Thursday, July 31, 2014

A - Scrapbook Circle

Hello! Oh, how I love the July kit, Our Adventure, from Scrapbook Circle. Filled with travel-themed, summery goodness, this kit is even great for baby photos:


I am sharing my take on the current challenge - Typography - on the Scrapbook Circle blog today. I decided to mimic the monogram wall that I'm creating in Adlyn's nursery on a layout:


I love the pink, yellow and blue color combination.


Speaking of Scrapbook Circle, there is exciting stuff going on! First, tomorrow begins a Scrapbook Circle blog hop. We'll be getting to know the new 2014-2015 design team as well as showing off the August kit. There are five kits up for grabs and so much GOOD inspiration lined up! I hope you'll join us :).


Also, Scrapbook Circle is offering a great promotion right now! New subscribers, who start with the August kit, will get another kit of their choice FREE. Here's how to take advantage of the offer (good through August):

1. Add the August kit to the cart.
2. Select a past kit that you want for free.
3. Use code FREEKIT in the promo box.

Easy-peasy! You can start at the Scrapbook Circle site here. I'll see you tomorrow for the blog hop! Thanks for stopping by :). Tessa

Monday, July 28, 2014

One Little Word Tag Book - Love My Tapes

My one little word for 2014 is FINISH. You can read more about why I chose this word here. I've been thinking about my word quite a bit lately, and I've come to the conclusion that I am slacking. To re-inspire myself to be more diligent in working on my word, I created this little tag book:


To see how I made the tag book, please see the Love My Tapes blog today. If you are visiting from Love My Tapes, hello! Using their fabric tape to bind my tags was easy, and the tape will hold up beautifully to repeated folding.



I have a Pinterest board where I collect things that make me think of my word - mostly art and quotations. I copied ten of the quotes - putting the one that started it all on the cover - into the book. Each one is numbered with a My Mind's Eye sticker.



The One Little Word flair on the front cover is by A Flair for Buttons. My flair supply is currently a little low - I've got a wishlist of about 20 sets in my shopping cart right now ;). I love Shelley's flair!



Now I have a lovely little reminder of what my word is all about. I have it propped up on my dresser in my bedroom so that I will see it every day.



For more photos and instructions, be sure to see the Love My Tapes blog today :). Do you have a one little word, and if so, are you still going strong this far into the year? Thanks for visiting! Tessa

Friday, July 25, 2014

Be Always Blooming - DCWV

DCWV has a new stack coming out in the next couple of weeks that I'm really excited about called Vintage Essentials. The patterns are all vintage-inspired, such as ledgers, book text, and script. The weight of the paper is my favorite part - it's newsprint! The light weight is perfect for altered projects, and a decoupaged canvas was what I tried first:


You can read about my process at the DCWV blog today, but I basically decoupaged a couple of Vintage Essentials papers to the canvas, used gelatos to add color, and decoupaged some fabric pieces, too.


The fabric is leftover from the embroidery hoops I made for Adlyn's nursery. This canvas will hang in the nursery, too, but probably closer to my wall of artsy/crafty supplies.


Addie's fairly mobile these days, so that Expedit shelf wall is a top priority. I've got the lower shelves figured out, so she can't do any damage to those supplies, but the higher shelves are testing my creativity. I'm loving collecting storage containers in my aqua/yellow/red palette, though!


You can read more about the canvas at the DCWV blog here, and you can find the Vintage Essentials stack at Michaels in the coming weeks. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Live Your Life Happy - DCWV

Hello! Today I am guest blogging at DCWV again :). I'm sharing some new wall art for Addie's nursery:

This is an 8x10 canvas panel that I colored with gelatos, then embellished with stamps and die-cuts from DCWV's Vintage Collector line. Vintage Collector was widely available at Michaels stores this past year, although mine sold out pretty quickly.


For more detailed instructions to make your own, please see my post at the DCWV blog today.


I've only played with gelatos a few times, and this was my first canvas. I absolutely LOVED how this came together. I watched a few tutorials online, overcame my hesitation and indecision, and just started laying color down. Now I need more canvas panels!


Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good one! Tessa

Sunday, July 13, 2014

SMASH Sunday - Love My Tapes

Hello! Today I am sharing another page from my couple selfie smash book, the book all about selfies that my husband and I take together. You've seen today's pictures before in layouts, but I wanted to be sure to add these to this smash book because they are in my top favorite pictures of us.



