Hello Happy Girl - Scrapbook Circle

As one of the blog coordinators for Scrapbook Circle, I have the opportunity to pose challenges twice a month. Most of the time the creative team makes the samples, but lately, I've been able to contribute every so often and this week came another chance. So, here's my sample for the "Hot Stuff" challenge:

If you follow me on instagram/facebook, or you checked out my mini album yesterday, you're probably thinking, "Tessa, we've seen this photo before...." True. But not on a layout! Yes, I have a mini of this photo shoot, but I needed a layout, too. Plus, how perfect of a match is the June kit, Hello There, to her cute onesie and headband?!

The challenge is simple. Use warm colors on a layout. I went with this Studio Calico patterned paper background, then used a diagonal design to place my journaling, photo, title and embellishments. I love the exclusive stamps in this month's kit! The hashtags are too fun, and this one in particular fit this layout to a T.

If you'd like to play along, everyone is welcome and you still have one week. Just link up a new layout featuring warm colors and you could win a fabulous prize! See the original post here for details, or feel free to visit me on the Scrapbook Circle blog today.

Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

DCWV, May Arts & Tombow Triple Threat Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my little stop on this DCWV / May Arts / Tombow blog hop! If you've been hopping since Monday, aren't you inspired?! If not, thanks for joining me here now, but you may want to go back to the beginning if you get a chance. Designers from all three companies are sharing projects made with DCWV's Honey Chic stack, May Arts' ribbon, and Tombow's adhesives. Each day there is a new round of designers and projects to see, so I hope you'll continue to join us throughout the week. For today's hop, you should have just visited Karen Baker's blog.

My little girl just reached the five month mark and to celebrate, we did a mini photo shoot (ie, Mama busted out the iPhone for five minutes while Adlyn had her bow on and the onesie was still clean). This girl can sport a thousand different facial expressions, so each page of this mini album got a unique "look" from my Addie-girl.

I made 4x6 pages from chipboard and adhered layers of Honey Chic patterned paper with Tombow's Xtreme Adhesive. I secured each matted photo with Tombow's Power Tabs for a bit of lift. I love the quality of each of those adhesives and will be turning to them again and again for future projects.

I loved playing with the sampling of May Arts ribbon that I received. For a fun, girlie look, I made "junque bows" by cutting several different ribbons to about the same length and then knotting them together in the center. I loved how easy it was to match the May Arts ribbon to the Honey Chic papers. I didn't plan it this way, but once the junque bows were adhered to my pages, I realized they looked like ribbon tutus on the photos of Adlyn.

I had fun with the self-adhesive sequin heart trim by cutting individual hearts off of the ribbon and adding a pearl brad to each one. I used them just like stickers. Easy-peasy and super cute!

I have to say, my favorite trim to use was the rhinestone trim. Being a dance teacher, this kind of thing is right up my alley :). I used a length of the trim across every other photo for some sparkle. I only secured the ends so that the trim moves and catches the light as the pages turn.

(Isn't she petite? I'm used to huge boys, so this little stuff is a whole new world!) I love that most DCWV stacks include pages of 3x4 cards. I used several in this album as journaling cards. The glitter and fun designs complimented the 4x6 pages and gave me plenty of room to record details of Addie at five months.

If you'd like to see more photos of my mini album, feel free to visit my flickr gallery, here.

Would you like to win a Triple Threat prize pack? A stack from DCWV, a spool of ribbon from May Arts and Xtreme Adhesive, Power Tabs, Removable Adhesive and Fastener Tabs from Tombow could be yours for simply hopping along this week and leaving comments. And, if you haven't already, I encourage you to like these fabulous companies on Facebook: DCWV / May Arts / Tombow

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the hop! Your next stop is Thomisia Francois. Have a great day! Tessa

Nursery Wall Art - Love My Tapes

Hello! Today I am sharing some new wall art for Adlyn's nursery on the Love My Tapes blog. It took me about five minutes to make and I absolutely love it!

First, start with a wooden letter. This one came pre-painted, but I distressed it a little bit. You could paint a plain letter to match your lace tape, or you could spray paint the entire piece after applying lace tape in whatever color you'd like.

Second, apply the tape to the letter with the trim pointing right. Third, apply another strip of tape with the trim pointing left, butting up the edges so that it looks like one piece of lace trim.

