June Case Files - First Reveal | Deadline: July 4, 2023

Happy June, CSI Investigators!  We're excited to bring you a new month of fun and inspiring challenges and lots of beautiful inspiration. 

For this first reveal, we'll be sharing inspiration for our first Case File. On the 15th, we'll be sharing inspiration for our second Case File. 

PRIZES

CSI has been running our challenges for 11 years, since 2012, and our savings have dwindled over the years, so we no longer have the ability to provide a monthly gift certificate, but we do have enough to give away a prize every 4 months this year, so we'll be awarding a $20 (U.S. dollars) gift certificate to your favorite online craft store (must take Paypal) to one lucky player according to the following schedule--so the more you play, the more chances you'll have.

January - April Case Files will be awarded on or after May 4

May - August Case Files will be awarded in on or after September 4

October - December Case Files will be awarded on or after next January 4

You will see the customary due date on the Case Files because I'll check those for guest designers, but feel free to go back and play with Case Files that have expired. As long as they're in the albums by the May, September, and January dates listed above, you'll be eligible for the prize.

We'll also be inviting some players whose work catches our eye to serve as Guest Detectives along the way.

CASE FILES 

This month, we're celebrating National Camping Month and the start of summer vacations with our Case Files. As always, you don't have to scrap these topics. Draw your own inspiration from The Scene on the Case File, or you can use the traditional clues, which can be found at the bottom of this blog post.

Image credit:  Chris Angotti

Image credit: Freepik

The traditional CSI clues can be found on our Facebook page in the first entry under the album. Just click on the Case File images above. They are also posted at the bottom of this reveal.

To submit your layouts, click on the Case Files in our sidebar, which will bring you to the individual albums in our Facebook group.

INSPIRATION 

And now, are you ready for some serious inspiration? A reminder of our first Case File...

CSI  DETECTIVES

Here's what our design team created with this month's first Case File. We will share creations for our other Case File on the 15th of the month.

CASE FILE CLUES 

Choose as many or as few as you are inspired to use! You don't have to use all of the categories of clues. Use what inspires you, or challenge yourself to use as many clues as you can. Or just use the image to inspire you as you wish!

Testimony Link: Travel Journal Prompts

Testimony Link: June Prompts

We trust we've provided enough clues for you to solve the Cases! You have until July 4, 2023, to solve both cases. We can't wait to see what you'll create! Upload your creations in our Facebook Group (album links in sidebar).

May Case Files - Mid-Month Reveal | Deadline: June 4, 2023

Happy Mid-May, CSI Investigators!  We're excited to bring you inspiration for our second May challenge.

If you haven't yet had a chance to solve our first Case File, no worries--you have all month (and beyond) to play in both challenges.

PRIZES

CSI has been running our challenges for 11 years, since 2012, and our savings have dwindled over the years, so we no longer have the ability to provide a monthly gift certificate, but we do have enough to give away a prize every 4 months this year, so we'll be awarding a $20 (U.S. dollars) gift certificate to your favorite online craft store (must take Paypal) to one lucky player according to the following schedule--so the more you play, the more chances you'll have.

January - April Case Files will be awarded on or after May 4

May - August Case Files will be awarded in on or after September 4

October - December Case Files will be awarded on or after next January 4

You will see the customary due date on the Case Files because I'll check those for guest designers, but feel free to go back and play with Case Files that have expired. As long as they're in the albums by the May, September, and January dates listed above, you'll be eligible for the prize.

We'll also be inviting some players whose work catches our eye to serve as Guest Detectives along the way.

CASE FILES 

Did you know May is Get Caught Reading Month? We thought it would be fun to celebrate this interesting holiday with our May Case Files.  As always, you don't have to scrap these topics. Draw your own inspiration from The Scene on the Case File, or you can use the traditional clues, which can be found at the bottom of this blog post.

Image credit:  Risa Rodil

Image credit: Books Paper Scissors

The traditional CSI clues can be found on our Facebook page in the first entry under the album. Just click on the Case File images above. They are also posted at the bottom of this reveal.

To submit your layouts, click on the Case Files in our sidebar, which will bring you to the individual albums in our Facebook group.

INSPIRATION 

And now, are you ready for some serious inspiration? A reminder of our first Case File...

CSI  DETECTIVES

Here's what our design team created with this month's second Case File. 

CASE FILE CLUES 

Choose as many or as few as you are inspired to use! You don't have to use all of the categories of clues. Use what inspires you, or challenge yourself to use as many clues as you can. Or just use the image to inspire you as you wish!