I used a combination of Project Life cards and American Crafts patterned paper. The fabric rose stickers have been in my stash for years (so happy to finally "let go" and use them!). The butterfly (top left), hashtag stamps and "forever" stamp are Heidi Swapp. The striped journaling card and black and white rectangle (top right) are from Scrapbook Circle. The gray flag on the top photo is Elle's Studio. The yellow alphas are Sassafras Lass (I miss them!). The washi tapes are from Love My Tapes.


I tend to go big with washi tape, using bits here and there and everywhere. This time, though, I went for more of a peek-a-boo technique. I saved the washi tape for last as a way to add color in places that I thought needed it. I used two tapes - pink scalloped and aqua hearts - to attach the bottom photo. The aqua brought out the aqua of my necklace in the photo and contrasted with the pink "me & you" card. By layering the aqua over the pink at the top of the photo, I got the benefit of both colors without the pink being too strong.


Over here, I used more of the heart tape to put a contrasting color between the yellow polka dot card and the yellow rose sticker. Because I had used a pink butterfly on the yellow card, the aqua tape was a great compliment and a good way to coordinate with the neighboring aqua-colored card.



Here I used pink scalloped washi tape between layers of patterned paper and a doily. The blue-green leaves of the rose sticker called for the pink tape, again to balance colors and bring out the pink in the patterned paper.


I have to say my favorite part of this page is my title. I don't always add a title, but this was perfect. I cut this phrase out of a magazine awhile back. I "bubble cut" (as my kids say - they learned this term at school for when you cut just slightly outside of the lines instead of on the line) around the letters so that as much of my background as possible could show through. My journaling talks about how we may not have a lot of material things, but we are still richly blessed.


Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Going Places, Trip to Sac Town - Scrapbook Circle

Oh my goodness, I am so in love with the July kit, Our Adventure, from Scrapbook Circle! Combined with the add-ons, there is so much good stuff! The first layout I made is up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today as inspiration for the current challenge, Nice Ride:



The challenge is to create a layout about traveling the open road - a road trip, getting your license, a commute - you name it.


I scrapped photos that I took on the day we drove in to the city (Sacramento) during Spring Break. We were parked, getting gas, when I snapped these. I can't get all three to give me a serious look at one time to save my life. I don't know what got into Jaxon, especially ;).


This is a Spring Break tradition for us, going back several years. We visit the California Railroad Museum and Old Town Sacramento, then try to do something new as well. This year we visited Sutter's Fort, and other years we've gone to Fairytale Town or the Sacramento Zoo.


If you'd like to play along, anyone - subscriber or not - is welcome! You can find today's post here and the original challenge post here. If you're interested in checking out the kit and add-ons, visit here.

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy your day! Tessa

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

TLC Vox Box - Influentster


I had the opportunity to receive and review the TLC Vox Box from Influenster. It was a great collection of items for moms, including products to make life a little bit easier, more glamorous, and delicious :).



Breyer's Gelato: I received a coupon for a free Breyer's Gelato. I love ice cream, frozen yogurt, soft serve, gelato, all of it. It's hard not to like what I'm eating if it falls into this category. However, I was not disappointed in the gelato in the least, and will definitely be buying more in the future (and hiding it from the kids - this stuff is for the hubby and me only).



Neo to Go: This portable, spray-on neosporin has come in handy several times. I love having it in my diaper bag, purse, or beach bag. I've been able to quickly administer a little mama love and first aid to scrapes, sliver boo-boos, and more. I love not getting the neosporin all over my hands because I can just spray it on and slap the bandaid over that. My kids say it feels good, too.

Ivory Soap: We had so much fun with this! My kids were really bored, and I had heard you could do some cool science experiments with Ivory soap. So, I did a little research. This link is what I found. Against my better judgment, we microwaved Ivory soap. It was SO cool! You've gotta try it. I've pinned other Ivory soap activities to this Pinterest board, too, if you're interested.


Avon Anew Wrinkle Smoother: Okay, okay, yes. I'm getting wrinkles. I really don't mind, though. I don't feel the need to cover them up, but Influenster asked me to give this product a try, so I did. I loved that it was something I could put on after my foundation. It felt good, it did fill in those lines a bit, and I got compliments on my skin when I wore it. Do I need it? No. Would I buy it now that I've tried it for free? Yes. Not so much for the smoothing of wrinkles, but more so for the hydration of my skin around my eyes. I was happy with the results.



