Smash Sunday - Week in the Life Part 1

Hello! Today I am sharing the beginnings of my Week in the Life SMASH book. We don't travel much, and when we do, we don't go very far. I loved the images in the yellow international folio, but felt like that one would never coordinate with bits and pieces from my fairly stationary life. Then Crate Paper came out with their Storyteller line, and then other travel-themed lines caught my eye and I began to suffer from wanderlust :). As I was planning my Week in the Life project, the thought occurred to me that each day with my family is like a journey. We travel day in and day out through routines, special occasions, learning experiences and quality time. The theme of travel would be the perfect string to tie our week together! So, I started gathering up those travel-themed supplies that I loved and I made of long list of quotations about travel that could apply to our daily lives. I was fairly diligent in taking photos, although the week I documented was the week that my back injury was fresh. I took notes via instagram and facebook, and all of my photos were taken on my phone (for no-stress ease of use).  I'd love to say that I'm finished assembling my book, or even halfway done, but all I have to share is my title page:

How cute is this chipboard girl from Crate Paper? I love her! And since this album is a Week in the Life from my point of view, I thought she made an adorable representation of me. Although, I never looked this cute this week ;).

Beside travel-themed supplies, I decided to incorporate woodgrain, too. The woodgrain 2012 button is by A Flair for Buttons and comes in a set with the days of the week. Shelley has a great selection of designs (including travel!), so be sure to check out her shop!

I'm also putting to good use my stash of 2012 stickers by SRM Stickers. The '12 sticker was the perfect round accent to mix in with the buttons.

I don't foresee this album coming together too quickly, but I'll be sure to keep you updated as I finish pages. I think I'll do a video of the final project, too :). Have a wonderful day! Tessa

This and That Thursday

Hello! I have a list going of things to mention here today, so let's get to it, shall we?

1. All of the new lines and Ruffle Blossoms are up in my shop! Use coupon code MAYFLOWERS through Sunday to receive 15% off. Happy shopping!

2. The randomly selected winner of the Diana Sampler from Diana's Blog Hop is MEGAN SMITH! Please email me at precociouspaper (at) yahoo (dot) com with your mailing address and I'll get that off to you asap :).

3. GCD Studios has a new issue of The Paper Cut available! It's even bigger and better than last month's incredible issue. One of my Country Charm layouts is featured and a detailed tutorial for my hand-drawn title will be posted soon.

4. There's a new challenge at Scrapbook Circle today! Using the gorgeous May kit, The Story, and the Life Documented add-on, I did a little SMASHing in my red book:

The challenge is to create a layout about Mothers. I SMASHed a few of my favorite motherhood quotations. You can see more and get all the details for playing along here.

Phew! I think that's it for now :). I have more physical therapy to do for my back before I can spend much more time at the computer, so I might be a quiet for a bit longer as I recover from my injury. Thank you for all of your concern :). I'm doing well and strengthening some whimpy muscles is already making a world of difference. Have a wonderful day, everyone! Tessa

Shop Update Preview

Happy Friday! I am lining up a huge shop update for May 1st and today you get a sneak peek. Three new lines will be available including:

These lines all include a Sampler, Butterfly Doilies, Sweet Spots, Felt Roses and Leaves and the new Button Sweet Spots. Also coming on May 1st...

* several new Ruffle Blossom designs
* those solid colored Ruffle Blossoms I've been promising :)
* new Fabric and Felt Flower designs
* assorted yo-yo flower sets

I will also be offering a special, so stay tuned to this blog, Facebook and Twitter for that coupon code. Enjoy your weekend! Tessa

Framed!

The current challenge at Scrapbook Circle is to use a frame on a layout. The April kit, Daydreamer, has a sheet of Amy Tangerine paper called "Paige's Portraits" that I just love! I scraplifted a fellow designer (Jennie) who used the paper for journaling and put together an A to Z layout all about me:

I filled a few frames with more Amy Tangerine paper, but the rest is just writing :). The alphas are also from the Daydreamer kit. I'm loving those Color Magic products by Heidi Swapp - so much fun!

I'm going to add a second page, one with just a photo or two and lots of white space to balance out this busy page. I've got it all planned out - I just need a current photo of myself :).

If you'd like to play along with the challenge, you can find the details here. You still have a week and a shop credit is up for grabs. You don't have to be a subscriber to play, so hop to it!

Tomorrow I will have a preview of the next big Precocious Paper update that is happening May 1st. You'll want to be the first to get in on the new goodies and a special deal :). Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Bloom Where You are Planted

I played with my Epiphany Crafts flower button tool for the first time recently and this is what I made:

This project, with details on materials and a little tutorial, is up on the Epiphany Crafts blog today. As I wrote there, the phrase "bloom where you are planted" has been a repeated mantra in my life lately. I honestly can't complain about my circumstances, but I am trying harder lately to change my attitude about some of them and to make the best of every situation. I need to trust that the not-so-fun challenges are opportunities to grow. I thought some wall art would be a great reminder (and a lots-of-fun thing to do!).

The red polka dot flower is going to be in the shop soon with a new batch of ruffle blossoms (the last two batches have quickly sold out - I think I need to spend more time in effort in stocking these pretties!). The aqua roses are part of this set, available now.

I woke up to see that I was featured on the Paper Crafts Connection blog today! My "thanks" card was included in the March/April digital issue and Susan included it in her post. You can see the post, along with other colorful cards, here.

I'm off to answer convos, get reserved listings up, and to package and ship a whole bunch of flowers. I'm still playing catch up after being down last week with my back injury, but after today at least orders will all be on track :). Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Smash Sunday

It's still Sunday for a little bit, so I'm good, right? I missed my Smash Sunday post last week and I just couldn't do that again. This is a page that I made a couple of weeks ago:

It all started with some oranges that I cut out from a magazine. Then I found this photo of my mother-in-law's orange tree, and then the word "grow" took over from there.

I stuck with an orange and green color palette, as well as natural wood. Not only are the alphas wood, but the postage stamp frames are made from wood veneer.

I used lots of SRM Stickers and dug into my die-cut stash for accents.

I think I might add some mist and a little bit of tape to the other side, but I will leave it pretty much as it is.

I had some Smash pages featured on the Smash Stories blog last week (here). I love visiting that blog for ideas :). Next Sunday I plan to share my progress on my Week in the Life Smash Book. My concept is travel and I am using the international Smash folio. Everything is based on the metaphor that my family's daily life is a journey. It's all about maps, airmail stripes and woodgrain. I can't wait to put it all together! 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