Testimony Link: Booking Through Thursday

Testimony Link: May Prompts

We trust we've provided enough clues for you to solve the Cases! You have until June 4, 2023, to solve both cases. We can't wait to see what you'll create! Upload your creations in our Facebook Group (album links in sidebar).

October Case Files - Mid-month Reveal |

Autumn is in full swing as we greet the second half of October. We're back with inspiration for our second Case File celebrating fall. Don't worry--we haven't forgotten Halloween. We decided our first November challenge would be dedicated to fall so you could scrap this year's photos.

And no worries if you haven't yet had time to play with our first October Case File. Both challenges stay open until November 4.

PRIZES

CSI will be giving away a $20 (U.S. dollars) gift certificate to your favorite online craft store (must take Paypal) to one lucky player each month.

We'll also be inviting some players whose work catches our eye to serve as Guest Detectives.

CASE FILES 

There's a nip in the air, and the leaves are starting to drop from the trees. Autumn is apple season (and it's also National Dessert Month as well as National Bake and Decorate Month), so that's what we're celebrating with our first Case File. Our second Case File is devoted to all things fall. As always, you don't have to scrap these topics. Draw your own inspiration from The Scene on the Case File, or you can use the traditional clues, which can be found at the bottom of this blog post.

Image credit: Diamond Paintings Art

Image credit: Pinterest

The traditional CSI clues can be found on our Facebook page in the first entry under the album. Just click on the Case File images above. They are also posted at the bottom of this reveal.

To submit your layouts, click on the Case Files in our sidebar, which will bring you to the individual albums in our Facebook group.

GALLERY FAVE GUEST DETECTIVES

These talented ladies' work caught our eye in previous months' challenges, so we invited them to be guest designers for the month.

Jean Marmo

My name is Jean and I have a scrapbooker since my daughter was in middle school many years ago. Now, as the grandmother of two little ones, I try to capture memories of their lives – both the everyday ones as well as the special ones. Scrapbooking supplies and styles have changed over the years and I love mixing things up as I did here, with one traditional layout and the other using a mixed media style. I am honored to have the opportunity to showcase the October files for CSI. You can find me at my blog - Pagesintime or at mjmarmo on Instagram.

How I solved the Case: For us, one thing we have to do in fall is hunt for the perfect pumpkin. Last year we found those perfect pumpkins at Schnepf Farm in Gilbert, Arizona. I chose an entirely different scrapbook style for this layout using mixed media. The pumpkin and vine were painted on watercolor paper. I cut them out and adhered them to the blue sky paper. I added twine and chipboard leaves. The clouds are made from texture paste and paint. The smaller pumkins are wood which I painted. I have clear stickers on the vine and a spider on a leaf. I love to add memorabelia to layouts so tucked the map behind the pumpkin.

Cynthia Baldwin

Hi, I'm Cynthia Baldwin. I live in Cypress, Texas (northwest Houston) with my husband of over 25 years, John. We have two kids, Nick and Aly, plus our fur baby Lucy. I've been papercrafting/memory-keeping for over thirty years, and I still love the creativity, photography, generous community - and of course the pretty supplies! - that come with this awesome hobby.

Thanks to Debbi and the CSI design team for providing me some much-needed inspiration for my memory-keeping.

How I solved the Case: The file's lantern made me think of camping and outdoorsy stuff, so this photo of my husband before we went hiking in a national park was my focus. He's acquired certain items to be prepared for different outdoor conditions!

Originally, I'd planned on using the exact colors of the file; I even had papers picked out to go with the blues and browns of his clothes. But then I got these gorgeous new Pinkfresh goodies that I'd ordered in the mail, so I pivoted to using all the leafy patterns there. I used the clues for solid white background, leaves, enamel dots, labels, stitching, and metal. My old, old copper eyelets were big enough so that I could put numbers on them to correspond to my journaling. The floss and alphas are gold too.

I used a Becky Fleck sketch that came from the Soul Scrappers group, the CSI sponsors from September.

INSPIRATION 

And now, are you ready for some serious inspiration? Here's what our design team created with this month's first Case File. We will share creations for our other Case File on the 15th of the month.

The CSI design team masterfully cracked the Case. We'll share how we solved the Case on Facebook and Instagram.

CASE FILE CLUES 

Choose as many or as few as you are inspired to use! You don't have to use all of the categories of clues. Use what inspires you, or challenge yourself to use as many clues as you can. Or just use the image to inspire you as you wish!

Testimony Links: Blogtober titles

Testimony Link: October prompts

We trust we've provided enough clues for you to solve the Cases! You have until Novemer 4, 2022, to solve both cases. We can't wait to see what you'll create! Upload your creations in our Facebook Group (album links in sidebar).