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!

Sunshine - Pretty Little Studio + News

Hello! I hope your 4th of July weekend was wonderful! I enjoyed it. I will never EVER get tired of parades, barbecue and fireworks :). And, we survived the scorching hot sun, so that was a bonus.

Speaking of sun, my little sunshine Adlyn is the subject of my latest layout for Pretty Little Studio. Most of my PLS stash is in storage until we close on our house, but I do have the amazing Treasure Island collection to work with! I created this page for the July sketch challenge.

You can see more on the PLS blog here, but let me point out some of my favorite things. The title - Melissa has several acetate title pieces available in the shop now. I probably would have stapled it on, except my Tiny Attacher is in storage. I can't believe I didn't leave it out, but washi tape came to my rescue :).

The flair - I think flair is something I will use in my scrapbooking forever. I just love PLS flair because the packages are a mix of words and vintage images. I thought this "happy" flair was a great subtitle.

Die-cuts - I love PLS die-cuts. I got the package of small die-cuts from the Treasure Island line and it was hard to choose just one for this little cluster.

I have some fun PLS news to share today, too! I will be designing for Pretty Little Studio for another term! I am VERY excited. I just adore Pretty Little Studio and feel honored to have this opportunity continue. Check out the talented ladies I get to design with:

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great week! Tessa

Patriotic Re-share

My favorite holiday is tomorrow and I can't wait! I love celebrating the 4th of July with my family. From the parades to the fireworks, it really is my favorite day of the year. Since we are between homes at the moment (we close mid-July!), I hope you don't mind a re-share of a couple of my previously posted, favorite patriotic projects.

First up, this layout that I created for The Studio Challenges:

 

You can find the original post and the mood board that inspired the layout here.

I can just imagine Addie waving this SRM wand around during the parade tomorrow morning!

You can find the original post and tutorial here.

Whether you're celebrating Independence Day or just enjoying the weekend, have a good one! Tessa

Wedding DIY - Part 1 - DCWV Nesting Boxes

Hello! If you follow me on Instagram, you know my little sister's wedding was just this past weekend. It was a DIY wedding and I had the chance to get creative with several things. I'll be sharing it all over the next couple of weeks, starting with two projects I made with DCWV's nesting boxes:

If you head to JoAnn's (in store or online here) you can find the boxes. They come in white, gray, kraft and assorted colors. You get 12 boxes with lids in each set. I used several boxes from the white set to create these prizes for my sister's bridal shower games.

A little tulle ribbon and a silk flower made for easy and pretty packaging. The prizes were Bracelet Bar bracelets by Blue Moon Beads (see my youtube video about those here).

I used the gray set to create these succulent planters for her reception centerpieces. I foiled the H picks with my Heidi Swapp Minc machine and cut them out with a Spellbinders die.

I lightly spray painted the boxes with a stone finish paint. Because the succulents didn't need much water, it didn't matter that the boxes were paper. My sister loved the concrete look and tiny price tag ;).

You can see my post about these boxes on the DCWV blog here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

I Love SRM!

It's no secret that I absolutely LOVE SRM! From the stickers to the containers, chalk markers to stamps - I love it all! I am thrilled to share that I am now a part of the 2015-2016 design team!

I have designed for SRM for various lengths of time over the past several years and I am looking forward to the best year yet :). To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to share some gift bags and cards that I made recently:

I purchased the gift bags at Target. I loved the gold stripes! I purchased the cards from the dollar spot at Target and dressed them up with some washi tape (gold, polka dots) and SRM stickers. I clipped the cards to the bags with a piece of patterned paper layered behind for more pattern and color.

I also purchased these bags and cards at Target, too. I just can't get enough of that gold stripe foiled tissue paper!

This time I placed the SRM stickers over the washi tape layers. Mixing washi tape and SRM stickers is one of my favorite techniques.

Speaking of washi tape and stickers, I made almost 30 of these cards for the teachers at my kids' school. SRM made the easiest and most perfect sentiments.

Be sure to follow SRM on Facebook, Instagram and on their blog here. I'll be sharing a card next week with a fabulous new product :). Thanks for stopping by 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

Father's Day Mini Album - Pink Paislee

Pink Paislee has been posting Father's Day projects all week long on their blog, and today is my day to share! Using the Atlas collection, I created a mini album for my husband:

To play up the travel theme of the Atlas collection, I made the album look like a suitcase. I picked up these Tim Holtz metal buckles and used patterned paper to create the straps.

The pages are made out of envelopes, glued together to create an accordion-style album.

Each kiddo has a page spread, with their photo on one side and their name and journaling on the other. Inside each envelope pocket is a tag that they wrote a message on.

I think I might have to scrapbook this photo on a layout:

I wonder if he will ever smile for me without those squinty eyes?

This could also be a great format for a travel mini album. The envelopes would hold the memorabilia from your trip easily. 

Be sure to visit the Pink Paislee blog today for more details on the album and the materials I used to create it. If you're celebrating, enjoy your Father's Day this weekend! Tessa