Journey - Pretty Little Studio

Hello all! I love using travel-themed product as a metaphor for life - the journey, the adventures, etc. - and I did just that on this scrapbook page for Pretty Little Studio:

I used the Let's Go collection to document my little man's kindergarten graduation. You can get all the links to specific products on the Pretty Little Studio blog here.

Kindergarten for this kiddo went much differently than it did for his older brothers. It was an adventure, with a lot of learning (for him and for me) and growth. It has been interesting to watch first grade unfold and to see how he is continuing to overcome challenges and find success.

I'm off to do laundry and disinfect my house ;). I hope you're doing much better! Thanks for visiting today. Tessa

You Are Amazing - Pretty Little Studio

I'm not big on Christmas cards, but oh, do I love Valentines! There's something especially fun about making lovey-dovey cards for my friends and family. Today, I'm sharing one I made with the You & Me collection by Pretty Little Studio:

I have a friend who could use a pick-me-up, and with Valentine's Day so soon, I decided to make her this Valentine. 

My favorite thing about making cards is that I can use scraps from my layout projects to put them together. I tend to save every little piece of Pretty Little Studio patterned paper because I love it so much, and a few pieces of floral and stripe papers layered up perfectly for this card.

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa 

Sunshine - Pretty Little Studio + News

Hello! I hope your 4th of July weekend was wonderful! I enjoyed it. I will never EVER get tired of parades, barbecue and fireworks :). And, we survived the scorching hot sun, so that was a bonus.

Speaking of sun, my little sunshine Adlyn is the subject of my latest layout for Pretty Little Studio. Most of my PLS stash is in storage until we close on our house, but I do have the amazing Treasure Island collection to work with! I created this page for the July sketch challenge.

You can see more on the PLS blog here, but let me point out some of my favorite things. The title - Melissa has several acetate title pieces available in the shop now. I probably would have stapled it on, except my Tiny Attacher is in storage. I can't believe I didn't leave it out, but washi tape came to my rescue :).

The flair - I think flair is something I will use in my scrapbooking forever. I just love PLS flair because the packages are a mix of words and vintage images. I thought this "happy" flair was a great subtitle.

Die-cuts - I love PLS die-cuts. I got the package of small die-cuts from the Treasure Island line and it was hard to choose just one for this little cluster.

I have some fun PLS news to share today, too! I will be designing for Pretty Little Studio for another term! I am VERY excited. I just adore Pretty Little Studio and feel honored to have this opportunity continue. Check out the talented ladies I get to design with:

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great week! Tessa

Cutie Pie - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! Today I'm sharing a layout that I made earlier this month for Pretty Little Studio's May sketch. Did you know that if you play along, you could win a $10 gift certificate to the Pretty Little Studio shop? You have until the end of the month to join in. Details can be found here. I got to play along this month, and this is my take:

I've been on an 8.5x11 kick lately, and I thought the sketch was a great candidate for re-sizing. All of the papers and embellishments are from the You and Me collection.

I love this photo of Addie and me. Like the journaling says, I don't remember where or exactly when we took this photo, but I love how it captures her eyes and my kiss to her chubby little elbow.

I love the mix of teal, pink and yellow in this collection. I especially love the yellow - it's deep, rich, and not orange at all. I was excited to discover that I had the perfect yellow watercolor paint (Twinkling H2O's) to use for my splatters. And yes, excited is the right word because matching the color yellow can be so hard!

If you'd like to see my post on the Pretty Little Studio blog, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by today! Next week I'll be sharing my storage system for my Pretty Little Studio stash. If you have a small space like me, you'll definitely want to check it out :).

Have a great day! Tessa

Pretty Little Studio and Tombow Blog Hop

Hello! My name is Tessa. Welcome to my blog, Precocious Paper! If you have been hopping along with Pretty Little Studio and Tombow USA, and you just visited Latrice Murphy, you are in the right place. If you just happened upon this post and would like to check out the rest of the hop, start here.

I had so much fun creating with the You and Me, Baby Claire and Gold Mine collections from Pretty Little Studio, and I'd love to share with you the Tombow USA products that were my favorite to use. First, let's check out this start to a special album that I am making for my sister:

She is getting married this summer and I thought it would be fun to put together a pocket-style scrapbook for her. She just got her engagement photos back, so I started off with a few pages featuring that photo shoot:

As you can see, my favorite adhesive to use for this project was Tombow's Xtreme adhesive. I enjoy filling pockets, but I also like to add elements to the outside of the pocket pages. I used the Xtreme adhesive to add a die-cut and a label here:

I also created a layout, inspired by the measuring tape patterned paper from the Baby Claire collection. I decided to create an ombre effect on my page by cutting apart the measuring tape strips and stacking them light to dark. I tucked in the photos and sprinkled confetti and sequins down the page.

The glue I used to attach every last one of those teeny-tiny, sparkly bits is the Mono Multi liquid glue.

Just a little dab of this glue was all it took to secure these pretty sequins to the page. I'll be reaching for this adhesive every time I have sequins to adhere from now on!

Are you interested in getting your hands on some Pretty Little Studio and Tombow product? Leave a comment here and on all the other participating blogs. You have through April 14th. The winner will be announced April 15th.

Your next stop is also your last stop - the Tombow USA blog! I hope you enjoyed the projects and products. Be sure to like both Pretty Little Studio and Tombow USA on Facebook to stay in touch. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Butterfly Magnets - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! Just popping in to share a cute set of magnets that I created. I used the beautiful Marigold collection by Pretty Little Studio.

I used the Epiphany Crafts large round tool to punch the patterned paper circles and add the epoxy sticker tops.

