Scout Camp - Pink Paislee

Hello! Are you making plans to get out in the wild this summer? Have you seen Pink Paislee's latest collection - Outfitters? You're going to want to scrapbook all your outdoor adventures with Outfitters! It's Outfitters week on the Pink Paislee blog and I'm excited to kick it off with this layout about scout camp:

This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of Precocious Paper. I do receive financial compensation and products from American Crafts to develop certain blog posts, but all of the ideas and opinions are my own.

I barely managed to get Colten to cooperate for some photos before he left to his first scout camp last summer ;). This year, both Colten and Carson get to go, and Josh will go up for part of the week again. They're excited to earn more merit badges and get to hang out with their friends.

I'm not usually a fan of collections that are too themey. Camping/outdoorsy lines have almost always been my least favorite. They tend to be too cartoonish to me. However, I am really loving Outfitters! Pink Paislee is spot on the trends with this one, and it isn't too "campy" at all. Oversized plaids, copper foil accents, trendy triangles, cute campers and thermoses...it's all so great I want to plan more camping trips for the summer just to use more Outfitters!

Be sure to head over to the Pink Paislee blog this week to see what the design team is up to with this great collection.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good one! Tessa

Scrapbook Circle and The Cut Shoppe Blog Hop

Hello! Today I am hopping with Scrapbook Circle and The Cut Shoppe. If you just happened upon this post and would like to start from the beginning, click here. If you just arrived from Diana Fisher's blog, you're in the right place :).

Scrapbook Circle and The Cut Shoppe have partnered to bring you digi-cut inspiration with the June kit. I mixed elements from the main kit and add-ons, and layered them on the Straight as an Arrow background.

I decided to keep the background subtle by cutting it out of vellum. I treated the die-cut vellum like an overlay and attached it to my white cardstock background with staples. Working with The Cut Shoppe file was easy-peasy, and the design is awesome - just the right amount of whimsy.

I love the exclusive flair in the kit this month! This piece was perfect - a touch of red, a great sentiment, an awesome font.

I also love the travel lines from Pink Paislee and My Mind's Eye that are in the June kit. While the two lines each have their own look, the pieces in the kit blend together really well.

Before I send you on to the last stop on the Scrapbook Circle side of this hop, be sure to leave a comment at each blog as you go. Scrapbook Circle is giving away a $20.00 gift certificate to The Cut Shoppe to one lucky commenter. Then, be sure to hop with The Cut Shoppe and leave comments to win the Scrapbook Circle June kit.

Head on over to Lisa Andrew's blog next. I hope you've enjoyed the hop! Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Pink Paislee and PageMaps

The Pink Paislee design team had the fantastic opportunity to contribute to PageMaps this month - happy June, by the way! Using the Atlas collection, we all created layouts in various sizes. You can see the gallery here, and win the Atlas collection for yourself here. This is the sketch I was lucky to work with:

I've had the chance to contribute a few times before, and every time I find PageMaps so easy to work with! Even if a particular PageMap doesn't scream my style, it still works. And that's the sign of a great sketch :). Here's my take:

I started with a white cardstock background, then used the gold foil map overlay on the left and a patterned paper (same design as the overlay) on the right. I used tickets for some of the banner strips, as well as ephemera pieces. The Atlas ephemera is the best. I love every little piece!

I didn't quite place my photos in the same positions as the sketch, but where they fell worked for my pictures. I put my title in the same place, but decided that I didn't want to cover up any more of the overlay with a circular base.

I love the boyish charm Atlas can have, so I knew from the beginning I wanted to work with photos of my boys. When I was planning my page, the two oldest were reading. At that moment I decided to include one of my favorite quotes about books and travel and to take photos of the boys the next time we went to the library.

Thanks to Becky at PageMaps for the opportunity to design with another fabulous sketch! Be sure to check out the gallery and details on winning the Atlas prize! Have a great day! Tessa

Front Door Friday - The Boy is Coming Home!

Hello! Today's Front Door Friday is a bit of a departure from my previous Front Door Friday posts. You see, today my oldest returns home from his first trip without family. He and the other 5th graders from his school went away to a science camp and I've been missing him terribly since we dropped him off Monday morning. He comes home this afternoon, but I won't be here to welcome him :(. I have to be at work. I tried to figure out a way to get out of it, but I just couldn't make it happen. So, since I can't welcome him home with open arms, I decided to welcome him home with decorations! When my hubby brings him home and pulls up in the driveway, this is what he will see:

"Welcome home Colten!" on the garage. Balloons.

More balloons. And a message from mom on the door.

