Guest Designing for Pebbles

Hello, friends! I'm excited to be on the Pebbles blog today, sharing Valentine's Day decor and cards with the new collection Forever Always.

First, I have to say how much I love that name. Forever Always. That's the best kind of love, isn't it? So of course I made Valentines for my kids, whom I will love forever and always no matter what.

I also made an X's and O's banner that I will stretch across my chalkboard in my livingroom.

I loved being able to use my trusty We R Memory Keepers tools to create this. The Banner Punch Board and the Alphabet Punch Board are the best! You can get all the details for making the cards and the banner at the Pebbles blog.

And you know what else is great? Being way ahead of the game holiday-wise. With baby coming in early February, I know I wouldn't have the time or energy to create for Valentine's Day post-Christmas. Now I'm ready :).

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Crush Valentines - We R Memory Keepers

I have more Valentines for you today! This time, I played with the oh-so-fun Crush collection by We R Memory Keepers:

Each of these cards was made with one of my kiddos in mind. First up, my oldest son, Colten:

When Colten was little, about four years old, he called cupcakes "pupcakes". One day, while I was cleaning in my bedroom, he popped in with a top hat on his head and said in his best British accent, "Hello, Pupcake!" I nearly died of laughter! It's a memory I will treasure forever, so when I saw the "hello" die cut and the cupcake die cut from the Crush die cut pack, I knew I had to pair the two together for Colten's card.

This one is for Carson.

You know that song, "I can't feel my face when I'm with you...." Carson loves to make fun of that song, mixing up the lyrics and putting the word "face" in place of lyrics in other songs. He's almost twelve, so, you know - normal behavior. When I saw the sticker that read "I love your face", I knew it would be perfect for Carson's card.

Jaxon's card is covered in x's and o's.

Every day, sometimes more than once, he will come up to me and say, "Guess what time it is?" I usually pretend I don't know, and guess silly things like lunch time or bed time. Then he giggles and says, "Hug and kiss break time!" So I stop whatever I'm doing and I get a hug and a kiss. I'm crushing on this kid and I wish he could stay my little man forever.

Addie's card was especially fun to make because I could use florals with abandon! She loves flowers, like her mama.

I recently had to teach her that they weren't called "bows" because every time I put a hair clip in her hair that was a flower, she was thinking it was called a bow. I didn't realize that she was associating flowers with bows until she called a bouquet of flowers bows. We're good now, so when she sees this card she will probably shout, "fowers!" We're still working on the letter "l". :)

Do you make your kids Valentines? It's so fun, especially with a collection as great as We R Memoy Keepers' Crush collection. Be sure to check out my cards on their blog today (if you didn't just make your way from there). Thanks for visiting and have a great day! 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 

Hey Sailor Valentines - DCWV

I know you're wondering where the baby update is, but I just haven't had a chance yet to write a good post about it all. It's coming, though.:) Stay tuned! In the meantime, have you seen this new stack by DCWV?

It's called Hey Sailor and it's everything nautical - rope, anchors, ships, and even whales! The colors are ivory, navy, black and metallic gold foil. There are large scale and small scale patterns, as well as A2 cards, pocket scrapbooking-sized cards, and tags. Using some of the smaller cards, and sticking with a black/gold/ivory color palette, I made these masculine Valentines for my boys.

That one is for the hubby. Seriously, without him, I'd be floating aimlessly (or drowning!) right now. For my youngest:

For my middle:

And for my oldest:

All supplies are by DCWV with the exception of the alphas (Glitz Designs) and the thread. I wanted the cards to have a little texture, but to remain fairly masculine. The thread and a few DCWV dots were perfect:

If you want to pick up this stack, you can find it at JoAnn's. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Hearts and Triangles - Fancy Pants Designs Sneak Peek

I'm up on the Fancy Pants Designs blog today :). My assignment - the trendy heart. I decided to take it a bit further and combine hearts and trendy triangles. Here's a little peek:

Find the rest of the layout at the blog here. And if you're looking for Valentines ideas, check out the card I made with a similar technique :).

