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.

Sweet Tiny Butterfly | CSI Case File No. 432

I made this layout for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration's first April scrapbooking challenge. I have to say I was a little nervous about the red with the pastel colors (see Case File below), but I decided to embrace the red, and I really love how this turned out!

Here are the Case File and Clues. I usually choose the images, but this time, I invited my design team to select the images. Cassie chose this image and I made the clues, so it was my fault, LOL, that the red was a part of the palette, but like I said, I'm happy for the red!

I used the basic color scheme and most of the Evidence clues (my favorite part--I always like to try to get them all on my page. So fun going through my stash!): solid background, polka dots, spring-themed items, flowers, butterflies, strawberries, ribbon, bows, bicycle, sprinkle something, watercolor, metal, and circles.

Here are some details. I looked through my photos for some spring pictures that would go with the palette and came up with these three sweet pictures. I sometimes find multi-photo layouts a challenge in terms of composing the design. I decided three horizontal strips would be the way to go. I searched my paper collections for the colors and nothing really had all the colors, but the New Day collection from Echo Park had pink, green, and yellow, and I decided I could draw from another collection for the aqua.

I tore strips of paper (polka dots were one of the clues) to spread across the page in three sections on a solid white background (another clue). The layout was already looking crowded and I had to think of where to put the title. I settled on making a 3-word title that I could spread down the page.

Once I had the papers in place, I was still left with what to do with red. I couldn't quite find a good red paper to match, so that's when I thought of using a film-strip die in red. Once I made that decision, I could start adhering things and looking for embellishments. If you look closely, you can see I used the packaging technique with some pink watercolor (a clue). I did some stamping in the background for the circles clue with the Bramble Fox Doodles stamp and sprinkled (another clue) some pink splatters. I found a bicycle and some flowers on the Echo Park sticker sheet, two more clues. I added some ribbon (another clue) that had green and aqua from the colors. I added a bow to the basket on the bike (two more clus). The Bramble Fox heart wasn't a clue, but I always add hearts to the pages I give away, and it added more red. Metal was a clue, so I added some silver brads to the bike tires.

Butterflies were a clue, so I added a butterfly charm to this jar of flowers and punched some butterflies and added some metal dots to their centers. Strawberries or other fruit was a clue and I thought maybe that would be a stupid addition to my page, but I thought, what the heck, let me fussy-cut some from a paper in my stash and see how they look, and I really like how they look on my page--a perfect bit of whimsy.

Here's one last close-up. These plastic letters are from Heidi Swapp and the packaging says they're from 2005! That's almost 20 years they've been in my stashing waiting for me to make this layout. See, this is why I never purge!

If you've read this far, I hope you'll come play with us at CSI and would you please jot a note in the comments that you've read this post? Just curious to see if scrappers are still reading blogs... I feel like blogs are sort of the old-school version of process videos. I'd love to create videos, but this page literally took me all day to make!

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!

Grinchy | CSI Case File No. 401

Merry Day after Christmas! 

Today I'm sharing a super-fun layout I made for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration.

Here are the Case File and clues for this challenge. 

I used the basic color scheme of pink, red, white and two different greens. I tried to add all the Evidence clues and managed most of them: plaid, solids, geometric patterns, Christmas-themed items, bow, wreath, circle, animal, scallops, transparent elements, buttons, stamping, metal, pleats, and clothing (stockings). 

The greens in the picture made me think of this fun photo of my friend's dad dressed up as the Grinch on Christmas, and the combination of the pink, red, and greens reminded me of a super-old Ki Memories Christmas paper that's been in my stash for at least a dozen years. I made the wreath by fussy-cutting the ornaments from the paper. It's a shiny paper, a little tricky photographing. I distressed the edges to add another texture to my page.

Once I arranged all the ornaments in a circle, I stitched them down with my sewing machine and then set to finding other clues that I could add to the page. buttons, snowflakes, metal, stamping, and a few more clues found their way onto my layout and added lots of different details and textures. I added the stockings to the edge of the photo to 1) meet one of my clues and 2) I always add hearts to the layouts I give away.

I found a red cardinal puffy sticker in my stash that met the animal clue. Scallops, pleats, and transparent elements were other clues and I tucked those behind the photo. I made the pink pleated piece with a Martha Stewart scoring board. That green transparent loopy bit is an old My Mind's Eye transparent frame. I just cut a piece off of it.

The Florence alphabet by Bella Blvd is the perfect font for a playful touch. One of the clues was bows, and I found a pink plaid puffy sticker bow to go beneath my title.

This was lots of fun to make and I was so excited to finally use that old Ki Memories paper! I hope you'll come play with us for a chance to win a gift certificate or a guest designer spot. 

Christmas Tradition | CSI Case File No. 400

Merry Christmas!

Today I'm sharing a layout I created for CSI: Color Stories Inspiration's first December challenge.

Here are the Case File and clues for this challenge:

I had fun searching my stash for Evidence clues and managed to get ALL of them on my 8 x 8 page. I also used the colors from the Case File as well as documenting Christmas.

I was really inspired by the overall look of the Scene--the round scale face, the white on white snowflakes, and the pretty Christmas flowers and leaves. I didn't have a scale, but I had a large clock ace and a clock hand that mimicked the look in the Scene. I used Carta Bella's Hello Christmas collection for this page. One of the papers had tags that I fussy-cut I added some ancient eyelets and baker's twine for more detail and texture. 

I selected that brad because of the metal clue and also it has stars for the stars clue. I added the red glittery heart because I always add hearts to the pages I give away. And how fun are those red and white beads that I found in my stash? They look like peppermint candy to me! I love finding the perfect little bits for my pages!

Bows were a clue, and I found this sparkly red bow in my stash. The holly met the foliage clue. That beautiful red acrylic title is from Bramble Fox. You can see I managed to find some lace, which is sort of a kind of ribbon to add to the vertical strips in the background.

It's hard to see, but I sprinkled some shiny white star sequins on my page. I also added some rub-on snowflakes, which was another clue and of course another brad for the metal clue and the circle clue.

I really have fun poring through my stash in search of the perfect things for my pages and love to challenge myself to use all of the clues on my pages! I hope you'll come play with us for a chance to win a gift certificate or a guest designer spot. 

Let It Snow | CSI + Paper Issues Free File Free-for-All Challenge

It's been forever (well, a month) since I've had any time to post on my blog. I'm contemplating giving this up because I just can't seem to find time to write blog posts these days. Maybe I'll just post pictures and closeups with not too much text. If there's anybody still reading my blog and if you have any questions about the products I used or anything, just send me a message through Facebook.

So here's a page I made for one of the December Case Files at CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration. I love Paper Issues, and I really miss being on their design team, so I play along with them as much as I'm able to do. For this layout I used one of their free cut files (Polka Dot Wreath) and also one of their sketches.

Here are the Case File and Clues. I'll leave it up to you to see which clues I used. I always try to use as many as possible. 

Here are some closeups. I primarily used American Crafts Sweater Weather collection from a couple of years ago, plus some odds and ends from my stash.