It's a little bit silly, but I know he's gonna grin. Colten's love languages are words and time. He will read my words and he will notice how much time I spent putting up the decorations. When I get home I'll give him a huge hug that will probably be a little awkward (because he's 11 and physical touch is SO not his love language). And then I'll fill his bucket with more words (listening to everything that happened and asking questions) and more time (staying up as late as we want because of the holiday weekend).

So, today's Front Door Friday isn't a pretty wreath, but I hope you're inspired to celebrate one of your kiddos in a simple, special way. And don't worry, I have a gorgeous mini wreath ready to share with you next week! Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

I must love my boys...Student Council, Fancy Pants

Hello! We had a busy, busy week, and even busier weekend. I have a new sister! I'll share wedding details tomorrow, including a few DIY projects I had the privilege of contributing :).

Colten, my oldest, tells me Tuesday morning before school, "Mom - I'm running for student council president. Posters were supposed to go up yesterday." Yesterday?! How long have you known this?! Apparently, since Friday. Grrrr. So, we took a couple of minutes to search Pinterest for good campaign slogans. He picked one and I added the supplies to the day's wedding prep shopping list: "Don't blow it! Chews Colten Buys for president!" Luckily, Colten didn't have much homework that afternoon, so we got to work. First, a photo shoot:

Second, I set him up with my Silhouette Cameo. I laid everything out on the computer, but he did the rest - loading the cardstock and the mat, clicking cut, etc. He hates pulling the leftover cardstock off of the mat as much as I do ;). I helped glue down the letters and the photos, but he laid it all out on the posters for me. Lastly, he glued on the empty bubble gum packages and wrote out the rest of the words. The next morning, we got to school early and helped him put them up all over campus.

There was some drama with kids tearing off the empty gum packages, and accusations of Colten passing out the gum for votes, but Colten rose above it all and did his best to enjoy the process. Oh, the joys of politics! As much as that tough stuff hurts this mama's heart, I was happy to see him learning from the experience. The results came in Friday, and...he did it! We referred to Colten as Mr. President often during the weekend ;).

Raising these boys is definitely an adventure, a journey bringing lots of craziness - and happiness, too. I'm up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog today with a mini album all about them and their journey. To see more, and to read about how easily it came together, check out the Fancy Pants Designs blog here.

Thanks for stopping by, and remember - come back tomorrow for some DIY wedding projects!

5th Grade - DCWV

I know something you don't know.... :).

If you missed yesterday's post, my husband and I found out what we are having. It's a....just kidding! We're not telling until Sunday, at a gender reveal party for our boys and family. If you'd like to get in on the fun, I'm doing a little giveaway while taking a poll here.

Anyway, to hold you over until Monday when I post photos and words from the party, I'm going to be sharing some DCWV projects over the next few days. First up, this new layout about my oldest being a 5th grader this year. I used the Homeroom stack for this one.

The designs and details in this stack are so much fun! The paper airplanes are my favorite.

The "5th" and "grade" were made with my Silhouette Cameo.

I repeated the "5" with a journaling card from the stack.

And the journaling....

I cannot believe I'll have a middle schooler next year. He will be a junior when this baby is in Kindergarten. Crazy. I can't seem to wrap my head around it. They really do grow up way too fast.

I hope your day is going well! Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Buds - Epiphany Crafts

It's hexagon week on the Epiphany Crafts blog, and I have to say - I love working with this shape! When hexagons first got trendy, I think I got hexagon-overload. However, now that all the fuss has calmed down a bit, I am really enjoying adding a hexagon here and there, where they really belong. The new hexagon tool by Epiphany Crafts is definitely inspiring me.

This layout is about my son and his good friend. If every one had a friend, or could be a friend, like this boy, the world would be such a happy place. I'm really glad Colten has this kid in his life :).

I'm finding that more and more, the hexagon tool is a shape I reach for when designing decidedly masculine layouts. I love the angles and filling the bubble caps with graphic designs.

I used the April Scrapbook Circle kit to create this page. Yes, I'm a bit behind when it comes to using up my kits ;). I went with a kraft/gray/black color palette. It was fun to take a break from bright color!

Oh my goodness, and I'm just realizing...hahaha! It looks like the "swell" speech bubble is coming from the dog die-cut's derriere. Oh dear. I did have that speech bubble up higher, like it was coming from Colten's friend, but I dropped it when I was adding it to the page. I couldn't adjust it because I used liquid glue that would smear all over the vellum I backed the wood chips with. Ha! On a technique note, backing the wood chip with vellum helped it pop off of my page more, without losing the pattern behind it. I ran the wood chips through my Xyron sticker maker (they barely fit, but it worked!), then attached them to a sheet of vellum. I trimmed the pieces out and used liquid glue behind the wood sections to attach them to my page.