Shell Fuel Rewards Program: I always buy my gas at Shell. It's convenient and my car runs well on it. It's not always the cheapest, but the cheapest gas in town is always a headache to get because the station is so crowded. This card takes care of my tiny complaint. It saves you three cents a gallon every time you use it, making it very comparable to those grocery store gas stations. There are a lot of other perks, too. See for yourself: https://www.fuelrewards.com/fuelrewards/welcome.htmlRefId=7aa2707c0aee4141a8f9c0dd326a701c 



Puffs Tissue: I've long been a fan of Puffs tissue. When cold season comes around, we only use this stuff. The lotion in the tissue saves our noses. Around the same time the TLC Vox Box arrived, Addie got a sniffly nose. I was so glad I had this tissue on hand. It was gentle on her baby skin. And did you know? They've got a soft pack now. We always destroy the boxes when I try to keep one out on the counter or in the car (boys, right?!), so I am really glad to see a soft packaging option.


Well, that's it! I really did enjoy every bit of this box, for one reason or another. I hope you'll check out these products, or at least some of my links above. Thanks to Influenster for the complimentary goodies! And thank you for stopping by today :). Tessa

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Gelatos and Lace Hello Card - Love My Tapes

Hello! I was bit by the gelato bug a few months ago and finally purchased more colors to play with this past week. Knowing that I had a project coming up at the Love My Tapes blog, I decided to experiment by dyeing lace tape with gelatos:


I started with strips of white lace tape which I adhered to a pre-cut piece of watercolor paper. I applied gelato directly to the lace and then used a wet brush to saturate the lace, spreading the color through each strip. When I had finished all four strips, I blended the colors a bit by adding more gelato and water. The 140 lb watercolor paper handled it beautifully and the adhesive on the lace tape held perfectly.


I embellished with gold brads and gold alpha stickers.


I learned that gelatos can be messy, which is great for making art, but not so great for keeping white paper white. I somehow got a little crumb of gelato on my finger, and when I was attaching a brad, it wiped onto my paper, which I had intended to keep white. So, I improvised, and made those watercolor bubbles at the top. Tip: keep your hands and work surface clean if you want your white paper to stay blemish-free ;).

You can see my post at the Love My Tapes blog here. Thanks for visiting today! Tessa

Friday, July 4, 2014

Shoe Happy - SRM Challenges

Hello and Happy Independence Day! If you're celebrating the 4th of July, I hope you have a happy, safe day!



Today is also the start of a new challenge at the SRM Challenges. Here is the challenge:

I chose to work with the inspiration photo of the flip flops. I love buying a pair (or two, or three) of sandals that I live in from May through at least September every year. This page is about my favorite pair this summer.


I went with a palette of gold, navy and pink. The pink background paper is by Websters Pages. The navy and gold papers are from the Hey Sailor stack by DCWV. Here's the SRM Stickers run down:



1 - SRM gold doily
2 - We've Got Your Sticker Hello
3 - Say it With Stickers  New Year
4 - Sticker Stitches Valentine
5 - We've Got Your Sticker Hello


The floral flair is by American Crafts. The star flair is by A Flair for Buttons.


If you'd like to play along, you can find the challenge post here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

4th of July Summer Bunting - DCWV

Hello! My favorite holiday - Independence Day - is quickly approaching and I am in full decorating mode! I've decided to revamp all of my 4th of July decor this year. In the past, I've used an antique red, white and blue palette. The white was really ivory, the red was more burgundy, and the blue was navy. I loved it, and still do, but it's time for a fresh change. I like to keep my decor up at least part way into August, so I decided on a palette that is a little bit non-traditional so that it said "summer" more than just "Fourth of July" - real red, bright white, true blue and light blue:



My first project was this garland, made with papers from several different DCWV stacks.



To make this 12 foot long banner, I cut thirty-six total 4x3 rectangles from twelve different patterned papers. Using my scraps, I made ten prize ribbons:



Once you have your tails, secure them to patterned paper circles mounted on scalloped circles. I embellished mine with Prima flowers and DCWV bling.



To assemble my garland, I sewed the pennants and prize ribbons together with white thread, using a sewing machine.



I like the mix of papers not only for their patterns, but also for their textures. The corrugated pieces are my favorite. The other papers are either matte, glossy, glittered or embossed. I love the variety of DCWV textures available!



To find out exactly which stacks I used, and to get more Independence Day decor inspiration, be sure to stop by the DCWV blog today. Have a great day! Tessa