Under Surveillance - Case File No. 19

Tell Your Story. It's our tagline, and here at CSI, it's one of our missions to get our members to delve deeper into journaling--to document the meaningful bits and pieces that make up our lives. We would like to shine a special spotlight each week on a member who did an exceptional job telling their story.

Jailbirds by Joyce Lawrence

We must first acknowledge the stunning beauty and artistry of Joyce's layout. The background is just amazing, and how fabulous is that peacock--perfect for a "Hollywood" jail. We just loved the backstory Joyce shared behind the charming photograph of Joyce and her cousins. Joyce's story is not only charming but is told with a wonderful storyteller's voice that just captivated us!

Each week, five layouts that caught our eye will be chosen to feature as our "Most Wanted." With so many amazing layouts in the gallery, it was incredibly hard to narrow the "lineup" down to five, but here they are, in no particular order. (Please click on the title beneath the layout to take you to the layout in the gallery where you can leave the creators some comments.)

Top 10 by Claudia Zubrinic

Claudia's page design is just fabulous with all of those patterned strips and the fun mix of letters and numbers. The colors look fantastic against the brown background. She did an awesome job with the CSi Coordinates. The paint splatters give her page a bit of urban grunge, and how clever is the bird ribbon, reminiscent of New York's famous pigeons. We love the edgy artsy feel of Claudia's page!

Fly by Rachelle Sigurdson

Rachelle's page just blew us away! The design is so striking with that amazing circle and the lacing and those clever paper airplanes. We've never seen paper airplanes on a layout before! We also loved the little kite beside the title and the circle element on the opposite side and that wispy gauze. The artistry of Rachelle's page is impressive--the distressing, the gesso work, the little handmade book, the lacing and stitching. And we just loved reading the story about Erlendur, her little fix-it guy! Rachelle's page is a true masterpiece!

Spring of Life by Mebae Kasumi

Mebae's photo is so dear, and we thought it was so creative how she designed her page to make it look as though her sweet photo was part of a book page. The spring colors in the photo are enhanced by the Case File's palette. We loved her profusion of rosettes and how she added gesso over the book page to house her title. We thought that turned over corner of the book page was an especially sweet touch. Mebae's layout is so harmonious and beautiful!

The Bird Feeder by Jacynthe Loubier

Jacynthe's page is gorgeous and so much more special knowing how difficult it was to capture snaphsots of those elusive little birds. We love the circle rings linking the gorgeous photos and how she's got a little bird perched on one. The woodgrain behind the one photo is a fabulous touch, seeming an extension of the photographs. The rosettes, the patterned tags, the sweet punched borders stitched around the edge are all charming details. And we just loved reading the story of Jacynthe's bird feeder. From the photos to the design to the story, Jacynthe's page is absolutely superb!

A Flight at the Park by Vicky Varvadouka

Vicky's layout is so sweet and lovely. The photographs are precious--we love the contrast between the two pictures--one featuring her little girl and the other of the natural setting. There is so much depth and interest on her page with all the little bits and pieces, each one so charming to look at. We love the myriad bits of twine on the tag and how she wrinkled the book paper, and we thought the die cut paper at the top was a delightful addition to hold her title. All the textures and details on Vicky's layout just invite you to linger and take in each little bit.

And just because there were too many fantastic layouts in the gallery, here are a few more that caught our eye.

Gone Kayaking by Amarilys Doria

What a beautiful page by Amarilys! We thought her choice of using gold as a dominant color was perfect to complement and highlight the deep blue water in her gorgeous photographs! THe flower clusters are gorgeous, and we love how she added those fancy pearly centers, and the tiny scalloped border bits add a sweet touch to help complete the way she framed the photos. The swirls on the background paper echo the ripples in the water. Every detail on Amarilys's page is just lovely!

Big Sister by Sarah White

What a thrill it was to see Sarah's bold, bright page jump out at us from the gallery! Sarah first got our attention with her large chipboard title, but then when we took a closer look we found lots of sweet little details. We just love how Sarah used paint to "white wash" her background-it looks soft, yet adds wonderful texture and dimension-a fantastic backdrop for her layout. We thought it was so clever to stagger her circles down the page and her circular photos of her sweet little ones are simply the icing on the cake! Her photos are perfectly placed in the center as the forefront of her beautiful layout!

Live by Vicky Alberto

Vicky's page is just stunning. We love the design with the nine circles--a lovely take on a grid design. The doilies as a backdrop to the circular papers and photos are gorgeous and so delicate looking, and they look especially pretty against a white background. We loved all the birds and pretty flourishes and birdcage and enjoyed hearing that Vicky's inspiration came from the Inspiration Word flight. Vicky's page is just delightful!

Motherhood by Nicolle Kramer

The vivid blues in Nicolle's layout caught our attention in the gallery. The angles of the bold patterned paper make for a striking design and the profusion of flowers adds and exuberance that is evident in the beautiful photo. Our favorite detail is that awesome blue feather! We love how the blues complement the photo, especially Nicolle's red hair. Nicole's page has a lot going on with so many patterns and elements, yet it all works together harmoniously!

Flukt by Arnlaug Koppang

Arnlaug's photograph of her little cherubs engaged in books is absolutely charming. We love the lightness of her page that seems to emanate from the photo. The design of her layout, with all the floating elements conveys the story she tells in "a flight from a real world." We loved reading about her inspiration from the word "flight," and her feelings about books and reading. Arnlaug's page is artsy and fantastical and bursting with joy!

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