SRM Design Team

Hello, hello! I am excited to share some news today that I have been secretly celebrating for a little while!

SRM has invited back several designers to fill an interim design team, before they do another call in the Spring. The invitation was quite the honor and I couldn't be more excited about crafting with such a talented group of ladies. Click here to see the announcement. I am finishing up my first group of projects and will be sharing soon!

Have a good day, friends :). Tessa

Blessed - Epiphany Crafts and DCWV

Hello! Wow, what a week. A lot has happened in the past several days to our little family. Nothing serious, but enough to cause concern and stress out this mama. I'm looking forward to a fresh, new week :). In spite of our challenges, I have felt very blessed, and that is the reason I created this page for Epiphany Crafts:

We were challenged to find inspiration from a project on Pinterest. I found this pretty partyscape and used the clustered paper flowers as the creative spark for my clustered embellishments.

Pin - Original Post

I used several Epiphany Crafts tools, including the circles, the round buttons, and even the flower. Scattering mist, sequins and rhinestones was fun, too.

The most fun part, I think, was working with such a girlie collection of papers. This is a brand new stack from DCWV called Dear Jane. Think Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, etc. Books, roses, lace. Cameos, pink, red, gold. It's gorgeous! And you will be able to find it at your local JoAnn's soon :).

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoy your weekend :). Tessa

SMASH Sunday - One Little Word

I added two more page spreads to my One Little Word SMASH book this past week. For the first one, I went with a "home" theme and peach/green/black color palette:

I recently picked up a bunch of Basic Grey goodies, so you'll see those all over my pages today. This page also features some Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic, as well as a vintage playing card. I thought the blueprint tag and the home bingo card were perfect.

And see this flair? Isn't it great?! You can find a whole set of One Little Word flair in the A Flair for Buttons shop here.

The next pages shift to a pink/kraft color palette. More Basic Grey, as well as an envelope saved from the trash.

I went with a "bird" theme for these pages. I wanted this spread to be encouraging, so the thought of "singing" was a great sentiment to add.

You can see more photos in my flickr photostream. Thanks for stopping by! My next SMASH Sunday post is just two weeks away. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Tessa

Simply Wonderful - The Studio, MLK, Jr. Day

A new sketch challenge is up at The Studio! Here's my take:

I've had this pair of instagram photos printed for awhile, and this sketch was the perfect spark for a two-photo page.

I used mostly bits and pieces from recent Studio Calico kits. I don't think I'll ever tire of those KI Memories banner stickers (title). I love those things!

If you would like to play along with The Studio, you can find the challenge details here. The Studio is a fun bunch of international girls, so if you like to see a great variety of styles and personalities, it's is a good place to be :).

On a non-scrappy note, today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the US. My boys and I have been discussing his contributions to society all weekend. One of my favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quotations is this:

Thinking of my 2013 One Little Word - best - I am finding that many of his words inspire me to be my best. This quote about faith inspires me to have more, comforts me to know that I don't have to see the big picture, and makes me grateful for people who did their best to make the world a better place. U2 is my favorite band, and I always think of this song on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Enjoy :).

Have a good one! Tessa

SMASH Sunday - One Little Word

I'm excited to be starting up my SMASH Sunday posts again! I resolved to do this on a regular basis this year, so you will be seeing a SMASH Sunday post twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. To kick 2013 off I am sharing the start of my One Little Word SMASH book:

My One Little Word for this year is BEST.

This is the title page. It's a mix of all sorts of bits and pieces that have been hanging around in my scrapbook room. One of the things I am determined to do with my SMASH books this year is to use my stash.

I'll buy something that I fall in love with, but I pledge to shop my stash first. This also includes being creative with leftovers from my everyday life. I've already saved an opened envelope from this week's mail and a tag from a pair of new jeans.

I haven't decided what's going in the little envelope yet. And that's okay. I can always come back to it.

Here are pages one and two. I left the right side pretty much untouched other than a rhinestone, some washi and some mist splatter. I liked it as is.

The left side is another story :). I used a Jenni Bowlin postcard for some journaling, and doesn't that Dear Lizzy hello tag make a great accent for the first page? The flowers are fussy cut from one of my favorite DCWV stacks.

Here are pages three and four.

I based this spread on the quotation: "Do what you love. Love what you do." I have learned that I do my best when I love what I'm doing. Sometimes I have to get creative to make myself fall in love with all the things I have to do, but in the end, it's worth it. One thing that's easy to love is my job - teaching dance.

The image on the left is a thank you card from a student. Isn't that little girl adorable? The card reminds me of why I love what I do, so I thought it would be the perfect anchor piece for this page. And the orange/pink/green combo was really fun to work with!

One of my favorite parts is the glassine envelope filled with orange and green sequins. I've had those sequins in my stash for years - at least five! It felt great to finally use them, especially in such a cute way.

So, that's it! I plan to share this SMASH book with you often, but I will likely revisit some of my other books, too. I hope your weekend has been great! Thanks for stopping by today :). Tessa

SMASH Sunday is back!

By popular demand (and because I really, really want to), SMASH Sunday is back! I hope you'll stop by tomorrow to check out my newest SMASH book adventure :).

See you tomorrow! Tessa

Handmade Gift Pledge 2012

Last January while Facebook surfing, I came across a handmade gift pledge. You probably saw it, too. The one that said:

Pay it forward 2012: I, (your name goes here), will give something handmade by me to the first 5 friends who leave a comment here. They must in turn, post this on their status and send something to the first 5 friends who comment on their status. The rules are that it must be handmade and delivered in 2012!

I don't always get caught up in these kinds of things, but this one sounded fun. I commented on my friend, Diana's post and then posted on my own page. I quickly got my five friends and after a few days of thought, I knew what I wanted to make. It was something new, something I hadn't made before. Problem was, I was really busy. I thought I could put it off until summer. Summer came and went. Then I figured once school was in full swing I would be able to find time. Ha! That never happened. Determined to stick to my promise, I finally went to the craft store to pick up what I needed at the beginning of December. I collected all of my materials in a basket and whenever I had a few minutes, I sat down to create. Over a couple of weeks I was able to finish all six (I made one for Diana, too) gifts. And here they are:

For Diana:

For Amanda:

For Audrey:

For Aubry:

For Shannon:

For Heather:

I think I had even more fun with the packaging than I did with the hoops :). I learned how to make pom-poms from yarn and went to town with a hot pink, mustard and gold color palette.

This was such a fun project! I'm really glad I didn't give up and was able to finish these before 2012 was over. There's a new Pay it Forward pledge floating around Facebook these days. Should I sign up again for 2013?

Have a great day! Tessa