Elle's Studio October Reveal

Hello, hello! If we aren't connected on Instagram or Facebook, you may just now be realizing that I kinda dropped off the face of the internet. At least, in terms of blogging. My last post was written right before the dreaded morning sickness began. I'm now 25 weeks along with my baby girl, and just getting back into the scrappy swing of things, including designing with fantastic Elle's Studio product again!

The October kit (and my scrappy hiatus) inspired me to get inky and painty on a page. The fall vibe of the kit led me to these photos from last autumn, and the leaves in the photos inspired me to use two add-ons: this stamp set and these wood veneer leaves.

I began by stamping leaves with versamark ink onto vellum. I embossed the leaves with white embossing powder. I think next time I will use clear, but I like how this turned out. Next, I watercolored the leaves in shades of yellow, gold and orange. When they dried, they crumpled up like real fallen leaves.

This stamp set inspired by title: "Every Day I Fall for You". I stamped the days of the week down the page, scattered my stamped leaves and included the wood veneer leaves. Some thread and paint splatters give it that windswept and boot-crinkled feel.

For this page, I was inspired by the gorgeous green in the kit. Even though this photo isn't the greatest, my little girl loves it and has been wanting me to scrapbook it for weeks. I printed it extra large and used patterned paper from the Family Fun collection to make the left border.

I clustered bits and pieces from the kit and add-ons on the right side of the page and added my journaling.

I hand-cut my title out of more Family Fun paper and used alpha stickers to complete the phrase. A little tab from the kit brings more green to the left side.

You may still be able to grab this kit and the fantastic extras at shopellesstudio.com.

Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Everyday Adventures Travelers Notebook - Elle's Studio

I'm excited to share my latest TN with you today on the Elle's Studio blog. Elle's Studio has just released a mini album class called "Everyday Adventures", complete with a kit filled with fabulous product for making your own mini album. Inspired by the class, I was asked to put that kit to use on a mini album of my own and I chose to fill my jade Webster's Pages TN:

Every Mother's Day I try to get the kids together for a decent picture. The group photo doesn't usually turn out well, but I do manage to get pretty good selfies with each kiddo. I made the theme of my TN "Everyday Adventures in being Mom". The pages feature anecdotes of daily life, things I love about my kids, and quotes about motherhood. Each child has a few pages, and even though I have four, I didn't fill up a whole TN insert. I'm planning to save the other half for next year's Mother's Day selfies.

The kit is made up mostly of the new Live, Laugh, Love collection. 6x6 papers (great size for a TN), enamel dots, puffy stickers, wood veneer, bits and pieces (die-cuts), etc. The "Everyday Adventures" stamp set is probably my most favorite Elle's Studio stamp set to date!

There are also printable elements. I don't have a color printer at the moment, so I went to my local Staples and printed two copies of each sheet. I printed on nice copy paper so that the elements would stay as thin as possible. However, I didn't shy away from using the cardstock-weight labels and cut apart journaling spots.

I learned a good lesson as I was putting this together over several sittings. Because of all the small pieces, I was "losing" things under others and forgetting what I had to work with. So, I piled like items together in an arc around my desk space and was really disciplined about returning items back to their pile if I didn't use them. My productivity skyrocketed at that point ;).

Would you like to see more? I'm still finishing up several pages and plan to do a video flip-through very soon. I'll share more photos and a link here. In the meantime, I cannot recommend the "Everyday Adventures" class enough! Sign up here, and pick up the class kit here. You'll be so glad you did.

Happy creating and thanks for stopping by :). Tessa

Elle's Studio February Kit Reveal

Hello, friends! Today is the day! The February Elle's Studio kit is available now and I finally get to share in full two projects that I made for the gallery.

"Love these Crazy Kids" - The first layout I made is this super colorful one. The mix of colors in this month's kit inspired me to get out my watercolors, which then inspired me to pull out my embroidery floss :). Using my Silhouette Cameo, I cut the word love repeatedly in a font with a very circular "o". I knew I wanted to fit one of the acrylic heart pieces inside and just my luck, my first attempt was the perfect size!

I loved the black and white 4x6 card (kit) featuring the word "love" in all these different fonts. It just called for watercolors! I tucked other 3x4 cards (kit) around my photos, too. I love a good set of alpha stickers, and these black ones were perfect for finishing my title.

