Monday, February 28, 2011

Etsy-versary Winners!

Blog Follower $25.00 gift certificate winner: TABITHA, who wrote: "3 years! Yay! I'm in the middle of a project using your February sampler. I can't wait to finish it and show you how it turned out (if it comes out like it looks in my head!)"

Facebook Fan $25.00 gift certificate winner: SAVANNA LEA WILLS CARSON!

Shop Purchase $25.00 gift certificate winner: ERIN KUEBRICH (JERSEY26)

Winners, please email me *precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com* with your contact information, a list of what you would like, and your mailing address. THANK YOU to everyone who made my Etsy-versary celebration this past week my best week ever on Etsy!  Thank you, thank you, thank you! Tessa

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Thanks a Bunch!

The Studio has a new card challenge up, and this week it's a sketch.  I made a card with scraps from the last two Scrapbook Circle kits, a couple little roses, a stick pin, and (of course!) SRM Stickers:



Here's the sketch:


I can see myself using this one over and over again.  The design team did a beautiful job, so head on over and check them out.  We'd love for you to join us!  Have a wonderful Sunday! Tessa

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Today's my Etsy-versary!

Precocious Paper is officially three years old :).   Today is the last day to be in the running for all the prizes I lined up.  See this post for details.  I will be announcing all the winners on Sunday night or Monday morning. 


Today's Daily Deal is free shipping for all orders, both US and international.  I just as that US orders are a minimum of $5.00 and international orders a minimum of $10.00.  That means, no matter where you are, you could get the new March Sampler shipped for free!  A refund will be sent via PayPal.  Shop here :).

Thank you, everyone, for a wonderful week!  I'm off to the dance studio to teach some jazz, hip hop and musical theater.  Enjoy your day! Tessa

Friday, February 25, 2011

March Sampler Reveal and Designer Friday

Hello all!   The Precocious Paper March Sampler, "A Walk in the Woods", is now live in the shop!


I was inspired by Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms line, specifically the Dancing Paisley fabric you see in the sampler.  I love that the colors can be more masculine this month, and I was sure to include green for anyone doing some St. Patrick's Day crafting.  The sampler also coordinates wonderfully with Little Yellow Bicycle's "Twig" line of scrapbooking paper and embellishments.  This sampler includes:

♥ 1 Apple Green Rolled Fabric Flower
♥ 1 Tattered Leather Dyed Cardboard Flower
♥ 1 Amy Butler Dancing Paisley Fabric and Felt Flower (exclusive to sampler)
♥ 1 Brown and White Polka Dot Fabric and Felt Flower (exclusive to sampler)
♥ 1 White Glittered Felt Flower (exclusive to sampler)
♥ 1 Turquoise Glitter Tulle and Felt Flower (exclusive to sampler)
♥ 1 Set of Shabby Rolled Fabric Flowers in brown, teal, and olive green (exclusive to sampler)
♥ 3 yards of ribbon on clothespins in green, teal, and brown
♥ 3 leaves
♥ 1 leaf stick pin

The coordinating Sweet Spots began selling a week ago, and I only have a handful of sets left:


And speaking of Sweet Spots, Heidi created a fabulous layout and card using the "Sunshine in My Soul" Sweet Spots:



There are only a couple sets of these Sweet Spots left, so hurry :).  Thank you, Heidi! Gorgeous stuff :). 

This has been a great week at Precocious Paper.  Thank you all for celebrating my Etsy-versary with me.  Today's Daily Deal is a free pair of fabric/felt flowers for all purchases under $10, and a free bouquet (set of 6) for all purchases over $20.  Just list your preference, including shape, in the notes at checkout.

Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Thursday, February 24, 2011

I have cute boys.

I just do.  People ask me all the time if I'd like to have a little girl.  I would, but if that's not to be, I am perfectly happy with my cute boys.  Speaking of which, I scrapped the littlest one, Jaxon, for Sketchy Thursdays this week:


Trouble maker! :)  He got into an ink pad I had in my dance bag (for when I give stamps at the end of class to my students).  When he was done, he came to me and confessed.  I melted when I saw that face, then immediately grabbed the camera.


Here's the sketch:

I hope you'll join us at Sketchy Thursdays this week.  I love the way this sketch is so perfect for two simple 4x6 photos.

I also scrapped a page featuring all three of my little men for Scrapbook Circle.  Check out my post on their blog today. 


Oh, and I must share - my shop reached 4000 sales!  I'm so excited!  I set that goal months ago and am so very happy to reach it.  Thank you to all of you who are celebrating my Etsy-versary this week (details here).  Today's Daily Deal is 20% off your merchandise total.  Use coupon code 3YEARS20 during checkout.  Shop here.

Have a great day! Tessa

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Playing with tape...

I love tape! Inspired by the Get Daring with Decorative Tape Challenge at Moxie Fab World, I thought I'd play with a set of tapes I picked up recently.

Tape wrapped around pearl head pins makes cute flags, especially when they are perched on dimensional hills.




I created this banner by sticking tape to itself over a piece of embroidery thread.  I trimmed the pieces into triangles and secured the banner with mini staples.