Enjoy your day! Tessa

PS - Because this is now a daily question from so many friends and family...no baby yet. Three weeks until she's due. Follow me on instagram to see how her nursery is coming along :).

Valentine's Day Cards - SEI

I had the pleasure of working with SEI's Thinking of You line and fell in love. My first project with the line was to create three Valentines for a few special girlfriends:

You can read more about my "recipe" process at the SEI blog today. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Happy Valentine's Day!

The boys wanted toast for breakfast, so this is what I whipped up:

We are going out for lunch with Daddy and tonight the boys get an auntie-nephew dinner date. Josh and I are going out for dinner at a restaurant we went to when we were first dating. And I am taking photos all along the way to fill a mini album that I will get to share soon :).

The boys celebrated with their school classes on Friday. We always try to do something non-edible but fun, and this year we made photo-booth prop mustaches and lips. The third and second graders LOVED them :).

Notice that I added them to giant popsicle sticks instead of dowels or skewers? I didn't want anyone getting poked at school ;). The mustache tag reads: "I mustache you a question. Won't you have a Happy Valentine's Day?" Those went to the boys. The girls' lips tag reads: "I ran out of real flowers, but please enjoy these two lips for Valentine's Day!"

Well, I'm off to wrap up a few chores and shop things. I hope you have a lovely day! Tessa

Boom!

Hello! Happy Tuesday. I have a Valentine's Day project up on the SRM Stickers blog today :).

You can read about how I made it here. I hope you are having a dynamite day :). Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

1st Layout and 1st Card of 2012

Hello! Thanks to Sketchy Thursdays and Scrapbook Circle, I have my first layout and first card of the new year to share with you today.

A new sketch is up at Sketchy Thursdays, and this week's sketch has a prompt in partnership with our sponsor, Scrappy Chics. The prompt is to use blue and silver, inspired by their current kit.

When I saw this chevron paper by Authentique, I had to get it and put it to use on this page. I also loved using their little word stickers. I used a Pink Paislee mask to create the long vertical rectangle in the center, but you have to look carefully to see it. I love how subtle it is.

I had fun adding texture with the trim and doilies. I'm so glad I saved these bright blue doilies from forever ago. They were perfect for this project :).

To play along at Sketchy Thursdays, see this post. There's a gift card up for grabs :). And speaking of a gift card, you can also win one at Scrapbook Circle by playing along with this card sketch:

Can you believe I made this sketch? I totally cheated (meaning I just layered things other people made - I so don't deserve any credit). Anyway, I made a Valentine for my hubby with the new You + Me kit:

I really love the kraft, red, grey, white combo. You have to see the entire kit (here). And play along (here).

So there you have it! My first layout and card of 2012. I see many, many more in the near future :). Thank you for spending some time with me today! Have a good one! Tessa

Precocious Paper Update

Hello!  I wanted to let you know about all the new things going up in the shop lately.

NEW Sewing Pattern Petals:

NEW Valentine's Day goodies:

♥ Neapolitan Bouquet
♥ Neapolitan Sweet Spots
♥ Neapolitan Ribbons on Clothespins

♥ Cupid Sweet Spots
♥ Valentine's Day Ribbon on Clothespins
♥ Valentine's Day Bouquet

♥ Hello Cupcake Sweet Spots
♥ Hello Cupcake Ribbons on Clothespins
♥ Love Notes Fabric and Felt Flowers

NEW Bouquets:

♥ Bliss Bouquet
♥ Pink and Lagoon Paisley Bouquet
♥ Rose Garden Bouquet
♥ Pink and Charcoal Bouquet

And this is just about half of what's new in the shop!  I hope you'll browse soon and that I'll be sending a package of Precocious Paper goodness to you in the very near future :).  Just for stopping by today, enjoy this coupon code for 15% off your entire merchandise total, good through Thursday: PPUPDATE1.

Enjoy your day! Tessa