Cub Scouts

*** Hello! My son is working on an elective in his cub scout book where he has to use a computer program to do something. He chose to write a blog post and this is it. Enjoy! ***

Colten on his first day of cub scouts, almost a year ago :).

My  name  is  Colten  Buys.
     I  am  8  years  old.
   I am in  the  wolf den.
   I  am  trying  to  earn  1  gold  arrow  point &  3  silver  arrow  points. This  is  going to get 1 of  my
achievements  .Thanks  for lookin  at  my post!
                       
                                                                Adios!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The boys wanted toast for breakfast, so this is what I whipped up:

We are going out for lunch with Daddy and tonight the boys get an auntie-nephew dinner date. Josh and I are going out for dinner at a restaurant we went to when we were first dating. And I am taking photos all along the way to fill a mini album that I will get to share soon :).

The boys celebrated with their school classes on Friday. We always try to do something non-edible but fun, and this year we made photo-booth prop mustaches and lips. The third and second graders LOVED them :).

Notice that I added them to giant popsicle sticks instead of dowels or skewers? I didn't want anyone getting poked at school ;). The mustache tag reads: "I mustache you a question. Won't you have a Happy Valentine's Day?" Those went to the boys. The girls' lips tag reads: "I ran out of real flowers, but please enjoy these two lips for Valentine's Day!"

Well, I'm off to wrap up a few chores and shop things. I hope you have a lovely day! Tessa

Ruffles and Rambunctious Boys

Hello, hello, hello! I hope your week is off to a great start :). We have a bit of a crazy one planned at the Buys'. The boys are out of school this week due to furlough days, "non-school days", and the President's Day holiday (I live in California, mind you). Between entertaining them, Valentine's Day, cub scouts events, and other fun stuff, I'm not sure when I'll have time for the usual routine. Oh, and Jaxon is potty-training. Am I crazy? Probably :). But I'm looking forward to all of it, including whatever time I get in the studio to stock more of these pretties:

I shared this photo on the Precocious Paper facebook wall several days ago, and it was met with a lot of enthusiasm :). My design team has been busy working with these new flowers, and I have been putting together a few things, too, including this brooch:

I put three Ruffle Blossoms together and added a charm made with Epiphany Crafts products (round 14 tool and setting). Tip: the glitter-outlined dots on My Mind's Eye Lost and Found papers are the exact same size as the tool, so I ended up with a touch of text and glitter - perfect!

Ruffle Blossoms will be offered in over 30 colors and in several prints. You can choose from cardstock backings for paper crafts or felt backings for hair clips and jewelry. I'll let you know when they are available! Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day :). Tessa

Designer Friday - Mindy

Happy Friday! I am thrilled to be bringing you a fabulous project by my new design team gal, Mindy Gallagher! Mindy has been playing with all of the fun "extras" to the Precocious Sampler and she combined them into a beautiful, boxed stationery set:

So pretty! And just wait 'til you look inside. The box opens up to reveal organized slots for cards, mini cards and tags, as well as a little note pad and a pocket for stamps.

Wow, right?! Here are the tags, including Precocious Sweet Spots and Precocious Button Sweet Spots:

And mini cards, including more Sweet Spots and a felt rose:

And some really fun cards including a Butterfly Doily and even more Sweet Spots (I love how far a package of those goes!):

Fantastic project, Mindy! If you've been inspired, you can find these products and more in the shop here. The design team page is currently being remodeled, so I invite you to get to know more about Mindy at her blog, here. Thank you all so much for stopping by today! Tessa

Fan Feature - Julie LaKose

Happy Friday! I received a wonderful email this week filled with photos from Precocious Paper fan Julie LaKose. Julie has been a long-time supporter of my Etsy shop and she just recently picked up the Raspberry Orange Mini Sampler:

Julie created a fabulous home decor item for her daughter's room - a cookie sheet magnet board. First, Julie started with these supplies:

She then added papers and used the ribbons and flowers from the mini sampler to embellish her corners. I love the title she added, too. Julie added magnets to the back of the smaller flowers. I love doing this, too, and have a refrigerator covered in them :).

Thank you so much for sharing, Julie! You can visit Julie's blog and get to know more about her here. If you are interested in being a featured fan, all you need to do is send me photos of your work created with Precocious Paper products. If your project is selected, you will receive an email with details of your featured fan post and a 25% off coupon code to use on a future purchase. Email me at precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com with Fan Feature in the subject line. Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! Tessa

Remember This Kit

There's a new kit at Scrapbook Circle and it is FULL of gorgeous new CHA stuff and one of my favorite color palettes: blue and yellow. There are other bits of color and fabulous neutrals, too, but the sunny yellow and pretty blues have really drawn me in. Here is my first project made with the kit:

This is my take on Challenge #25 - Pocket Full of Sunshine. The challenge is to incorporate a pocket into your layout. The kit comes with these great chevron-design bags by Whisper Graphics. I used one as my pocket and let the October Afternoon die-cuts spill across my page.

The photo is one I took of the boys just a couple of nights ago while I was playing with my Hipstamatic app. They were getting along so well - I had to document it. You know, before Jaxon smacked Carson with a car or GI Joe or something.

Like the stars? A half sheet of American Crafts glitter paper is included in the kit. It's gorgeous, thick stuff, but a bit too thick for my little star punch. Here's what I did to make it work. I cut off a strip of the paper, then peeled away a few layers of the backing. It made the cardstock thin enough to easily punch through :).

If you'd like to enter the challenge, the details are here. You don't have to be a subscriber, you don't have to use the kit, and you could win a $15.00 SBC credit. Of course, you could always pick up February's kit and the fabulous add-on, too ;). Have a great day! Tessa

February Sampler - Precocious

In honor of my 4 year Etsy-versary this month, I decided to create a collection based on my shop colors. "But wait," you're thinking. "Where did the yellow come from?" My love for yellow has grown so much in the past few years that I just had to add it to my red and aqua palette. Pretty soon you will see the shop and blog made over to reflect that addition, too :). Please meet "Precocious"...

This sampler is extra full of pretty flowers. I couldn't help myself from adding more to the assortment. I am really excited about the shabby twist flowers in this set. If you look closely, you can see a sweet layer of tulle behind each one. These will soon be available separately and in an array of colors in the shop :).

There are Butterfly Doilies, Button Sweet Spots, Sweet Spots and Felt Roses and Leaves, too:

If you love every bit of it, I have packaged the entire collection into one listing at a special discounted price here. Be on the lookout this month for project ideas from the design team :). Thank you so much for stopping by today! Tessa