I *heart* Early Mornings

Post number two for the day - I'm catching up!  See the previous post for my return to the world wide web, Scrap That Poetry, and The Studio :).

There's something about being outside early in the morning that I love. I think it's the peaceful quiet that accompanies the sunrise. If my Carson had his way, he would likely never see a sunrise - early mornings are not for him.

There's a new prompt at The Paper Variety today - scraplift a TPV designer. Head on over to the blog to see my fellow designer's pages. For my layout, I scrapped this photo of Carson at a hot air balloon launch. I had a lot of fun with paint and Sassafras papers. Carson even helped me make it - the title treatment was his idea :).

The Bo Bunny Winter Joy collection is up for grabs - I bought this collection a little while ago and it is SO pretty! We'd love to see you play along. Last week we had a record number of players - let's do it again! Have a great day! Tessa

Finally online!

I've had real, live internet service at my home for about 24 hours now and I feel much better already :).  City permits were a huge delay, but now we're all hooked up!  I think getting online was the last thing on our list of to-do's that will make life feel normal and routine again.  ***big sigh***

Now back to my regularly scheduled scrapping and sharing...

On October 1st, Scrap That Poetry celebrated its first anniversary.  Congratulations to Jennifer and STP!  To make the latest challenge even more special, Heidi created a sketch that I LOVED working with.
 

The challenge poem, "The Rock Cries Out to Us Today" by Maya Angelou, is full of possibilities for layout inspiration.  I decided to focus on the lines "Each new hour holds new chances/For new beginnings," instantly thinking of my youngest, Jaxon.

And on October 3rd The Studio had a new challenge go up, this one about your home.  I'm really into making yarn wreaths now, and I made one for fall that is now hanging on my front door.  It will soon be replaced with the Halloween wreath (inspired by "The Raven") I made - I'll post a picture of that one soon.

The green fabric and felt flower comes from the Festive Fall Bouquet in my shop.  If you haven't stopped by lately, there are more Halloween and autumn embellishments available.

I've missed you all and hope that you are having a wonderful day! Tessa

Honored...

...to be guest designing for the Make and Create Shop! 

I just received my kit in the mail yesterday and I cannot wait to carve out some time this weekend to create.  The colors, textures, variety of materials and seemingly endless supply of goodies is amazing!  Fall is my favorite season, so Anna couldn't have asked me to design during a better month.  Thank you for the opportunity, Anna!  I'll let you all know when my projects are ready to share :).

Oh! And guess what?!  I get internet service tomorrow!!!! I cannot tell you how relieved I am.  Finally, I'll be able to get back to my normal online, organized self.  What did I ever do before the world wide web?

Have a great day! Tessa

Scrap Rat and The Studio

Growing up I was often referred to as a studio rat, which is a dancer who practically lives at the dance studio with all her classes and rehearsals.  I loved every minute of it!  Now I'm blessed to be a different kind of rat - a Scrap Rat.  What is a scrap rat, you ask?  One of Amanda's designers, of course!

Scrap Rat is Amanda Jones' new online store and Etsy shop.  You will not believe the incredible treasure trove it is - vintage playing cards, papers, school work, typewriter words, canvas tags, vintage stamps, match boxes, book covers and pages, buttons....  The package that arrived on my doorstep practically blew me away and I comb through its contents almost every time I go into my scrap room, just to imagine and be inspired.  Amanda is having an opening sale, so please take a look.  You will NOT be disappointed.

I will be posting projects I create with Scrap Rat products both here and on the Scrap Rat blog.  You will also want to follow fellow designer Lisa's blog, as well as Amanda's.

Speaking of Amanda , The Studio is her lovely challenge site and the sponsor for September is Scrap Rat!  I am so happy to be unpacked enough to start playing along again because today's challenge is a GREAT one: Fairy tale challenge! This week I challenge you to scrapbook a perfect day... that hasn't happened yet! If you could spend a day doing anything, what would it be? 

I had fun with my scrap drawer, cut and glittered free-hand clouds, and wrote stream-of-consciousness journaling :).  I made the yellow ombre flower out of wired ribbon - so easy and I love the effect!

So please join Amanda at The Studio and Scrap Rat.  We would love to see you in both places! Have a wonderful Sunday! 

Introducing the Precocious Paper Design Team...

Amanda Jones

Rebekah Brumby

Anna White-Sharman

Nikki Antonello

Mandie Wade

Suzy Spokus

Heidi Meyers

and Windy Robinson

Someday soon (you know, when I have internet access from the comfort of my home once again!), I will have a page here on the blog devoted to these wonderful designers, where you can read about them and follow links to their niches on the web.  Beginning in October, two designers each week will have a project showcased here on the blog.  I also have a fantastic guest design team lined up for the next several months and will be posting that fabulous list soon.

Congratulations to the new team, and thank you again to all the AMAZING people who applied.  I feel truly blessed to have such great online friends, supporters, and customers.  Have a great day!

The Paper Variety

We still don't have regular internet access (shopping around and getting an appointment for installation has been a pain!), but I hope to be back to the online world soon!  I wanted to stop by today and share with you my first layout for The Paper Variety.

The challenge this week is a recipe: A - Autumn colors, B - Borders, and C - Cinema (movie titles or quotations).  I focused on the borders and made a background of border strips from my scrap drawer.  I added little punched border pieces, too, as well as strips of trim.  I bordered my entire page with hand-doodled words. I used mainly fall colors - red, orange, yellow, and brown, and threw in the blue to enhance my photo.  My title comes from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life."

There is a fantastic prize up for grabs.  Head on over for all the details, and if you haven't visited yet, please do!  The site was hoppin' this past week for the debut challenge, and week #2 looks busy already :).

I will be revealing the Precocious Paper Design Team later today - so stay tuned!  Have a great day!

Announcement Delay...

The design team announcement is going to be delayed :(.  Since moving, we still don't have regular internet access and I don't feel like I am ready to make a decision without taking the time to thoroughly go through each wonderful application.  I hope to contact all applicants by tomorrow afternoon.  Thank you for understanding!

Have a great Sunday! Tessa