Melon Twist Gets Sketchy - DCWV

Hello! If you're familiar with DCWV, then you probably know that every month they host a Stack-a-holic sketch challenge. The design team shares their takes on a layout sketch and a card sketch, and you have the month to play along. The top twelve entries are featured on the blog. Well...today I have the honor of setting the August challenge!

Sketchy Thursdays has always been my favorite source of sketches, thanks to the talents of my friend, Diana Fisher. I just had to share one of her fabulous layout sketches with my DCWV friends.

The design team loved the triangles, so I designed a card sketch to match. Yes, I tried my hand at designing a sketch! How'd I do?

This is my take on the layout sketch. Yes, I know, I just used a couple of those photos on another layout. I couldn't help it. The Melon Twist stack by DCWV was just too perfect - it matched her outfit like I had planned it, and the photos were of her getting ready to chow down on cantaloupe. It was meant to be :).

Yeah, I realize I spelled cantaloupe wrong. Ugh, I hate typos like that! Oh well, it just speaks to my humanness, right? ;) Instead of the triangles, I fussy-cut fruit slices from one of the patterned papers. You can't really tell, but they are debossed. Several of the papers in the stack are beautifully debossed (the opposite of embossed, more like letterpress). It's my favorite detail and I hope to see more stacks like that from DCWV in the future.

I also used a piece of vellum with gold polka dots from DCWV's new vellum 6x6. I need this stack in 12x12, and I need about a dozen of them! The designs are fabulous and it comes with gold foil and black foil. So cool.

To follow my card sketch, I used scraps from my layout. Easy-peasy :).

I hope you'll check out the challenge post for more from the design team, and I hope you'll join in! Thanks for stopping by today :). Tessa

Diana's Blog Hop!

My dear friend, Diana Fisher, is celebrating her 3 year blog anniversary with a fabulous blog hop! If you've been hopping along, enjoying the amazing line-up of talented ladies, welcome to my stop :). If you're here by chance and are interested in scrappy inspiration and prizes, you can start the hop here.

Diana created this special sketch just for the hop:

And this is what I did with it:

I used two of the photo spaces for photos, and one for memorabilia. I love how Diana's sketches can guide you every step of the way and are so easily tweakable to fit your needs :). That takes talent!

I found this quotation recently and just knew that it would be the perfect journaling for these photos of my boys from our annual visit to the Sacramento train museum.

Besides inspiration, I mentioned prizes, didn't I? If you'd like to stake a claim to some fabulous free goodies, you can do so by playing along with the sketch! Just create your layout, link your entry back at Diana's blog, and you could win a $30.00 shop credit to Scrapbook Circle! And as you well know by now, there are several other prizes to be won along this hop, including one right here:

Diana has long been a fan and supporter of my etsy shop, Precocious Paper. In her honor, I created this little collection that I am calling the Diana Sampler, and it could be yours just for following my blog and leaving a comment on this post. You can also use this code for 15% off of your Precocious Paper order during the hop: DIANA15.

The hop ends April 30th, so get to hopping and scrapping! Your next stop is Ashley Horton :). Have a great day! Tessa

GCD Studios and a Special Blog Hop

Happy Wednesday! I am anxiously awaiting a call from my husband, who is setting up an emergency chiropractor appointment for me. I wrenched my back again, the same place I've been dealing with for several months now. I guess when your almost 3 year old is 30-something pounds, it's time to stop picking him up so much :). Anyway, I'm sucking it up to sit at the computer and blog a bit.

I had a layout go up on the GCD Studios blog last week. This one is all about Spring, using the new Splendor collection. I took this instagram photo while on a walk with my boys. The petals in the photo reminded me of the pattern in some of the Splendor papers.

I wanted a very delicate-feeling page, so I stuck with lots of white space and some tone-on-tone embellishing. It's one of my favorite pages this year, I think.

My favorite pages always used to be Sketchy Thursdays pages. Diana and Heidi's sketches were always the best source of inspiration. But don't get all misty-eyed as you remember those good ol' days. Diana is celebrating her blog anniversary this weekend with a blog hop and one of her famous sketches!

I was honored that she would ask me to join in on the line-up. The girls are all so excited and I just can't wait to share. There will be prizes along the way, as well as a prize from Precocious Paper here at my stop. I hope to see you then!

Well, I'm going to go lay down for a few minutes before I tackle some Etsy shipping. I hope your day is pain-free and a good one! Thanks for stopping by :). Tessa

Tribute to Sketchy Thursdays

I feel like I just said goodbye to a dear friend, one that I may never see again. Sketchy Thursdays has posted its last sketch for the blog as we know it. You can read the announcement here.