I'll be setting this beautiful collection aside to work with new Pretty Little Studio lines. Be sure to check out You and Me, as well as The Gold Mine. The Gold Mine is filled with metallic foiled tags, papers, vellum, and more. It is oh-so-pretty! Also, join the Pretty Little Studio facebook group to see sneak peeks of the next line, Treasure Island. It is gorgeous!

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

Easter Best - Pretty Little Studio

Before I share today's project, I have to celebrate for a moment:

She's one. Today. I cannot believe it. Seriously, where did the time go? As fast as it has sped by, I am grateful for every moment. The good and the hard. She has grown so much, but at the same time, I have grown even more. Adlyn has inspired me to be better in so many ways. The way she wraps her arms around my neck, even while we're sleeping, makes me want to love more fiercely. The way she reaches out to people (even strangers) and shows them love with smiles, pats of her little hands and even cuddles makes me want to be a better friend. The way she glows when she sees her brothers come home from school makes me want to spend more quality time with the people I love. The way she absolutely adores her daddy makes me love him more. I am so grateful to be her mama. Truly, truly blessed.

All this birthday milestone stuff has had me looking over photos of the past year, and these photos caught my eye:

I realized that I hadn't scrapped them yet, and they were perfect for an assignment from Pretty Little Studio to feature the word flags (one of my favorite PLS embellishments). You can read more about them here.

This is Adlyn in her first Easter dress. She was awfully wiggly, so I had a hard time getting photos, but I think the blurry pictures tell the story well.

It's funny - I was just telling a friend at CHA that I was "so over" the yellow and gray trend. Huh, looks like I'm not, really ;).

Thanks for stopping by today. For those of you looking for sneak peeks of Adlyn's birthday party, see my IG feed. Her party isn't until next weekend, so you've got a week until I blog it all. I'll be sharing photos of the DIY on IG fairly regularly, though! Have a good one! Tessa

This Girl - Pretty Little Studo

"Oh, dear." I find myself saying this quite often, in reference to my little girl. It's a favorite phrase to use at this stage of exploring, finding herself stuck in cabinets, in crates, and on boxes. She's sneaky, too, finding a way past cabinet locks to granola bars and hand soap. The messes are endless, but so is her sweet and sassy disposition. When she had on this animal print outfit for church a few weeks ago, I knew an impromptu photo shoot was in order to try to capture some of that personality.

And deliver on the personality is exactly what she did - by not cooperating ;). She still looked super cute in her new coat and cheetah-print sweater dress, though. I used Pretty Little Studio products from several lines to create this page.

I was asked to feature the talk tags, which you can see on the Pretty Little Studio blog here. I thought a talk tag made a great place for a die-cut and sticker. You don't always need to fill those things with journaling, you know ;).

When I found out I was having a girl, I made sure everyone knew that her wardrobe wasn't going to be pink, pink, pink. I soon learned that it is really hard to avoid pink, but it also grew on me and now she does wear pink fairly often. However, if I can put together something cute without it, I will :). That's one of the reasons I love this outfit, and one of the reasons I used blue to compliment all that black and brown on this layout.

Thanks for stopping by today! I appreciate your visit :). Have a great day! Tessa

Christmas Catch-up - December Mini Album Cover - Pretty Little Studio

Hello and welcome to Christmas Catch-up week! I'll be sharing all the Christmas projects I missed blogging in December (you know, when it was the crazy-busy holiday season). I've got albums, decor, layouts and even video tutorials to share, so I hope you'll join me (or pin for later, when you aren't in holiday overload mode).

Today I'm sharing the cover of my December mini album, created for Pretty Little Studio.

I started with a 6x8 binder that I purchased at Target a couple years ago. When I saw Pretty Little Studio's Holiday Cheer line, the navy blue and gold made me think of this lonely little binder and the two made a perfect pair for a mini album.

I have yet to fill the inside, but I have a plan. All December long I kept a Pottery Barn holiday shopping bag out on my counter (since it was so visible, it was kind of important that it be festive and cute). Whenever a bit of memorabilia came home from school or a party or a performance, into the bag it went. After CHA, I plan to print photos, make basic cardstock pages, then hole-punch everything and add it all to the binder. I'll embellish with Pretty Little Studio die-cuts, stickers, word flags, flair, etc. I'm certain it will be an easy afternoon project. Just my speed for a December album :). I'll do a video walk-through when I'm done and share here on the blog.

You can read more about the darling product and my process for the cover on the Pretty Little Studio blog here.

And, if you're really just over Christmas and ready for Valentine's Day, you've got to check out Pretty Little Studio's new line - You and Me. It's beyond darling and I can't wait to get my hands on it. From Valentine's Day on into Spring, this collection is full of sweet vintage charm, trendy patterns, and all the fabulous embellishments you've come to love and expect from Pretty Little Studio.

Thanks for stopping by today :). Tessa

Celebrate an Ordinary Day - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! I hope your New Year's Day was a good one. I enjoyed setting up my One Little Word album and spending time with family. If you've had a chance to visit the blog at Pretty Little Studio, you may have seen my latest layout:

Based on the January sketch, I created this page with the Holiday Cheer collection and a patterned paper from the Marigold line. You can read a little bit about my process, and see a couple other gorgeous takes on the sketch, on the Pretty Little Studio blog here.

One of my favorite parts of this layout is the journaling. I thought about doing typewriter strips, but then I decided on the tag.

Only the left side of my photo is actually adhered to the layout. The tag is secured with the paper clip.

I love how the first layout that I'm sharing this year goes hand in hand with my One Little Word - still. I hope I get better at celebrating ordinary moments like this in 2015.

Thanks for stopping by today, and for your comments yesterday on the blog and elsewhere in social media land. I'm glad we have this online space to connect :). Have a good one! Tessa