You can see my post at the Epiphany Crafts blog here. While you're there, enter to win your own hexagon tool and accessories!

I've got a busy, long weekend ahead of me. When everyone else is cheering for the work week to be over, I'm gearing up to go to work. It's our last competition of the season - rehearsals today, compete tomorrow. Wish us luck! Tessa

Mr. Wonderful - SEI

Last week, over at the SEI lifestyle blog, I shared a layout about Colten:

I love this photo for several reasons. One, he cooperated for the camera. Two, those eyes. And three, those freckles! He's my only child with freckles and I love them :). Anyway, the pink background of the photo (old theater doors in old town Roseville) matched perfectly with the pink in SEI's Think of Me line.

I pulled all the pinks and reds from the line, then balanced out the lovey-dovey factor with the large polka dot. A lot of the die cuts and papers in this line include gold foil accents, so I pulled some of the gold embellishments from SEI's Christmas line to match. I love being able to stretch holiday supplies!

Wow, two layouts about Colten in one week! I'd better get to scrapping my other two before I create a little sibling rivalry ;).

Before I go, I wanted to let you know of a fun announcement coming up. I am celebrating five years on Etsy next week with five days of giveaways and a sale! I'll be sharing all the details here on the blog tomorrow, as well as giving you a sneak peek of the prizes.

See you then! Tessa

Father and Son

I'm up on the GCD Studios blog with a new layout today. When I think of generations past, I remember family names that have been used again and again, tying people together over decades and even hundreds of years. My name, for example, comes from my great-great-grandmother. I love that I can say that. When my husband and I were giving names to our children, we knew we wanted to carry on that same tradition.

Colten gets a kick out of having the same middle name as his daddy - Daniel. Connecting generations is an important aspect of this hobby to me, so I knew at some point I would document their shared name. When the assignment came up at GCD Studios, I snapped it up.

The blues and greens from the Splendor line were the perfect backdrop for these instagram photos that I captured recently. A pop of red in washi tape and Glimmer Glaze make for a striking contrast and tie the photos into the rest of the design.

This page is one of my current favorites and one I'm sure I'll love forever. Gosh, I love these boys :). Thanks so much for stopping by today. I'll be back tomorrow with another layout I'm particularly fond of, featuring another family member I absolutely adore :). Have a great day! Tessa

Sketchy Thursdays

Hello! Sorry it's a bit dusty around here :). I've been busy, but busy in a good way.  Here's a quick recap of the past several days:

* Met my Brazilian scrapbooking friend, Fabi in person on Saturday! I took her to the largest scrapbooking store in Northern California (my LSS, Green Tangerines) and to her first baseball game (go Rivercats!).

* Said goodbye to my two youngest sisters, Elizabeth and Caitlin.  They are off to school in Utah and grown-up adventures. They've been gone a little over 24 hours and I miss them terribly :(.

* Remember Jaxon's tooth? I accidentally knocked it out of his little mouth with my thumb during a mommy-toddler wrestling match.  He's fine, not traumatized, and I don't have to take him to the oral surgeon now :). Prayers get answered in mysterious ways, don't they?

* Organized a really fun event for the blog and Precocious Paper in August - more on that later ;).

I did have time to play at Sketchy Thursdays:

I love this multi-photo sketch and will have to play with it again:

The prize this week is from October Afternoon! If you haven't been to the ST blog yet today, head over there now for all the fabulous details.

I hope your week has been a good one.  Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Sticky Sweet Summer Treat

Happy Tuesday!  I was in recovery mode yesterday and neglected to direct your attention to a new project I have up at the GCD Studios blog.  You can see the original post here.  As a new feature at GCD Studios, the design team has been given color palettes to work with each month, and my first color palette is this gorgeous one:

Not only did it inspire this layout, full of GCD goodies:

But also the wreath gracing my front door:

As you'll read in the post, someday these will be the colors of my craft room. Someday.

This past weekend has left my heart very full.  On Friday we said "until we meet again" to Grandma Nichols, my husband's cousins' grandmother.  I only met her a few times, but this warm, generous woman left an impression on me. I am so glad that I knew her, even if only briefly.

Saturday was Colten's baptism.  If you are unfamiliar with LDS baptisms, you can read more about the ordinance here.  The day was very special and Colten was smiles from ear to ear. I'm a proud mama :).  I hope your weekend was just as wonderful and that your week is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by :). Tessa