I told you I am not much of a stamper, but I really enjoy using the little stamps Elle's Studio has to offer. The "What Happened" set was so easy to add to nooks and crannies of this layout for an extra special touch. I stamped in the tag up at the top as well as near my journaling on this page. And that speech bubble sticker? Love!

"XO Dance" - This layout is all about how much I love my job. Teaching dance really is the best :). I took a very different approach to color with this page and focused on gray, black and white elements from the kit with a pop of red.

For my background, I used the Jonah stamp to stamp "joy" in several places. I guess I'm on a kick of filling letter o's, because I used red embroidery floss to then stitch little hearts in each "o". I love the texture and bright pop of color!

The large "XO" acrylic pieces combined with the gray alpha stickers make up my title. I hope the acrylic trend sticks around for quite some time - I love how flat and yet dimensional it is on a layout. I added a die cut heart from the kit to the acrylic "o" for more color and some fun detail.

Speaking of little details, I stapled tags to the white space area in my photo, and popped one up on foam adhesive in another open space. Whenever I need a "little something", I know Elle's Studio can help me out.

I punched the gray striped hearts from patterned paper in the Little Moments collection, and I mounted my layout on another paper from that same collection.

If you aren't already a subscriber, I encourage you to check it out. I love this little box of happy that arrives every month! If you're trying to be smart about how you spend your paper crafting dollars, this is a great deal. The pieces are easy to mix and match with your other supplies (and the add-ons), and you get a lot of really useful pieces for just $9.99 (today only or with subscription - price goes to $11.99 tomorrow). You also get free (in the US) or reduced (international) shipping on any extras you add to your box.


Find all the details here.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! Tessa

Elle's Studio January Kit Reveal

Hello, everyone! The January kit, which I gave you a sneak peek of yesterday, is now available!

Having worked with a few of these kits now, I can honestly say they are an incredible value. I can make several layouts with these little packets of paper goodness, plus have leftovers for cards, my planner, and extra things like gift tags. Here are a couple more projects that I made this month with the kit and some fabulous add-ons:

Supplies: January Kit, Olivia Stamp (title), Sequins (Love Mix), Acrylic Frosted Hearts.

This girl cracks me up. She's such a jazz dancer. Not a ballerina at all. The bright colors in the January kit reminded me of these photos and they were a match made in heaven!

But the kit can definitely do something more monotone and manly, also:

Supplies: January Kit, All My Heart Stamps, Sequins (Love Mix), Large Acrylic Stars.

I pulled the blacks, grays, and yellows from the January kit for this one. I pulled out my typewriter and combined typed journaling with stamped words. I love the way it turned out and will probably use this technique again soon.

I love the large acrylic stars that are new in the shop. Such a great embellishment for guy pages!

If you're interested in picking up the kit, or even subscribing (guaranteed a kit every month for the launch price of $9.99 + free shipping on things you add to your cart on the 10th), go here. There is so much to love that's new in the shop right now. Be sure to check it out :).

What's your favorite part of the reveal today? Thanks for stopping by! Tessa

Anything is Possible - Elle's Studio + Winner

Hello, friends! I'm excited to be sharing my first Elle's Studio project on the Elle's Studio blog today! I was asked to create a page with a New Year's theme, which was a great assignment for me because I do one every year about this time anyway. The January kit was perfect for this:

A few favorite things...first, my title. That 3x4 card is part of the January kit and was the jumping off point for the whole page.

Second, the 2017 acrylic. I love these! They come in two sizes (this is the small) and both black and white. They are a fabulous addition to a page like this, a title page for Project Life, or a mini book. I have more than this one on hand, so I'm sure you'll see it again!

Third, this 4x6 card, again from the January kit. I put my typewriter to use, and decided to add my handwriting, too. Using Elle's Studio products always makes me add more words to my layouts, which - I feel - is really important.

Find more photos and details at the Elle's Studio blog here.

The big reveal of the January kit is tomorrow! I'll be back with links and more details then. In the meantime, let's announce the winner of my Elle's Studio Date Stamp giveaway! Drumroll, please...

