CSI case file #64: Love who you are

Hello! Time for another gorgeous CSI case file. Sizzix is sponsoring CSI during March, and there is a fun prize to be won. The DT did a wonderful job with this case file, lots of fun mixed media stuff, don't miss it. Here's the case file:

My layout:

I was pretty inspired by the case file photo, both in making my background and for the theme of the page, using some of the words as my title. From the evidence items I used: birds, stamps, words as embellishments, circles, silhouette, stencils.  I used a bunch of sentiment stamps to get the message through and also printed a Swedish song on a transparency. It is called 'Du vet väl om att du är värdefull', by Ingemar Olsson - rougly translated: 'You do know that you are valuable'. It is about knowing that you are worth so much, just the way you are, that you are loved because you are you, and no one else is like you.

For the background I painted a sheet of watercolour with linen acrylic paint and dry-brushed darker brown paint here and there. I played around with some to me new mediums for the texture elements. Don't miss seeing the pop-up under the photo, adding a fun interactive element to the layout.

I mixed a bit of green paint into Light Molding Paste from Golden. Fabulous stuff, it adds great texture without adding a lot of weight. I applied it with a palette knife through a Dylusions star stencil, and through a paint lid dot stencil. When dry, I dry-brushed a bit of brown paint on top to emphasise the texture and tone down the brown a bit. The silhouette is cut with the new Sizzix Echo Park Charming Thinlits and I cut a frame from mat board for it with Tim Holtz Sized Ovals. It was inked and stamped with a texture stamp. The three Birds on a Wire were left over from the Easter House I posted earlier this week, and fit the colours of this case file.

I stamped the title on the background, with an angle on the 'you' so that it would stand out more, using Tim Holtz new Worn Text stamps.

To make the crackle hearts, I applied Golden Crackle Past through a heart stencil, pretty thickly. Very cool stuff. Leave it to dry overnight to form cracks. Then I painted watered down brown paint on top, wiping some of it off, which made it become darker in the cracks. The dried past is a great stamping surface too. Very cool. The sentiment comes from Tim Holtz new Simple Sayings set.

I smeared some left over crackle paste here and there and also added some more hearts. The circles were stamped with Olive Archival Ink and the arrows were cut with the Arrows Thinlits. 

The Bird Branch was die cut from mat board, inked with Distress inks and the stem was stamped with a texture stamp. I also stamped a word from a sentiment stamp on the bird. Another arrow and a heart that was left-over from the pop-up under the photo. The sentiment, as well as those on the photo, are from Darkroom Door.

Behind the photo there is a fun Karen Burniston Winged 3-D Hearts pop-up. I love adding these interactive elements to my layouts and they also give extra space for journaling, embellishments and photos. The pop-up was die cut from BasicGrey patterned paper and I used the coordinating heart and wing dies to cut one small heart from canvas and a heart frame and wings from patterned paper. Another little bird was placed on top of the heart and an arrow inside it. I stamped more sentiments on the inside, as well as a Townscape On the Edge die cut and a Thinlits border.

A close-up of the pop-up. All the edges were inked.

The Townscape was die cut from Black Soot Core'dinations cardstock and sanded, I liked the idea of the heart flying above the houses, especially since the photo I used on the layout was taken just outside where we live.

Thank you for the visit! Have a great weekend!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix: Winged 3-D Hearts pop-up, Townscape On the Edge, Borders Thinlits, Birds on a Wire, Mini Old Jalopy & Arrow, Arrows, Banners, Chevrons & Clouds Thinlits, Heart & Wing set, Bird Branch, Charming This & That, Sized Ovals
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Mixed Media, Simple Sayings, Stuff to Say, Worn Text, At the Movies; Darkroom Door: Wilderness Vol. 1, Art de Fleur Vol. 1, Wildflowers Vol. 2; Hero Arts circle
Ink: Archival Ink Jet Black, Olive; Distress Ink Gathered Twigs, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Black Soot; Stazon Jet Black
Paint: linen, green, and raw umber acrylic paint
Surfaces: Daler & Rowney watercolour paper; Sizzix Little Sizzles 6x13 mat board; BasicGrey patterned paper; Core'dinations Tim Holtz Distress cardstock; Claudine Hellmuth natural sticky-back canvas
Stencils: The Crafter's Workshop Mini Paint Lids, Mini Spilled Hearts; Dylusions Starry Starry Night
Medium: Golden: Light Molding Paste, Crackle Paste