NSD Sketch Challenge - Scrapbook Circle

Happy interNational Scrapbooking Day! We are celebrating at Scrapbook Circle with an Instagram Round Robin, a new community on Facebook, a sketch challenge, a cut file challenge, freebies and prizes! So much fun! I had the privilege of creating the challenge sketch:

I played along using the May kit and add-ons:

I pulled pinks and blues from the kits and followed the sketch fairly closely.

My favorite part of creating this layout was cutting up the acetate sheet by Amy Tangerine for embellishments. I had never fussy-cut acetate before and it's definitely something I plan to do again.

I'd love to see you in the new Facebook group, and I'd love for you to hop over to IG and participate in the Round Robin. If you're scrapping up a storm this weekend, I hope you'll consider joining in on the sketch challenge! I can't wait to see what you create. Have a good one!

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

Festive - DCWV

K. Young Photography - original image - pin

Hello! I cannot believe it's December 1st. Where has 2014 gone?! Spending a year watching a newborn turn into a toddler has the same effect as a fast forward button. To slow down time a little bit, I printed photos from last December for the latest sketch challenge at DCWV:

I'll let the journaling fill you in on the backstory:

Here's the sketch that inspired the page, created by my friend Valerie Mangan for The Studio Challenges:

I turned the sketch sideways and simplified a few of the details, focusing on the stars and the layers of patterned paper.

I used the Christmas Basics 6x6 Stack, the White Embossed 6x6 Stack, DCWV cardstock and DCWV glitter paper. The alphas are American Crafts, and the tiny alpha stickers are from the dollar spot at Target. I bought a few of these sheets because I love them so much :).

As always, there is a card sketch, too. Inspired by the layout sketch, I created this design:

My week was a little crazy with the holiday and some family under the weather, so I didn't get a sample card made - yet :(. You can see what the design team did with the sketch, though. Check out the challenge post here.

I hope your December is beautiful and filled with the happiest of moments :). Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Love Your Company - DCWV

Hello! How is November treating you? Mine has been a mix of things to be grateful for and things I can't wait to move on from. Thus, not posting Attitude of Gratitude Sunday. Or yesterday. But -- I am going to catch up! Ready?

Day 3 (yes, I'm skipping day two, but I'll get to that tomorrow): I am grateful for the one-on-one time I get to spend with Addie.

I generally plan my day so that if I need to run errands, it happens between Kindergarten drop-off and school pick-up. That means it's just Adlyn and me. I know that the next five years are going to fly by, so I'm relishing this school day time we have together. Last week I decided to document an afternoon of errand-running, and these are a few photos from that day.

I created this layout using the November DCWV Stack-a-holic Challenge sketch, which you can find here. I used the Sweet Blossom Stack, the Printed Burlap Stack, and the Embossed Cardstock Stack. I love the different textures and prints!

The flair is by A Flair for Buttons :).

I also had the opportunity to design the card sketch for the challenge this month:

With gratitude in mind, I created two "thank you" cards. I was making this pretty literal interpretation of the sketch when I decided I actually wanted to make a horizontal card. So, I quickly finished this one with a wooden flag sentiment and moved on:

Still working with all the scraps from my layout, I created this horizontal version:

I love it. I love that the sentiment is of gratitude, but not just "thank you". And I love the colors and the light, brightness of the white woodgrain cardstock and airy tissue paper.

Speaking of thank you cards, I am going to be sharing thank you cards (complete with original sketches!) all month long, so if you're a fan of cards, be sure to keep checking back :).

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Create Your Own Sunshine - DCWV

It's time for the September Stack-a-holic Challenge at DCWV! I joined in with a layout and a card, both made with the Quince Blossom Stack. Here's my layout, made with the photos I shared earlier of Addie and her Precocious Paper clip:

The sketch is for a double page, but the left side was demanding all of my attention.

Besides the Quince Blossom stack, I used a sheet of polka dot gold vellum paper from the 6x6 printed vellum stack. I LOVE these little sheets of prettiness.

I had the privilege of creating another card sketch for this month. Here's my sketch...

...and here's my card:

Again, Quince Blossom stack, with a little bit of gold airmail washi tape.

If you'd like to join in on the challenge, visit the DCWV blog today. If you do happen to use my card sketch, I'd love to see what you make! Thanks for stopping by today and have a good one! Tessa

Melon Twist Gets Sketchy - DCWV

Hello! If you're familiar with DCWV, then you probably know that every month they host a Stack-a-holic sketch challenge. The design team shares their takes on a layout sketch and a card sketch, and you have the month to play along. The top twelve entries are featured on the blog. Well...today I have the honor of setting the August challenge!

Sketchy Thursdays has always been my favorite source of sketches, thanks to the talents of my friend, Diana Fisher. I just had to share one of her fabulous layout sketches with my DCWV friends.

The design team loved the triangles, so I designed a card sketch to match. Yes, I tried my hand at designing a sketch! How'd I do?

This is my take on the layout sketch. Yes, I know, I just used a couple of those photos on another layout. I couldn't help it. The Melon Twist stack by DCWV was just too perfect - it matched her outfit like I had planned it, and the photos were of her getting ready to chow down on cantaloupe. It was meant to be :).

Yeah, I realize I spelled cantaloupe wrong. Ugh, I hate typos like that! Oh well, it just speaks to my humanness, right? ;) Instead of the triangles, I fussy-cut fruit slices from one of the patterned papers. You can't really tell, but they are debossed. Several of the papers in the stack are beautifully debossed (the opposite of embossed, more like letterpress). It's my favorite detail and I hope to see more stacks like that from DCWV in the future.

I also used a piece of vellum with gold polka dots from DCWV's new vellum 6x6. I need this stack in 12x12, and I need about a dozen of them! The designs are fabulous and it comes with gold foil and black foil. So cool.

To follow my card sketch, I used scraps from my layout. Easy-peasy :).

I hope you'll check out the challenge post for more from the design team, and I hope you'll join in! Thanks for stopping by today :). Tessa

Swagger meets Cowboy at Fancy Pants Designs

Hello! Or should I say, Howdy! I've got a layout up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog today all about my 4 year old's cowboy birthday party. I used the Swagger line in a "western" way, and it turned out great!

I created a sketch for this layout, as well as a matching card, so please check out the post and let me know what you think! Other than paper and pen sketches, this is the first layout sketch that I've created and shared. I hope you find it useful! You can find the sketch here.

I've got a lot to catch you up on - it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks! Stay tuned, this gal will be a regular blogger again starting now ;). Have a good one! Tessa