Congratulations! Please email me at precociouspaper@yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll get your stamp out to you right away! If you entered to win the Jonah Alphabet Stamp on my IG, check there for a winner, too!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! Tessa

Elle's Studio + Giveaway

I am excited to announce that I am a part of the 2017 Elle's Studio design team! I have adored Elle's Studio products for years, even going back to Elle's etsy days. I loved guest designing in October (and will be sharing my final December spinner project soon). I am thrilled to be designing with such fabulous product on a regular basis this year, especially with such an amazing team:

I am grateful for the opportunity to move into a new circle of creative friends, many of which I have not had the chance to work with before. I know I'm going to be inspired and that I'll learn so much. Check out their talents here:

Alissa Fast: http://alissafast.typepad.com/

Allie Stewart: http://www.magicalmesses.com/

Andrea Gray: https://retrohipmama.wordpress.com/

Candace Perkins: https://findingeverydayperfection.com/ 
Daniela Dobson: http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/ 
Jamie Leija: http://www.jamieleija.com/

Jennifer Chapin: http://jenchapin.blogspot.com/

Jen Schow: http://www.craftyjenschow.com/

Jill Sprott: http://wordplaywordwork.blogspot.com/

Kay Rogers: http://rogerskk.typepad.com/ 
Laura Hager: www.laurelandfern.com

Maggie Massey: http://www.midwesterngirldiy.com/

Meghann Andrew: http://www.meghannandrew.com/

Melissa Mann: http://melissamann.typepad.com/

Michelle Wedertz: http://michellewedertz.blogspot.com

Nancy Damiano: http://thepaperorchard.blogspot.com/

Neela Nalam: http://memorablescraps.blogspot.com/ 

To celebrate, I'm doing a giveaway! I was sent these absolutely fabulous stamps in my design team box, but I turned around and bought another set just for you!

To enter to win, tell me how you would use these stamps. Make sure to leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win. I'll draw a name one week from today, Monday the 9th, and post the winner here. International friends (outside of the US), I have to ask you to chip in for shipping, but you're welcome to enter, too. And if you can't wait (or don't win), you can find the date stamps here.

For a chance to win another fabulous Elle's Studio stamp set, see my Instagram here. Completely separate giveaway there, so feel free to enter in both places! Good luck!

If you don't already, follow Elle's Studio here:

Shop: http://www.shopellesstudio.com/
Blog: http://www.shopellesstudio.com/blog/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellesstudio/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShopEllesStudio

Tessa

More Senior Portraits...

I was SO excited to see that SRM Stickers was sponsoring Sketchy Thursdays this week!  Whoo hoo!  I've been a fan of both for a long time, and now being on their design teams, I feel blessed to work with them, too!  For my layout, I scrapped more senior portraits of my sister Elizabeth:

When it comes to photo quantity and size, I usually follow the sketches pretty closely, but this time I opted for one 4x6 photo to take the place of two photo spots in this fabulous sketch:

I used SRM Stickers from their Graduation-themed sheets, including my title, the quotation on the right, and the little diploma next to the quote. 

I hope to see you playing along this week.  Afterall, the prize is a fantastic assortment of SRM goodness :).  Find all the details here.

If you have a chance, I have a new challenge posted at Scrapbook Circle today.  And guess what?!  We are opening up the challenges to EVERYONE, subscriber or not!  So please, join in to win an armful of beautiful Elle's Studio goodies.  Here's my sample layout, featuring the March Vintage Market kit:

You can find the details here.  Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Shoes

What are mock croc, peep toed, and stiletto heeled?  My favorite shoes, of course!   For the challenge at These Are a Few of My Favorite Things (favorite shoes) and the sketch this week at Sketchy Thursdays, I created this:

I wanted to do a really glam layout, so I went with black and white papers (MME Meadowlark), gorgeous textured cardstock (Couture Cardstock, from my PageMaps prize), and a black and white photo.  For a pop of color I added turquoise embellishments, including one of my Valori Wells Fabric and Felt Flowers (added to the shop later today).  I also digitally painted my toenails to match :). 

I blinged out the layout with shimmery cardstock flowers, Prima flower centers, sequins, swarovski crystal rhinestoned butterflies, pearls, and glitter in my paint.

I accented my title with an Elle's Studio tag and just had to use some of my very favorite thickers.  You can almost see the sparkly glitter in the paint in this shot.  I love it :). 

Head on over to Sketchy Thursdays to see the sketch and what the design team made - it's all amazing stuff!  And if you haven't checked out what is going on a TAAFOMFT lately, you should :).  Have a great day! Tessa