I found Diana Fisher's blog when we both made the design team for A Scrappy Design back in 2009. Diana was posting sketches on her blog and even though I had never liked using sketches before, I gave them a try. Diana's sketches were so easy to use and just the spark I needed. I remember being so excited when she would leave a comment on my flickr photostream about my layouts :). Soon Diana and Heidi Myers launched Sketchy Thursdays and I was thrilled to be a part of their first team. I enjoyed my first term thoroughly, was a guest designer during the next term, and then they just couldn't get rid of me from then on :). Being on the Sketchy Thursdays design team has been a real, sweet, treasured part of my life for the past few years. I wish Diana, Heidi, and all the rest of the ST gang the best. I hope you know how grateful I am...for everything :).

In tribute, I've put together as many of my Sketchy Thursdays layouts as I could find into these collages.

Ack, before tears hit the keyboard, I'm going to switch gears. I played along with a fun challenge from The Paper Variety this week. The challenge is to use black and white with a pop of color. I made a birthday card for one of my girls at church, a girl after my own yellow-loving heart :).

Of course I had to use SRM Stickers for my sentiment :).

Thanks for the challenge, TPV! I hope you will make the time to visit Sketchy Thursdays this week. If you're a fan, be sure to let Diana and Heidi know they will be missed. I know how hard the decision must have been to make and I'm sure they can use the virtual hugs. Have a great Thursday! Tessa

1st Layout and 1st Card of 2012

Hello! Thanks to Sketchy Thursdays and Scrapbook Circle, I have my first layout and first card of the new year to share with you today.

A new sketch is up at Sketchy Thursdays, and this week's sketch has a prompt in partnership with our sponsor, Scrappy Chics. The prompt is to use blue and silver, inspired by their current kit.

When I saw this chevron paper by Authentique, I had to get it and put it to use on this page. I also loved using their little word stickers. I used a Pink Paislee mask to create the long vertical rectangle in the center, but you have to look carefully to see it. I love how subtle it is.

I had fun adding texture with the trim and doilies. I'm so glad I saved these bright blue doilies from forever ago. They were perfect for this project :).

To play along at Sketchy Thursdays, see this post. There's a gift card up for grabs :). And speaking of a gift card, you can also win one at Scrapbook Circle by playing along with this card sketch:

Can you believe I made this sketch? I totally cheated (meaning I just layered things other people made - I so don't deserve any credit). Anyway, I made a Valentine for my hubby with the new You + Me kit:

I really love the kraft, red, grey, white combo. You have to see the entire kit (here). And play along (here).

So there you have it! My first layout and card of 2012. I see many, many more in the near future :). Thank you for spending some time with me today! Have a good one! Tessa

iPhone Photos and a Rolodex

Happy December! Wow, I can't believe we are in the final stretch of 2011. I have two layouts to share with you today, both for new challenges. I know December is a crazy time of year, but we would love to see you play along at both sites. First up, Sketchy Thursdays:

Here's the sketch:

The row of photos on the left made me think of the Photobooth app photos that Jaxon and I take when we have some time to kill, so I went to my iPhone and picked out a set to use for the layout. I love taking pictures with him - he is such a goof!

I had fun mixing bits and pieces: patterned papers from the scrap drawer, tape, bingo pieces and brads, tags....

If you'd like to play along, you can find all the details here. There's a new challenge starting today at Scrapbook Circle - A Year in Review. The challenge is to create a layout that looks back over 2011. I chose to take a non-photo approach and created a rolodex-style page, inspired by the index cards in December's kit:

You can find more photos of my layout and all the details for playing along here. There's a Christmas kit up for grabs :). Before I go, I wanted to mention a few other things to keep in mind. Miss Art's Take 2 classes start today! These are two-minute mini classes that feature awesome projects and fabulous manufacturers, so if you haven't signed up over there yet, now is a great time! Also, Precocious Paper is looking for a new design team :). Details here. If you participated in Attitude of Gratitude, be sure to see this post.

Have a great day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 10

Today I am grateful for my husband. Last night he hurried home so that he could make us dinner before he had to dash off to a meeting. He didn't have to - I told him that I would take care of it, but he wanted to do it. He's definitely a keeper :). And speaking of my hubby, I made a page about our 9th anniversary for today's Sketchy Thursdays reveal:

I love this sketch:

I added lots of bits and pieces, many from past Scrapbook Circle kits. I used my favorite stickers - SRM Stickers - for the title and even dotted the page with a few of the "9" stickers in white.

Did you notice the Precocious Paper flower? It's the sewing pattern one with a mother of pearl button. Those were made for a kit club, but you'll be seeing them on my shelves soon :).

