Keep Going - The Studio

There is a new challenge up at The Studio today :). The challenge is to choose a design team member's layout and scraplift it. I enjoy a good scraplift, and I adored a recent layout done by fellow design team member, Leslie, so this was a great challenge. Here's my take, using Basic Grey's Persimmon line and a bit of Studio Calico vellum:

This is Leslie's fabulous layout, created for our tic-tac-toe challenge last month:

I love the diagonal strips of patterned papers that Leslie created. Quilt-inspired patterns are really trendy right now, and I thought this was a great take on that idea. Leslie's arrow embellishments inspired the theme of my page:

I am preparing for the world-wide conference of my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that will be held and broadcast this coming weekend. One of the ways I like to get myself ready to receive the messages that will be shared is to go back to previous conferences, as well as talks given in other venues, and review them. In my study I came across this quote and it became the journaling for my layout:

source

These words are from this message by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. If you need some encouragement, I highly recommend that you follow the link and watch the beautiful video, or even read the whole talk.

I loved every bit of Leslie's layout, but my process did take me in a direction of my own in some aspects. Journaling to the left of the photo as well as under my title...

A chipboard title (although I would have loved to use my Silhouette Cameo for a die-cut title - the baby was sleeping, though)...

Patterned paper at the bottom, but not both the bottom and the side...

If you'd like to play along the with us, or even just check out the rest of the design team's scraplifts (such good stuff!), please visit The Studio Challenges blog. I hope you enjoy your day and thank you for stopping by! Tessa

Enjoying Summer - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! Our family took a drive one recent (and hot!) Sunday to the Sacramento LDS temple. We love going there and walking the grounds. We love the Spirit we feel being so close to this important and beautiful building. This was Adlyn's first time on temple grounds and she wanted to crawl all over! In fact, if you look closely at the photos, you can see her little knees are red from the little bit of crawling we let her do. We set her down near some flowering bushes and I was able to capture a few photos.

I absolutely love the Marigold line from Pretty Little Studio, and given the assignment to create a layout featuring the journaling cards, I created this grid-style page. I trimmed some journaling cards down so that I could mat them with tissue paper. Others I embellished with PLS flair and die-cuts.

You can see more close-ups of my layout, and a little bit about my process, on the Pretty Little Studio blog today. You will also see a gorgeous layout by the talented Stacey Young - totally different style, but same line. If you love heavy layers and artsy mediums, you'll love Stacey's take on the journaling cards.

As always, you can also find my project photos in my flickr gallery, too. I hope you have a lovely weekend and thank you for stopping by today! Tessa

Not So Spooky Halloween Decor - Chickaniddy Crafts

Hello! It's finally raining here in northern California, which we are so grateful for because of the drought and the King Fire that is raging nearby. However, this time of year and change of weather usually brings with it colds, and a cold has settled into 4 out of 6 of us, including the baby. I refuse to get sick, and so far my 5th grader is doing just fine, so...fingers crossed! I want to finish decorating for fall this week (among the 500 other things I need to accomplish), and I can't do that from bed. Speaking of decor, did you catch my project at the Chickaniddy Crafts blog this week?

I made a garland out of vintage velvet leaves, tulle of all kinds, and patterned paper from Chickaniddy Crafts' Scrumptious line.

I made an arch out of floral wire, then used my hot glue gun to attach the flowers and vintage leaves.

I really enjoyed making this project because 1) you know I love flowers, and 2) I'm more into friendly, cute Halloween decor. I'm sure I'll enjoy this garland on my kitchen chalkboard all October long. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Library Pocket - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! Do your kids do AR? Accelerated Reader? It's a program that helps determine the difficulty range of books appropriate for your child. Students take quizzes on the books they read and acquire points. Each child has a point goal set by their teacher, and at our school there are also rewards for the number of words read. My boys have loved this program and it has helped them turn into voracious readers. My 5th grader has a problem, though.

Carson can't keep track of everything he has read. I know, that's not really a "problem", but this is of great concern to him. ;) Teachers try to give kids plenty of opportunities to take the quizzes, but Carson reads so fast that he often has three or four books to test on once his turn comes around. He will sometimes forget which books he has read and still needs to take a quiz for.

For example, he read the Harry Potter series at the beginning of 4th grade. He managed to test on all of them except the first one. He still reached his point goal, but his main reading goal has been the million word club. In 4th grade he made it to the 3 million word club. Only one other student did that (his brother, Colten) and one amazing reader made the 4 million word club. Carson would have made the 4 million word club if he had not forgotten to take that Harry Potter quiz. Bummer, right?!