For this card, I laid down several pieces of tape and added my sentiments directly to the tape.  I love my SRM Stickers!


Here they all are :).  Each one will have a new home soon.  A few girls at church have birthdays this week and off in the mail these taped up cards are going :). 


Thanks for stopping by today!  If you missed my post from earlier today, you can find it here :).  Tessa

Stitching and St. Patrick's Day

The prompt at The Paper Variety had me calling my mom for help.  You see, I don't sew.  I love to add hand-stitching to my layouts, but I don't know how to use a machine. So, when I saw that the challenge was to add stitching to a paper project, I had an idea that required a machine, and therefore a trip to Mom's house.


I mapped out where each ribbon piece would go, then my mom simply sewed a straight stitch across the center of each one.  I didn't iron the creased ones, and the screen printed ones didn't like the sewing machine as much as the others, but I love every little wrinkle and pucker.


I hope you'll join us for this challenge :).  Also, we have some exciting news at TPV to share!  Next week's challenge reveal will also be a blog hop!  The theme is "green", perfect to get you thinking about all your St. Patrick's Day projects.  I hope you'll join in the fun.  You can see the blinkie to your right :).

Speaking of St. Patrick's Day, I have a card up on the SRM blog today.


You have to see the inside for it to make complete sense:


I wanted to do something atypical for a St. Patrick's Day greeting, and this romantic one will be going to my hubby :).

I've really appreciated the response to my Etsy-versary celebration (details here).  Today's Daily Deal is a BOGO offer.  Buy one, get one half off.  For example, buy one pair of Fabric and Felt Flowers, get the second pair half off.  Buy one paper bag album, get the second half off.  There is no coupon function for this type of sale, so please request an invoice before making payment, or make full payment and a refund will be sent within 24 hours.  Shop here :).

Thanks for stopping by today!  Enjoy your Wednesday! Tessa

Monday, February 21, 2011

Etsy-versary Celebration!

February 26th will mark Precocious Paper's anniversary on Etsy (aka, my etsy-versary).  The past three years have been filled with new friends, lovely customers, and fabulous opportunities. Every time I see someone wearing, scrapping, or decorating with one of my flowers, I get butterflies.  Every time I hear that a gifted album or card was well-received, I have to smile. Every time that I receive a thank you for a sponsored prize or donation, I get warm fuzzies.  I feel very blessed.


So let's celebrate!  Here's what's going on this week, beginning today.

♥  Daily Deals: Each day there will be a different sale or special.  It could be free shipping, it could be a discount, it could be anything.  The daily deal will be posted in the shop announcement, on Facebook, and here.

♥  Facebook Fan appreciation: If you like the Precocious Paper Facebook page, you are automatically entered to win a $25.00 gift certificate to Precocious Paper.

♥  Blog Follower appreciation: Do you follow this blog? Would you like to win a $25.00 gift certificate? Simply leave a comment on this post.  Only comments from followers will be entered to win.

♥  4000th Sale: I am quickly approaching a milestone - 4000 sales!  If I reach 4000 sales by the 26th, all sales from now through then will be entered to win a $25.00 gift certificate to Precocious Paper.

♥  Surprises: Just for fun, I'll be slipping free goodies into every package this week.  Enjoy :).

You can find Precocious Paper here.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting my little Etsy shop.  Have a great day! Tessa

PS - Today's deal:  20% off your merchandise total.  Use coupon ETSYVERSARY20.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

I've been framed...

Well, sort of :).  A new layout challenge is live at The Studio and this week Amanda has challenged us to use a frame.


I've had this frame paper by Fancy Pants since last Spring, and I just never quite knew what to do with it.  When this challenge came around, an idea popped into my head and I love the result.  Using my paper trimmer, I cut the frame out of the patterned paper.  I adhered the chalkboard center portion to a piece of cardstock and then used foam adhesive to adhere the frame back into place.  I love the way the frame looks lifted from the rest of the page.


I warned you there would be more yellow coming from me and our little photo shoot last week :).  I combined fabric rose stickers and pieces from one of those Maya Road doilies to embellish my page.  The little lace frame is by K and Company and I love it.  Really.


The title is by SRM Stickers.  I love their white text stickers!  I wanted to include a bit of journaling, but wasn't sure about adding it to the layout, so there is a little tag on the back with the important information like the date and location.

I hope you'll join us for this challenge!  The design team did a fabulous job, so be sure to check out the challenge post here.  Enjoy your day! Tessa

Saturday, February 19, 2011

'Tis the Season

Wait, didn't we just put the decorations away?  Yes, but there's a new challenge blog out there that is going to keep us on our toes throughout the year when it comes to making our Christmas cards.  Jingle Belles is taking back December one card at a time, and they have teamed up with Sketchy Thursdays for a Second Chance Challenge.  Get the details here.


I kept my card pretty simple.  Some leftover Christmas paper, a couple strips of tape, some pom pom trim, and a few Prima flowers.  The sentiment is by SRM Stickers - I love how easy SRM Stickers make cardmaking :).