You can find all the details for the Sketchy Thursdays challenge here. Before I go, I just wanted to say thank you. I've been receiving emails from blog readers who have joined in on Attitude of Gratitude and wanted to share their experiences with me. I'm humbled and deeply touched. I'm grateful that you are sharing this experience with me and strengthening my desire to be more thankful through your examples. Thank you :). Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 8

Today I am grateful for my family. I never imagined that as a mother I could love my children so much. I never guessed how good it would feel to make dinner together, eat together, sing together, pray together and play together. I grew up in a great family that did all those things, but the perspective of mother is different and now I understand. I am truly blessed. I am grateful to my husband, my partner in creating our little family, our little piece of heaven on earth. We had a great family night last night that I will share with you soon - we got crafty and I'd like to show you what we made, when it's finished :).

Precocious Paper is sponsoring The Studio this month! I am giving away your choice of the Very Merry line, the Vintage Poinsettia line, or a $25.00 shop credit. All you have to do is play along with a challenge this month. Our first one is up: Create a layout with hand-cut shapes. Scissors only! No punches or die-cut machines. Here is my take:

I hand-cut the circles from scraps of patterned paper. I thought the whimsy of the almost-circles matched the whimsy of the photos. This kid and his faces, I tell ya. Sometimes I wonder how so much personality fits in one little two year old!

I hope you'll play along with us! You can find all the details in this post here.

And speaking of sponsoring, Precocious Paper is also sponsoring Sketchy Thursdays' December Guest Designer Challenge! I'm giving away an Attitude of Gratitude kit and a $10.00 shop credit. For more information, see this post. Be sure to take a look at the design team samples - they all made layouts about gratitude and they are amazing!

 Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Attitude of Gratitude: Day 3

I am grateful for fall. The colors haven't reached their peak yet in my neck of the woods, so I am enjoying seeing the trees down my street just now begin to blaze with color. I am watching the sky outside darken, and I just picked up a new (houndstooth and totally adorable) umbrella at Target. I love the crisp mornings, the cool air on my skin, and I just can't help but feel a little extra happy because of it all. I really do love fall, and I am grateful that I am able to enjoy it right now.

I made a layout about how fall makes me feel, and it's up at the Scrapbook Circle blog today:

I used the new kit from SBC, called Harvest Festival. I based my layout on a sketch by the fabulous Diana Fisher of Sketchy Thursdays, which she so kindly created for today's new challenge on the SBC blog.

I'd love to see you join in on the challenge! You can use any materials you'd like (although we would love to see SBC kits in action), and anyone can enter (subscriber or not). You can get all the details on the challenge here.

Looking for more sketch inspiration? Be sure to check out Sketchy Thursdays today :). Since it's not my team's week to create samples, and because my schedule is kinda hectic at the moment, I took the week off. But wow, there are fabulous things to see - so head on over!

And if that's just not enough to get your creative juices flowing, Miss Art's is having another Free Class Weekend this weekend! Here are the details:

Has Halloween left you covered in sweet wrappers, partially duct tapped to your child's abandoned costume with a bank account balance that's more trick than treat? If your feeling more hallow than happy let Miss Art's headmaster treat you to a fantastic, but time sensitive offer. For this weekend only, (November 4 - 6th) enjoy a tuition free class designed to renew your creativity, and go easy on your wallet.  You can even snack on the candy "taxes" you've stolen from the kiddos while taking the class.  Beginning on Friday, November 4th, you will have 3 days to check out one of our most popular classes for free, no subscription needed. In “Layered Layouts”, you will accompany our inspired resident architect, Julie Winks, as she explains the essential underpinnings of daringly designed layouts. We hope to see you in the class room and if you enjoy our class that you'll be kind enough to leave an apple or a comment for the teacher.

You can find Miss Art's Papercrafting School here. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Naptime

School started back in August, and with that, the return of a fairly regular naptime for Jaxon. However, lately he has been determined to skip those naps, which leads to a grumpy boy and flustered mama. A trick I learned was to schedule errands a bit before naptime, so that as we drove home, he would be lulled to sleep in the car. I took the photo in this layout on a recent outing.

I'm kinda excited about this picture. It's my first iPhone photo on a layout! Yes, I finally got an iPhone and I am loving it :). The first apps I downloaded were Instagram, Hipstamatic, and Pocketbooth. So much fun! Back to the layout, it's based on the new sketch at Sketchy Thursdays:

I decided to try a different type of banner accent and went with hand-cut hearts on a hand-drawn string.

I thought the film background paper was a good choice for the iPhone photo, and I kept everything else pretty simple. I sort of had to - my craft table was (and still is) covered with dozens upon dozens of new flowers for the shop and I had to scrap on the floor. I wasn't about to pull all my supplies down there with me, so I went for a minimalist look. I love the result :).

I hope you'll join us! A $20.00 gift certificate to a great kit club is up for grabs. You can find the details here. And if you're in the market for some tutorials for sewing on paper, I've got a pair of really good ones linked up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today. You can take a look here.

Have a wonderful day! Tessa