Last, use scissors to trim off the extra lace. Done! Easy-peasy and super cute. You can check out my post at Love My Tapes here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

July 4th - The SRM Challenge

Oh, what a busy start to the summer! I am looking forward to some lazy summer days starting next week, as well as the 4th of July! Independence Day is my favorite holiday and I can't wait to celebrate. In fact, I am so anxious for July 4th that I scrapped an old photo for the current SRM Challenge:

The theme for June is summer, and lots of things fall under that umbrella - including the 4th of July! I used SRM's patriotic border stickers and several white stitches sticker from this set. I also used an extra large white number from this set and the July sticker from this set to make my title.

 

My base patterned paper is by Crate Paper (an oldie but goodie!) and the khaki striped patterned paper is DCWV from the Coral and Navy stack. The 4th of July flair is from A Flair for Buttons. I love that the set is red, white, blue and kraft.

 

If you'd like to link up your summer-themed project featuring SRM products, you still have lots of time! Find the original challenge post here and check out the reminder post (with more projects for inspiration, including this layout) here.

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a good one! Tessa

Smash Sunday - Love My Tapes - Date Night

Hello! Thanks for joining me for another Smash Sunday post. I've been playing in my blue retro portfolio again, the one I've dedicated to selfies of the hubby and me together. Since it's father's day, I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate the father of my children :).

This is a photo from a date night we had in April. We ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant, then did a little shopping.

Some of my dancers spoiled me with an end-of-the-year present - a gift card to Michaels. I made a dent in it this week and came home with this fun haul. I used the Dear Lizzy paper on these pages, as well as some of the Project Life cards and a bow. The rest came from my stash or from Love My Tapes.

The green and red washi tape is from Love My Tapes. I love the dots and circles :). The lace tape is also from Love My Tapes, as well as the fabric tape that I used to create ruffles. For more on how to make the ruffles, see the Love My Tapes blog today.

I had a lot of fun with my rub-on stash, too. I believe all these borders are by Basic Grey, but they're several years old. They still work beautifully and I am so sad to be almost out.

You can find all of my SMASH book pages on my flickr photostream here. You can also follow me on instagram for more scrapbooking and smashing stuff. Thank you for visiting, and I hope you have a wonderful week! Tessa

First Ballet Class - Love My Tapes

Hello! I'm sharing a new layout on the Love My Tapes blog today, all about creating a gallery wall look with your tapes:

I scrapbooked these photos before for a CHA assignment, but that layout was purchased by the company. So, I needed to scrapbook the pictures again for myself. This is my niece, twirling and posing in her new ballet outfit. She started dance classes this past year and loves them. One more year and she can be on my performing troupe ;).

I used Love My Tapes' lace tape (pink and white) and fabric tape (floral) to create my frames. I also used glitter tape on top of Studio Calico's punchinella vellum. To read more about how to make your own frames, please visit the Love My Tapes blog.

For my title, I used this Silhouette file. The flower die-cut is this file, cut into pieces (I saved the part I didn't use for something else).

The tiny gold alphas are American Crafts. The cabochon pin is Recollections (from Michaels), and the enamel hearts are Chickaniddy Crafts. I used Heidi Swapp's gold Color Shine for my splatters.

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me show off my cute niece! Enjoy your day! Tessa

Summer Sun - SRM Challenges

It's the first Friday of the month, which means there is a new challenge up at SRM Challenges! This month's theme is summer. I had some extra prints of a San Diego trip a couple summers ago that I've been meaning to scrapbook, and this challenge was the perfect opportunity.

I used two sticker sheets for this layout. The general summer sentiments from this one, and the beach/water-themed stickers from this one. I simply trimmed out my favorite sentiments and lined them up on rows of washi tape and stripes in the patterned paper.

The papers are from Dear Lizzy's Lucky line. I have hoarded this collection and it's about time I use some of it! It felt good to use some of that stockpiled paper :). The flower brads are Chickaniddy Crafts. The alpha stickers are Fancy Pants Designs.

I also finally got to use some washi tapes that hadn't made their way on anything yet. I love the dark navy and floral tape! It almost looks black here, but it's really a beautiful blue in person.

If you'd like to join in the challenge, you can check out the details here. Several other designers have projects up to inspire you, too, so be sure to stop by and take a look. If you were just there, thanks for clicking over to my blog. I hope you enjoyed the close-ups :).

Thanks for visiting! Tessa

Free and the Brave Mini Album - DCWV

Hello! I am honored to be guest blogging on the DCWV blog today and I am sharing a patriotic mini album. With Independence Day exactly one month from now, I hope you'll find the inspiration to make your own mini. For details on the album, visit the DCWV blog here.

See more close-ups and detailed shots of the pages in my flickr gallery. Thanks for stopping by! Tessa