Beautiful - The Studio Challenges

My One Little Word this year is still, and recently I had an overwhelming impression to act on it. At that moment, finding a way to be still was as important as continuing to breathe. 

A little background.... I've had several unexpected challenges thrown my way in the past six weeks or so, and I had to say "no" to some commitments. The things I said "no" to were things I could not manage to do, no matter how I edited my schedule and rearranged other commitments. I was truly between a rock and a hard place. I thought people would understand, trust that I tried my best, but not all of them have. Instead, I've been made to feel guilty.

Have you noticed this? Women airing their crazy-busy to-do lists, comparing their overfull plates as if to say, "Oh yeah? Well, my list is twice as long and I'm managing it.What's your problem?" Well, I see two problems here. One, we shouldn't be basing our value on how busy we are. I'm not more or less important/good/worthy because of the length of my to-do list. Two, I can't see someone else's entire to-do list. As women, we deal with much more on any given day than what we wrote in our planners or scribbled on a post-it note. You don't really know how much is on my plate. It might look like a dessert plate from where you stand, but that's an illusion of perspective. My plate is more like a platter. Everyone's is.

When that overwhelming impression to be still hit, I turned to something I love to do and haven't been able to do as often or as freely as I would like to lately - scrapbooking. Fiddling with paper and glue restores a sense of control within me. It also gives me the chance to relax and get lost in my own thoughts. Putting this page together was just the amount of still I needed, and it allowed me to process what I had been feeling about the consequences of saying "no". At any rate, you're probably just here for the layout, so here it is :).

There's a new challenge at The Studio Challenges today - white on white. 

I found that the trick to this challenge was starting with a great photo. All of the white elements keep the focus on the photo, and I love that. I did feel the need to throw in the colored flowers and alpha, but by placing them over the corner of the photo, I didn't feel like I was cheating ;).

All the white papers are DCWV - background cardstock, embossed cardstock, vellum, and printed vellum. 

For more details about the challenge, and to see the rest of the design team's takes, click here.

Thanks for stopping by today, and hearing me out :). Have a great week! Tessa

Scrapbook Expo - The Weekly Scrapper Spotlight

Hello! I had the wonderful opportunity this week of being featured on Scrapbook Expo's The Weekly Scrapper blog. Along with some recent favorites, I also shared this page created just for the post:

I used a combination of Crate Paper (patterned paper, die-cuts), Heidi Swapp (masks, mist, die for the title), and DCWV (cardstock, cork and metallic papers for title and flower).

I took this photo just a couple of weeks ago after my grandfather's funeral. We had just finished the luncheon afterwards and everyone was exhausted and ready to go home. Adlyn, though, wanted to play - she sees a pretty lawn and must step on every single blade of grass. Watching her, I experienced a moment of absolute clarity - although the events of the day were heavy and sad, happiness could still be found. The pure bliss Addie exuded running around the church grounds was a sweet reminder to have perspective. An eternal perspective. Families are forever. We will see Grandpa again, whole and happy.

I don't collect a lot of metal dies, mainly because I lean on my Silhouette Cameo, but when I saw the Maggie Holmes flower die that is so popular right now, I had to have it. It works beautifully with DCWV papers. The leaves were cut from double-sided cardstock, making cutting leaves in two shades of teal super easy! The cork cut like butter, and the adhesive backing made putting the flower together and adding it to my page a breeze. The gold metallic paper cut easily, too, with both the Maggie Holmes dies and the Heidi Swapp "bliss" die. I love having all these DCWV papers on hand!

Would you like to know which favorite layouts I shared on The Weekly Scrapper? You might recognize one or two! Check the post out here. Thanks to Paige Evans for the opportunity!

Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Cutie Pie - Pretty Little Studio

Hello! Today I'm sharing a layout that I made earlier this month for Pretty Little Studio's May sketch. Did you know that if you play along, you could win a $10 gift certificate to the Pretty Little Studio shop? You have until the end of the month to join in. Details can be found here. I got to play along this month, and this is my take:

I've been on an 8.5x11 kick lately, and I thought the sketch was a great candidate for re-sizing. All of the papers and embellishments are from the You and Me collection.

I love this photo of Addie and me. Like the journaling says, I don't remember where or exactly when we took this photo, but I love how it captures her eyes and my kiss to her chubby little elbow.

I love the mix of teal, pink and yellow in this collection. I especially love the yellow - it's deep, rich, and not orange at all. I was excited to discover that I had the perfect yellow watercolor paint (Twinkling H2O's) to use for my splatters. And yes, excited is the right word because matching the color yellow can be so hard!

If you'd like to see my post on the Pretty Little Studio blog, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by today! Next week I'll be sharing my storage system for my Pretty Little Studio stash. If you have a small space like me, you'll definitely want to check it out :).

Have a great day! Tessa

Scrapbook Circle Anniversary Blog Hop

Hello! Welcome to my stop on the Scrapbook Circle Anniversary Blog Hop! If you have just happened upon this post and would like to join us from the start, click here. If you just arrived from the lovely Diana Fisher's blog, you are in the right place :).

I am excited to be celebrating Scrapbook Circle's 9th anniversary with the creative team. We've all been having a ton of fun with the May kit, "Hello Sunshine." I decided that since we are celebrating a birthday of sorts, I would create a birthday page just for this special occasion:

I started with patterned papers from the main kit for my background. I love this great ledger by Pink Paislee and I just can't get enough of the black and white plus sign paper by Bella Blvd.Next I pulled a few sheets from the Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine 6x6 paper pad from the "Hello Love" add-on. I hand-lettered then hand-cut my title. I love that trend right now and will probably do it again soon!

My favorite part of the layout has to be the "balloons". When we were at CHA this past January, these tags were one of my very favorite embellishments. I'm so glad Lisa added them to a kit! I think they make darling balloons :). You can find them in the "Sweet Day" add-on.

I used foam squares to pop up my photo and a few of the balloons. I created the confetti look with three of my trusty Heidi Swapp mists.

Now on to the hop details:

* Each comment left on a creative team member's blog is one entry into a random drawing for one of FIVE May kits - so leave a comment below!

* The hop runs through midnight PST on the 21st.

* Winners will be announced on the Scrapbook Circle blog on the 22nd.

The next (and last!) stop on the hop is Scrapbook Circle's founder herself, the amazing Lisa Andrews! I hope you enjoyed your time here and that you have found inspiration throughout the hop. Be sure to follow Scrapbook Circle on Facebook here, and IG here.

Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Altered Cupcake Tin - Pink Paislee

Hello! This week on the Pink Paislee blog we are taking flea market finds and turning them into paper-crafted treasures. I have had this cupcake tin in my scrapbook room for a few years now, holding odds and ends and bits and pieces. It was my grandmother's, and as my studio space has evolved, I found myself using it less. I decided it was the perfect piece to create a very non-traditional layout out of.

You can read more about it on the Pink Paislee blog today here. In that post, I mention that E6000 is the best glue to use for something like this. I learned that the hard way. My trusy glue gun looked like it was working, until everything started to fall off :(. But E6000 did the job, and did it really well!

You might be familiar with this quote by Thomas S. Monson: "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family." I decided to take my title from those wise words: "You are the JOY in my journey." I thought the travel theme of the Atlas collection was perfect for conveying what I wanted to say.

I wanted to vary the depths of the elements in the wells, including bringing the photos the farthest forward. I did this by cutting down a paper towel roll. I sliced off "rings", then glued the rings to the photos and the rings to the tin. Because I'm hanging this on my wall, I'm glad something so lightweight worked so well.

Be sure to visit the Pink Paislee blog for this and other flea market to chic projects! Thanks for stopping by today :). Tessa