So, to be more organized this year (his goal is a crazy 5 million words!), we brainstormed ways to keep better track of what he has finished. We started with a whiteboard, but that was boring. Now, we use this cute library pocket :).

You can find instructions and a supply list at the Pretty Little Studio blog. I used the Silly Monkey collection and I can't wait to use more for scrapbook layouts of my boys. It's a really cute line and you can check it out here.

Now Carson has another problem. He needs ideas for books to read! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments here or on my facebook page. We appreciate it!

Have a good one! Tessa

PS - I have some not-so-spooky Halloween decor up on the Chickaniddy Crafts blog today! Check it out here. :)

"Tape" Magnets - Love My Tapes

Hello! I have an easy tutorial for these darling tape magnets on the Love My Tapes blog today:

All you need is magnets, tapes (I prefer fabric tapes), and pinking shears. I hope you'll stop by and take a look :).

Have a good one! Tessa

Miracles - DCWV

I had the special assignment to create something for the DCWV blog today. I am grateful that DCWV wanted to observe today in some way. We discussed it as a design team, and we decided that we wanted to put something out there that was hopeful and positive, yet reflective. I found a quotation on Pinterest that I thought was fitting, for today and for all the other dark days that seem insurmountable. With an Ikea frame, the Melon Twist stack, and some other specialty papers by DCWV, I put this together:

I started with a 5x7 piece of patterned paper, then added a 4x6 piece of corrugated paper. I distressed the top of the corrugated piece by gently tearing the very top layer of paper from the corner. The way it worked out on this piece was perfect. I suggest going slow and practicing on scraps you might have.

The next layers are vellum (from the printed 6x6 vellum stack) and two 3x4 cards from the Melon Twist stack. I embellished with paper flowers, felt leaves, thread, and some mist splatters.

I typed up the quotation and printed it onto cardstock, then trimmed out the words and adhered them to the assemblage. I added it to the frame by putting it in front of the glass.

You can find my post at DCWV here (if you came here from there - thank you for visiting!). I hope you experience a miracle today, big or small, giving or receiving. Tessa

That Scrumptious Face - Chickaniddy Crafts

Hello! It's my favorite time of day right now. The mornings have been cool and I've needed a sweater a time or two. I wish the temperature would hold all day, but I know that will come soon with the arrival of fall. We've already set the date for our annual trip to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm and I am so excited that I had to look up all the photos from last year. This one of Jaxon became a layout that was featured on the Chickaniddy Crafts blog on Monday:

The Autumn Haze paper is my favorite from the Scrumptious collection. The watercolor-like stripes are so pretty :). To dress it up a bit, though, I stamped leaves in watermark ink around my photo:

I absolutely love the illustrations stickers and used the cute pumpkins to anchor my title cluster.

Okay, October, hurry up and get here! I need to make more pumpkin patch memories! If you missed my post at Chickaniddy Crafts, you can check it out here. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Pretty Little Studio and Pinkfresh Studio Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to Precocious Paper! If you're new here, my name is Tessa Buys and I design for Pretty Little Studio. I'm a huge fan of Pinkfresh Studio, too, so I am really excited for this team up of companies and designers. If you arrived from the lovely Jenni Calma's blog, you are in the right place. If you've just happened upon this hop and would like to join us from the beginning, start here.

I'm fairly sure that Melissa of Pretty Little Studio designed the Baby Claire line for my Adlyn. The adorable papers, die-cuts and tags are sheer perfection for scrapping my baby girl. This page is all about her turning 6 months old.

I love how hip the Pinkfresh Studio goodies make this line feel. I love juxtaposing vintage looks and modern trends, so the addition of the gold metallic, scallop puffy stickers makes me super happy. I love, love, love the brad stickers - I always ruin a nail pushing back the prongs of regular brads, so these are great ;).

My favorite Pinkfresh things to play with were the ombre airmail washi and the gold foil striped alphas. So much fun!

My favorite Pretty Little Studio goodies on this page are the flair (just darling) and the word stickers. I'm crazy about the typewriter font and the simply cute addition they are to the page.

When all was said and done with my layout, I used what was on my desk to create this card:

Again, I love those scallops! I trimmed the bottom one to fit in the space. And that Pretty Little Studio paper - gosh, I love bows and roses!

If you'd like to get your hands on $30.00 of Pretty Little Studio and $30.00 of Pinkfresh Studio goodies, be sure to leave a comment here and on every other stop of the hop before September 15th. And if you missed yesterday's line-up, be sure to start that hop here.

If you don't think you're the lucky type, and you'd rather just buy the goodies now, please use these coupon codes to place your orders:

Thank you to Pinkfresh Studio for the chance to design with your amazing products, and, as always, thanks to Pretty Little Studio for this gorgeous line! Enjoy the rest of the hop and thank you for visiting! Please tell Magda Bolinska, your next stop on the hop, hello for me! Tessa

In case you get a little lost, Tuesday's line-up:
Pinkfresh Studio… http://pinkfreshstudio.blogspot.com/
Jennie Garcia... http://earthyscrap.blogspot.com
Marie-Pierre Capistran… http://mpcapistran.blogspot.com/
Els Brige… http://bestamped.wordpress.com/
Monique Liedtke… http://moniquesscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Jenni Calma… http://papercardinal.blogspot.com/
Tessa Buys... http://precociouspaper.blogspot.com/
Magda Bolinska… http://mumkaa.blogspot.com/
Tina Walker… http://adogslife-thirteen.blogspot.com/
Margareta Carlson… http://www.paperpilekitten.com/
Sindi Jeffers… http://sindiscraps.blogspot.com/
Taheerah Atchia… http://littlemisst-papercraft.blogspot.com/
Pretty Little Studio… http://prettylittlestudio.com/plsblog/

Apple Candles - SRM Stickers

Hello! I love that as fall approaches, pumpkin is all the rage. My Pinterest feed is already filled with pumpkin desserts, drinks, muffins and pancakes. I love a good pumpkin recipe, but let's please not skip over apple season! Apples are the star of the show over at SRM Stickers' challenge blog this month. Here is my take:

I found these cute apple-scented candles in mini mason jars at my local dollar store. I removed the label from the top and tied some gold and ivory Twinery twine around the lid.

My stem is a mini spool. I bought a bag of them at Michaels a while back - they are perfect for winding shorter bits of washi tape and twine :).

I trimmed a piece of cardstock to fit, then adhered my SRM Sticker sentiment to the far right of the paper. I glued the left end of the cardstock to the spool, wrapped it around once, and secured it with a bit more glue. I cut a notch in the end of the paper for a finished look.

Last, I trimmed a leaf shape from wool felt and glued it to the back of my stem. I plan to give these to a couple of friends I've been thinking about lately.

If you'd like to join in on the challenge, please visit the SRM Challenge Blog here. Besides apples, there are other ways to join in - a color palette, a card sketch, and themes.

On another note, In case you haven't seen, Pretty Little Studio and Pinkfresh Studio have teamed up for an awesome blog hop today and tomorrow! My project will be part of tomorrow's hop, so I hope you'll come back and take a look then. In the meantime, you'll love today's line-up! Start here for great projects, giveaways, and awesome discounts from both companies.

Have a great day! Tessa

Poppies - Pretty Little Studio

I am so excited to be sharing my first project as a design team member for Pretty Little Studio with you! I am being introduced on the PLS blog today, so stop by to find out where I get my inspiration and how geology, sneezing and American Lit. fit into my life :).

As soon as it was released, I fell head over heels in love with the Marigold collection. From foxes to flowers, butterflies to clouds, this line is gorgeous! I zeroed in on the poppies found in the collection and instantly knew which photo I would scrap first.

Everything you see with the exception of the crepe paper ruffles is from Pretty Little Studio. PLS does it all - patterned paper, flair, die cuts, journaling cards, pocket pages cards, sequins, alphas, vellum...I could keep going, but instead I'll link you to the shop here. If you haven't checked out PLS before, and you have a thing for pretty paper and vintage, you're going to love it all!

I made the ruffles out of regular party store crepe paper streamers. First, I cut a 12 inch long piece from the roll. Next, I cut that strip down the center length-wise to make narrower streamers. I crumpled and scrunched the crepe paper as I sewed it down to a 6 inch long piece of cardstock. I made three pieces and adhered them to my layout. It was easier to make the ruffles and glue them to my layout than to sew them directly onto my layout, but you could do that if you wanted to.

I can't wait to scrap more with this beautiful line! Be sure to check out Marigold here, and I'd love it if you could stop by my introduction post and say hello :). Thanks for visiting and have a great day! Tessa