much. Recently I joined a group called C.S.I.: Color, Stories, Inspiration and every week they have a new case file, a challenge so to speak. They give you clues such as the colors you have to use, a list of evidence items that you have to choose from to use on your layouts and sometimes a sketch and lots and lots of sample layouts. So I did my first one and when I seen the colors and the sketch I knew I wanted to do a layout of my son when he was on the swim team. Now he went to one high school for the first couple of years and then to a different one for his last couple of years but the colors were perfect for the first high school. We had to use five different colors which were sky blue, scarlet red, gray, black, and teal blue. So I interpreted the clues as the sky blue and teal blue as water in the pool and the scarlet red and black were the school colors and they also show up in the swim suit and the the red in the floats for the lanes in the pool. I used the gray as an accent color. Out of the list of evidence items (you had to use at least 2) I used mixed media background, pen work, and circles. And for the journaling I did some handwritten journaling directly on the layout.

Here is the sketch that was posted that I used as inspiration for my layout.

So I did mine very similar to the sketch because it reminded me so much of what you would see at a high school swim meet. I used rosette flowers in the red and black for the school colors and strung the pictures on some red and white twine which were the color of the lane floats. I added banners in the sky blue and teal blue colors and some in the scarlet red and backed one with the gray. I matted the photos with the scarlet red and then gray. I used some older paper in my stash from Rusty Pickle called Swimming Words and the other half was plain black cardstock. 

I did a mixed media background using some modeling paste with some pigment powder to add the blue color to it. I used a stencil from The Crafters Workshop called Mini Splats which I thought was perfect to represent the splashes of water from the pool. I did pen work on the banners to make the stand out more and red, silver, and blue sequins to represent the circles and it reminded me of patriotic colors that would be represented during sporting games. Also I splattered Tattered Angels Plain Jane Baseboard ink called Water (very fitting) around the layout. The only problem was it really did not show up on the black carstock very well at all. But if you look close it is there.

You should head over to CSI and check it out. It is really fun and a great way to get some inspiration and get out of your comfort zone especially with color combinations. Here are some close-ups of the layout and I hope you enjoyed it.

My Creative Life 2014: Which watercolor paper is right for you?

My Creative Life 2014: Which watercolor paper is right for you?: Watercolor paper can be confusing and expensive.....so you want to make sure you purchase the right product for the job.This is a very good video about the different types of watercolor paper and how to pick the right one that you need. We all have some type of water activated product such as watercolor paints, gelatos, Twinkling H2Os, etc. so which kind of watercolor paper should you use when there are different kinds? Take a look at this video and learn which is the best for you. 

Bliss

I did this layout today using watercolors for the first time! I have had them for some time but I had not used them yet. When I seen the picture in the stack on my table I knew right away that I wanted to use some water colors. And living in Florida we always have beach, boating, pool, water parks, anything to do with water type pictures so I have a ton of embellishments in those themes. I used water color paper and some paper from Colorbok called Poolside. The poolside paper was some of the same paper I used on some of the altered clothespins I did for a swap on Mini Album Scraps a few months ago. I used some light brown cardstock that was torn and I used some Beachcomber embossing powder from Sparkle N Sprinkle which looks just like sand...Love it! Then the epoxy surf boards are from Jolees, a metal sign "to the beach" was from Karen Foster Designs, Ride the Waves chipboard piece was from Cloud 9 Designs, and the epoxy words around the picture was from Creative Imaginations...all very old stuff in my stash! YEAH...using it up! Then I used some black letter stickers from Pebbles and some old Prima flowers, some regular sequins and some flower sequins from Queen & Co., and some little arcylic dots that were the center pieces from some packages of flowers from the dollar bins at Michaels.  I also inked a few of the pieces of paper with Weathered Wood Distress Ink. All in all I think it came out pretty good. My son had this posted on his Facebook a few years ago when a friend of his took the picture. The great thing about FB is that when your grown children post pics you can download them to scrap!!! I love this pic of him because you can see how he is in his element and that is where the title came from...BLISS!

Dory

Hi everyone! Well I made a layout of my daughter's cat who became my cat when she moved out some time ago. I know some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Of course she says "she loves you more than she loves me." Hmmm...I wonder why. Could it be that I gave her attention? Or that I fed her everyday? I know you can relate...LOL. Anyway, I posted earlier how my goal is to use up a lot of my old stash and donate what I will not use or that I have an abundance of. I already have a big box of supplies to donate which I am going to call the local children's home and see if they can use it. So this layout I used an old overlay from Karen Foster on top of some old paper that I believe was from an old kit. I used two brads of a kitty face and a paw print from the Happy Hammer in the top corners to adhere the overlay to the paper. Again very old brads. I used a little bit of ink on the paper and a couple of metal embellishments that I believe came from a dollar bin somewhere. One of them I put on the paper and the other on top of the overlay. I also used some DIY enamel dots on top of the overlay. And then I stamped some arrows on the letter sticker that points over to another stamp that says "you are loved."  So get out your old stuff and mix it up with newer design elements to make it updated and fresh.