Here's the sketch to work from:


Heidi, co-founder of Sketchy Thursdays and a member of the Precocious Paper design team, created this beautiful card for the challenge:


You can find that fabric rose in my shop here. I love the dimension it gives Heidi's gorgeous card.
And speaking of design team members, Amanda has been crafting cards quite a bit lately, including this one featuring the new Sweet Spots, "A Walk in the Woods" (found here).


Stunning!  That bow is absolutely gorgeous, and the exact same color as the felt in the sweet spot.  Is this one on its way to me?  :) :) :)

I hope you're enjoying your weekend!  We have some construction going on at the house today, so I'm sending the kiddos to Grandma's and doing housework.  Maybe I'll get scrappy tonight :).  Have a good one! Tessa

Friday, February 18, 2011

Designer Friday

I can't believe it's Friday already.  This week flew by!  I hope you're not in a rush to get to your weekend plans because I have a handful of gorgeous projects to share with you today.

First, Anna designed this beautiful page with one of the most recent Fabric and Felt Flower additions to the shop - the Pink and Lagoon Paisley Bouquet:


Anna altered the lagoon-colored flower by removing the bottom layer, then added that layer elsewhere on the page.  Brilliant :).  I also love the addition of purple - very sweet!


Next, Amanda has been busy with a new set of Sweet Spots that coordinates with the upcoming March Sampler, "A Walk in the Woods."  This grid design is just gorgeous!



And speaking of "A Walk in the Woods", Mandie got to play with the March sampler and she created this sweet baby boy layout (click to view larger):


I intended the colors of this sampler to compliment more masculine projects, but I didn't realize how well it would work for sweet baby boy photos.  Sigh, this is just too adorable :).  Mandie used SEI's Chick A Doo line.


I'll be sharing even more from the design team tomorrow, so stay tuned :).  I've had a wonderful (big!) response to the samplers and new products in the shop over the past couple of weeks, and I hope to get all caught up on those orders today.  And I apologize for being a bit of a tease with the details of my etsy-versary celebration - Monday, I promise!  Have a great day! Tessa

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Can you tell I like yellow?

My husband and I took some photos before church on Sunday.  I was wearing my yellow cardigan and new headband, and he happened to put on his yellow tie.  Carson (my almost 7 year old photographer) did a pretty good job.  I've made three layouts now from this little photo shoot, so I hope you don't get yellow/Tessa fatigue over the next week :).


I think we were in the mood for Valentine's Day when we took this photo :).  I went with the colors of the photo and mimicked my headband in the flower embellishments and feathers.



I used the following fabulous new sketch at Sketchy Thursdays as my inspiration. You will definitely want to play along this week. The prize is amazing! Head here for details.


The flowers I made for this card inspired the headband I wore Sunday:


The sympathy sentiment is a new line of stickers from SRM Stickers, which you can find here.  I used Botanique papers by American Crafts and popped the scalloped piece off of the background with dimensional adhesive.  Stop by the SRM Stickers blog today to see more cards from the design team, and don't forget to click "follow".  You could win some SRM Stickers and Precocious Paper goodies (details here).


I'm off to the studio to try to catch up on orders. Have a great day! Tessa

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

SRM Spotlight

Hello!  It's my turn to be introduced as a design team member over at SRM Stickers today :).  I'm sharing this layout, on which I used the Everyday Boy sticker sheet:



I'd love for you to stop by and say hello!  And while you're there, consider following the blog.  Remember my little giveaway?  If you follow the SRM Stickers blog and let me know that I sent you, you will be entered to win some SRM Stickers and Precocious Paper goodies.  See this post for all the details :).

I'm working on orders like crazy today, but I hope to post my etsy-versary details soon :). Have a wonderful Tuesday! Tessa

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am super busy today with all the festivities of Valentine's Day, as well as quite a bit of catch-up to do from the end of last week, but I wanted to pop in and share something with you.


Scrapbook Circle has a free Valentine printable available today!  You can find it here.  Enjoy and have a "love"ly day!  Tessa

Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Studio

Hello!  A new challenge is live on The Studio blog - the first card challenge of the month.  Being the 13th of February, Amanda has challenged us to use 13 of something on our cards.  I had several ideas, but when I realized who I needed to make the card for, it all came together:


It's competition weekend, and although I'm not involved to the extent I have been in years past, I do have the wonderful opportunity to coach a couple of soloists this season.  One of my girls competes her contemporary solo today.  Her piece was choreographed by a guest artist last summer before I moved back to Sacramento, so I have been working with her to make the piece hers, to highlight her strengths and bring the storytelling aspect to life.  To inspire her to push through her butterflies, I just knew she needed this card.


I misted over a heart mask, doodled the outline of the heart and the edges of the card, and added the sentiment by SRM Stickers.  Then I played with the arrangement of the butterflies, filling the heart and lifting their wings.


As I am really on the Project Team at The Studio, I posted my first project last Wednesday.  I created a mini album to love on my boys :).  You can read the article here and see more photos here or here or here.


I hope you play with us this week at The Studio.  We'd love to see your card and takes on our other challenges, too!  Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa