Tribute to Sketchy Thursdays

I feel like I just said goodbye to a dear friend, one that I may never see again. Sketchy Thursdays has posted its last sketch for the blog as we know it. You can read the announcement here.

I found Diana Fisher's blog when we both made the design team for A Scrappy Design back in 2009. Diana was posting sketches on her blog and even though I had never liked using sketches before, I gave them a try. Diana's sketches were so easy to use and just the spark I needed. I remember being so excited when she would leave a comment on my flickr photostream about my layouts :). Soon Diana and Heidi Myers launched Sketchy Thursdays and I was thrilled to be a part of their first team. I enjoyed my first term thoroughly, was a guest designer during the next term, and then they just couldn't get rid of me from then on :). Being on the Sketchy Thursdays design team has been a real, sweet, treasured part of my life for the past few years. I wish Diana, Heidi, and all the rest of the ST gang the best. I hope you know how grateful I am...for everything :).

In tribute, I've put together as many of my Sketchy Thursdays layouts as I could find into these collages.

Ack, before tears hit the keyboard, I'm going to switch gears. I played along with a fun challenge from The Paper Variety this week. The challenge is to use black and white with a pop of color. I made a birthday card for one of my girls at church, a girl after my own yellow-loving heart :).

Of course I had to use SRM Stickers for my sentiment :).

Thanks for the challenge, TPV! I hope you will make the time to visit Sketchy Thursdays this week. If you're a fan, be sure to let Diana and Heidi know they will be missed. I know how hard the decision must have been to make and I'm sure they can use the virtual hugs. Have a great Thursday! Tessa

SRM Stickers

Hello! I was so excited to accomplish a lot this week, and then I had two wisdom teeth pulled. I know, I'm kind of late to the game in terms of getting them out, but at least the process has started. Two on Monday, then the other two next week. Things are going pretty well, but let's just say that Vicodin and I do not make a cute couple.

On to happier things, you know how much I love SRM Stickers. I was ecstatic when Miss Art's Papercrafting School asked me to design a class based on SRM's calendar stickers. I jumped at the chance and my class went live yesterday. In two minutes, I show you how to make a pocket calendar (a quick and easy stocking stuffer or small gift!). You can find the class here.

Also yesterday, SRM Stickers featured a wand/tag project of mine on the blog. It was actually a project that didn't make it through the final round in a magazine call, but I love it all the same:

I filled the magic wand with twine-wrapped spools as a gift for a scrappy friend. I love the cursive font on some of the SRM Stickers and had to use the cursive "thanks" for my tag. You can find the post here.

Today on the SRM blog I am sharing my One Little Word project - an ATC holder. I am addicted to the calendar stickers and found that they were a match made in heaven for ATC's.

You can see more photos of my ATC holder and the different kinds of ATC's I have already added here. You can find the SRM blog post here. I will share more about my OLW project soon.

Before I go, thank you to The Paper Variety! I was excited to see this news this morning. Also, I am hoping to finalize my Precocious Paper design team choices today. Thank you all for your patience! Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Holiday Music = Card Inspiration

There's a new prompt at The Paper Variety that I thought would be fun to play along with - create a project inspired by holiday music. I've been humming holiday tunes since Thanksgiving day, so to narrow down my song choice I went to my collection of SRM Stickers. What did I find?

Perfect! The large circle sticker reminded me of an ornament, so I went looking for circular embellishments to compliment my sentiment. I originally made these yo-yo's for other projects, but never ended up using them. I think they are at home here. I went with the green and grey color palette and pulled out tapes to match.

I had so much fun making one card that I whipped up another:

"Joy to the World" is one of my favorite Christmas hymns :). The sentiments are all SRM Stickers.

If you'd like to play along, you can find The Paper Variety's challenge here. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Days 16 & 17

Happy Thursday! I hope all is well with you :). As I was thinking about what I would write today, I realized that I was grateful for many of the same things this year as I was last year. I think it has to do with events repeating themselves (parent teacher conferences and field trips, namely), but that's okay. Just because I've received the blessing once before doesn't mean I'm any less grateful, right?

Catching up for my lack of blogging yesterday...Day 16: I am grateful for my boys' teachers. To choose the career of teacher is an honorable thing, and when you really devote your heart and soul to teaching, you bless the lives of so many people. With recent news of awful teachers out there, I am especially grateful for who my boys have this year. Colten and Carson are doing really well and they are enjoying school. Their teachers are aware of their individual needs and are helping them to meet goals and surpass expectations. I am so grateful that when I saw the new prompt from The Paper Variety (to create a project that includes the word "thanks"), I just had to make a pair of cards for the boys' teachers:

Day 17: I am grateful for the emergency responders we have in our city. Today we took a field trip to the fire station. It was short-lived however because they were called away on two emergencies and all the staff had to leave. Even though the kids were sad that their tour only lasted all of five minutes or so, I am glad that they got to see the fire fighters respond to emergencies. I hope seeing the fire fighters jump into action gave the kids confidence that if they ever need their help, it would come quickly. This is my new favorite photo of Jaxon and Carson together - the two of them waiting for the tour to start:

Two peas in a pod, I tell ya. Carson and his "mini me" :). Thank you for stopping by. I really appreciate you taking the time to share a few minutes of your day with me :). Tessa

My Latest Love

...is this striped ribbon from My Mind's Eye.  Seriously, I'm in love, and after the two projects I have to share with you today, I'm also out :(.  I'm going to have to find it in bulk, I think.  Anyway, on to the projects! First up, I have a project on The Studio blog today:

I have had an altered embroidery hoop on my list of must-try crafty things for quite awhile, and I'm so happy I finally gave it a go.  I really like the way it turned out and am excited to try some more.  You can see additional photos at The Studio and in my flickr photostream.

This layout is also graced with the presence of my beloved ribbon.

Kind of bittersweet, this is my last design team project for The Paper Variety.  I've had such a wonderful time there and am looking forward to staying in touch by playing along as often as I can.  If you'd like to play along this week, the challenge is a sketch, provided by PageMaps:

I love the romantic, old-time feel the shops have in Old Sacramento, and this candy barrel shop is our favorite.  We each leave with a bag full of salt water taffy and licorice every time we go.

The prize this week is the July kit from Artful Delight!

I have been so fortunate to work with Artful Delight the past few months via my Etsy shop, Precocious Paper. I designed the "Super Stars", hand-stitched felt embellishments, to coordinate with this fantastic kit. I can't wait to get mine and get scrapping! You can check out The Paper Variety challenge at their blog.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has sent me kind words for Jaxon.  As you read this, we are likely at the dentist having his shattered tooth removed.  It's a scary procedure for a two year old, and I am grateful for your prayers and good thoughts.  We've been preparing by "playing nose" - laying down with a hot pink, bubblegum scented breathing apparatus over his nose that the dentist's office gave us.  Sometimes he's patient and other times it ends up as a puppet on his big toe, but I think he is ready. I'm ready for a tooth fairy visit tonight :).  Have a great day, everyone! Tessa

Mixed Alphas at TPV

The Paper Variety has a new challenge up today, and I took the opportunity to create a thank you card for someone who really helped me out this past week:

The challenge:

I used a sticker sentiment by SRM Stickers that incorporated a bold font with a cursive one.  The inside of the card says "Because of people like you."

Playing along this week could result in a fabulous addition to your alpha stamps from Close to My Heart Demonstrator Dana Swadling:

I hope you'll join in on the fun! And speaking of alphas and words, my journaling class is coming up on June 20th at Miss Art's Papercrafting School!  Take a look:

Have a great day everyone! Tessa

PS - Thank you all for the well wishes.  Your emails and comments of concern are so heartwarming :).  Recovery is going much slower than I expected, but I want to do it right so that I can start a full schedule of dance classes again this August.  Thank you for your support!

Apples and Oranges...

I'm sitting here trying to think of a title, one that would encompass the various things I wanted to share today, and this one seems fitting :).  First off, I made this card for The Paper Variety:

The challenge is to include a fruit on your paper crafting project. Get it? Apples, oranges, strawberries... :).  I couldn't help but use an upcoming release from my Etsy shop - Sandi Henderson Strawberry Fabric and Felt Flowers.  With the addition of a pair of stick pins, some tape, a felt strawberry, and an SRM Stickers sentiment, I think this card is pretty sweet :).

Speaking of Precocious Paper, you can find a few Precocious Paper goodies in the prize being offered for TPV's challenge.  Artful Delight, a fabulous kit club, is giving away their June kit:

Artful Delight commissioned Sewing Pattern Petals with mother of pearl buttons, Glitter Tulle Flowers in black, and Rolled Satin Flowers in coral.  I have this kit in hand and absolutely love it!  If you aren't a subscriber, you should definitely try your hand at winning this kit through TPV. While you are checking out the challenge, be sure to read all about the design team call!  If you love to play with paper and you find inspiration in a variety of challenges, you will love being on this team.  Abby and Suzanne are wonderful people with a fabulous site, and being a part of this team since September has been fantastic. I hope you'll give it a go!

And after you stop by The Paper Variety, I'd love it if you hopped over to the SRM blog today.  Bazzill sponsored the design team and we have been sharing a variety of projects using their products.  Did you know they did patterned paper and embellishments?! Here's a peek at mine (which have now been requested for CHA-Summer):

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great day :). Tessa

Star Studded

Hello!  I'm excited to share a new layout with you today, this time for The Paper Variety's new challenge.

And the challenge:

I've been wanting to try reverse applique for sometime now, and this layout seemed to call for it.  Although now I'm in the market for one of Martha Stewart's anywhere star punches, I had to go old school.  I punched a star out of scrap cardstock and traced it onto my page.  Using a craft knife, I cut the star out.  I distressed the edges with a bit of heavy-duty sand paper and then backed the space with a contrasting patterned paper.  I thought about sewing around the star, but then opted for doodling.  From a distance, the effect is too subtle to notice, but when you look closely, I think it looks really neat :).

I cleaned up my scraproom a bit over the weekend and re-discovered my ribbon scraps jar.  When I have a scrap of ribbon that is too short to store on clothespins with my other ribbons, I stick it in this jar.  Well, the jar was really full and I couldn't remember the last time I dug through it.  I vowed to use it this week while scrapping and that's where my background came from.  The red and blue pattern is paper, but the rest is ribbon and trim.

We would love to have you join us at The Paper Variety!  You can find all the details here, including info on this week's sponsor, Technique Tuesday.

I hope your Wednesday is a good one :).  Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet comments - reading your thoughts is always a bright spot in my day.  Tessa

Tag, you're it!

A new challenge is up at The Paper Variety and this one is right up my alley :).

I decided to make tags for the Mother's Day gifts I am making my sisters for Mother's Day.  Even though not all my sisters are mothers yet, they do want to be and I think it's important to celebrate them now :). 

I colored vintage text paper with Glimmer Mists, using a soft brush to blend the colors together.  I inked the edges and flicked some white paint. I really like the crisp white frames against the artsy background and I loved adding in some Prima and Crate Paper Emma's Shop details.

If you'd like to play along, you can find all the details here.  This week's sponsor is Artful Delight and you could win their fabulous May kit! Have fun getting messy and have a great day :). Tessa

P.S. - My winner from the Scrapbook Circle blog hop is Sara Zenger.  Sara, you should be contacted by Lisa soon! Congrats!

Spring Banners and 2011

Hello!  I'm a bit busy in blog land today :).  First up, I'm sharing a recent project on The Studio blog today.  Stop by to check out my Spring Banners featuring my new favorite color palette: yellow (duh!), apple green, gray, and white/ivory.

I LOVED making all three of these banners and hope you'll stop by for the how-to.

Also, at The Paper Variety today, we are celebrating Suzy's birthday! Happy Birthday, Suzy!  In honor of her special day, the challenge this week is to:

And here's my take:

SRM Stickers has a fabulous variety of number stickers, and this 2011 sticker came from a 2011 sheet with lots of fun variations.  I love the way it looks layered under the "graduate" alphas.  Official senior portrait count - Elizabeth (pictured) 9, Caitlin 10.  Hmmm, I think Caitlin is beginning to get a bit jealous :).

Play along this week for a chance to win a gorgeous kit from We Scrap Kits:

I hope your week is going well :).  I'm off to play catch-up in the studio and to clean house.  Probably in that order ;).  Enjoy your day! Tessa