Right Now - The Studio Challenges

Hello! There is a new challenge up at The Studio Challenges and it's all about stars and stripes. In honor of Independence Day here in the US, the challenge was simply to include stars and stripes on a layout. Well, I just had to go patriotic for my page, so I scrapped a photo I took this past May on Memorial Day:

Almost everything I used for this layout comes from Pink Paislee's Atlas collection. It's a great travel line, but it also includes the stars and stripes I needed - and in red, white and blue!

I also used white and silver washi tape from Heidi Swapp's marquee line, as well as the star stamp from Heidi Swapp's planner line. Tip: If you don't have an acrylic block for your clear stamps, try using the lid of your ink pad. I forgot to leave a block out (almost everything is in storage until we close on our house), so I improvised with the plastic lid of my ink pad. It worked pretty darn well!

I love Pink Paislee's chipboard frames, and this striped one was perfect for the challenge theme.

I also love the big tags in the Atlas line. I love the foil and the red, white and blue on this one was great for my page. The chipboard star stickers and enamel stars from the Atlas line really gave the layout its patriotic feel.

If you'd like to  play along at The Studio, you can find the challenge here. You don't have to go patriotic like I did, as you'll see when you visit the blog and check out the other design team members' takes. Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Pineapple Slush - The Studio & Pink Paislee

Hello! Are you a fan of Sonic? If you aren't familiar, Sonic is a fast food place famous for their drinks. One hot afternoon last week, we decided to try it out for the first time. I ordered a pineapple slush, which is basically pineapple, pineapple juice, and slushy ice. It isn't their most exciting offering, but I really loved it!

I don't normally scrapbook the things I eat or drink, but I was prompted this time by the latest challenge at The Studio Challenges - food. You can find all the challenge details here.

The Citrus Bliss collection by Pink Paislee was perfect for this page! I used the gold foil pineapple vellum as a main element. I loved mixing fonts and colors with these Thickers for my title. My favorite part has to be the wood veneer pineapple and the chipboard pineapple. So cute!

Do you have pineapple photos to scrap? Get a look at the Citrus Bliss collection here. If you have food photos of any kind to scrapbook, be sure to play along here at The Studio. Thanks for stopping by today! Have a good one! Tessa

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

Let's Do Something New - The Studio Challenges

Hello! Happy Sunday. I hope your weekend has been a good one. Today I am sharing a layout that I created for the latest challenge at The Studio:

I have been taking Studio Calico's Color Theory class, taught by Wilna Furstenberg, and this page was inspired by the second lesson. I followed the basic design of Wilna's page as I worked with complimentary colors (purple and yellow). I used a Glitz design woodgrain roller stamp to try the lesson's technique of stamping in wet paint. I love the result!

The challenge at The Studio is to use older product from your stash. I started this layout with just paint, so I didn't have any particular papers in mind. When I went hunting for purple and yellow, it was hard to find purple, not to mention the right purple. Purple is just not a color we really use as scrapbookers, is it? I did, however, find my package of the Soleil collection by Basic Grey. It came out summer of 2012. I fell in love with it all over again while I was putting this page together!

I added paper to the top and bottom of the page, and cut apart a garland to add the arrows on the page. The alphas are also Soleil.

The layout is about the new pixie style I am working on. I cut it asymmetrically, and I am still growing out the long side a bit more. :)

To play along at The Studio, join us here. Thanks for visiting and have a great day! Tessa

I Am - The Studio Challenges, Scrapbook Circle

I'm excited for March! The calendar is full - fun stuff, challenging stuff, projects, events, birthdays, etc. Although we would rather have the rain, the spring-like weather we are enjoying is beautiful! Blossoms in the trees, poppies growing everywhere...I love it!

I also love the new challenge up today at The Studio. The design team suggested items to include on a layout, and the challenge is to include as many of those things as possible. I managed to include every single one:

I wouldn't normally reach for all of these things for the same layout, so this was definitely a challenge. To get it done, I used two strategies: use small amounts of everything, and use the same color for most of it.

One chipboard heart, three tiny brads, two sequins, a bit of thread - all in gold. The mist was easy as I almost always include a little bit of mist anyway (that was my contribution to the challenge), and the vellum was also a simple addition. The stamping was intimidating at first, but after turning to this row of triangles stamp by Scrapbook Circle, I thought the stamping was a great finishing touch.

Speaking of Scrapbook Circle, almost all of my materials for this page came from the March kits. The thread, sequins, brads and mist are from my stash, the stamp and chipboard heart are from past kits, but the papers, stickers and die-cuts are all from Here's the Story and the add-ons. Lots of "I Am" by Simple Stories, "On Trend" by My Mind's Eye here. The kit also includes quite a bit of the new papers and embellishments by Pinkfresh Studios (one of my favorite booths at CHA this year!). Be sure to check out the kits here.

You can find the challenge details at The Studio here. Thanks for visiting today! I hope your March is fantastic :). Tessa